Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
The next time the bells sounded their warning, she looked up from the counter where she was transcribing an online order to see Ellie. Daisy rushed around the work surface to hug her friend who held a cupcake away safely at arm’s length.
“Hi! I thought you might like to have a treat break,” Ellie chirped.
“Lemon Chiffon. I’d take a break in the middle of the Valentine’s Day rush for one of these.” Without hesitating, she pulled off the wrapper and took a bite. “Yum!”
“You’ve got a little… here,” Ellie laughed, pointing to her nose.
“Of course, I do. Thanks, friend. Others would have let me walk around all day long with frosting on my nose.” Daisy laughed, wiping the yellow fluffy mixture off before taking another bite.
“These are so good. Is it possible they have improved even more from the first one I tried when you opened?”
“It is if someone who loves that flavor has a Daddy who’s my top baker. He’s been fiddling with that concoction since he met you.” Ellie giggled.
“I love him,” Daisy confessed, feeling tears fill her eyes as she became emotional.
“I know.” Ellie rushed forward to wrap her arms around Daisy’s waist. “We are so lucky we found our Daddies.”
“I think your cupcakes are matchmakers. They’re like a magnet pulling Daddies and Littles together,” Daisy told her.
“I love that. Now, I’m going to cry,” Ellie protested.
The two Littles clung to each other for several seconds before Ellie asked, “Who do you think will be next?”
“I don’t know, but I want this for everyone.” Ellie beamed at her friend. “Cupcakes and Daddies for everyone!”
“Did I hear someone ask for a Daddy?” a loathsome voice said from the doorway. His hand wrapped around the bells on the door handle to keep them quiet.
“You need to leave, Leo. No one wants you for their Daddy,” Ellie said sharply after shooting a meaningful glance Daisy’s way.
Daisy darted around the counter and pressed the panic button. Please work! She kept her eyes on Leo.
“Leo, I want you to leave and never come back. I have a Daddy now. Even if I didn’t, you wouldn’t be on my list of a million possibilities to replace him.”
“That’s rude, Little girl.” Leo stalked forward to circle the counter.
“Stop!” Daisy reached under the counter to press the button again. Her fingers knocked a heavy glass vase over and she grabbed it. Raising it with both hands, she crashed it down on Leo’s head as he got close.
For a minute, she didn’t think it had worked. Then, his eyes rolled up in his head and he dropped like a rock to the ground. “Help me tie him up with this ribbon,” she shouted to Ellie as she pulled a long length from the spool on the counter.
It wasn’t thick but would hold if they wrapped it around his hands multiple times. Daringly moving close to the dangerous man, they secured his hands first before starting to work on his feet.
The door slammed open, making both women jump away. Bear filled the doorway. Waves of violence emanated from him. Military training was evident in every line of his body. He was there to destroy anyone who threatened his Little.
“Daisy!”
“I’m okay, Daddy.” She knelt carefully at Leo’s feet, avoiding the shattered glass on the floor to finish tying the ribbon, only to feel herself lifted into the air.
“Are you hurt?” he demanded.
When she shook her head no, he ordered, “Wait over there,” before taking over the job of wrapping ribbon around Leo’s ankles.
The sound of distant sirens penetrated the glass picture window as tires squealed to a stop at the curb. Again, the door slammed open as Garrett burst into the room.
“You okay, Rainbow?” he asked frantically, running his hands over Ellie.
“Yes, Daddy. Daisy knocked Leo out and we tied him up.”
“You did what?” Bear growled, looking at Daisy as he stood up.
“When I hit the panic button, I touched a vase. I didn’t think. I just smashed it over his head.” Daisy pointed to the glass crunching under his feet on the floor.
“Oh, no, Daddy! You got cut.” She pointed to a trickle of blood running down from Bear’s knee.
“Ellie, run into the back and get the first aid kit on the wall.” Daisy pushed her Daddy toward the picture window so she could see his leg better.
By the time the squad car pulled to a stop at the curb, Daisy had wiped the glass shard from his skin and disinfected it. When her Daddy moved toward the door, she wrapped her arms around his leg.
“No, Daddy. Let me put a bandage on first,” she demanded.
As the police entered cautiously, Daisy considered the scene through their eyes: a man unconscious on the floor with a mile of red ribbon securing his hands and feet, a woman in a Blooms by Daisy polo shirt applying a large cartoon frog bandage on a massive man’s leg, another couple huddled close by, and a half-eaten, bright yellow cupcake and broken glass trampled all over the floor.