Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
What did you leave? Come back in and get it, or I’ll bring it out to you.
He forced himself to start up the engine and pull away, waiting until he was at the first traffic light to answer her.
My heart.
Chapter Eight
Gemma woke up before her alarm had a chance to go off. That was unusual for her, but then again, so was sleeping through the night. When she’d first climbed back in bed, holding her phone to her chest, she’d worried she would never fall asleep. After all, Anton had dumped the biggest decision of her life on her lap and then left her to ponder it.
It wasn’t a difficult decision though. There was no decision at all really. He hadn’t asked her to marry him or give up her home or anything life-changing. He’d simply asked her to sleep in his bed for the rest of eternity. If things went south, she could come back home.
First thing she did was find her phone where it had slipped under the covers. She knew that wasn’t safe. She should have put it on the nightstand, but she’d fallen asleep still holding it.
She sent off a text.
I still have your heart. Did you want me to drop it off before work?
A permanent grin spread on her face as she waited for a response. She knew it would be there all day.
It’s yours to keep, Little Bee. And you don’t have time to stop by my house before work. You need to pack a suitcase and put it in your car and eat a good breakfast before work.
She pushed out her lower lip. He was right though. If she was going to pack some things, she wouldn’t have time to go see him before she needed to be at the store.
She still didn’t know a lot about what Anton did for work, and she wondered if he worked every day. He’d said he worked for an investment firm. And he worked from home. That was all she knew.
After scurrying out of bed, she headed for the bathroom where she took a picture of her empty bathtub and texted it to her Daddy.
Guess I’ll give up my morning bath today since I don’t remember how to wash myself.
When he didn’t immediately respond, she set her phone on the counter and scurried around packing a suitcase. She grabbed a second duffle bag from the closet and dumped the bucket of bath toys in it. If she was going to sleep at Daddy’s house, she would need bath toys.
Even though she was tight on time, she ate a bowl of her favorite cereal combination before putting two boxes of cereal in a grocery bag to take with her also. After all, she had no idea if her Daddy had any of the kinds she liked.
She had her trunk loaded up and was sitting in the driver’s seat before she remembered to check her phone again.
Don’t you worry, Little Bee. I’ll give you an extra-long bath tonight to make up for the one you missed, and if you accidentally get dirty in the night, I’ll give you another one tomorrow.
Maybe we could have cupcakes. Then I’d be all sticky and need a bath.
LOL We’ll see, Little Bee. Now, I know you’re about to leave for work. Put your phone down and drive safe.
He added a silly winking emoji.
Gemma headed for her store and got right to work. She handled the morning clients alone. The young woman who worked for her came in at one. Since the store wasn’t too busy, Gemma took the opportunity to head over to Little Cakes. She wanted to show up at her Daddy’s house with a box of Reindeer Tracks cupcakes.
When she entered the bakery, she was greeted by the exuberant Ellie. “Hey, Gemma. How are things at Design Magic? Sue told me she was in yesterday looking for some workout clothes.”
“Thing are going great.” Gemma knew she had a pronounced pep in her step as she approached the counter. There were no other customers in the shop at this time.
Ellie’s smile grew. “Huh, I think Sue was right when she told me she was confident you’d met someone special. You have that look. It’s sort of a glow.”
Gemma blushed. “Yeah, it’s true. I’m trying not to jinx it, but I don’t think it will be a secret much longer. He’s asked me to, uh, sort of sleep at his house.” It felt awkward saying it out loud.
“Sort of sleep?” Ellie giggled so hard she had to cover her mouth.
Gemma’s face heated further, but she couldn’t keep from laughing also. “To be honest, I’m hoping there won’t be a lot of sleeping going on.” She wanted to change the subject before she embarrassed herself. She knew Ellie pretty well. She also knew her employees. They all visited her shop, and she never missed a chance to pick up cupcakes.