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“Sorry about that, peanut.” Allen patted her back. “I thought I would’ve beat you here, so I just let myself in. Who are you talking to?”
Jessica felt her heart lodged in her throat. How much had he heard? “It’s just Dana. From class? We were just fooling around.” She picked up her phone again. “Sorry, I have to go. My dad’s here.”
“I heard. Have a good lunch.”
Jessica ended the call, feeling her stomach churn with guilt. She hated to lie to her father, even though he seemed to believe her. She excused herself to go get dressed properly.
She was wearing a lot more than she’d told Brent though. And she was being far more G-rated than she’d been in the privacy of her bedroom a few nights before. Good thing, too, because if she’d repeated the game from last time, and her father had heard it? Oh, damn it, her father would have gone total Chernobyl on the whole situation.
And the worst part is she’d deserve that reaction.
This was a dangerous game she was playing, and she was playing with two men she wouldn’t hurt for the world. Brent had his daughter to think of, of course, and her dad, well… He’d been so hurt when her mother had cheated. It had been a betrayal that had broken their family in half.
Honestly, Jessica didn’t know if her father had ever really recovered. And for Jessica, she knew she hadn’t forgiven her mother yet. She didn’t know if she could. So how could she risk hurting her father when he inevitably found out about their affair?
Jessica grabbed her purse and pulled her hair back. She was going to have to break off this thing with Brent before things got out of control. Having Dad overhear that… almost getting caught…
It knocked the thrill of the fantasy and her feelings right out of her.
***
Jessica’s determination held firm, and she came to the mansion the next day laden with supplies. Cara came home from school a little sulky, but the girl perked up when they took over the kitchen together, with Cecile’s permission, and started making a dessert together for after dinner.
Cara had no experience in the kitchen, so when Jessica gave her instructions for how to make and roll out the pastry, she listened with rapt attention. Of course, Jessica encouraged taste-testing.
Before they were done, flour covered the kitchen as well as their hair, but Cara was giggly and excited for how everything would turn out. Everything smelled wonderful.
“Dad’s never gonna believe I made this. Even Mom never cooked,” Cara said.
“Well, I don’t cook; I bake. That’s kind of unfortunate, since the former is more necessary to survival.” Jessica wiped her hands on her apron.
“That makes sense. Baking is more science than cooking.”
“That’s right! All reactions between the ingredients.” Jessica bobbed her head from side to side. “I could probably learn to cook, too, if I tried. My go-to dish is ramen.”
Cara grinned.
“No really – Asian soups are the best food in the world. Wonton soup, egg drop soup, and ramen, with the crinkly noodles, soft-boiled eggs, and thin cuts of meat. It’s really good.”
“Maybe some time we can make dinner for Dad,” Cara suggested.
“Maybe. Though I think what you wanna do right now is go upstairs and get cleaned up. Or he’s gonna think you’re what we baked.” Jessica held up her hand for a high five. “Up top, kiddo. We did it.”
Cara slapped her hand before bouncing out of the kitchen. Jessica pulled her hair out of her ponytail and rustled it, trying to minimize the saturation of whiteness in her brown hair.
“Ugh.” She caught sight of herself in the window and leaned forward to brush a streak of white off her cheek. At this rate, she might not be the one breaking things off.
Jessica played on her phone for a few minutes, then set it aside and bent over the oven to check on their dessert. While she wasn’t big on cooking, she would definitely do it more – if she had a kitchen like this. The oven door was glass, and she could check on the contents of the oven without opening it and letting out any heat.
At that moment, firm fingers pinched her behind, and she jumped up with a squeak.
“Brent!” She smacked his chest as he laughed.
“I couldn’t resist!” Brent held his hands up. “What have you been up to here?”
“We baked some apple tarts for after dinner.”
“We? As in Cara?”
Jessica pointed to him. “You have to save that expression – because she wanted to see the look on your face. She takes direction very well. I don’t think she’d want to be a professional chef, but it’s a good hobby. You know, to destress sometimes.”
