Preston Pruitt put aside his dreams of becoming a gourmet chef at a high-end restaurant to raise his daughter while her mother was on active duty in Afghanistan. Now Abby is a precocious eight-year-old in love with fairies and princesses, and Preston works at an unimaginative and monotonous job as a short order cook.<br><br>Abby has her quirks, and when she tries to wear a pair of costume wings for her school pictures, her father is called to help talk her out of them. That's when Preston meets Cam Richards, a handsome photographer with his own studio in town. Between Cam's quick smile and flirty manner, Preston is smitten and surprises himself by asking the guy out. Late night phone calls lead to dinner dates, and soon Preston is falling for Cam. It helps that Abby approves of her father's new special friend.<br><br>With Cam’s encouragement, Preston gets the chance to interview for an executive chef position. Now that he has all the ingredients, will he finally fulfill his dream of becoming a top chef and find the perfect recipe for romance?

Recipe for Romance

Preston moved along with them when the photo shoot migrated into the second studio, what Jocelyn dubbed the “fun room,” but soon found he was a distraction to his daughter. Every time she picked up a prop from the toy box or struck a cute pose, she called out to him, “Look at me, Daddy!” or “Watch this!” or “Daddy, look!”


At first he gave the standard dad responses. “I see, honey. Be careful on that. Uh-huh, cool. Ooh, pretty. Yes, Abby, I’m watching you.” But before long, he realized he was interfering with the shot and Cam was too nice to say anything. When Jocelyn came into the pictures, too, Preston decided it was time for him to sit down and let the girls have their fun.


Of course, the moment he started to drift away, Abby noticed. “Daddy, wait!” she called out. “Aren’t you going to watch me?”


Chapter 35