Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“I’m not a big milk drinker—unless it’s chocolate,” she rushed to tell him.
“Perfect. Chocolate milk for you.”
“I don’t really need to drink milk,” she said, shaking her head.
“You will have milk at every meal.”
“You sound like my mother,” she complained, dropping her spoon into the bowl.
“Be careful, Little one. There is time for you to receive a punishment for being contrary before your day begins.”
She swallowed hard and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“Nor does working keep you from discipline if you earn it.”
“Can I go get ready for work now?”
“I will come with you,” Drake told her as he stood. He gathered up most of their dishes, leaving Aurora’s bowl. “Can you carry that for Daddy?”
Of course, she trailed him to the kitchen sink with the dish in her hand. He put the rest on the counter and then took the bowl from her.
“Thank you, Little one.”
Smiling at him, Aurora took his hand when he offered it and allowed Drake to lead her to the main bedroom. It shouldn’t have felt so good to have helped him, but she loved getting his approval. In a few minutes, he changed her clothes to a buttoned shirt over her jeans. Then leading her into the bathroom, he brushed her teeth and hair, securing the latter in a soft plait that kept it out of her face.
“Fancy yourself up however you want, Little one,” he told her, leaving the bathroom so she could put on her makeup in private.
Aurora looked at her tiara he’d removed to do her hair and wanted to wear it. That’s not the impression she wanted to make on her first day. Sadly, she set it back in her jewelry chest before returning to the bathroom.
As she smoothed on her makeup, Aurora felt a hair on her mustache line. Quickly, she found her tweezers and leaned over the vanity to peer into the mirror. Plucking the black intruder, she looked at it in disbelief. There was no way he hadn’t felt that when kissing her.
She’d been so wrapped up in all the attraction between them she hadn’t checked to make sure she didn’t have any sprouting hairs or any other unattractiveness. Pledging to be more vigilant, Aurora finished her makeup, only applying the bare minimum of foundation, powder, and eye liner.
When she rejoined Drake, he had set her computer up on the kitchen table. She turned on the device with the password he had written on a note along with other instructions. Little one. Smiling, Aurora was even more tickled to discover he had set it up for her, so she didn’t have to do any of those time-consuming tasks.
In just a few minutes, she logged into the video conference program. Deliberately, she switched on the camera, preferring to be seen on her first day. When it connected fully, she saw herself appear on the screen. Drake had chosen well. Her back was to a stone wall that could have been anywhere. There were no doorways or traffic paths behind her. Aurora assumed most of the day would have her muted on her end as she listened to the new hire information. Drake would be able to wander around the house as he wished without appearing on the screen.
“This isn’t his first rodeo,” Aurora whispered and then smiled as a gorgeous woman appeared on screen.
“Hi, Aurora. I’m Daphne in HR. I’ve sent you my contact information in the company email so you can contact me with any questions or concerns. I’m excited you’ve joined us. I’m going to walk you through a few things. Then I’ll trigger your next meeting with your direct supervisor.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Daphne. I’m glad to be here.”
The following hour consisted of health and benefit information. Aurora discovered Drake had selected most of the information for her. A bit peeved he had made these choices for her, Aurora found herself hoping she would have selected different ones, but realized she agreed with his choices.
“That’s it for me, Aurora. I’ll hand you off to Brandon, who’s in charge of your team,” Daphne told her. “You’ll have a ten-minute break. Use it wisely.”
Racing down the hall the minute the screen went black, Aurora used the bathroom and washed her hands. As she hurried back, she stopped in the kitchen to look for a spill-proof tumbler to have something to drink.
“I made you iced tea, Little one,” Drake told her, handing her an insulated cup.
“Thank you,” Aurora said, rushing back to her seat. She took a long drink as she checked the time on her computer. Two minutes left. Something caught her eye, and she lifted one hand to trace over a small device covering her camera. “What’s this?”
“That prevents anyone from spying on you without your permission. I should have put that on earlier. You can slide it to the right to allow the camera to see you.”