Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
“We’ll head out as soon as we change clothes and pack a bag.”
“I want to see the picture, Daddy.” Gabby squared her shoulders and pulled him to a stop.
“You don’t.”
“Really? I think I do,” she said, putting her hands on her hips.
“Gabby. I’m not being mean. I’m not being a stern Daddy. I’m telling you, as someone who loves you, you don’t want to see the picture.”
That made her stop and think. She took each statement one by one. Kole wasn’t ever mean. He was a stern Daddy, but he never lied, so maybe he wasn’t reacting from that role. When she got to the third line in the replay, she peeked up at him. “You really love me?”
“I do. I have never lied to you. The picture is disturbing and I don’t want you to have that image in your mind—ever.”
She placed her hand back in his when Kole offered it. Gabby looked down at her outfit and compared it to the fancy clothes she usually wore. She didn’t look much like a famous actress here. They walked a couple of steps before she drew him to a stop once again. “I really love you, Daddy. Thank you for caring about me—even if I look like this.”
Kole pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply before whirling her around in a circle. “You knock my socks off wearing my T-shirt and knee socks, Little girl.” He stopped and kissed her once again.
Gabby clung to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. When Kole lifted his head, Gabby whispered, “Can we go get PupPup now?”
“Definitely. Let’s go pack. We won’t be able to get there before it’s dark and I don’t want you in the car for eight hours there and eight hours back,” Kole said definitively.
“But we could…”
“No. We pack a few things so you have clean clothes and whatever you need to be your professional self.”
“You’re right. I can’t go like this,” she said, waving a hand at her shorts and another of his T-shirts. “I should have just waited to unpack.”
“We’ll come back here, sweetheart. You don’t want to live out of a suitcase here for two weeks while we wait for the filming to continue,” he reminded her gently.
“Can we get there before it gets dark?” she asked, peeking at his watch.
“Probably not. We’ll make a decision about whether we want to stop on the way or stay the night in your trailer.” He held up a hand when she started to answer him now. “Let’s see how tired we both are before we make that decision. Okay?”
“Okay. I’d like to get to PupPup if we can.”
“I know you do. It’s possible we’ll get there too late to talk to the person who has PupPup. They’ll take good care of him until we get there,” Kole promised.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have left,” she said sadly.
“We didn’t have a choice. And remember, we still don’t know that PupPup was there when we left.”
“I guess. I can’t wait to see him.”
“He’s going to look different,” Kole warned.
“How?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart. We’ll have to wait to see him together.”
After laying out an outfit that would be appropriate for her to arrive in her role as an actress and that wouldn’t wrinkle too much on the trip, Gabby packed a bag for Gabriela. She could feel herself sliding from the mindset of Little girl and back into her professional demeanor. Suddenly, tears tumbled down her cheeks.
“Hey, Little girl. What’s wrong? PupPup is in a safe place. We’ll get him back.” Kole wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He wiped away her tears.
“That’s not it,” she said through her sobs.
“Tell me what’s making you so sad.”
His stern voice compelled her to share. “I love being Gabby and hanging out here. I don’t want to go back and be Gabriela.”
“Oh, sweetheart. You can always be Gabby when we’re alone. I’m sure as an actress you guard your private life from the media and your fans. This is similar to your life before we met. Maybe someday you’ll decide you only want to be Gabby, and we’ll stay full-time at SANCTUM. But if I’m not wrong, you love acting. It’s in your blood.”
“I would miss it. It’s what I’ve always wanted to be.” She straightened up a bit and scrubbed the moisture from her cheeks. “I can be both Gabby and Gabriela?”
“Of course you can. And I’ll be a bodyguard and a Daddy. I’ll warn you. My Daddy rules are going to apply when you are Gabriela as well. I can’t turn it off and on. You’re always my Little girl.”
Gabriela nodded. That’s how she wanted it. She wanted him in her life. “Okay.”
“Good girl. Now, let’s go wash your face and you can slather on all that makeup that Gabriela likes to wear.” He steered her into the bathroom and snagged a washcloth from the rack. Efficiently, he washed her face with warm water and dried it with a hand towel.