Chapter 32: Sweet as Sugar
Moana

The children all began to cheer once Edrick agreed to stay longer so that we could make cookies. I lifted my gaze from Clara to see the Alpha billionaire standing in front of me, but he wasn’t looking at me; he was looking at the children.

We all made our way down to the kitchen. I lingered at the back of the group, still in utter shock as I tried to wrap my head around Edrick’s sudden change in demeanor. Had the tour of the orphanage and seeing how disadvantaged children lived given him a bit of compassion?

Once we were in the kitchen, I put on an apron and started to get out the ingredients to make the cookies while the children watched hungrily, licking their lips in anticipation for the sweet taste of sugar in their mouths.

“Do you like to bake, Mr. Morgan?” Clara asked, standing on her tiptoes as she gripped the edge of the counter to see.

“No,” Edrick replied, avoiding eye contact with the little girl. “I don’t.”

“Not even cookies?”

“No, not even cookies,” Edrick said. Then, in a slightly lower voice: “I’ve never baked anything.”

The children erupted into gasps, causing me to stifle a laugh. “Here,” I said, grabbing an extra apron and tossing it to Edrick. “I’ll teach you.” Edrick caught the apron and gave me a puzzled look while the children exploded with a chorus of giggles.

“I think I’d just mess it up,” he replied. “You can do it.”

my chest. “There will be no cookies if Mr. Morgan doesn’t help,” I said, to which all of the children

jacket and put the apron on, coming over to me. Without thinking, I reached out and rolled his sleeves up for him. Our eyes caught for a second and lingered on each

kids shouted. “They’re gonna kiss!” Now, the group’s cries of protest became even louder as some of the boys

felt my face get hot. Next, I showed Edrick which

this bowl,”

entire army. Sophia took half of the children as a group, helping them to roll the dough into little balls and place them on the trays, while Edrick

— she seemed to have taken a liking to him, which reminded

he rolled a ball of dough between his

you have

“I do,” Edrick replied.

of cookie dough into a misshapen ball between her tiny hands, then slapped it down on the tray with an unprecedented amount of force for such a small girl. Then, she turned toward Edrick

mouth to speak, but the words didn’t seem

Sophia interjected from across the room, “That’s an awfully personal

Mr. Morgan.” Clara drooped her shoulders and dug

Clara’s level and looked at her with unexpected honesty in his eyes. “My dad doesn’t always think that boys should do the same things that girls do,” he said. “So, I

sent a pang through my heart. Growing up in the orphanage, Sophia had always allowed the boys and the girls to play however they wanted and to try new things. I grew up not only baking and doing traditionally feminine things, but I also had all of the opportunities in the world to try traditionally masculine hobbies. I couldn’t imagine not being allowed to try those things just

little boys, who was sneakily stuffing raw cookie dough in his mouth, suddenly spoke up. “That’s dumb,” he said, his voice garbled through

shouted, running after the little boy. “Don’t eat raw cookie

laughter again. When I looked up,

happily stuffing their chocolate-covered faces. Sophia led Edrick and I to the door; we hadn’t realized it, but we had been there so long that the sun was

We’ve really been struggling lately — the government isn’t so generous

silent and appeared to be thinking, his brow furrowed

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