Page 14 of I Knew He Was Trouble
Kelsey peers into my cart. “Just looking at your food makes me sad. Where are the snacks?”
I lift up a box of protein bars. “These are snacks. Besides, most of this is for my niece.”
“Isn’t she five?”
I nod.
“Yeah, she’s probably not going to eat half of this.” Kelsey wrinkles her nose. “The fruit and some of the bars you can keep. But where’s the kid-friendly food?”
“Kid-friendly?”
She looks unimpressed. Kelsey turns her head to the side, looking longingly at the self-checkout before turning back to me and placing her basket in my cart. She looks at the shelf beside us and adds a bottle of butter-flavored syrup to the cart.
“What’re you doing?” I ask. “Do you need me to buy this for you?”
Kelsey let out an exasperated sigh like I couldn’t be a bigger idiot. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m helping you shop.”
“I already shopped, but thanks.”
“As her nanny, I think it’s my civil duty to save Evie from her uncle’s poor snack choices.”
I cross my arms over my chest. She glances down at them, her cheeks flushing again. I bite back a smile. “Is that so?”
“Come on, Doolittle.” She walks down the aisle.
“You know that’s an animal doctor, right?” I call after her.
“Fine. Come on then, Frankenstein.”
I take a deep breath, exhaling slowly through my nose. “That’s even worse.” And I don’t know exactly why, but I follow her down the next aisle and the one after that, not saying a word as she throws in boxes of muffin mix, mac and cheese, and fruit snacks.
“Do these haveanynutritious value?” I pick up the fruit snacks, and my eyes go wide when I read the sugar amount on the label.
Kelsey grabs it from my hands, throwing it back in the cart. “They’re good for the soul.”
I don’t fight her, even though the thought of giving them to Evie makes me wince.
We make it out of the refrigerated and frozen aisles with bags of chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas, yogurt, and cheese sticks. Although everything Kelsey grabbed isn’t what I would’ve picked, at least there’s some protein and dairy in the mix.
Kelsey looks at the cart, places her hands on her hips, and a pleased smile covers her lips. “That oughta do it.”
We reach the checkout line, and I start placing everything on the conveyor belt. I suppose I should thank Kelsey for herhelp, even though I didn’t ask for it.
When we’re waiting for the person in front of us to finish, I turn to her. “Thanks for your…insight.”
She shrugs. “I’ve never been able to pass up helping a lost puppy when I see one.”
I shake my head. Kelsey gets under my skin more than anyone else I’ve ever met. I know I asked her to be Evie’s nanny out of desperation, but I have no clue how we’re going to get through seeing each other every day for a few months without getting on each other’s last nerve.
“How are we going to do this?” I ask.
“Do what?”
“Work together.” I rub the back of my neck. “Becordialto each other.”
“It’s simple, really.” She leans against the side of the conveyor belt. “You just have to learn to be a respectful, civil neighbor who doesn’t blast music at four in the morning, and then maybe I’ll consider not letting the dogs pee in your yard.”
“Yesterday, you didn’t seem to mind the fact that I work out.” I smirk, remembering how she’d blushed after looking at my arms. It looked similar to the blush covering her cheeks right now, except this one is more angry than ogling.
