His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 32

#Chapter 32: Sweet as Sugar
Moana

The children all began to cheer once Edrick agreed to stay longer so that we could make cookies. I lifted my gaze from Clara to see the Alpha billionaire standing in front of me, but he wasn’t looking at me; he was looking at the children.

We all made our way down to the kitchen. I lingered at the back of the group, still in utter shock as I tried to wrap my head around Edrick’s sudden change in demeanor. Had the tour of the orphanage and seeing how disadvantaged children lived given him a bit of compassion?

Once we were in the kitchen, I put on an apron and started to get out the ingredients to make the cookies while the children watched hungrily, licking their lips in anticipation for the sweet taste of sugar in their mouths.

“Do you like to bake, Mr. Morgan?” Clara asked, standing on her tiptoes as she gripped the edge of the counter to see.

“No,” Edrick replied, avoiding eye contact with the little girl. “I don’t.”

“Not even cookies?”

“No, not even cookies,” Edrick said. Then, in a slightly lower voice: “I’ve never baked anything.”

The children erupted into gasps, causing me to stifle a laugh. “Here,” I said, grabbing an extra apron and tossing it to Edrick. “I’ll teach you.” Edrick caught the apron and gave me a puzzled look while the children exploded with a chorus of giggles.

“I think I’d just mess it up,” he replied. “You can do it.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “There will be no cookies if Mr. Morgan doesn’t help,” I said, to which all of the children began to protest loudly, some even going so far as to push Edrick toward me with their tiny hands, begging him to bake.

“Alright, alright!” he said; it almost seemed as though he was holding back a smile. He shrugged off his suit jacket and put the apron on, coming over to me. Without thinking, I reached out and rolled his sleeves up for him. Our eyes caught for a second and lingered on each other.

“Ew!” one of the older kids shouted. “They’re gonna kiss!” Now, the group’s cries of protest became even louder as some of the boys even went so far as to gag theatrically.

I stepped away from Edrick, shaking my head as I felt my face get hot. Next, I showed Edrick which ingredients to pour into the bowl, and how much of each.

“Put two cups of flour into this bowl,” I said, “and the baking soda…”

Soon enough, we had enough cookie dough for an entire army. Sophia took half of the children as a group, helping them to roll the dough into little balls and place them on the trays, while Edrick and I helped the other half.

“Mr. Morgan?” Clara said — she seemed to have taken a liking to him, which reminded me of Ella.