Page 12 of Forbidden Kisses

"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.