Page 231 of Guardian Daddy

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want you getting hurt. You’re to sit on the bench seat, understand?”

“But how do you get the firewood on it from this far away?” she asked.

“I can get closer,” Ethan told her as he placed a blanket over her. “You can’t. You’re too precious to risk.”

That seemed silly.

Surely, she wouldn’t be at risk. No more than him.

Although she did like being called precious.

“I thought we would have some s’mores,” he told her, sitting next to her.

“S’mores?” she asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever had s’mores.”

“Never had s’mores? Well, we’ll have to remedy that.” He reached over for a tray of food he must have put out earlier. Lifting the covering she saw graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows.

“How do you do it?”

“First, we have to toast the marshmallows.” He picked up a special extendable fork.

Putting a marshmallow on the end, he drew it out so it was a few feet long.

Then he showed her how to put it in the flames. “Here you go, baby.”

She toasted it, letting out a cry as it went on fire. She drew it back, nearly flinging it in Ethan’s face.

“Careful, baby. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

Ethan reached over to grab the pronged fork, blowing on it so the flame went out.

Then he carefully put the marshmallow on a graham cracker with a bit of chocolate, followed by another cracker.

“Here you are.”

Her eyes went wide. It was sticky and gooey and looked delicious.

He held it to her mouth and she took a bite. “It’s delicious!”

“I know.”

“More, please!” She ate the rest and bounced up and down.

“All right, let’s make another.”

This time, she managed not to burn the marshmallow. She got it all crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle.

Perfection.

After the third s’more, Ethan refused to make her anymore. Which was very rude. Although she was feeling a bit sick.

However, when he drew her onto his lap, she snuggled back into him. They watched the fire and the lake beyond. The fire started to die down as Ethan pulled her scarf off. He started to kiss his way down her neck.

A shiver ran through her. “Ethan?”

“Shh. Just let me explore. If you don’t like anything I do, you can say red.”

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