Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
He gathered her in his arms and sat on one of the abandoned chairs to rock her gently as their bodies calmed. Hunter pressed sweet kisses against her skin as he held her close. Long minutes passed as she recovered from the pleasure he’d lavished on her.
Finally, she gathered herself together. “Do I always have to sit in that seat?” she asked.
“Only when you need a reminder that Daddy makes the decisions.”
CC looked at him wordlessly and nodded. “You’re in charge,” she whispered.
“Good girl. I’ll just make sure you remember that from time to time.”
“Okay, Daddy,” she repeated in that quiet voice, hoping he didn’t hear the anticipation she tried to mask in her tone. She couldn’t let him know all her secrets.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Hey, Pumpkin!” Hunter called as he entered the house.
“Daddy! I’m back here!” CC called from her nursery. She liked to sit in her special room after work to relax. There were so many fun activities to do there. Today, she snapped one more piece into the jigsaw puzzle she’d been working on before jumping to her feet to greet her Daddy.
“I’m so glad to see you,” he told her, wrapping his arms around her to pull CC in tight against his body.
“I missed you, too.” She lifted her lips for a kiss.
“Come sit on my lap and tell me about your day,” he invited, leading her over to the extra-large rocking chair.
Scrambling eagerly into place, CC shared the funny things that had happened to her at the café. She didn’t probe too much into his day. Sometimes it was best for him not to remember the tragic cases that had appeared that day in the emergency department.
Today, however, he had a story that made her roll with laughter about an older couple who were full of spice but obviously so in love with each other after sixty years. Thankfully, their concern that the older man was having a heart attack wasn’t correct, and it was a simple case of indigestion from the extra jalapeño she’d snuck into his chili.
“I hope we have that many years together,” CC said without thinking. Panicking that he might not see himself with her for that long, she tried to cover up her blunder. “I mean that has to be a weird feeling to be with someone longer than you were single without them.” He’d told her many times he intended to be her Daddy forever, but it was still so hard to believe.
“I would love to spend the next sixty years with you, Pumpkin. That actually was my first thought. I hoped we’d both be healthy enough to have each other for that length of time. I’m going to do my best to take care of both of us.”
“I’d like that, Daddy.” She relaxed against his shoulder, weaving her fingers through his thick hair.
“You know what I’m in the mood for tonight?”
“What?”
“A Little Cakes’ cupcake. Would you like to go see what the special flavor is this week? My fingers are crossed for pumpkin spice, but we could try something new,” he suggested.
“I bet they’re out of those, but everything is good there.”
“Let’s go see. We can have dessert first tonight,” her Daddy suggested.
“Yum. Let’s go.”
Within minutes, CC sat in the passenger seat with the seatbelt securely fastened around her. They talked easily about the traffic on the road and the weather. She sat forward in her seat at the sight of the packed parking lot in front of Little Cakes.
“It looks like Ellie’s got something going on tonight. Maybe we should come back another time?” CC suggested.
“The sign says open. If they’re doing this much business, we’ll get super fresh cupcakes. Come on!” Hunter encouraged her.
“Okay. But what if it’s a private event?”
“Then we won’t intrude, Pumpkin, but I doubt that’s the case.”
Hunter helped her out of the car and ushered her to the shop door with a guiding hand on her lower back. The conversation seemed to die out for a brief second when he opened the door, but Ellie waved her arms around as she rushed forward, and the chatter resumed.
“Hi, guys! Coming in for an evening cupcake?” Ellie asked with a big smile.
“Wow! You’re super busy. Look at all the people.” CC looked around in appreciation of the obviously thriving business. She started noticing people she knew… Besides Ellie, all the usual Little Cakes staff and friends were in attendance—Sue, Tarson, Riley, and Tori as well as Sunshine, Daisy, Wyatt, Avery, and Lark, a bunch of police officers who had worked with Darren, and even Tori’s Daddy, Evan, sporting his camera around his neck.
“Pretty unbelievable that everyone showed up tonight, isn’t it?” Ellie said with a sparkle in her eyes that CC hadn’t seen before.
“Are you having a party to announce the next cupcake flavor?” CC asked, trying to figure out what was going on.