Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54055 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54055 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
“Morning Daddy!” Lena’s voice was loud and cheerful as her feet rushed across the floor to me. “I’m happy to see you!”
I smiled as I scooped her up into my arms and hugged her close. “I’m happy to see you too, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?”
Lena nodded and looked over her shoulder at Lucy, dressed in a loose fitting yellow tank that hugged her breasts, and tight jeans that reminded me of just how good her plump ass felt in my hands. Lucy nodded and Lena turned back to me.
“I did. I had good dreams,” she said and wriggled out of my embrace to take her seat at the kitchen table while she told me about rescuing me from my office. “I was a hero.”
“Thank you for saving me,” I told her as I bit back a smile.
“Love you, Daddy.”
My heart squeezed at how easily it came to Lena to be nice and sweet, so full of love. “Love you too, my sweet Lena.” My gaze wandered over to Lucy who wasn’t glaring at me, but she wasn’t smiling at me either, which was a good thing, I told myself.
“What’ll it be for breakfast, Lena?” Dotty’s voice cut through my thoughts and I reluctantly pulled my gaze from Lucy.
“Sammich!” Lena danced in her seat and sent Lucy a conspiratorial smile.
Lucy sighed, but her smile was as bright as my daughter’s. “Breakfast sandwiches,” she clarified. “Bacon and toast with strawberry jam on both sides.”
I scoffed. “That sounds terrible.”
Then Lucy did glare at me. “Then you don’t have to eat it. Stick to your boring egg whites and spinach omelet.” She arched a brow in challenge before turning back to Dotty. “It was one of my favorites when I was a kid, and I told Lena we could try it out if she finished her book yesterday.”
“I did!” Lena wriggled in her chair again, smiling proudly. “Wanna hear about it Daddy?”
“Of course I do.” And I spent the rest of breakfast listening to Lena tell me about a group of baby animals that lived in the jungle and helped each other learn how to survive without their parents. “That sounds like a big girl book.”
“Lucy said it was a big girl book.”
“Maybe it’s too big,” I said, my narrowed gaze lasered in on Lucy who stared back defiantly.
“Why?” She folded her arms across her chest, ready for a fight.
It was a good thing I was ready too. “A bunch of orphans all alone in the world? That’s too grown up, and probably why she was so scared last night!”
“Or,” Lucy said as calm as could be, “maybe she related to the fact that none of them have mothers in their lives, but they still manage to thrive in the world.”
“Lucy!” I barked.
“And,” she went on in a calm tone, “maybe she was worried because her one remaining parent failed to ease her mind that he would be home, just later than usual. But hey, what do I know? I’m just the help, right?” The moment Dotty set two plates on the counter, Lucy placidly cut the two sandwiches into triangles and brought one plate to Lena with a smile. “They just taste better like this. Let me know what you think,” she said before she picked up the other plate for herself and exited the kitchen.
“Daddy I think you made Lucy mad.”
Yeah well, she made me mad too. “She’s fine.”
Lena slapped her hands on the table to get my attention. “Don’t make her mad Daddy, I like her. What if she goes away?”
Dotty smacked her lips together as she set a cup of juice in front of Lena and refilled my coffee. “Lucy’s tougher than that, Lena. She won’t let your grouchy old Dad scare her off.”
Unfortunately I had a feeling that Dotty was absolutely right. “I’ll apologize,” I promised Lena to ease the fear that clouded her eyes and furrowed her brow. “Time for me to go.”
Lena stood on her chair with her arms extended. “Have a good day Daddy.”
“Thank you. Have a good day yourself and I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Promise?”
I hugged her and smacked a loud kiss to her cheek that made her giggle. “I promise. Love you.”
“Love you back,” she said, still giggling. “Bye.”
I left for the office, my thoughts full of the nanny, to whom I now owed an apology.
I wasn’t dreading it as much as I should have been, and that made me consider going back on my word to Lena. Maybe a little bit of anger between us would cool the desire and the chemistry.
Yeah, and maybe pigs would start to fly.
Chapter 15
Lucy
“Are you sure it’s all right Dotty? I’ll clean the kitchen when we’re all done, I promise.” The last thing I wanted was to increase the housekeeper’s workload, but an unexpected rain meant that outdoor activities were off the list for the rest of the afternoon.