Urgent: One Nanny Required (Crimson Romance) by Olivia Logan Read Free Book Online

that’s what she was here for.
    “I’d love it. Can’t wait!” She ruffled Theo’s hair and grinned down at him. He grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the door, his other hand sliding into his dad’s. A huge reflective panel caught her eye and she found herself staring at the image the three of them made. Arms all linked together with Theo in the middle, looked like any other regular family. She knew now why her stomach felt why it was turning itself inside out like this. It was because it wasn’t real and it never would be.
    They approached the limo as Gus held the door open. Pausing, she looked down the lot toward the studio entrance.
    “Everything okay?” She turned back at the question to find Gus had moved into the driver’s seat and Nick was holding the door for her. How very movie-esque and he probably didn’t even realize.
    “I was just wondering if we could walk? It’s a nice day and it’d be good to have a wander and see the sights up close.” He looked at her as if she had just suggested they run naked down the street and she couldn’t restrain the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Or we could just go in the car and I’ll do it another time.”
    “No, that’s a great idea. It’s just that it’s pretty much unheard of here. People don’t wander like they do back home and they go everywhere by car. Probably because the ‘blocks’ are a little bigger than our blocks back in England.”
    He rapped on the car roof, resulting in both Gus and Theo hopping out.
    “We’re walking, guys. Sun hat on Theo,” he said, plopping the baseball hat down on his son’s groaning head.
    Their blocks are bigger than our blocks … What rubbish, a block is a block! Her opinion lowered further of this so-called Tinseltown.
    • • •
    Three blocks later, she could feel every bone and muscle in her feet. Why didn’t he say it would be a few blocks before they saw any signs of life? Cursing her shoe choice, she cringed inwardly at her naiveté and gritted her teeth against the pain. She would not complain. Especially as Theo was bouncing along cheerfully beside a relaxed-looking Nick who, despite the blazing heat of the day — yet another thing she seemed to have underestimated — seemed cool and calm. She was active enough, not enough to run a marathon granted but pretty active given she ran a shop full time. But this; this was too much. Biting back the childlike “are we there yet” question that was hammering though her mind, she focused on counting the steps, letting the flow of father and son conversation wash over her. Thankfully, Nick didn’t direct any at her, making it possible for her to become more disturbed as her internal pedometer figures got higher and higher.
    She gave up when they got to the hundreds. Next time she was taking the limo, not caring a fig if she felt she was selling out to the Hollywood lifestyle.
    “This is the place,” she heard Nick say, holding the door for them to shuffle through.
Finally
. She was surprised she hadn’t already melted into an unflattering puddle at his feet.
    Greeting the smiling waitress in Spanish, they were seated quickly and she squeezed in next to Theo, translating the menu despite Nick pointing out the English translation on the other side. Just for that, she made a point of ordering herself and Theo’s meal in Spanish, seeing him holding back a smile at her friendly challenge.
    “How are you finding the trip so far?” His eyes roamed over her face as she greedily drank the ice-cold drink that had been placed in front of her. Great, she was probably suffering from dehydration, too. At this rate it would be Theo looking after her.
    “Mmmm. Good, thanks,” she said, wiping her tongue over the few stray droplets that had slid down the side of her mouth. He had turned his body to face her and she could see his eyes follow the direction of her tongue.
    Clearing her throat, she wiped at the remaining drops with the back of her