Page 19 of Nanny for the Mercenaries

“Speaking of prep,” Archer said as he joined us, “I want to get an early look at the site. Verify the maps we were sent are accurate, and walk the perimeter on foot.”

Harrison came up behind him with a duffel bag of equipment in his hand. He nodded in agreement.

“We’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone,” Jordy said, flashing a smile.

We,I thought, rolling the word around in my head.I like the sound of we.

“Yes we will!” Kaylee agreed, running up and hugging Harrison’s thick leg.

Oh, right, I thought.I’m not the only other person here.

“I’ll go check out my room,” I said, hurrying out of the kitchen before they could see me blush.

8

Trish

My bedroom was well-furnished and spotless, like an upscale hotel. I unpacked my suitcase, folding the clothes into the dresser drawers. It gave me a sense of order and stability, even if we were only going to be here roughly a week.

The room had an attached bathroom, so I took the opportunity to wash the travel off me in the shower and then changed into clean clothes. I went downstairs feeling refreshed, but still exhausted from the time change. It was 3:00 p.m. local time, and 9:00 a.m. back home, but thanks to the jet lag I felt ready to put my head on the pillow and go to sleep.

“Don’t do that,” Jordy told me when I went downstairs and said as much to him. “Best way to deal with jet lag is to stick it out. Stay awake until tonight, then go to sleep at a normal time. Trust me, it’ll help.”

“Thanks,” I said, watching him rummage through the fridge. He had changed into khaki pants and an olive-green T-shirt that was molded to his torso like a second skin, revealing every bit of muscle. “What are you up to?”

“Prepping dinner.” He pulled an aluminum tray out of the freezer. “Everything’s pre-made. Just defrost, and throw in the oven for an hour. This one is lasagna.” He sniffed the tray. “Vegetarianlasagna, I think. Don’t tell Harrison. He gets grumpy if he doesn’t get enough protein.”

I felt a small hand tug on my shirt. “Trish? Do you want me to show you how to play Minecraft?”

“What’s Minecraft?” I asked.

Jordy chuckled. “Prepare to go down the rabbit hole.”

“Minecraft is themost fun game ever,” Kaylee said, excitement shining in her eyes. “You’re going to love it! Let me show you!”

I allowed myself to be ushered over to the dining room table, where her tablet was set up with a keyboard and mouse. I learned that Minecraft was a pixelated game involving digging and chopping down trees and hunting around in caves for certain types of minerals. Kaylee wasveryintense about it, and had strong opinions on the best ways to harvest iron and how to avoid the spiders and skeletons that came out at night.

Jordy appeared in the doorway to the kitchen and dangled two beers in the air. I started to shake my head… then realized it was already six. I had been playing with Kaylee for several hours.

“This isreallyfun, and we’ve explored deep into that cave,” I told her. “But I’m going to take a little break now.”

“Okay, go ahead,” Kaylee said, eyes already glued to the screen again. “I’ll keep exploring.”

I accepted a beer from Jordy and joined him in the kitchen. “Told you it was a rabbit hole,” he smirked.

“She’sreallyinto that game,” I replied. “Do you guys have limits on screen time?”

He shook his head. “We haven’t needed to impose anything yet. She’s pretty well-balanced in the summer. She’ll play that, or watch YouTube videos about primitive technology, or go and read her books. When school starts up, though, we have to remind her to do her homework.”

“Naturally.”

He opened the oven, slid an aluminum tray inside, and closed it. A wave of heat drifted out and warmed my face. Jordy took his oven mitts off and then wandered off into the living room, within sight of Kaylee. He sank into the couch, and I picked the chair across from him.

“So,” he said. “What’s your story?”

“My story?”

“Sure. I don’t really know much about you, even though you’re here taking care of Kaylee. I only just stopped thinking of you asKettlebellsin my head.”

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