Duncan
Duncan got home later than he was expecting.Being out of the office for six months, he did not foresee needing to play catchup on paperwork. He’d still had to do face-to-face meetings with a few business clients and had to leave the twins in what he thought was the capable hands of the nannies he'd hired. After talking with the twins, he realized the women had two different personalities. Attentive when he was around and ignored them when he wasn't.
Hopefully, Jordan isn’t the same way. I’d hate to have to find another nanny.
Although there was a small slipup with Jordan, his new personal assistant seemed as if she was going to work out perfectly. There were a few things he already loved about her, she was happily married to her husband for fifty years with her second grandchild on the way. Fate apparently smiled down on him, sending Cassie and Jordan his way. He initially passed Cassie up for both positions because he needed a live-in nanny and being a personal assistant could be very taxing and demanding. He picked Jordan because he was younger and could handle Duncan’s demanding schedule. Cassie being married would not have worked out that well.
Duncan still was not sure how Cassie would work out as his assistant. She would definitely need time off once her daughter gave birth. When he brought that up to her that morning, he was told that her daughter lived with her and had more than enough help to care for the newborn. He had a feeling that there was more to his personal assistant than what met the eye. But rules dictated that he should not ask.Thinking about kids, Duncan hoped the twins had been on their best behavior for Jordan and that what he’d seen earlier that morning in the kitchen was not a fluke. He was not naïve to the twins’ mischievous behavior no matter how angelic they looked. After Mari and Ben’s death, he’d still tried to work and take care of the kids at the same time, thinking he would only need a nanny for a few hours a day. He really underestimated the amount of attention the twins required.
He walked further into his home and was surprised that it was all so quiet. He scented the air for any signs of trouble and was satisfied when everything seemed calm. He walked into the family room and stopped at the entrance at the sight that greeted him.Jordan was sitting in the middle of both twins, his arms holding them close to his chest. He found all three asleep on the couch. This was definitely something new; it seemed the twins trusted Jordan more than all the previous nannies he hired. With all the former nannies, he would have to come home after his meetings and wrangle the twins to bed.
Duncan set his briefcase down and quietly walked into the room. He stood there looking at them for a few seconds before pulling out his phone and snapping a few pictures. He wanted to capture every memory he could of the kids while they were young enough. They wouldn’t remain his sweet babies forever. Sooner or later they would have their own families. He snapped a couple more before deciding to wake them up. He gently tapped Jordan on the leg, when that did not work he tried a bit harder and got a response.
“Dammit, Bronx, leave me the hell alone,” Jordan said as he opened his eyes. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, blinking a couple of times.
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
Jordan went to sit up, but realized both his arms were pinned down. “Oh man, we must have fallen asleep while I was reading to them.”
Duncan looked down at his feet and noticed a children's book he had never seen before. He bent down and picked up the book and read the title.The Little Wolf Who Could Not Howl,it was one of his and Mari’s favorite books to read when they were young. Duncan chuckled and speculated if it was the twins who wanted to buy the book.
“Yeah, I was against getting it, but once they batted their lovely blue eyes in my direction, I caved quicker than a man with his best pickup lines.”
“They’ve hypnotized me a time or two,” Duncan said, throwing the book down on the other side of the sofa.
“Um…do you mind?” Jordan asked, getting Duncan’s attention. He looked at the other man as he tried to move one of his hands from around one of the twins without trying to wake them up.
“Yeah, I can help you.” He reached down and picked up Benjamin, who barely stirred. The little pup opened his eyes for a second, looked at Duncan, then rested his head on his shoulder. He mumbled what sounded like “Hi, Uncle Duncan” before going back to sleep.
Duncan rubbed his nephew’s back as he walked out of the family room and up the stairs to his nephew's room. He did not wait or look back to see if Jordan was following him with Maddison. He tucked Benjamin in, kissed him on his forehead, then turned on his night light and walked out of the room, leaving the door cracked just a bit. He was about to enter Maddison’s room when he bumped into Jordan coming out. Jordan was pushed back, Duncan reached out and grabbed him before he fell. Once again, the scent from the first time he met Jordan wafted under his nose.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” Jordan whispered.
Duncan looked down and his eyes landed on Jordan’s beautiful ruby eyes, they seemed to glow in the low-lit hallway.Gods, he has the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.Duncan’s beast purred, and he could not understand why he seemed calm in the other man’s presence. And honestly, he did not want to know why. Remembering that Jordan spoke, Duncan shook his head. “It’s not your fault, I was not watching here I was going.” He released the younger man and stepped back, giving Jordan room to step around him.
“Hey, I’m going to take off. I will be back tomorrow morning,” Jordan said to him as he started to walk down the hall.
“No,” he said quickly stopping Jordan before he got too far. “I mean…give me a few seconds. There are some things that I need to go over with you that I forgot about this morning. Wait for me in the family room.” Duncan didn’t want to examine why the thought of having Jordan leave made him feel funny. Truthfully, what he needed to speak with Jordan about could be done in the morning.
“Yeah, okay,” Jordan answered and continued down the stairs. Duncan walked into Maddison's room and did the same exact thing he did with Benjamin. Before going back down the stairs, he went to his room and changed into something more comfortable. He made his way down the stairs and looked in the family room, expecting to see Jordan sitting on the couch waiting for him. But the room was empty. He heard noises coming from the kitchen, he grabbed his briefcase and made his way down the hall.
“Hey,” Jordan said when he walked in. “I figured you might be hungry, so I made you a sandwich.”
Duncan sat down, resting his case on the empty chair. “Yeah, thanks. The last time I ate was at lunch.”
Jordan cleaned up, while Duncan ate. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Duncan put his half-eaten sandwich down and faced Jordan. “Well, first, I usually have all the new nannies sign the confidentiality agreement I mentioned this morning. I think I was bowled over with the fact that the kids took to you better than any of the other caretakers I hired previously.” Duncan reached into his briefcase and pulled out the forms he had his secretary rewrite for him, adding Jordan’s name and placed it in front of him. “I also wanted to go into more details about your duties with the kids, but first I want to hear about their day. When I spoke to you earlier today, you had to rush off the phone. Did something happen?”
Jordan smiled. “No, the kids were great, I was helping Benjamin with his painting,” he told Duncan then started to detail his day with the kids. Jordan did not expect to have such a great time with them on his first day, even though it wasn’t what he applied for. They went to the park that was not far from the house, then walked to the bookstore. He did find it odd that everywhere they went, everyone seemed to know the kids. Especially, for a pair of kids that the public wasn’t aware of, they were pretty famous to the locals. The shopkeepers spoke nicely to the twins and even going as far as calling them by their first names.
Jordan didn’t miss the critical eyes directed his way until one of the twins told them that they liked him. They had lunch after leaving the bookstore. They returned home and did a few art projects which Jordan was all too happy to show them since art was something he enjoyed doing as a hobby. Not once did the twins ask to call their uncle throughout the day. Even when Duncan called earlier that day, the twins didn’t feel the need to speak to their uncle.
“It sounds like you guys had a good time. Sorry I missed it and dinner, apparently.”
“Yeah, I mean it’s only the first day. I wanted to see where everything is around here and the twins were more than happy to be my tour guides.” Jordan smiled, and Duncan hummed.
“Let me guess, they took you to all their favorite spots?”
