Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Cate breathed out a sigh of relief. “Okay, Daddy.”
“Now, is ranch okay touching carrots?” he asked as he set her down.
“Of course!”
“Whew!” He placed his hand over his chest and stumbled back as though he’d been shot. “Because if you said no, well, we really were going to have a problem, young lady.”
Her Daddy was so silly.
“You’re a Silly Billy, Daddy.”
“Wait. Who is this Billy? Do I know him? Where is he?” He looked around.
“Daddy!” She smacked her hand against her forehead. “Obviously, Billy is make-believe.”
“Hey, careful. We don’t want to hurt that big brain of yours.” He grabbed hold of her hand, rubbing away the very slight sting.
His words were teasing, but she thought he looked serious.
“I can’t hurt my brains with a small slap like that!”
“Well, let’s not risk it. I don’t like it when you hurt yourself.”
Shit. He didn’t know, did he?
No, there was no way for him to know. The scar on her wrist was so faint, thanks to the plastic surgeon, that you’d have to look hard to see it.
Cate breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Eat up, baby,” he told her, reaching over to pick up a piece of carrot. He dipped it into the ranch and held it up to her mouth.
She took a bite. Yummy. Then another one.
Wow. She was really hungry. She grabbed a piece of apple and hummed happily, her feet kicking back and forth.
Then she noticed that Ethan wasn’t eating. He was just staring at her with a smile on his face.
“This is good, Daddy. Aren’t you going to eat any?” He had her old plate in front of him.
“Hmm? Oh yes. Daddy was just enjoying how happy you looked.”
She did feel happy. And surprisingly light.
Seemed a spanking and some Daddy time was what she’d needed to get past being overstimulated and overwhelmed.
“What are we gonna do this afternoon, Daddy?” she asked. They were having a late lunch.
“Hmm. Well, Daddy might need to do some shopping.”
Oh. She’d thought they might do something together. But wait . . . did that mean he was going to leave her?
You’ll be fine.
“You’re going shopping? Where?”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll do it all online. I don’t think we should leave the house at the moment. Unfortunately, the traffic cam footage Brody accessed wasn’t any help since the car was stolen.”
“Does that mean I can’t ever go out again?” she asked. “Because I’ve got another meeting on Wednesday.”
“No, we can figure it out. The stalker might leave you alone with Rhodes back in the city.”
“But he took those photos of us together when Rhodes was in the city.”
He stared at her. “Fuck. You’re right. We’re going to need to step up security.”
Cate chewed her lip. That sounded really expensive. “I’m going to talk to Jordan. See if I can do my meetings online.”
“Do you think he’d go for that? It would help.”
“I think so.”
“That would be great, baby.” He stood and grabbed a clean cloth, running it under the water before returning to her side and wiping her face and hands.
“Now, while Daddy does some shopping, he thought that his girl might like to hang out in her fort.”
She loved the way he cleaned her up. It felt so sweet and caring.
Wait. What?
“A fort? But I don’ts have one of those, Daddy.”
“Hmm. That’s why we’re going to build one.”
40
Ethan looked down at his girl. She was sitting on the floor and staring at the fort they’d built together as though she’d never seen one before.
She seemed so much more relaxed. The tension in her face and shoulders had gone. This is how he wished she could be all the time. Maybe after they’d gotten rid of this threat, she could spend more time like this.
It could be difficult for some Littles to let go of their Big life. Their worries and tasks. Too often, they were thinking about everything they had to do and how they didn’t have time to just stop. To take the time for themselves.
It was especially true for women.
He actually hadn’t thought they’d get there today. Thank goodness she’d thrown a small tantrum. Something he usually wouldn’t spank her over. But then she’d tried to move the bigger sofa cushions and he’d seen it as an opportunity to try something.
Sometimes, a spanking could help break down someone’s walls.
And it had helped Cate.
“Daddy . . . this is . . . it’s beautiful.”
“We did a good job.”
“Daddy!” She frowned up at him.
“What?”
“You wouldn’t let me even do anything.” She pouted.
Adorable.
“Now, that’s not true. I let you decorate the inside.”
“You let me put my blankie and Lady in there.”
“Yes, we don’t have much for decoration, unfortunately. You need some fairy lights. Some more toys. More blankets.”
“I don’t need any of those things, Daddy.”
Well, that was too bad since he was going to go ahead and order her some. Along with a whole lot of other things that he thought she needed.