“Chocolate fudge cake and strawberry ice cream?”
I start to laugh. I can’t help myself.
That’s it?
“Why are you laughing?”
“You were nervous about asking for that?”
The blush spreads up from her neck, covering her cheeks, and she glances down. Fuck, this woman is something else. The way the blush lights up her freckles makes me want to kiss every single one.
I take her hand in both of mine and pull it toward me, then kiss the knuckles, and she meets my eyes.
“My dad never let me have cake and ice cream,” she says. “It was… He said I needed to be fit for…” She hesitates and looks down again, then back to me. I get the feeling she was about to tell me something she shouldn’t. “For later life,” she finishes. “I guess it stuck.”
“Your dad’s a fucking idiot.”
She shakes her head. “No, don’t say that. I love my dad. He just—”
“Well he’s an idiot about this. That’s not speaking out of turn. I’ve been too strict with my own daughters, I know that now. I saw it too late, but I know it. Kora, you shouldn’t have to watch what you eat for anyone. Being healthy, I understand. I want you to be healthy. But cake and ice cream isn’t going to kill you. From now on, you have cake and ice cream any time you like, you hear me?”
Her eyes go wide. “No, just this once, as a treat. I—”
“Kora,” I growl, and she falls silent.
For a moment, she just sits there, staring at me. Then she nods. “OK. Chocolate fudge cake and strawberry ice cream. But not for you.”
“No?” I feel the grin pull at my lips. She’s telling me what I can and can’t do?
She shakes her head. “No. You need to save yourself.” A little smile crosses her face, and she looks away, slightly embarrassed. “I’ll give you your dessert when you take me home.”