Page 209 of Santa Daddies
“Oh, um. Well.” She had to swallow her apology. Instead, she took a bite of toast. A moan escaped her lips.
Oops.
She paused.
“Keep eating,” he told her.
She swallowed her mouthful and took her pills with a few sips of soda. “You’re very bossy.”
“That a problem?” he asked.
“Ahh. Well. I guess not.”
“That’s good. Because I’m not going to change. My house. My rules.”
“That’s fair enough.”
“And one of my house rules is that you eat. Regularly. So eat.”
“That’s one of your house rules?” Was he joking? He wasn’t smiling. But she wasn’t certain that he knew how to smile.
“Yes. Why? Did I sound like I was joking?” he asked. “Eat.”
She’d taken a bite before she realized it. How did he do that?
“Do you know how to joke?”
“No. I seem to have lost that ability,” he said dryly.
“So that’s really a house rule? That your guests need to eat?”
“You’re my first guest here. So I’m making the rules up as I go.”
She was his first guest? Alice wasn’t sure why but that made her feel quite sad.
“And don’t go feeling sorry for me. I don’t want any guests.”
Right. So she was now feeling worse about just turning up at his house, unexpectedly.
“I’m—”
“You say you’re sorry and you’re going to be in trouble.”
“Right.” She bit her lip.
“Eat more. House rule.”
“Are there many more house rules?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Like I said, I’m making them up as I go along.”
“But what if I break one because I don’t know what they are?” she asked worriedly.
Remember, you’re not going to be here long. After you eat your toast, you can go to your room and just stay out of his way.
Right. Good.
Breathe.
