evasive...like you’ve got some big secret you’re hiding.” She flicked her hand in the direction of the folder. “And you don’t seem to like me very much because...?” Her head tilted.
Hard as it was for him to admit it, the woman was extremely perceptive. Rick shrugged. At least her doubts about him were backed by her concern for her parents. His were pure prejudice. “Well, you’re the owners’ daughter, but not their first choice for the job, and you do have that wild-child image.” He waved his hand toward the costume she wore. “I mean, a grown woman pretending to be a fairy princess. It seems a bit bizarre to me.”
Her cheeks blazed a hot pink, which made her blue eyes deepen. “You don’t know anything about my business.”
Despite her pissy-ass answer, Rick’s gut told him they were making progress and he sure as hell didn’t want to screw it up now. He smiled. “I didn’t know anything about it until Tara shared a little about your healthy recipes.” He took a quick bite—“Damn fine cookies, by the way”—and was rewarded by a hint of a grin that made his breath catch. “She says, at your parties, you teach kids about eating healthy.”
Summer braced her hands on the counter and weightlessly hopped up to sit on it. “It’s not just about eating right, though. It’s all about empowerment for girls. Making good choices. The fairy princess shtick is just the gimmick I came up with.”
“Empowerment and fairy princess? The terms hardly seem appropriate in the same sentence. Why a fairy princess?”
“I’m the baby of the family and, as you and Charlie so aptly put it, a wild one. ...”
Rick’s body stirred as his mind played with new images related to the term.
“And I’ve always been small,” she added, which gave a dimension to his images that made him shift his weight to relieve the growing pressure. “So it’s harder to get people to take me seriously. I decided to use that to my advantage. Be the fairy princess that my size and voice are suited for, but—” her eyes twinkled, pulling him with their magic “—give them a message they don’t expect, and let the dichotomy work like a surprise attack.”
Hellfire and damnation. The little minx spoke with the spirit of a seasoned soldier. “And what’s the message?”
She pursed her lips in thought before she spoke. “As females, we’re taught we have to take care of everything and everybody, and sometimes it seems like the only way to do that is with the wave of a magic wand. But when we discover the magic within us—our wand is our talent, if you will—then we realize we can only do so much. We begin to accept the world and our limitations and keep the faith that other wands will take care of the things we can’t.”
The depth of her words left Rick intrigued and speechless for a few seconds. He wanted to keep her talking—about anything. “So tell me about the recipes. How did you come up with something this good yet still healthy?”
“There was a time I thought I wanted to be a nutritionist, so I started a major in that.” She seemed about to say something, but changed her mind and gave a shrug. “I lost interest. But later on, I took some classes under a pastry chef, and learned the basics. I combined what I learned and started coming up with my own recipes.”
A seed of admiration had been sown. Rick took in the tiara, the silvery wings, the pink dress. If the effect worked on him, a hardened marine—and he was definitely hardened at the moment—he imagined little girls would follow her without ever knowing they’d been recruited. “Well, it all works together nicely for you,” he said. “You’re enchanting.”
The twinkle in her eyes began transforming into a bewitching smolder before she glanced away. “Thanks.” She reclaimed her cookie. “And what about you?” She crunched off a bite. “Why all the macho stuff?”
Rick smiled. Her use of the term twenty minutes ago would have irritated him but now seemed to be part of her charm. “Discipline’s all I know. My dad was a marine. I’m the middle child and was a marine. Both of my brothers are still active-duty marines. Organization, discipline—they’re all I’ve ever known.”
Her head tilted in question. “How come you left? I mean, if your brothers are still in active duty...”
“I...” Rick wasn’t about to get into his personal issues. He shrugged. “I’d had