Page 113 of Nanny for the Bodyguard

“Olivia helped a ton. I owe her big.” He smiles, running his thumb down the side of my cheek.

I raise my brows, waving over at her. “Oh, she’ll never let you forget that, trust me.”

Easton turns down the corners of his mouth. “I think I can live with that.”

Before I can say anything, Jade runs over and smashes into us for a hug. We get on her level, embracing each other in a tight squeeze.

“We did it,” I whisper, smiling so damn big my cheeks ache. “We finally found the family we’ve been looking for.”

THIRTY-EIGHT

Easton

“I love you, honey. We'll see you in the morning, okay?”

I smile at Jade as she stands outside her friend’s house on the porch. “Okay, Uncle Easton. I love you guys so much, and I'm really glad that you guys are getting married. Oh man, can I get a special dress for the—for the wedding? Oh, this is going to be so cool.”

“Jade,” I grin; she’s already moving a million miles a minute, “I'm going to need you to go inside, okay? Your friends are waiting for you. Have fun.”

“Oh, right.” Jade nods at me, giving me a crooked smile, and I give her a big hug before scooting her off inside the house.

“See you later, sweetie. Have fun.”

“Bye! Congratulations!”

My heart warms as she calls out, and I return to Hazel, who waits in the car. As I sit down behind the wheel, Hazel reaches over for me and pulls me in for another kiss.

This woman is going to be my wife, and I am so damn happy about it. “You're sure she's alright going over there for the whole night?”

Hazel's eyes are filled with concern, but I know that she's also desperately in need of some alone time with me. I need it, too.

“Yes, babe, she'll be fine. Besides, we have a lot of celebrating to do, and I don't want to have to worry about being quiet.”

I give her a crooked smile myself, laughing a little bit as I brush my thumb over the side of her face. Hazel's eyes go wide as she giggles.

“Yes, that's very true. Being quiet isdifficult. It was very smart of you to think of this as part of the proposal arrangement. Or was that Olivia?”

I scoff. “No. Noteverythingwas Olivia's doing. A fair portion of it was mine. I thought of making sure that Jade was out of the house so that I couldscrew you senseless, and I was the one who thought of the park. So give me some credit, thank you very much.”

Hazel laughs, leaning back in the passenger seat, and I fire up the car so I can take us home.

Home, this magical place that we created, just the three of us. After years of thinking I would never have something like this, I finally have my Hazel back, and I have Jade in my life, proving to me that the ability to be a father is something that Idohave.

My own strained relationship with my parents doesn't ruin what I have with Jade.

And I’d never want to replace her mom and dad. Neither of us would. We're always going to think of my sister and my brother-in-law, and that's always going to be hard.

But both of us, Jade and I, are finding a way to have a family that we never thought we'd get.

Sure, I held on to that belief for a lot longer than she did, but we're still both able to find joy in each other's presence. And I can't help but be grateful for that.

I hope that if my sisterisaware of what's going on, if any of that is real, she sees how much I love Jade, how much Hazelloves Jade, and how hard we're going to work to give her the best possible life.

It takes us less than five minutes to get each other naked when we get home, our clothes scattered down the hallway in a trail that leads to the bedroom.

Ourbedroom.

I kiss Hazel with everything I’ve got, our tongues tangling as our touches roam over each other’s skin. Backing Hazel up, I don’t separate our lips as I get her onto the bed, not until I’ve got her lying down, gloriously naked.