Seduced by the Sheik (The Raminar Family #1)- Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,44

the baker, but needing this time with the twins. “Well, you see, we’d like to make this cake…ourselves,” she explained.

The man was confused for a moment, then his eyes filled with horror. “But…the princesses, they can’t…”

Before the chef could finish, Harper knelt down and looked at the girls. “Ladies, would you mind going over to that counter and seeing if you can find a big bowl?” she asked.

The girls nodded, but glanced warily up at the chef as they set off. Harper waited until the girls were out of earshot before she explained her idea to the chef.

“Thank you for offering to make us a cake,” she told the man, who looked confused. “The thing is, we don’t really need a cake. We need an activity where the girls can do something with their hands while I talk to them. It’s a sort of play therapy. The brain concentrates more on what the hands need to do and less on controlling what the girls say. It helps them talk about their fears and concerns.” She smiled to the man who nodded with understanding. “The cake won’t be anywhere near as stunning as the delicacies that you create, but the point of making the cake is more about helping those sweet girls, than making a masterpiece.”

The chef nodded. “Yes, this is a wonderful idea. Many people use cooking and baking as a therapy and I fully approve. There’s nothing better than mixing and stirring to soothe one’s soul,” he smiled.

“So is that okay?”

“Absolutely!” he replied enthusiastically. “Anything you need!” He started pulling out measuring cups, bowls, and other tools, many of which Harper suspected might be used by professionals to decorate a cake, but she had no clue how to use them. She usually just used a butter knife to spread the frosting, which worked well enough.

“Thank you,” she said to the chef. “This is very helpful.”

He nodded eagerly. “If you need anything, just ask!” and he walked away. He didn’t go far though. He and his team were working on something over at another table.

“Okay!” Harper exclaimed. One of the other servants had brought over stools, so the twins were higher than normal. “Let’s get this thing going! We need eggs and oil. Ladies, why don’t we investigate that fridge over there and see if we can find some eggs?”

“Okay!” they jumped down from the stools eagerly.

One of the servants heard that they were looking for eggs and hurried over to try and help, but Harper held up a hand. “We’ve got it covered,” she told him with a smile.

The eggs and oil were easy enough to find since they were the main ingredients in a lot of recipes. The only confusion came when they had to decide which kind of oil to use. “Goodness!” Harper exclaimed as they surveyed the various types of oil available. “We have olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil,” she listed. Then looked at the two girls with a silly face. “Grapeseed oil? I didn’t know that grapes had seeds!”

The girls giggled, exactly as she’d intended.

“Canola oil is best for cakes,” a deep voice said behind them.

All three of them swung around, the girls yelping their excitement when they spotted Amit standing in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall.

“Uncle Amit!” They rushed towards him. “We’re baking a cake!” the girls announced, bouncing up and down with excitement.

“So I see!” he replied, but he didn’t return their smiles. As usual. “What kind of cake is it?”

The girls looked at him, confused. “Cake!” Ellora repeated, as if that were obvious.

“Yes, but what flavor?” he encouraged, bending down so that he was at their eye level. “My favorite is chocolate. Are you making a chocolate cake for me?”

Harper felt a soft, throbbing ache in her chest as she watched him interact with the little girls. He was such a good man! Amit was nothing like she’d originally thought. Gone was the heartless, irritating jerk she’d met weeks ago. Now she knew that he was a sweet, kind, and gentle man.

Oh, she knew that he was ridiculously tough when it came to protecting his country and his people, but that was his public persona. His personal interactions were…amazing. She’d watched him with his two brothers and Talia, knew that he cared deeply for them and protected them fiercely. He’d do the same for these two little girls.

“Vanilla cake,” she announced, pulling herself out of her thoughts before they caused her to