Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Oh, can I get apple slices?” Violet grabs a package of apple slices and peanut butter from the cold case and holds it up to me.
“Yep, grab one for Addie and a salad for me.”
Violet stacks the goodies into her arms and then drops them onto the counter.
I order myself a coffee and the girls each a chocolate milk with whipped cream and then pull my card out of my new purse to pay.
The barista directs us on where to go to pick up our drinks, and we head over to wait for them.
“Do you want to eat here or at the park?”
“Here, then go to the park,” Violet says. “It’s so hot out. I don’t want my drink to melt.”
I chuckle at my almost-five-year-old’s dramatics and nod in agreement.
“Kira!” the barista calls, pushing our three drinks to the edge of the counter.
“Thank you.”
I grab the girls’ drinks, stick a straw through the lids, and hand them to them. As I’m grabbing my drink and turning, I run straight into another body.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry,” I say to her.
Luckily, my drink is iced and has a lid, but when I glance down, her drink is hot, and a bit of it has spilled out onto her canary-yellow shirt.
“It’s okay,” she says. “Accidents happen.” She glances from me to the girls, and then her gaze lands on my purse. “I love your purse. Where did you get it?”
“Oh, thank you.” I smile, happy she isn’t pissed her shirt is now stained. “Honestly, I have no clue. I was given it for Mother’s Day.”
“Very nice,” she says. “I’m Marie.”
“I’m Kira. I’m sorry again about your shirt.”
“It’s no big deal.” She looks back at the girls again and leans down in front of the stroller. “And who are you?” she asks sweetly.
“I’m Violet, and this is Addie,” Violet tells her.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she says, standing again. “Are they both yours?”
“Violet is mine.” I point to my daughter. “And I have the pleasure of taking care of this little one.”
“Oh, you’re a nanny,” she says. “That’s sweet.”
Her words almost sound condescending, but since I don’t know her, I don’t want to assume.
“I am.” I glance at the girls, who are getting restless. “Well, we need to get going. We have a busy day ahead of us.”
“We’re going to the park and then the library!” Violet exclaims.
“That sounds like fun,” Marie tells her. “Have a good day.”
Once the girls are done eating their snack, I purchase a couple of bottles of water to go, noting to buy some insulated cups to bring with us to the park in the future.
We spend a couple of hours playing on the equipment, and when I notice Addie is slowing down and rubbing her eyes, I let the girls know it’s time to go. Since Addie is too young to really appreciate the library, she naps while Violet searches for books and signs up for the summer reading program we didn’t know about. We hang out at the library, and once Addie wakes up, I let her run around, showing her the books for her age.
As we’re checking out, I get a text from Ryder.
Ryder
We’re going out on a date tomorrow night. And before you ask, Ana and Julian are watching the girls. It’s only for a few hours, and they’ll have their nanny to help as well.
Since he covered everything that I was going to bring up, I reply with an, Okay. I look forward to it, mentally trying to figure out what I should wear. Nothing I own is remotely nice enough to go on a date with Ryder, which means I’m going to have to go shopping.
Of course, since I’m new to the area, I have no idea where to go shopping, so I send a text to Ana, asking her for any ideas. Within minutes, she sends me names of several boutiques downtown and makes me promise to send her some pictures since she wishes she could go.
I’m on my way from one store to the next when I run into the woman from the coffee shop earlier. She spots me right away and stops.
“I know it’s a small town,” she says with a laugh, “but I feel like this was meant to be. Shopping for anything special?”
“Actually, I have a date.” I can’t help the way my cheeks turn pink at the thought of going on a date with Ryder.
Many other guys would’ve taken advantage of the fact that we lived together and tried to jump straight into bed. But Ryder seems to be taking things slow, like stopping at a kiss and asking me out on a date. I like Ryder, and I’d like to explore the chemistry between us despite working for him, but I’m glad he’s trying to go about it the right way.