Page 99 of Forbidden Kisses
"I do, right?"
I was wearing a white dress with lace straps and a boatneck collar.
"You're dressing up awfully cute. Are you trying to impress that kid you're nannying? Or the dad?" She winked at me, and I blushed.
"You know that I just like to dress nicely."
"Hmm. True. But then again, if my boss looked like Duncan Sterling, I'd put in a lot of effort too. Don't you usually start your day in the afternoon?"
"Yes, but Jeremy had a short school day today. I'm actually picking him up from riding lessons."
"Wow. I didn't even know people did that anymore."
I laughed. "Neither did I until Jeremy."
I'd prepared a whole afternoon of activities for the two of us.
While I applied makeup in the small mirror that I kept in the bedroom, my phone beeped with an incoming message from Duncan.
Duncan: Good morning, gorgeous. Keep tonight free. I'm taking you and Jeremy out to celebrate your last day on the job.
I squealed.
"Hey, you scared me to death," Paula protested.
I held up the phone with the screen toward her even though she couldn't see it because she was on the other side of the bedroom.
"He's taking us out. See, it’s a good thing I dressed nicely.”
She smiled sheepishly, then glanced at the huge backpack she'd taken out from under the bed. Maybe she was planning totake a hike today. I didn't want to ask her, though, not wanting her to feel like her big sister was checking in on her.
"I'm sure you'll have fun," she said.
"Wish me luck on my last day, sis.”
Forty minutes later, I watched Jeremy as he walked toward me with a toothy grin. This ranch was amazing! It almost made me want to learn how to ride myself. They offered lessons in horseback riding for adults too—I’d already checked.
"I was the first today!" he exclaimed.
"Congratulations."
"I've never been first before."
"Is it a competition?" I asked.
"Not officially. We’re just training, but it's always a competition."
I nodded. "Ah, duly noted."
I hadn't realized that Jeremy had a competitive streak, but then again, how could I? I'd never seen him interact with other kids, and he didn't have a brother or sister. But remembering how Duncan and his brothers tried one-upping each other, Jeremy probably picked that up from within the family.
I still had so much to learn about him. But I was running out of time.
"I thought we should start our day together with ice cream.”
Jeremy smiled. "This is the best day ever. First, I won our race. And now I get to have ice cream. Where are we going?"
"There's an ice cream parlor near here."
