Chapter Five
Riley
We went straight to his playroom, and I sat down on the floor with him.
His eyes widened. "Oh, you can sit on that chair. Ms. Williams always sits there. She says her hips are too bad."
I couldn't help but laugh. Then I snorted and put my hand over my mouth.
"Sorry, that was very unladylike. I'm good on the floor," I said.
Poor woman. I couldn't really imagine keeping up with Jeremy in my sixties, but some people were young at heart even if their hips weren't on the same page.
For the next hour, he told me more information than I thought one could possibly know about a toy car.
He tried to get me to learn the names of the cars.
I remembered Fiat and Mercedes because they had real car names, but I couldn't remember the made-up ones. Still, I’d trained to be a lawyer, so if I heard them a few times more, I was sure that I would commit them to memory.
"What do you want to do now?" I asked him after he put his cars back.
He turned around. "Can I play a video game?"
Hmm, mental note: I should just give him options, not a blank slate. "You said your father only allowed you to do that during the weekend."
"But you're not Dad," he said quickly.
Game on, Jeremy. “How about going outside?" Then I got an idea. "Or maybe you have something we can prepare for dinner?"
He shrugged. "No, Dad and I always go to eat in the city on Thursday. I'm in the mood for tacos."
"I can make you some if you want."
His jaw dropped. "I didn't know nannies could cook."
"Well, not all of them can. But I do."
"And you know how to make tacos?” His eyes widened. “You're magic. I thought only old people knew things."
I chuckled. "Nah, we just know more and more things as we get older. I’ll look at what you have in the fridge, and then we can go shopping for anything else we might need."
There really wasn't much in the fridge, just some prepackaged salad, ham, and cheese. Certainly nothing for tacos. I looked in the pantry next. They had tortillas, at least, so that was good. "What are your favorite kinds?"
"Fried chicken," he said. "And Dad loves pulled pork."
Ah, pulled pork was a bit hard to do in a pinch, although they did have a slow cooker, and there were about two hours until Duncan would be home.
"Would you like to go on a little shopping trip?" I asked.
"Yes, please."
"Do you have a Costco around here?"
"What's that?"
I bit back a laugh. It had to be wonderful to grow up in a world where you didn't even know what Costco was.
Once I explained, he told me, "There’s a grocery shop inside the community."
That was so cool. One day, after I paid off my student debt, this was definitely the type of place I’d like to live in, where everything was inclusive—a pool and a grocery store and who knew what else.
"That's neat," I said. "Come on, let's go."
I hadn't discussed with Duncan how we would handle any money I’d pay out of pocket, but I assumed I would have to show him the receipts and he would reimburse me.
Jeremy led me to the grocery store. At first, I was excited because the place looked exquisite and seemed to have fruits and veggies and grass-fed meat.
Then I looked at the prices and nearly had a panic attack.
That couldn't be right. I didn't even have enough cash on me to pay for all of this.
I'd left my cards in my wallet at home because I stupidly didn't realize I might need it.
But even so, the total sum would be so much that I wouldn't dare pay it, fearing Duncan think I was a total idiot for shopping here, let alone if he didn't pay me back.
He didn't strike me as the type to do that, but who knew.
I'd been stiffed so many times back when I waitressed that I didn't want to risk it.
I took out my phone, looking at other supermarkets in the area.
There was an Albertsons a few blocks away. We could definitely walk that distance.
I turned to Jeremy. "Hey, what do you think about going to another supermarket? I found one nearby."
"Okay," he said. "I love seeing new places."
"So, tell me about school, Jeremy," I said as we followed the route on Google Maps. Even though it was straightforward, I had zero sense of direction and didn’t want to risk going the opposite way.
"It's okay, I guess."
"You don't sound very excited."
He frowned. "Are you supposed to be excited about school?"
"Hmm." I considered this. "I don't remember if I ever was."
"So, you’re going to be my nanny only until Ms. Williams returns, right?"
"Yes. Why?"
He sighed dramatically. "I like you."
God, he totally had my heart. "I'll tell you a secret, Jeremy. I like you too."
We arrived at Albertsons a few minutes later.
I often shopped here, so I knew the layout of the stores by heart.
In less than twenty minutes, we had everything we needed for tacos with fried chicken and pulled pork, as well as ingredients for avocado salad and pico de gallo.
However, our trip had cost us half an hour, so now I didn't have that much time to make the pulled pork. I decided to simply fry it instead.
Once we were back in the loft, I brought the groceries to the kitchen.
"Dad always lets me take stuff out of the bag. Can I do it?" Jeremy asked me.
"Sure."
I watched him in awe as he brought a little stool from a corner and put it next to me, then climbed onto it and expertly removed the items, separating them by meat and veggies.
"Do you often cook with your dad?"
He nodded. "Yes, always."
My heart did a little flip. I could just imagine that hunk of a man?—
Damn it, Riley. Take out the hunk part. He's Jeremy's dad, that's it. That's all he's going to be .
I chopped everything professionally and made sure Jeremy was far enough from the stove so oil didn't accidentally land on him while I fried the meat.
I'd given him the task of assembling the tacos. He was surprisingly good at it for a ten-year-old. I kept an eye on him and gently nudged him when he filled them too much.
"They could burst while you eat them if they’re too full," I said.
"Okay," he said quickly. He finished filling the last taco while I started prepping the pico de gallo.
"What's going on?" Duncan's voice boomed through the condo.
I straightened up, heat coursing through me. I’d been so involved with the food that I hadn’t heard him come in.
"We made dinner!" Jeremy exclaimed. "I told Riley that we sometimes go for tacos on Thursday. Then she asked what our favorites were, and then she cooked them! She's magic! She knows stuff, and she's so young, and she can sit on the floor with me." He said all of this without even taking a breath.
I smiled before focusing on my pico de gallo and finished slicing the last few tomatoes. After I put them in the bowl, Duncan came up to me.
"Hey."
"Hi!" My voice sounded a bit strange. He was far closer than he'd been at the coffee shop. His presence was even more overpowering now.
"Riley, it's your first day. You didn't have to cook."
"I know, but Jeremy and I had some time, so we decided to cook dinner. I like making tacos. They’re my favorite. And he’s an excellent chef."
Jeremy beamed. "Did you hear that, Dad? She called me a chef!"
Duncan looked at me with warm eyes.
"All right," I said, "everything’s ready. Unless there's anything else, I'm going to leave the two of you to enjoy your dinner."
"Why don't you have dinner with us?" Duncan asked, rolling his shoulders slightly backward.
"What? No, I couldn't."
"You did say tacos are your favorite."
I smiled sheepishly. "I wasn't trying to get you to invite me."
"I know. But it would be good for us to catch up about your day. Then we'll finalize a few more things. I've got the keys to the car. I had it brought to the garage. It was ready earlier than I anticipated. I can show it to you after dinner. Unless, of course, you have other plans."
I shook my head. "I have zero plans.”
“Then you’re our guest tonight.”
“Okay, um… I’ll set the table, then.”
"No, your work is officially over," he said, tapping his watch.
I'd never seen anyone wear an actual watch before. It wasn't a brand I recognized, but I was certain it was expensive. It looked exquisite. I could even see the mechanism with all the little gears inside.
"Ready, buddy?" Duncan asked Jeremy.
"Yes, Dad," Jeremy said in a serious voice.
Duncan took the plate with tacos from the kitchen island and brought it to the dining table. Jeremy put place mats on the table along with forks, and Duncan brought the knives and plates and tall glasses of water.
"All right, dinner is served," Jeremy said in a serious voice.
I looked at Duncan, who smiled at me brilliantly. When had he undone his top button? His shirt had been perfectly buttoned up just a few seconds ago.
I sat next to Jeremy at the wooden table, and Duncan was sitting opposite me. It was good that we were on opposite sides because I couldn't be around him and not lose my wits. I wasn't entirely sure why he had that effect on me. We’d only just met, after all—and he was my boss.
"So, how was your afternoon?" Duncan asked Jeremy.
"I showed her all my cars, and then we went to the store here, but then we went to Albertsons."
Duncan frowned but didn't say anything. I was certain he’d circle back to that later. I shimmied nervously in my chair, putting one taco with chicken and one with pork on my plate. I didn't have much to contribute to their conversation, but Jeremy seemed more than happy to fill him in.
"I was thinking we could go to the pool tomorrow," I said once Jeremy finished giving Duncan the rundown of the day.
He nodded feverishly. "Yes, yes, yes! I love the pool, but I wanted to show you my cars first."
"The tacos are delicious," Duncan said.
I dipped my head. "Thank you."
While we ate dinner, Jeremy was asking me the names of his cars. I tricked him into saying them out loud before I repeated them, though I wasn't sure how long it would last before he caught on to my tactic.