Page 198 of Tempted By her Daddies

“So, what did you make me?” he asked.

“It’s pretty terrible. You don’t have to eat it. I think we should just go down to the kitchen and see what else there is.” She tried to stand, but he reached out a hand and laid it on her thigh.

She froze. Touch from Roman was kind of rare. She tried not to touch him unless he touched her first. Even though she longed to.

“No. I want to eat what you made me,” he said.

“But what if it’s not very nice? It probably won’t be. I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“Then I’m glad you didn’t try to cook anything,” he said with a smile.

She shook her head. “No way! I’d likely burn the house down.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Uh, yep.”

“All right, no cooking for you unless you get lessons first. Understand?”

“Believe me, that’s one rule I can easily follow.” She watched as he picked up the sandwich and went to take a bite.

“Wait!” she cried.

He froze and looked at her.

“Ummm . . . shoot, I have nothing. Go ahead.” She winced as he took a bite.

He chewed. Then chewed some more. “Um, is this marmite?”

“Yes. Why? Is it awful?” she asked.

Standing, he grabbed his water bottle and drank some down.

Oh no.

It was awful.

“Have you ever eaten marmite before, darling girl?” he asked.

“Uh. No. Is it bad? You had a huge jar of it in the cupboard so I thought you might like it.”

“Hmm. Alexei likes it on toast. He has an addiction to it. How much did you put on?”

“Oh, about two tablespoons. Was it not enough?”

“It was plenty. Maybe a bit too much. It can be overwhelming in large quantities.”

Her shoulders slumped. “See? I told you I didn’t know what I was doing. We should have gotten you something else.”

“Hey, if you’ve never had it before how were you meant to know?” He walked over and crouched in front of her, putting his hands on her knees.

She wanted more of his touches.

“You’re awfully hard on yourself, darling girl. We can’t always be perfect. The world would be boring if we were.”

But in her world mistakes could get her killed . . . or punished.

You’re not living in that world right now.

---