Chapter Five
Levi
Somewhere in between Lawson and Kaitlyn, our new little squirt had fallen asleep in my arms.
Ben’s jaw clenched, and the vein in his neck bulged as he waited on the edge of his chair, constantly looking at his watch. “He’s a little late,” he sighed, comparing his watch with the clock on the wall.
“Well, we know that most GPS systems direct people to the house down the street by accident. Maybe he’s looking for us.”
Tobias let out a little snore and bunched his lips up, angry at himself for the startle. The little guy was a joy to have in our life. Yes, figuring out bottles and formula and poop smells was part of it, but I felt like I had a new purpose in life, other than working and loving my mate. I had this being in my arms who was counting on me to make sure he didn’t become Lawson one day.
“Maybe he’s another half-wit who’s going to come in and ask what the pizza budget is or how our Wi-Fi connection is before even looking at the kid.”
I sighed. We did seem to have a run of the typical collegiate bozos for interviewees.
“How can we do this, Levi? Tobias just lost his father, and now here we are trying to hire another perfect stranger to be in his life.” He got up and paced the room, raking his fingers through his hair.
“Because we have to, Ben. I work crazy hours and you get so immersed in your number crunching that you don’t even know the world is still turning.”
My husband almost tried to disagree with me, opening his mouth and then clamping it shut. I was right, and he knew it.
I continued, “So, he needs someone to be here when we can’t. And for now, this is the best solut—”
My last word was cut off by the ring of the doorbell. Ben jumped a mile high before taking a deep breath with his hand on his chest.
“If this doesn’t work out, we call Brent.”
I nodded. “Agreed. Now go. Maybe this is the one.”
While I waited, I gently turned Tobias so that he was resting on another arm. The one he’d decided to nap on had been numb for the past half hour. I heard Ben in the other room talking, his tone and attitude quite changed. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad after all.
“Cory, this is my husband, Levi, and, of course, Tobias.” Ben extended his hand, and when I raised my eyes to look at him, a faint blush pinked his cheeks.
Then when I looked at the man I was being introduced to, I knew exactly why.
Gods above, the man was gorgeous. His green eyes shone brilliant against the contrast of his tanned skin. His hair was longer on the top than on the sides in an almost-retro cut. Instead of the over-starched clothes the other interviewees had worn, he was more casual, in a pair of navy slacks and a gray V-neck sweater.
“Levi, Cory said his GPS took him to the house down the street. Now that you mention it, a few of our friends have said the same thing. How strange. We thought you were just late.”
“No, sir. I was actually about ten minutes early, ringing the doorbell down the street until an older woman answered and let me know I was in the wrong place.”
“Oh, I’m sorry about that. Please sit down.”
When Ben turned his back on Cory, he gave me an “Oh my gods” mouthing and winked at me.
The man hadn’t winked at me in years.
“Cory, tell us a little about yourself,” I said, reaching for one of the lightweight blankets to cover Tobias. His legs were a little cold.
“Well, I’m from Ohio, originally. I’m the oldest of a family of twelve.” While he said these things, he got up from the chair and picked up the blanket then handed it to me. “I came to Mapleville to live while I finished up my PhD in child psychology. But, things turned out a little differently than I expected, so, now, I’m looking for work in my field.”
“That must’ve been where you saw my ad. At the college job site.”
Cory nodded. A sense of euphoria pulled at me. When he’d given me the blanket, his scent had infiltrated my nose and made me a little dizzy. Not the dizzy like I was going to fall down, the dizzy after a good orgasm kind. I shook my head a little, trying to make it go away.
“Yes, sir.”
Ben laughed, and I recognized it as his business laugh, louder than usual. “Please don’t call us sir. We probably aren’t much older than you.”
Cory shrugged. “Sorry. My mom was originally from the Deep South. She’d be all over me if I didn’t call people sir and ma’am, even if they were the same age as me, at least until I got to know them.”
“She sounds like a good mother. If you’re hired, you’d be fine with living in our home?” I asked, looking at Ben for some kind of confirmation that he liked Cory as much as I did. In fact, I think my husband liked Cory a lot. Ben gave me a curt nod, one nobody else in the room would have caught on to.
“Yes, actually. I’ve been living in an apartment above Mrs. Vivian’s garage, and while it’s comfortable and I’m grateful for it, I’d like a little more space. Can I ask the both of you a question?”
We nodded.
“How old is Tobias? Why are you looking to hire a nanny?”
Ben looked at the baby in my arms and began. “Tobias is the son, well was the son, of my cousin who died a few weeks ago. We had no other family, and so Tobias came to us when he passed. We’re very new at this. I am an accountant, and Levi is a firefighter. Our hours are crazy, and even if we could get him into a daycare, it would only take care of the day hours. Levi often works days at a time or nights, and at crunch time, I tend to work into the night. We thought maybe this would be a good solution. We could spend time with Tobias when we can in between shifts and be with him during the days like today when Levi is off work and resting.”
It all sounded a bit selfish when Ben explained the situation, but we had careers, and we wanted very much for our new son to be safe and cared for while continuing our pursuits.
“That makes sense. Having Tobias in the house maximizes the time you can spend with him. Poor little guy, losing his father so young.”
Tobias rustled in my hold when Cory mentioned his father. He wiggled and whined until I sat him up. He loved to look around the room and didn’t much like to be held in a position where he couldn’t see who and what was happening around him.
“May I?” Cory stood again and reached out his arms, as though I’d already agreed. Tobias went to him freely.
That feeling came up my body like a warmed blanket as I watched Cory with the baby. He effortlessly spoke to him, and Tobias kicked and giggled. Ben came to sit next to me as Cory took Tobias around the room and spoke to him about the art on the wall and the sunshine filtering through the windows, like the two had known each other all their lives.
“Tell me what you think, love. He’s great with Tobias.”
I reached to touch Ben’s still-present blush and winked at him. “He’s great. Yes. I think Cory will be great for Tobias.”
“He’s an omega, Levi.” Ben whispered the words, and they seemed to ripple through my torso, causing me to shudder.
“I know.” Gods, did I know. The scent of Cory wasn’t carried in his cologne, it was in his cells. He was an omega to our two alphas.
“Let’s just hire him as our nanny right now. I don’t need to see anyone else. Do you?”
Ben shook his head and then rested his chin on my shoulder after kissing my neck. “He’s perfect.”
“Stop looking at the nanny’s ass, Benjamin.” I grabbed him around the waist and pulled him to me.
“He’s got a perfect ass, too.”
“Cory, Ben and I would love to have you as our nanny,” I announced.
Cory turned around and smiled at us and nodded. Yep, he might be the one in more than one way.