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CALEB
“Are you ready to see how the cookies turned out?” I asked, beaming down at Emmy.
“Yes!” she squealed. H
er arms were buried in a pair of ballet pink oven mitts, one of the many items she hand-selected when I took her shopping for decorations for her room, and she eyed the built-in kitchen oven eagerly.
“Ok, stand back,” I said, opening the oven door slowly and blocking the wave of heat that simmered out. I reached for the tray of cookies inside and pulled them out, and the eager anticipation on Emmy’s face immediately melted when she saw what thirteen minutes at 350 degrees has done to the pink heart-shaped sugar cookies we carefully shaped with cookie cutters.
“Yikes,” I laughed it off, dropping the tray of failures on top of the gas range stovetop. I peeled off my own oven mitt, which was also, inexplicably pink, and I scratched my head thoughtfully. “What could we have done wrong? We followed the recipe to the T.”
“I bet Miss Daisy will know,” Emmy shrugged, putting on a brave face to hide her disappointment.
“You’re right,” I nodded. “Maybe she can help us make another batch sometime.”
Emmy’s face lit up at the suggestion, and before she could get too excited, I glanced at my watch.
“Enough lollygagging, we’re going to be late!” I picked up the pink backpack that we already packed for tonight’s slumber party, and I looped it around my shoulder. “Let’s go!”
Emmy clapped her hands in delight, and she skipped across the wooden floor towards the elevator. She has been looking forward to tonight all week. Tonight was the night of Morgan Richie’s slumber party.
Technically there was no reason to rush. Morgan was Aaron Richie’s daughter, and Aaron lived just a few floors down. Which meant the party was just an elevator ride away. But it was not the party I was worried about. It was the ‘non-date’ I arranged with Daisy afterwards.
I rode down to Aaron’s floor in the elevator with Emmy. I was worried she’d be sad to see me go, but as soon as the elevator doors opened she dropped my hand and ran inside to meet her friends.
“She’ll be fine,” Aaron assured me, catching the anxious look on my face.
“Call me if you need anything,” I said, handing over Emmy’s pink backpack and turning to wave goodbye to Emmy. She was so busy giggling with her friends that she didn’t even notice me leaving.
“She’s in the zone now,” Aaron slapped my back. “Once kids get in the zone, they don’t have time for you, unless you’re a pizza or a Disney Princess.”
“It’s a good thing,” I said finally. “I’m just glad to see her adjusting so well to everything.”
12
CALEB
“The Preston Hotel?” Daisy asked as she stepped out of the car and onto the curb.
“You asked me if we should be supporting the competition last time,” I smiled, offering my arm. “So I figured we’d give the Preston our business tonight.”
“Mixing business and pleasure,” Daisy smiled up at me.
“Always,” I smiled back.
We were different together, now. The dynamic had changed. Daisy wasn’t pretending that she could resist me, and I was not pretending that she could resist me if she wanted to.
I steered us through the hotel, marble, tall, overwhelming, busy, and bypassed the hotel’s restaurant.
“No dinner tonight?”
“Not yet,” I said. “We have other appetites to satisfy, first.”
I scooped her into the elevator as her face turned bright red. She bit her bottom lip, confirming that she knew exactly what appetite I was referring to. And confirming that it does indeed need to be satisfied.
It was imperative that I learned the language of Daisy’s body. That I could decode what she wanted, what she needed.
I absently pressed the elevator button, then I turned my full attention back to Daisy. Tonight she was wearing a sheer black blouse tucked into a short leather skirt. I could see the outline of her lace bra through the shirt, and when I pulled her into my chest, I could feel the prick of her hardened nipples pressed against me.
