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)
“But, Sir…”
Terry stood to finish cleaning up, glancing at her as he stuffed everything that needed to go in the trashcan in one palm. “I like the sound of that, but I’ll be super glad when you decide to call me Daddy instead.” He kept his voice low so no one but her heard.
She felt her cheeks heat as she watched him head for the trashcan. She also caught Ellie’s eye from behind the counter. Ellie lifted both hands and gave her two thumbs up, grinning like crazy.
Kiki’s face heated further as she tried to return the smile. She felt awkward, and she hated for Ellie and her friends to get the wrong impression. It wasn’t like Kiki and Terry were an item. That was preposterous. They were just two people having a cupcake.
And then dinner, she reminded herself.
Chapter Four
Terry realized he had his work cut out for him. Kiki was skittish. It wasn’t that she had low self-esteem exactly. It was more than that. She obviously didn’t think she was worthy of his attention.
That was going to change by the end of the evening if he had anything to say about it.
As they left Little Cakes, waving goodbye to Ellie and Tarson, Terry set a hand on the small of Kiki’s back. “Can we leave your car here and take mine to the restaurant?”
Kiki stopped walking and turned to look up at him. “Are you sure you want to do that? Maybe I should take mine too, just in case.”
“In case of what?” Terry asked. He knew what she was thinking, and he didn’t like it one bit.
She murmured the next part. “In case things aren’t working out and we want to go our separate ways.”
Terry’s heart ached as he faced her, held both her biceps, and looked her in the eye. “I know there are a lot of things we need to discuss, and I have about a million follow-up questions to everything you’ve told me so far this evening, but I want to make something very clear.”
Kiki’s shoulders dropped and she looked away as if he’d just told her he killed puppies for a living.
Terry bent his knees to put them more at eye level. “Bumblebee, look at me.”
Her lip was trembling as she reluctantly met his gaze.
“I may not know every detail about you yet, but I know enough to realize you’re mine. My Little girl. Mine to protect. Mine to guide. Mine to hold. Mine to cook dinner for. Mine to tuck in at night. This nonsense about things not working out and us going our separate ways during dinner is bunk. Understood?”
Her precious dark eyes nearly bugged out. Her mouth fell open, but for once she didn’t come back with some silly comment to cover up her feeling awkward.
He smiled and pulled her against his chest to hug her tight. “My Bumblebee is finally speechless.”
“You can’t be serious,” she told his chest.
“Very serious.”
When he released her enough for her to lean back, she was still wide-eyed. “You think you’re my Daddy?”
“I know I am.” He kissed her forehead and then nibbled a path down her cheek to kiss her lips. He’d enjoyed every moment of their previous kisses at the club last night, and he’d wanted to remind himself how sweet they’d been.
She leaned into him, moaning just a tiny bit against him, making him mentally fist pump before he righted her with a final kiss to her forehead. “We probably shouldn’t make out on the sidewalk in front of Little Cakes.” He chuckled. “Let’s go to dinner. Do you like Chinese?”
She stared at him before her jaw dropped. “You’re fucking serious.”
He frowned playfully. He knew he had her flustered, but she was adorable all flustered. He liked her a little off balance and shocked. She was too cute and so precious. “I’m not sure what part you’re referring to, but I’m serious about everything I’ve said.”
She blinked.
He nodded. “I’m serious about dinner. We’re going for Chinese if that’s okay with you. I’m serious that I knew you were mine the night I first saw you. I’m serious I intend to prove to you that I’m your Daddy. I’m also serious when I add that your potty mouth is going to land you over my knee next time.”
She gasped. “You can’t spank me for cussing. We’ve never discussed any rules.”
He grinned. “That’s why I said next time, Bumblebee. I suspect you cuss to get attention, but I promise you’ll get all my attention without cursing.” He winked at her. “You’ll get even more attention if you use naughty words, but it will be directed at your naughty little bottom and afterward, you’ll be glad your job doesn’t allow you to sit down often.”
She gasped yet again, but she also swayed closer to him. So close she had to grab his arm as she lost her balance.