His Nanny Mate By Eve Above Story

Chapter 21: The Secret Brother
Moana

“Uncle Ethan!” Ella jumped up and ran over to Ethan. Smiling, he picked her up and twirled her around in a circle. The quiet air of the garden became briefly filled with the sweet sound of the little girl’s giggles before he sat her back down and patted her on the head.

“I think your grandma is looking for you,” he said, to which Ella immediately perked up and took off to find Verona.

I was still sitting on the bench, utterly shocked by Ethan’s presence. “Fancy seeing you here,” he said, walking up to me and standing in front of me so that his tall body blocked the light.

“Fancy seeing you here, too,” I said, standing. “I had no idea you were related to the Morgan family.”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, running a hand through his hair. Even now, dressed in his formal attire, I could see a small smudge of paint on the artist’s left pinky. “The whole ‘Bradley’ last name is just a pseudonym. Well, sort of; it was my mother’s maiden name. I use it now to protect my true identity.”

I nodded, not sure of what to say. Ethan turned and walked over to the fountain, gesturing for me to follow, which I did.

“So… You’re Ella’s au pair, right?” Ethan asked as we slowly walked together around the garden. The summer air was still and humid, but the feeling of the cool spray coming off of the fountain was refreshing.

in the direction where Ella had just gone.

orange trees, their branches heavy and laden with ripe fruit. From where we stood, I could smell the citrus in the air. As we passed underneath the trees, Ethan casually reached up and plucked one. I watched as he expertly peeled the orange while keeping the peel in one long strip, then tossed the peel into a nearby shrub

nanny. I know how much the kids

“Thank you,” I replied. “I love

bit more around the garden, then passed through one side of the large colonnade, where the feeling of the cold

railing of one side of the colonnade that looked out

almost a little embarrassed by it. “I still live here now, part of the time, whenever

behind us. The party sounded as though it had gotten more lively inside; I could hear music now, and the sound of laughter. Through one of the large draped windows that led to the banquet hall, I could see

hummed along to the music, bobbing his head a bit for a few moments

“Care for a dance?”

my

I admitted, staring down at

taking my hand and pulling me away from the railing. “It’s easy. Besides, no one

other hand on my waist. I felt him firmly pull me

“It’s like this…”

a beat in the music, then stepped to the left, then the right, and backwards and forwards. Surprisingly, with him leading me, it was easy to move along with him. Soon enough, we were spinning around the colonnade to the faint music and the sound of the crickets, laughing along with

a final spin, Ethan dipped me. He hesitated at the bottom of the dip, our breathless faces hovering close enough to one another that

on my feet and stepped away with a

he said. “Some might even

enamored at the same time. My heart still pounded from our near-kiss, but I knew that it would never happen; not only was I just a human, but it would also be wildly inappropriate