Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 34451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
“I’m all right, Hatter. Did I worry you too? I’m sorry,” she said.
Hatter settled his head on her lap, and she scratched him behind the ears.
Duke grasped hold of her chin, tilting her face back. “I’m relieved you’re okay, baby. But that could have gone disastrously wrong. What if the Fox hadn’t followed you? What if by the time you’d called one of us, the roads had been closed due to the snow? Or you’d all got too cold?”
She bit her lip, staring up at him with teary eyes. “I’m so sorry, Daddy.”
“I know you are, Little Rebel. But the fact remains, I didn’t know where you were or that you were in trouble. You took away my job from me. I need you to be safe, Sunny.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have lied. It’s just . . .”
“Just what?” he asked.
“Brody called me the other day to tell me that the Fox, well, he’s never really had a family holiday. I mean, before Brody and Autumn he didn’t really have a family at all.”
Duke stilled. He knew that. Though he guessed he hadn’t really thought about it or what it might mean for the other man. “That’s why he was so fired up for us to go on holiday with him a while ago?”
The five of them in an RV or two didn’t sound like a good time to him. But he knew a bit about the Fox’s life growing up. And none of it was good.
And the Fox thought of Sunny as family.
How would it feel to never have been on a family holiday? Duke understood that feeling a bit. He’d lost his family when he was eight. But at least he had a few good memories of when they were alive. Mostly of his mom’s laugh. And then Ink’s family took him in. And they were amazing to him.
What would it be like if he hadn’t had any of that?
Fuck.
“I can’t go away on holiday right now, Sunny.”
“I know. That’s why we thought we could hire a cabin just for a couple of nights close to home and spend Christmas there.”
“Aren’t they all booked?”
“Not this one. It’s a friend of Jonas’s. You know, your client? I saw him in the mall the other day and he hooked me up with his friend who only hires the cabin out sometimes to friends or friends of friends.”
“Jonas hooked you up?” Duke asked in surprise. Jonas was a good client, but he could be a hardass.
“Yep. He likes me.”
Of course he did. Everyone loved Sunny. It was hard not to, with her happy personality. The goodness shone out of her. If she’d been able to thwart an assassin-for-hire’s heart, Jonas was a piece of cake.
“So you want us to all spend the night there? Together?”
“Maybe just Christmas Eve? Or Christmas night?”
Or perhaps both nights. He should be able to do that if it meant so much to his girl.
And to show the man who’d proven again and again that he’d do anything for his ‘sweet girl’ what a family holiday was like.
Yeah, Duke had been short-sighted, and it was time to remedy that.
“Let me think about it. Right now, we need to get some warm food into you. I have some soup on the stove and I’ll make some grilled cheese too. Then you’re having a bath and going to bed.”
“Aren’t you . . . aren’t you going to spank me, Daddy?” she asked.
“Not tonight. You need food and sleep more. But we’ll be discussing all of this tomorrow.”
“Okay, Daddy. I really am sorry. Did you have to cancel appointments?”
“I just moved some around.”
“Oh, no.” Her eyes filled with tears again.
“Hey,” he said gently. “That’s not something to get upset about.”
“But you’re already w-working so hard. And I m-made it all harder.”
“Oh, Sunny.” Shit. He closed his eyes. If he hadn’t been so against a family holiday or if he’d told her what was going on with work earlier, then she wouldn’t have gone off like she had without telling him.
“Sunny, this isn’t your fault.”
“I-it is.”
“Listen to me. I know I’ve been working a lot lately. And I’m sorry you haven’t had as much of my time. I’m going to fix that. Okay?”
Sunny looked up at him. “How? You seem to be working a lot more than usual. I know this is a busy time of year, but you’re also bringing work home a lot. And I’m not complaining. I’m not. I know you’re good at what you do, which means lots of people will demand your time. It’s just . . . are we having money trouble? Because if you need me to, I can get a second job.”
“Money trouble? Baby . . . you think I’m working a lot because of money trouble?”
“I guess . . . I was starting to wonder . . . if we really need it, I can get a second job. I could do some landscaping for people. I’ve been looking into it and I reckon I could work Sundays—”