microwaveable dinner."
"Then you're long overdue for some cooking lessons,” Julie said firmly.
Shilo didn't object. She figured any pointers she could pick up to improve her cooking skills were definitely to her benefit. Besides that she couldn't resist the suggestion that she impress the guys with her ‘womanly arts'. Whatever her doubts, they were a group of hunky males. How often did she get the chance to bask in male approval?
Never!
Unfortunately, Felicity woke from her afternoon nap just about the time they got supper underway. Since that coincided with the older children's hunger pains, Julie and Shilo prepared the meal under duress. Shilo had a blinding headache long before the food was done, but she didn't think it was a hunger headache. She was pretty certain it was nerves.
Completely aside from the fact that they had six children trooping back and forth through the kitchen asking them every five minutes if it was done yet, Shilo was anxious to show off her domestic skills, be they ever so humble. She wasn't completely hopeless in the kitchen, regardless of what she'd told Julie. She just wasn't a ‘great’ cook. She thought she might actually have managed to turn out something edible, though, if not for the constant distractions.
And the fact that she wanted to impress Dante.
She didn't spend a lot of time examining why she wanted to impress him, which was just as well because nothing turned out like she'd hoped. On top of that, she had a headache, and between the cooking and the children, she looked like a disaster area when Dante, Maurice, Kane, and Jessie arrived ... spit shinned, looking like a million bucks, and wreaking of a divine smelling aftershave, and/or cologne, potent enough to knock her socks off. She felt lightheaded just glancing at the four fabulous males and as jittery as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
Julie took one look at Shilo and snatched the baby out of her arms. “Why don't you run upstairs and freshen up a little?” she hissed in a low whisper.
Shilo reddened and balked. There was ‘wanting to impress’ them and then there was being willing to make a fool out of herself. There was no way in hell she was going to do anything that damned obvious! Subtlety, she could handle because if it fell through they'd never know the difference. They could've been morons, which they weren't, and they'd still be able to figure out what was going through her head if she dashed upstairs the minute they arrived and began to primp. Shoving a stray lock of hair out of her face, she bared her teeth at Julie in as close an approximation of a smile as she could manage. “I'll set the table."
"We're serving buffet style."
"Then I'll help you fix the children's plates."
Julie studied her assessingly for a moment and finally shrugged. “Come and get it!” she bellowed.
Shilo winced, but the stampede into the kitchen distracted her from her headache for a little while. She didn't look at any of the men as they followed the children in at a more sedate pace, but thankfully, she was preoccupied with helping the children and didn't think it looked too obvious that she was trying to avoid the possibility of them getting a really good look at her.
She'd put her hair up in a clip to get it out of her way, though, and could feel that it was falling down untidily all over the place. Beyond that, she was liberally sprinkled with flour from making the gravy, spattered with grease from batter frying the squash, and had children's fingerprints all over her besides that—mostly Felicity's, who'd been given a cookie to hold her until supper was ready. And Felicity, for some reason completely obscure to her, seemed to think her breast was the perfect thing to hold on to to make certain Shilo didn't drop her.
The moment of truth arrived in spite of hell, though. Shilo had just settled in her seat with her plate when Julie announced, very brightly, that she had cooked. She could've done
"Then you're long overdue for some cooking lessons,” Julie said firmly.
Shilo didn't object. She figured any pointers she could pick up to improve her cooking skills were definitely to her benefit. Besides that she couldn't resist the suggestion that she impress the guys with her ‘womanly arts'. Whatever her doubts, they were a group of hunky males. How often did she get the chance to bask in male approval?
Never!
Unfortunately, Felicity woke from her afternoon nap just about the time they got supper underway. Since that coincided with the older children's hunger pains, Julie and Shilo prepared the meal under duress. Shilo had a blinding headache long before the food was done, but she didn't think it was a hunger headache. She was pretty certain it was nerves.
Completely aside from the fact that they had six children trooping back and forth through the kitchen asking them every five minutes if it was done yet, Shilo was anxious to show off her domestic skills, be they ever so humble. She wasn't completely hopeless in the kitchen, regardless of what she'd told Julie. She just wasn't a ‘great’ cook. She thought she might actually have managed to turn out something edible, though, if not for the constant distractions.
And the fact that she wanted to impress Dante.
She didn't spend a lot of time examining why she wanted to impress him, which was just as well because nothing turned out like she'd hoped. On top of that, she had a headache, and between the cooking and the children, she looked like a disaster area when Dante, Maurice, Kane, and Jessie arrived ... spit shinned, looking like a million bucks, and wreaking of a divine smelling aftershave, and/or cologne, potent enough to knock her socks off. She felt lightheaded just glancing at the four fabulous males and as jittery as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
Julie took one look at Shilo and snatched the baby out of her arms. “Why don't you run upstairs and freshen up a little?” she hissed in a low whisper.
Shilo reddened and balked. There was ‘wanting to impress’ them and then there was being willing to make a fool out of herself. There was no way in hell she was going to do anything that damned obvious! Subtlety, she could handle because if it fell through they'd never know the difference. They could've been morons, which they weren't, and they'd still be able to figure out what was going through her head if she dashed upstairs the minute they arrived and began to primp. Shoving a stray lock of hair out of her face, she bared her teeth at Julie in as close an approximation of a smile as she could manage. “I'll set the table."
"We're serving buffet style."
"Then I'll help you fix the children's plates."
Julie studied her assessingly for a moment and finally shrugged. “Come and get it!” she bellowed.
Shilo winced, but the stampede into the kitchen distracted her from her headache for a little while. She didn't look at any of the men as they followed the children in at a more sedate pace, but thankfully, she was preoccupied with helping the children and didn't think it looked too obvious that she was trying to avoid the possibility of them getting a really good look at her.
She'd put her hair up in a clip to get it out of her way, though, and could feel that it was falling down untidily all over the place. Beyond that, she was liberally sprinkled with flour from making the gravy, spattered with grease from batter frying the squash, and had children's fingerprints all over her besides that—mostly Felicity's, who'd been given a cookie to hold her until supper was ready. And Felicity, for some reason completely obscure to her, seemed to think her breast was the perfect thing to hold on to to make certain Shilo didn't drop her.
The moment of truth arrived in spite of hell, though. Shilo had just settled in her seat with her plate when Julie announced, very brightly, that she had cooked. She could've done
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