Page 248 of Cowboy Daddies

She nodded miserably. “I wasted a day.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” he told her. “You kept my son happy, safe, and entertained. Should he have done some schoolwork? Maybe. But he’s also seven. He’s got plenty of time for that. I’m sure he’ll remember a day like today forever.”

“Oh.” Casey sniffled. “That’s really nice.”

“It is. Now, to the part you are in trouble for.”

Uh-oh.

“From now on, no cooking without supervision.”

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s fair enough.”

“If the smoke alarm goes off, you get out and you call me.”

“Really? But I had that part under control.”

“How did you get to it?” he asked.

“Um, I climbed a chair.”

Jeb gave her a stern look. “Which isn’t very safe.”

Drat.

“Neither is pulling out a hot tray from the oven.”

She didn’t think it was that unsafe.

“But mostly you’re in trouble for the way you spoke about yourself. I won’t have you speaking badly about yourself, understand?”

“Yes.”

He cupped her chin. “Wyatt has a playdate tomorrow. You and I are going to spend a few hours together. Just Daddy and his little girl. And we’ll deal with your punishment then.”

Something to look forward to.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Nerves were making her all jittery as she stood in the living room waiting for Jeb to come inside. He’d just pulled up after dropping Wyatt off at his friend’s house.

She glanced down at herself.

Did she look all right? She hadn’t been sure what to wear. So she’d chosen one of her favorite outfits. A tutu skirt in bright orange with orange-and-pink-striped knee-high socks. Then she had on a pink t-shirt with an alligator on the front and a green cardigan over it. Her blonde hair was tied up in two pigtails with green ribbons.

Hopefully he thought she looked cute.

What if he didn’t?

Oh, who cared? She thought she looked adorable and that was all that mattered.

Jeb walked in and she turned to him. “I look adorable!”

His eyebrows rose. “Yes, you do.”

Oh.

Her shoulders slumped. Yep. She was being an idiot.