Page 11 of The Accidental Nanny (All Of You #1)

CHAPTER NINE

Alex

W e’re all back home by six. The girls show off their new, matching pink nails.

Whilst Eden has hers just painted, Gemma seems to have some sort of tip on the edges of hers.

Eden is warned that the colour would have to be removed before school tomorrow, which she isn't happy about.

So, to try and cheer her up, we give her the new stuffed bunny. It calms things, if only a little.

The rose is sat in the bottom of the paper bag. Carefully taking it out, I give it to Gemma.

“For me?” She smiles. It’s as pretty as her.

Eden sees the rose and starts to cry. Gemma gives it over to my daughter who smells it and then discards almost as soon as she is handed it.

“What are we doing for dinner tonight?” Gemma asks me.

She jumps on the kitchen unit, grabbing an eating apple from the fruit bowl.Her long legs are crossed over each other. How short are her shorts?

“Let’s get the cookbook out. I’m sure we can make something. Kids, want to help with dinner?” I ask .

“Yes,” they shout in unison.

The four of us stand in the kitchen looking at a basic cookbook. Flicking through the pages, trying to find something we can make.

Ace leans over. “What are we making? I want lasa?—”

“No!” Gemma and I both say.

Ace’s face drops when he can't have what he wants. He has, at least, chirped up since our little outing.

“Let’s do something simple,” Gemma says.

I watch her as she flicks through the cookbook, her hair tied up in a bun. Her shorts are riding up her bum, revealing the curve of her ass cheek.

She stops at a page. “I like the idea of chicken pasta bake.”

I look at the image. It seems simple enough.

“I agree. Let’s do this!”

After reading the instructions several times, we begin. The children fetch ingredients from the fridge and the pantry, and then they get the pots and pans we need. I work on the chicken and also show Gemma how to boil the pasta.

She watches it like a hawk, stirring it now and then. It's humorous the way she doesn't want it to go wrong. We make slow progress. It isn't the most technical dish to make, but thanks to our lack of cooking skills, it's complicated enough for both of us.

While the pasta bake is in the oven, the children set the table and then go off to play.

Gemma and I tidy up. I leave her for five minutes to run a sink of soapy water while I take the rubbish out to the outside bin.

When I come back, the sink is overflowing with bubbles, and I glance at the bottle.

A lucky guess says she used at least a quarter of the washing up liquid in that sink.

I try not to laugh as she looks at me, her eyebrows pinched. I smile and shake my head.

"Get to it," I tell her .

She washes up by hand, while I dry. I stand close to her; I’m almost touching her. She turns, looking at me.

“Alex?”

“Yeah,” I reply, narrowing my eyes.

She gives me a wicked smile. Picking up some bubbles, she blows them in my direction. They land on my face.

“Oh! Oh no, you didn’t.” I dunk my hands into the sink next, doing the same back to her.

She gives me a shocked look, followed by a massive smile. “You’re dead,” she hisses. She scoops her hands in, throwing water in my direction.

Laughing, I grab a cup and lean over her.

She tries to push me away, but it isn't going to happen.

I empty the cup over her head, trapping her in my arms with her back against my chest. She doesn't move for a few seconds, breathing heavily.

I don't anticipate her next move. She spins back around, then she turns to face me. There is a large jug in her hand.

“Gemma, no. No!”

She pours it all over my body, as she is a bit too short to reach my head. I grab hold of her wrist, direct it towards her, and tip the last bit over her. I watch as the water trails down her face to her breast line. Why am I looking?

The alarm on the oven starts to go off. The children come running in, they stop when they see the state of us and the water that is splashed everywhere.

“What are you doing?” Ace asks. He looks at the puddle of water on the floor and our drenched bodies.

“We had a bit of a water fight. It got out of hand,” I answer.

“Boobies.” Eden laughs.

Both Gemma and I look down to see that her white top is see-through—her hard nipples are visible.

“I’ll just get changed.” Gemma’s face flushes red, and she folds her arms around her chest. "You get the chicken bake out of the oven. "

Gemma

Running up the stairs, I grab a clean towel out of the airing cupboard on my way to my room.

I shut my bedroom door as fast as I can.

While I stand in front of the long mirror and undress, I think about the way Alex stared at my breasts.

I remove my bra and admire my small but beautifully formed handful.

They are gorgeous, even if I say so myself.

“Gem.” Ace is calling me from the other side of my door. “Dinner is ready.”

“I’ll be down in a sec,” I call back, grabbing a dress and changing into it.

The food is already plated up when I enter, and the children are stuffing their faces. I can't believe we did it. We managed to cook something they like. I take my seat next to Alex. He seems uncomfortable, and it's then that I realise I forgot to put on a bra.

“Wine?” he offers. He doesn’t know where to look, and his cheeks are stained a little red.

“Sure.” I could use a drink.

He pours me a glass of white. A very large glass. I feel his knee scrape mine as he sits back down, and we both freeze, looking at each other. He mouths an apology. I think he’s avoiding me as he turns his attention to the food. I take a large gulp of wine. This is definitely uncomfortable.

“Gemma, your face is red,” Eden says as loud as she can so nobody could possibly miss it.

"It looks like you are burned."

I could die. I don't want Alex seeing me as anything other than calm and collected.

“This wine,” I joke, ignoring her comment.

Eden giggles again. "Is it because you're drinking wine?"

"Eden, enough, honey." Alex’s voice is firm. "Leave Gemma to eat her meal. We should cook together more often." He takes a huge bite .

"I can't cook, you can't cook, but together we make a decent enough team." I try to break the tension between us.

Alex smiles, and then I see him glance again at my breasts before he clears his throat and looks away.

"Gemma, will you read to me again tonight?" Eden asks. "I want to hear about the princess unicorn."

"We read that last night. Why don't we pick something else?"

"Because that's my favourite.” Her eyes go all watery and her lips start to wobble.

I look at Alex, who shrugs. "It's her favourite."

"Fine. First, we need to run a bath and don’t forget we need to wash your hair and dry it, and we need to take off that nail polish."

"I don't want to," Eden pouts.

"Well, you have to," I respond. "No arguments or we can't do it again."

Eden goes back to her food, and I feel guilty.

Next time, I'll take her on a Friday to do her nails so they can be pretty for the whole weekend.

Ace finishes first and goes upstairs to shower by himself.

Once he's done, I run a bath for Eden and get her in.

I wash her hair, then her body, and then take her into my room to dry her hair.

I've already laid out her pyjamas on my bed, so I dress her as well.

Once her hair is silky soft and dry, and her nails are clean, I lead her back to her room.

"I'm going to sleep by daddy," she starts to get out of bed.

"You know you don't have to. Big girls sleep in their own beds," I say, my voice is soft. "But if it makes you feel better, why not?"

Eden climbs into her bed and hugs her teddy bear. "Where is Mr Snuggles?" she asks in her innocent little voice.

"Mr Snuggles?"

"My unicorn, he's always on my bed." She looks around, worried .

I check under the bed. "You sure you didn't take him downstairs?" I ask.

"No," she says, tearing up.

"You're very tired. Maybe you did without thinking. I’ll go look and be right back for our story," I say, getting up.

I go downstairs and find Alex relaxing on the sofa. I start poking around the living room, leaning over the sofa, and I'm acutely aware of his eyes on me.

"I'm looking for Mr Snuggles."

"He's in my room," Alex replies. "She brought him there last night. You'll find him on the bed."

"Thanks," I say, brushing my hair out of my face. I look at him, and we both blush.

"When you're done, why don't you come finish your wine?" he asks.

I fidget with my dress, flattening it down. "I should get to bed. I want to wake up early and make the kids breakfast."

"You're doing well, Gemma," he says after a pause. "I can see you're trying hard."

"Thank you." My voice has gone quiet. Why can’t I speak like a normal person? Like the usual me?

I go upstairs to get Mr Snuggles before I read Eden a bedtime story.

Once I'm back in my room, I peel my clothes off. I can’t stop thinking about Alex. I have a strange feeling in my body. I feel wet between my legs, and I know my face is burning up thinking about him.

Lying down on the bed, I start to imagine what kissing him would be like? My breathing is getting faster. Placing my hands on my chest, I wonder if he’s thinking about me.