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)
But yesterday, he’d produced some new coloring books and a couple of puzzle books. She’d been a bit embarrassed until he’d pointed out that lots of adults found coloring in therapeutic.
“Make sure you eat that sandwich,” Kent warned.
She sighed, but reached for the sandwich. Jeez, if she’d thought he wouldn’t keep as close an eye on her as Clint, she’d been very mistaken.
A door slammed shut. “I’m home,” a deep voice boomed.
“Clint!” she squealed and raced out of the room.
“No running in the house!” Kent called out behind her. She ignored him and raced down the passage, leaping at Clint as he walked out of the kitchen.
He looked tired, but he still caught her as she threw herself at him. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding on tight.
“Whoa, there, hey, little darling.” He patted her back, placing one hand under her ass to hold her against him.
She leaned back and peppered his face with kisses. He started to laugh.
“Now, that’s a greeting,” Kent said from behind her, but she ignored him. Clint placed a hand around the nape of her neck, holding her still as he took her mouth in a full, deep kiss. His tongue slid between her lips to tease. Her body reacted immediately and she pressed her pussy against his stomach, rubbing up and down.
“And that would be my cue to leave,” Kent said dryly.
Clint pulled back from their kiss, patting her bottom as she let out a low murmur of protest. “Wait, brother. Are you sticking around? Need to talk to you.”
“Yep, I’m working out of your study today. Come find me when you’re ready.”
Clint nodded at him.
She settled her head against his chest. “I’m so glad you’re home, Clint. I missed you.”
“I missed you too, baby girl,” he told her as he started climbing the stairs, still holding her. She should probably tell him to put her down, he had to be tired, but she didn’t want to let him go. He strode into their bedroom and sat on the bed with her on his lap, straddling his legs. “I’m so glad to be home with you.”
“Me too.” She bit her lip, knowing she should apologize again. “And I really am sorry for everything. It won’t happen again. I promise.”
“Oh, I’m sure it won’t, especially after you get your punishment.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“I still don’t think getting punished twice is fair!”
“Fair has nothing to do with it. You broke the rules.”
Her breath hitched and she looked away from him. He grabbed her chin and turned her back to face him. “It occurred to me while I was away that we haven’t had much time daddy-little girl time lately.”
“It’s okay,” she said quickly.
He raised an eyebrow. “No, it’s not. I miss spending time with your Little.”
Her eyes widened. “You do?”
“Yep. And I’m going to remedy that.”
“Clint, I’m all right. I don’t want to be—”
“Do not say you don’t want to be a bother. If I hear you say that, I’m going to find a gag and you won’t be allowed to speak until I’m certain that will never come from your mouth again.”
She tapped at his hand until he removed it. “I wasn’t. I was trying to say that I don’t want to interfere with your work. I know you’re really busy and I can wait until you have more time—”
“Darling, stop.” His voice was patient. Kind. “The thing with ranching is that there is always something that needs doing.”
She nodded. Of course, there was. She’d seen how hard he worked. She just needed to accept that he had other responsibilities. Just because he had to spend a lot of time away from her, didn’t mean she was any less important to him.
“But the ranch and my other responsibilities are not more important than you.”
“Crap. Was I speaking out loud?”
His gaze narrowed. “No, you weren’t. But that just clued me in on what you were thinking.”
She ran her hand over her face. “I’m sorry I’m such a needy mess, Clint. I know you’re busy. You work so hard. You don’t need me adding to your workload.”
“Jesus, baby, you still don’t get it, do you?”
Get what?
“You are not work. You fulfill me. You make me whole.” He groaned. “Damn it, you know I’m not good at this mushy stuff.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I think you’re doing fine.”
“I’m giving Linc a promotion.”
“Okay. That’s nice. Linc’s a great guy.” Although she wasn’t sure why he was telling her this now.
“He’s going to be the ranch manager. I’ll still do most of the paperwork,” he grimaced, “and I’ll oversee. But he’ll do more of the day-to-day stuff that takes me away for long hours.”
She shook her head. “Nope. I can’t ask you to do that.”
He cupped her face. “You’re not asking me. This is my decision.”
She opened her mouth again to argue and he gave her a hard look. “Who is in charge in this relationship?”