Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“Pancake, Daddy?”
“You can have some pancake after you eat the strawberry,” he told her.
“Please?” She gave him puppy eyes and slid her lower lip out.
This look should be irresistible.
“Be a good girl for Daddy,” he told her. “You don’t want to get some extra lines added to your punishment, do you?”
Ahh, no. She did not. She was kind of hoping that he’d forgotten about that. So because she was a good girl, she ate the strawberry. And it was pretty delicious.
“Well done, little girl.”
She soaked up his praise, squirming happily as he gave her some pancake with cream. Yum. Yum. Yum.
“Whoops. You got a bit of cream right here.” He used his finger to wipe it off the corner of her mouth.
Then, to her shock, he sucked it off his finger.
Wow.
Hot.
Then he fed her a piece of banana, which she barely noticed since she was too busy staring at him. His lips quirked. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. The rat.
He fed her some more pancake and she hummed happily.
“Good, little girl?”
“Sooo good, Daddy. Aren’t you going to eat, though?” She stared down at his egg-white and spinach scramble with turkey sausage.
Hmm. Looked far too healthy for her liking.
“I’ll eat once my baby is taken care of,” he told her.
His baby? Wow. She liked the sound of that. But what really made her flush with pleasure was the way he took care of her.
“Okay, Daddy. But don’t let it get cold. It might taste yucky.”
“Daddy will be fine,” he reassured her.
“Good morning.”
Phoebe jumped with a start.
“I’m sorry, little one,” Master Derek said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s okay,” she said cheerfully. “You’re a good sneaker, though.”
“Helps me to keep on top of things around here,” he replied with a smile. “Just wanted to check in and make sure you’re both all right. Erika said you didn’t need an escort to preschool this morning.”
“No, I’m looking after Phoebe today,” Barren said firmly as he fed her another strawberry. “And hopefully every other day she’s here.”
Double wow. She wanted that too. She was only booked in for a couple more days, but it wasn’t like she was in a rush to leave. She didn’t have anywhere she had to be.
“And that’s what you want, Phoebe?” Master Derek asked her.
“Yes, Master Derek. I do.”
“Hmm, I guess it’s good that you two met on that road, then, huh? Almost like fate had something in mind for you both. Just let Erika know if you want to stay longer at Rawhide.”
“Fate?” she asked Barren before he fed her another mouthful of pancake.
“Master Derek seemed to think that fate would send me someone when I was ready. I thought he was talking nonsense, until I found a Little girl stranded on the side of the road.”
“Oh yeah? She must be someone special,” she teased.
“She is. She’s got the sweetest smile and the most gorgeous eyes. Can’t believe she agreed to get to know me better, that she trusts me to be her Daddy while she’s here.”
Only while she was here? She hadn’t realized there was a time limit on this. What kind of an idiot was she? Here she was hearing wedding bells while he thought this was a fling.
Why did she always do that? She threw herself into things without thinking everything through. Every time.
She’d wanted to learn the violin, bought herself one, then realized she hated the sound of the violin. At least when she tried it.
There was the time she’d decided she wanted to make jewelry. She’d gone out and bought all of the equipment before she’d discovered that she had no patience for all the fiddly pieces and that everything just kept falling apart.
Idiot.
“And I’m hoping for longer.”
What?
She blinked, staring at him. “What?”
Reaching out, he took hold of her hand. “At the risk of making you run away from me, I am not a young guy. I don’t want to mess around with umming and aahing. I don’t want to play hard to get or any of that shit. I don’t want to waste either of our time. If I want something or someone, then I intend to have them. I tried to walk away. I thought it was ridiculous to feel an instant connection like we did. And look at me. I’m back here with you in less than a week.”
Her mouth was open as she gaped down at him.
“I get that you’re younger and maybe this is too much too fast. But honesty is important to me. And so is laying out my expectations so there are no misconceptions. I should have said this last night, maybe. However, if you were going to tell me to get lost, I wanted a bit more time with you. My expectation is that if we both enjoy ourselves during this time at Rawhide, if you like having me as your Daddy, if you want me… then our relationship won’t stop when the vacation is over. And we will do what is necessary to keep our relationship going. Which would likely necessitate one or both of us moving. So… have I totally made you want to run away screaming?”