Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Of course, that also meant that there wasn’t much she could get away with.
Her bottom clenched at the thought of him putting her over his knee. But as much as she didn’t want her butt spanked today, she also knew that she benefited from his care. His rules and discipline.
“There are other people you can ask to help you, Little Rebel. Including me.”
“I know,” she whispered. “But I just . . . I want everything to be perfect. When I was a little girl, everything was always chaotic, you know? My parents moved around a lot. They’d have parties that would go for days and forget I existed. They aren’t bad people, just absent. And it made me . . . it made me crave normality. Or what I thought was normal. I learned quickly how to take care of myself. Make my lunch. Get myself dressed. Go to school. Maybe that’s why I fell for Greg. He seemed normal.”
“Greg was an asshole.”
“Yeah. But I wanted something stable. The white picket fence. The dog. The gorgeous man. And now I’ve got all of that. I just . . . I don’t want to let you down, Duke. You mean everything to me, and I want this to be perfect.”
“Little Rebel, you could never let me down. You’re my fucking world. I’d be lost without you. And you know I’d be happy eloping to Vegas.”
“I know. That’s my point. I’m the one that wanted this wedding. So, I should do the work for it.”
Understanding filled his face. “You don’t want to ask for my help because you think I don’t want this?”
She shrugged. “I guess? You’re doing it for me. You do so much for me. You’re paying for—”
“I’m going to stop you right there,” he growled at her. “What is mine is yours and you damn well know that. I’m about to forget about your sore head and tender tummy and turn you over my knee, anyway.”
Right. Whoops.
Mentioning the money wasn’t her smartest idea.
Stupid hangover. It was making it hard for her to think.
“I know. Sorry.” She winced. “I’m saying that a lot, aren’t I?”
“You sure are, brat. Here’s the deal. Today you’re going to relax and Daddy will take care of you. You’re running yourself ragged trying to do it all, and I won’t have it any longer. Tomorrow, you’re writing a list of everything that needs to be done and then you will delegate some tasks. You don’t have to give it all to me. Your friends have been pestering me about helping. Just don’t give me anything to do with flowers or decorations.”
“I thought you wanted to help?” she teased.
“Yeah, but with more manly stuff. Like running errands.”
She bit her lip. She hadn’t realised that running errands was considered manly.
“Ask for help, Little Rebel. For all our sakes, yeah?”
“Okay. I’ll start delegating. I’ll put Millie in charge of the glitter for the thank you cards and table decorations.”
Duke narrowed his gaze. “Millie, really? Can you get dinosaur glitter?”
“If you can, I’m sure she’ll find it.” She grinned at the thought.
“Today, Daddy is in charge. Tomorrow, we delegate some jobs, so it’s not all on you, yeah?”
“All right, Daddy. Most of the tasks left, I need to do myself. But I’ll delegate what I can,” she added hastily. “Promise.”
“You better, baby girl. Or our wedding night is going to be very interesting.”
They weren’t going on a honeymoon. It just wasn’t in the budget right now. Not that she cared, she just wanted to be with Duke.
“Let’s get you clean. How is your tummy, Little Rebel?”
“It’s starting to feel a bit better, Daddy. But my head hurts.”
“Poor baby. I’ll get you some painkillers once you’re out of the shower.”
After stripping them both off, Duke carried her into the shower. He gently washed her, including her hair, then dried her off before bundling her up in a dry towel and carrying her into the bedroom.
He had a pair of her favorite unicorn pajamas ready on the bed. Yay. She’d spend all of her time in her pajamas if she could get away with it. After laying her on her back on the bed, he grabbed a pair of panties out of a drawer.
“Are those my Saturday panties?” she asked.
“Course they are, Little Rebel.”
Good. She couldn’t be wearing her Tuesday panties on a Saturday. She wasn’t that much of a rebel.
Actually, she wasn’t a rebel at all.
After getting her into her panties and pajama bottoms, he had her sit up so he could put her top on. Then he sat behind her and brushed her hair.
“Time for your cartoons.”
This was her favorite part about the weekends. Sitting around in her pajamas and watching cartoons with Duke. Sometimes she’d do some coloring or play with her toys. She realized they hadn’t done this the last few weekends because she’d been too busy.