Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“I think we can do much better than macaroni and cheese in a plastic tub.”
“I don’t know. It’s pretty yummy,” she argued playfully.
“You don’t like to cook then?”
Kiki swallowed another delicious bite of chocolate before responding. “It’s not that I don’t like to cook. I do. But I’m on my feet most of the day doing hair, so when I get home, I just want to sit. I don’t have the energy to stand in the kitchen longer than it takes to microwave something.”
“Ah. That makes sense. Sounds like you could use a Daddy.” He gave her a broad grin.
“You keep saying that, but I’m not kidding. I’m a hot mess. Men don’t usually go out with me more than once.”
He frowned. “I don’t believe that. You don’t seem like a mess to me, Bumblebee.”
She took another drink from her water bottle and sighed.
Terry reached over and wiped her cheek with his napkin. “You had a little frosting on you.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed, meeting her gaze. “Tell me why you think you’re a mess.”
She shrugged and looked down. She shouldn’t have mentioned it. Now she would make an even bigger fool of herself.
“Look at me, Bumblebee.”
At his commanding voice, she lifted her gaze. It was impossible not to obey him.
“Good girl. Now, talk to me.”
Kiki glanced around at the dwindling clientele. “I bet they’re about to close the shop. Maybe we should go so we don’t cause them to stay open just for us.”
“Little Cakes is still open for fifteen minutes, Bumblebee. We’ll leave before seven. I promise. Stop avoiding my question.”
She drew in a deep breath. “It’s just that I trip over my words and say dumb things and sabotage my relationships.” She sighed. “Like the night you first talked to me. I don’t know why I argued with you about getting a root beer. It was stupid. Sometimes my mouth just moves and dumb things come out and ruin everything.”
Terry pulled her hand to his face and rubbed her knuckles along his cheek. “You haven’t ruined anything, Bumblebee. I’m here, aren’t I?”
She shrugged. “So far,” she muttered.
“Kiki…” he warned. “If I’m being too forward or you’re not interested in me, you should tell me. Otherwise, I want to get to know you better, and I want you to know me better too.”
“Why?”
He frowned. “Because I like you, and I think if you gave us a chance, you’d realize you like me too.”
She gasped. “I already know I like you.” As soon as the words came out, she covered her mouth with her other hand and groaned. Why had she said that out loud?
He gave her a slow smile. “Good. I’m glad. When did you decide you liked me? While you were drinking a beer alone in the bar or when you convinced me to try coloring with pencils?” His voice was teasing, but she knew he was also curious.
“Before all that,” she murmured.
His brows shot up. “I only saw you one other time, Bumblebee. Surely you’re not talking about the night of the holiday party.”
Her eyes widened. “You remember that?”
His brow furrowed. “Of course I remember. How could I forget? You were the only new Little in the daycare I’d never met before. You had on a red plaid jumpsuit, a white blouse, white frilly socks, and black Mary Janes. Your hair was up in high pigtails. I hated that I got called away and couldn’t come introduce myself properly.”
She stopped breathing and stared at him. “You remember all that?”
He nodded.
She glanced down, slumping a bit. “Because I was the new girl.”
He lifted her chin. “No. Because you’re cute and I liked your smile. Though I will say, I didn’t care for your potty mouth. You walked into that nursery in full brat mode that night. I realized later it was all fake. You use your naughty behavior to try to fit in.”
Kiki pursed her lips. How was he so good at analyzing her? “Are you a psychologist?”
He chuckled. “No. Just observant. Especially when it comes to Littles.”
“How many Little girls have you had?”
“None of my own. I’ve dominated Little girls in clubs, but I’ve never brought one home before you.”
She narrowed her gaze. “You haven’t brought me home either.”
He grinned. “But I fully intend to. Not tonight of course. But soon.” He glanced over her shoulder and then back. “We should go to dinner now. It’s almost seven. The last patrons are paying their bill.”
Kiki sat up straighter and looked around, surprised she’d gotten so caught up in their conversation she hadn’t noticed it was closing time. She jumped to her feet and started collecting their empty wrappers to take them to the trash.
Terry grabbed her hand and gave a tug, pulling her into the V of his legs before meeting her gaze. They were eye to eye with him sitting and her standing. “Sit. I’ll clean up, and then we’ll head out.” He used one hand to tug her chair up behind her, so it nudged the backs of her knees and caused her to sit.