Taste of Desire. Kayla Perrin

my passion for cooking. Right now I’m trying to save money for culinary school.”

      “Ahhh. No, Emma didn’t tell me. How long have you been cooking?”

      Salina shrugged. “As long as I can remember. It’s always been a passion of mine. I hope you don’t mind if I change some of Riquet’s lunch dishes—with her permission, of course.”

      “Sure. If she doesn’t mind, I’m sure she might even enjoy a change of pace.”

      Salina heard the sound just as Jake looked beyond her. She turned, following the direction of where he was looking. Riquet, holding a stuffed horse, had just walked into the adjacent living room.

      Salina rose from her chair and went to greet the little girl. “Good morning, Riquet.”

      Riquet beamed at her. “Good morning.” Then she went to her father and threw her little arms around his chest. “Morning, Daddy.”

      “Morning, sweetheart,” Jake said. “You’ve got to get ready for preschool now. You be a good girl for Salina, okay?”

      “I will.”

      Salina took Riquet’s hand and then walked with her to her bedroom, ready to start her official duties as nanny.

      The day with Riquet passed without incident. After Riquet went to her preschool, Salina had Ed, the driver, take her to a market where she could pick up a number of fresh vegetables and fruit. She’d noticed that Jake’s place didn’t have much fruit, perhaps because Maria hadn’t been around to do the shopping.

      Salina stuck with the macaroni and cheese for lunch, simply because she didn’t have time to prepare anything more elaborate by the time she’d run around doing the shopping. She had added extra cheese shavings to the top and baked the macaroni for five minutes so it would melt, and Riquet really enjoyed it that way.

      Salina picked up beef, mushrooms and noodles and prepared a beef noodle dish for dinner. Quick, easy and tasty. She prepared a plate for Jake and kept it in the microwave, but when seven-twenty rolled around and he hadn’t shown up yet, Salina put the dinner in the fridge.

      She went back to Riquet, who was coloring in the living room, and sat beside her, watching her work on her latest masterpieces.

      She’d had a good first day with the little girl. They had shared a lot of laughs as Ed had driven them from one activity to the other, Riquet regaling Salina with stories about some of the kids in her preschool. For such a young girl, she was quite perceptive.

      Riquet had a bubbly and vivacious personality. She truly was a darling, and a joy to work with.

      Having worked with some kids who had been spoiled and selfish, this was a welcome change. While Salina loved children in general, she hadn’t liked the way some at the day care where she’d worked had had an appetite for all the latest gadgets at such a young age. Hand-held gaming devices were her biggest pet peeve. Riquet seemed to relish the joy of being a normal little girl. That meant that she enjoyed coloring, drawing, singing, watching television and using her hands and her imagination to entertain herself.

      There was no Wii in the apartment, no Xbox 360 and the girl didn’t even have a Nintendo DS. Salina was relieved. She saw some parents introduce these electronic gaming devices into their children’s lives at too young an age, and she felt it was totally inappropriate. Clearly, Jake was a conscientious father, and Salina admired that about him.

      At seven-thirty, Salina said, “Time for your bath, Riquet.” The girl was to have her bath, and by eight o’clock be dressed and ready for bed.

      “Does your father come home late every night?” Salina couldn’t help asking Riquet as she bathed her a short while later.

      Riquet nodded. “Mmm-hmm. He works all the time,” she added sadly.

      Twenty minutes later, Salina had Riquet out of the bath, dressed in her pajamas and lying in her canopy bed that was filled with stuffed animals. She read the story Riquet requested, after which she gave her a kiss on the forehead and turned out the lights.

      Still no Jake.

      Emma hadn’t been kidding when she said the man was a workaholic. Salina could totally see now why he preferred a nanny to be of the live-in variety. If he got home too late, all Salina would be able to do was head to her sister’s apartment, climb into bed and get up the next morning to start the day over again.

      She was glad she’d brought her suitcase with her.

      Waiting until nine o’clock was all she could handle, because it had been a tiring day. Salina left a note for Jake, letting him know that his dinner was in the fridge and simply needed to be warmed up.

      And then she retired to her own bedroom, got undressed and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

      She was back in the bedroom, naked as the day she was born, when the door suddenly opened.