Page 72 of Melt For Us, Daddy
Her smile widened, showing her teeth a bit, and he nearly shivered. “Oh, baby boy. It pleases me very much.”
“What else would please you?”
Those green eyes he swore he could lose himself in darkened. “That’s a very dangerous question to ask a woman like me, Jacob.”
“Maybe I want that. Dangerous, I mean. I’ve lived my whole life being afraid of doing the wrong thing, saying the wrong thing so that the people I loved wouldn’t get hurt. But I don’t feel afraid with you and Ivy.”
For a long moment, she simply watched him. “That pleases me, as well, knowing you don’t feel afraid with us. We can talk about your desire for danger later. Right now it’s lunchtime. Come.”
At that single word, he rose and followed her into the kitchen. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was still wondering about his response to her, to them. Wondering why he was so compelled to obey them when everything he’d been taught said that he should be the one giving the orders.
But so much of what he’d been taught was wrong, wasn’t it? After all, if dinosaurs were real, pretty much anything could happen, as far as he was concerned.
Ivy looked up when they entered, her face still that bright mask of joy as she gestured to the island in front of her. “We’ve got a few different types of lunch meat, cheese, and some condiments. And potato chips! I already made you a turkey sandwich with plenty of mayo, Dee.”
Taking the offered plate, Cordelia pulled Ivy close, lowering her head to claim Ivy’s lips in a long, slow kiss. Feeling a bit like an intruder, Jacob looked up at the ceiling and tried to pretend he wasn’t feeling that way about their kiss.
“Thank you, blossom. Fix yourself something to eat and come sit with me.”
“Oh, but Jacob?—”
“Jacob is a big boy. He can make his own sandwich.”
Lowering his gaze from the ceiling, he offered up a reassuring smile. He’d never had to make a sandwich for himself, but he was pretty sure he could manage. After all, it was just bread and meat and cheese, right? “I can do it, Ivy.”
Ivy’s jaw set in a stubborn line he recognized all too well. It was the look Hannah got whenever she was about to dig in her heels. “What if I want to make him a sandwich?”
Capturing Ivy’s chin between her fingers, Cordelia leaned in. “Which do you want more? To be a good girl for your Daddy or to make a sandwich?”
Eyes wide, Ivy sucked in a sharp breath. “To be a good girl, Daddy.”
“Then make yourself a sandwich, put some of those sour cream and onion chips on your plate and sit your butt down. If Jacob needs help, he can ask. And he will ask, won’t you, Jacob?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“That’s settled, then.” Picking up her plate, she carried it to the table.
Ivy sighed and flashed him an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I tried.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind making it myself. And if I’m going to be living on my own at some point, I should probably get used to making my own meals.”
“True. Maybe we can add some cooking lessons to your schoolwork. Would you like that?”
Cooking is women’s work. Are you a woman, Jacob?
The one time he’d tried to help his mothers and sisters bake some cookies, his father had walked in, eyes blazing with righteous fury and chased him out of the kitchen before delivering a blistering lecture about the roles of women and men in the household. It was his duty to provide, to lead, to discipline. It was a woman’s job to follow, to keep the house, to submit in all things.
Locking eyes with sweet Ivy, practically beaming up at him while she waited for his answer, he nodded. “Yeah. I’d like that a lot.”
Ivy
* * *
It still wasn’t her routine, but Ivy had to admit that Cordelia’s schedule had certainly improved her mood a lot. Enough to have her humming softly to herself as she finished her nighttime routine and flipped the lights off in the bathroom before slipping back into the bedroom.
But instead of finding Cordelia sitting on the edge of their bed the way she always did at the end of the day, she instead found her woman pacing back and forth in the spacious bedroom. Nerves fluttered in Ivy’s stomach as she slowed to a stop several feet from where Cordelia was pacing.
“Everything okay?”
