Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 47381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 237(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 237(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
“Uh-uh.” He grabbed her hands. “No rubbing.”
“Daddy! You have all these dumb rules.”
He frowned.
Uh-oh.
“Dumb rules, huh? I’m starting to think that I didn’t spank you for long enough.”
“No, Daddy! You did. You did. But you spanked me so well I don’t think you need to do it ever again.”
He snorted. “Oh, I doubt that. Somehow, I think I’ll still be spanking your ass when we’re eighty-three and sitting on our porch in the rocking chairs.”
“Well, hopefully you don’t spank me on the porch. We don’t want to scare the neighborhood kids.”
“No promises. I’ve got to keep up my badass rock god reputation.”
She giggled, leaning into him. “Love you, Daddy.”
“Love you too, babygirl.”
EPILOGUE
“Bumblebee? Where are you?”
Jolie slid her thumb out of her mouth, knowing that she had to answer. Brand sounded so worried, and she didn’t like that.
A lot had happened in the last six months.
Mikey had quit as tour manager. She’d felt really bad about that, but they’d found another manager quickly and he was a really great guy.
She’d moved in with Brand. Not that they were at his place much since they were still touring for another several months, but it felt nice to know she had a home.
Jolie had met his family. She’d been so terrified that she’d nearly peed herself, but his family was so nice.
Oh, and they’d finally made it back to Rawhide Ranch. It was early January, and they weren’t due back on tour for another few weeks. They were spending a week here before heading to Hawaii for a break in the warm weather.
“Jolie?”
“I’m in here, Daddy!” she called out from the closet. It was the sort with shelves off to the side, behind the wall cavity. They were removable and there had been just enough room if she took out two of them for her to squeeze into the space.
Brand opened the door to the closet and stared down at her. She blinked as the light assaulted her eyes.
“Bright light! Bright light!”
“Baby, what are you doing? Why are you hiding? Shit, I was only in the shower five minutes.”
He’d gotten her all ready for the day before leaving her watching cartoons while he’d taken a shower.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, crouching down.
She slid her thumb into her mouth.
“Uh-uh, no you don’t.” He drew her thumb from her mouth and climbed into the closet, sitting on the floor. Then he drew her onto his lap. “What is it? Tell Daddy.”
“I’m nervous.”
“About going to the Littles’ program?” he asked.
“Uh-huh. What if no one likes me? What if the teacher is mean to me? What if I don’t like it?”
“First of all, everyone is going to love you. Why wouldn’t they? Secondly, if the instructor is mean, then you tell them to call me. Same if you don’t like it. But, baby, I think you’re going to love it. Okay? You wanted to try this. It’s only a few hours and Daddy will be there to pick you up after.”
“Promise?”
“I promise. I’m always going to come for you. No matter what.”
She buried her face in his chest. “Everything will be all right.”
“Of course it will. Daddy will make sure of that. He’s always going to make everything good.”
Derek Hawkins walked into his office at Rawhide Ranch. He’d just seen Brand and Jolie leaving. They were heading off to Hawaii today. He came to a stop as he spotted something on his desk.
A muffin basket.
He approached carefully in case it was a prank. He wouldn’t put it past Sadie or some of the other Littles on the Ranch.
But nothing jumped out at him. It appeared to be a muffin basket with a note.
He opened the note and smiled.
Dear Master Derek,
Thanks for making all my dreams come true.
Lots of love
Jolie.
The End