Page 55 of Guardian Daddy

Rhodes and Samantha talked quietly with Seth before they all left the living room, disappearing into the house.

“Sit down at the kitchen island and I’ll get you a drink of water and some painkillers,” Ethan bossed.

She sat on her usual stool and watched as he grabbed some painkillers from the cupboard, placing them and a bottle of water in front of her.

“Take those, please.”

Hmm. He said please, but it didn’t sound like a request. Luckily, she wanted to get rid of this headache.

He poured a glass of apple juice and set that down before her as well. Apple juice was her favorite. Did he know that, or was it a lucky guess?

Somehow, with Ethan, she didn’t think anything was a lucky guess. He seemed to notice everything.

“Drink that too, please.”

She narrowed her gaze at him. Should she test what he’d do if she said no? He raised his eyebrow.

Refusing would be foolish when she wanted the juice though. The only person she would negatively affect would be herself.

So she took the painkillers with some water. Then she sipped on the juice.

“Good girl,” he told her.

“Why are you calling me a good girl?” she asked, startled.

“Because you did what you were told.”

“I’m not sure I like to do as I’m told.”

“You don’t? You don’t like to hear that you’re a good girl?” he asked.

“I’m not sure that me taking painkillers that I needed and drinking juice I like constitutes me being a good girl.”

“Well, I say it does.” He leaned against the counter opposite her, smiling.

“You’re an expert on good girls?” There was something very bizarre about this conversation. And for her to notice likely meant it was really, really odd.

“You could say that. Drink some more. You’re very pale. When was the last time you ate?”

“What’s going on with Samantha?” she asked, ignoring his question.

Was she pale, though? She hoped she wasn’t getting ill.

“It’s rude to ignore a question when someone asks you something,” he told her.

“Hmm, you’re right. You are being rude by ignoring my question.”

He gaped at her, his mouth opening and closing. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh?”

“I can’t tell if you know what I’m talking about or not. I just asked you when the last time you ate was. Seth said you’ve been in the office all day. On a Sunday.”

“Yes, on a Sunday. I’m very busy.”

“You need to take time to relax. How much work can you really get done with a headache?”

Not much, as it turned out.

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