Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
“Yep.” He was already sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed, putting on his shoes.
She was still dumbfounded and naked. “Maybe I could just go downstairs as soon as I’m ready so I’m not holding you up,” she suggested. She’d only be a few minutes behind him.
He shook his head as he headed for the dresser. “Nope. For one thing, you don’t have access to the basement yet. Magnus needs to register your prints in the system so the elevators will open for you on that lower floor.”
He came toward her with a pair of panties and handed them to her. “Do you want to dress yourself, or would you like Daddy to do it?”
She took the panties from him and put them on. “I can do it,” she murmured.
He handed her a bra next, still talking. “You can order whatever you want for breakfast from the kitchen, and they’ll bring it down.” He grabbed a pair of her jeans and tossed them to her. “I’ll come get you for lunch so we can come back up here. By then, your surprise will have arrived.”
“Surprise?” Her mind was whirling as he pulled a shirt over her head and handed her a pair of tennis shoes.
Without waiting for her to put them on, he guided her back into the bathroom, grabbed her brush, and combed out her damp hair.
She stared in awe at their reflection in the mirror as he parted her hair and deftly fixed two low pigtails at the back of her head.
When he tried to brush her teeth for her, she snagged the toothbrush from his hand and did it herself while he chuckled.
“Shoes, Little girl.”
She followed him to the bedroom again, sat on the bed, and put them on. When had he made the bed? While she’d brushed her teeth?
“Ready?”
She felt like she’d run a marathon and had whiplash at the same time. He’d done most of the work getting her ready. She looked around, trying to think if she needed anything, but everything she could need this morning was already in the basement except for her new phone, which Daddy set in her palm on their way to the door.
“You’re a taskmaster in the morning,” she murmured.
“Yep.” He set a hand on the small of her back and led her to the elevator.
“What is this surprise you have coming for me?” she asked, still trying to get her bearings.
“You’ll see. It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, would it?”
She looked up at him when he threaded their fingers together and brought her knuckles to his lips. “But the surprise will prove whether you’re good at everything?” she asked, remembering his words.
“Well, maybe not everything. But it will prove if I’m good at one more thing.” He guided her off the elevator and into the basement control center.
Magnus was already seated at the wide expanse of monitors. “Hey there, Little girl.” He rose from his seat and adjusted his ball cap. “Did you have breakfast yet?”
Hawking answered for her. “She didn’t. She’s apparently not a morning person,” he teased. “I bet she’ll be ready to order something soon.” He grabbed her chin, kissed her soundly, and grinned. “See you in a few hours.”
And then he was gone, and Celeste felt like the air left the room with him.
She still stared at the closed elevator doors while Magnus spoke behind her. “I figure after breakfast, we can get you set up to do your research from here. It looks pretty important. I bet you have no intention of stopping it just because the company you worked for took a bribe.”
She turned to face him and drew a deep breath. “You’re right. I know it’s not exactly legal. The research belongs to the facility where I worked. Just because the discovery and all the work is mine doesn’t mean I get to continue doing it.” She admitted. Magnus seemed like the sort of man who would understand what she was talking about.
He nodded. “It looks like damn important research, Little girl. I don’t blame you. Hopefully, in the end, you’ll be able to legally get back into it.”
She blew out a breath and let her shoulders relax. He understood. “Do you think I can work from down here?”
“Yep. This isn’t a lab, of course. I can’t really turn this into a biology lab, but I would bet that’s not what you need in the short term anyway.”
“No. I need to pull together all the information into a neat, tidy package. It’s all raw data now,” she admitted.
“Then, is there a review or publication process?”
“Usually, the company you work for handles all of that. For something this big, it would be handled with incredible secrecy to make sure no one steals your work.”
“It’s just you for now, Celeste. What should your first step be?” Magnus seemed to be coaching her through the process of setting up the steps to reveal the discovery to the world.