Page 56 of Guardian Daddy

“Have you had lunch?” he asked firmly.

“No, I haven’t. I wasn’t hungry.”

“You weren’t hungry, or were you hiding from Seth?” he asked.

She really didn’t want to answer him since that was precisely what she’d been doing.

“What’s going on?” she asked, taken aback.

“I’m going to make you something to eat. It will help your headache. And you’ll eat it if you want to know what’s happening.”

“Are you trying to blackmail me into eating?” she asked.

“I prefer the term gently guiding.”

Gently? Cate snorted. Oh. That wasn’t an attractive noise. But he didn’t look at her askance.

“What sort of sandwich do you want? Ham? Pastrami? Chicken?” he asked.

“Chicken and mayo,” she replied. “But I’ll make it.”

To her surprise, he didn’t argue as she started making herself a sandwich.

It would be polite to ask him if he wanted one, right?

“Would you like a sandwich?”

“That would be great, thank you.”

“What kind?” she asked.

“What you’re having is fine.”

“Oh, but I have very plain sandwiches. Rhodes calls them bland and boring.”

“Does he? I’ll still give it a go.”

“All right.” She prepared two mayo and chicken sandwiches, making sure to put plenty of salt and pepper on them.

She cut all the crusts off hers. But she left his crusts on. He seemed like a crust sort of man.

“No crusts for you?” he asked.

“No, and before you tell me that they’ll put hair on my chest if I eat them, that isn’t scientifically true. And even if it was, I wouldn’t want a hairy chest.”

“That’s fair enough.” His lips were twitching. Was he thinking about laughing?

At her?

A knot developed in her stomach and when she sat on her stool, she found herself unable to eat.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I . . . I . . . don’t like being laughed at.”

Ethan placed his sandwich down, staring at her seriously. “Who laughed at you?”

She stared at him for a moment.

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