Her lip quivers as she nods her head.
“I promise, I’ll be okay,” Kade tries to reassure her. Hegives her a smile. “Maybe you can help me make us some mac and cheese?”
“Mom, do we have the good kind?” Poppy asks.
“We do.” I nod. I drop down to my daughter’s eye level. “Why don’t you go ask Miss Betty if we can take some fries home to have with it?”
Her nose screws up. “You always say I have to have veggy-tables with it.”
Kade smiles at her misuse of the word. “It’s a special night, Pop. I think we can have some fries.”
“Okay.”
She slides out of Kade’s lap and goes back into the kitchen. When she’s out of sight, I turn my attention back to Kade.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
He nods. “Do you remember the day I had a reaction because you borrowed Georgia’s lip gloss before our date and it was strawberry flavored?”
I groan, burying my face in his neck. “God, don’t remind me.”
“I was fine then, Pres. I’ll be fine now.”
“At least this will be contained to your face. Not…everywhere else.”
“Hey.” Kade cups my face and pulls my gaze to his. “That was still a good day.”
“Even if you had to have a doctor look at your, you know…”Dick,I mouth, not wanting anyone else to hear it.
“Worth it to have you take care of me all night. Even though I didn’t need it.”
“So you don’t need it tonight?” I quirk a brow at him.
He shakes his head. “I definitely need someone to take care of me. Maybe make me some mac and cheese.”
I smile at him. “Done.”
“And maybe spend the night?”
“Can the ranch spare you?”
He nods. “Yes. They’ll be fine.”
“Good. I’ll finish things up here and take Poppy home and you can meet us there?”
Kade gives me the sweetest smile. One that does funny things to my heart.
“I’ll see you soon, Pres.”
“See you soon.”
I can’t wait.
Chapter Twenty-Three
KADE
Things really could be worse. The allergic reaction is mostly gone at this point. It’s not the first time it’s happened to me—thankfully it’s not severe and meds will clear it up. The itchiness on my face is an annoyance. The worst part? Poppy’s poor face. It was a gut punch. I know she wanted to surprise me and it didn’t go the way she planned.
