Page 46 of Learning Little Lizzie

“Just your bad luck I’m between classes, little one.” Standing in front of her, he tapped her chin. “Eyes on me, Eliza.”

Tears shimmered on her lashes when she lifted her head to look at him. “Sir?”

“Care to tell me why I’ve been summoned to the Disciplinarian’s Office, presumably on your behalf?”

“Professor Remington said it’s for cheating but it wasn’t cheating! At least, I don’t think so.” Righteous fury sparked in her eyes. “I’m not a cheater.”

“Why don’t you tell me what happened, then?”

But before she could explain, the door opened and Professor Chambers stepped out. A tearful blonde followed him, and he gave Samuel a brief nod before turning to the woman behind him. “Make sure to give your Daddy that note, young lady. I will need to have it returned to me, with his signature, in the morning.”

“Yes, Sir,” the blonde replied, her tone as miserable as Eliza looked.

“Good girl. You may return to class.”

The blonde hurried away without a second glance back.

“Did you have to be so hard on her?”

Eliza was still seated on the bench, but she was glaring up at Grant, defiance etched into every line of her face. “She was only trying to help a friend!”

“Do you really want to have this conversation out in the hall, young lady?”

Something twisted in Samuel’s stomach. He’d known when he’d taken the position as Eliza’s guardian that the other University and Ranch employees would still have authority over her. But hearing someone else scold his Little girl was making him…

Jealous, he realized with a start. And more than a little possessive.

But the last thing he wanted to do was undermine Grant’s authority, especially in front of Eliza. So he watched, quietly, as Eliza folded her arms and slid down in her seat with an annoyed huff.

“I don’t want to have this conversation at all. I know I fuc—messed up. I just don’t see why Reese had to get in trouble, too.”

“The hallway it is, then,” Grant said, his voice tinged with amusement despite the steel beneath his words. “Would you care to explain to your Daddy why you were sent to me, or would you rather I explain it?”

“No! You’re going to make it sound so much worse than it was!”

Grant raised an eyebrow at that. “Then go ahead.”

“Seriously, you’re all making a mountain out of a molehill. I just forgot to do my homework for Professor Remington’s class, so Reese was helping me get it done before class started. That’s all.”

Anger sparked in Samuel’s chest, but he held it back for the time being. He needed the whole story before he decided how much trouble his Little girl was in. “Eliza. Look at me, please.”

That righteous anger still burned in her eyes when she shifted her gaze to meet his. “Sir?”

“Last night when I asked if you had any homework to do, you said everything was done. Did you lie to me, Little girl?”

She dropped her gaze and he knew he had his answer before she even spoke. “I didn’t mean to lie. I was going to do it during breakfast.”

“That wasn’t what I asked you last night, though, was it?”

“No, Sir,” she whispered.

“So you lied.”

A long silence stretched between them. “I guess.”

“Well then I guess you and I are going to have a very long discussion about honesty once we are finished here. After you tell me why Professor Remington accused you of cheating.”

“Because Reese was letting me copy her answers from her homework.” Her head snapped up, some of that earlier fire returning to her eyes and voice. “But that’s not cheating! We all help each other with homework all the time!”

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