Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
“I’d love for Beaky to see his family,” Juniper shared. When the other Littles looked confused, she said, “Beaky is my stuffie. My friend, Sammi, who lived here when I used to visit, gave me Beaky so I’d remember New Zealand.”
“That’s so neat. You’ve had him all this time?” Zara asked.
“It seems like we’ve been together forever,” Juniper said wistfully. “What kind of stuffies do you have? You have a stuffie, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Zara said with a nod. “Coco is a monkey.”
“He’s super cute,” Celeste told Juniper. “I have a black cat named Hades.”
“And I have a penguin named Edgar,” Sadie piped in.
“Have you had them forever?” Juniper asked, and everyone nodded their heads. “I can’t sleep without Beaky.”
“Completely impossible,” Sadie agreed before adding, “Daddy helps, but I still need Edgar.”
When the other Littles agreed, Juniper looked through the bin of crayons to find a brown one. She carefully colored the feathers, using a darker brown to make them more realistic. By the time she’d finished, it looked amazing.
“That looks like a photo!” Zara exclaimed.
“Do you think it’s good enough to go on the door?” Juniper asked.
“Go show it to your Daddy,” Celeste suggested with a smile.
Juniper stood and skipped across the room to stand next to Magnus’s chair. “Daddy? I’m sorry to bother you. Can I put this up on your apartment door?”
Magnus took the picture and examined it closely. “This is lovely, Little girl. Shall we take it upstairs now and put it on our door? You can start calling it our apartment, Juni. I don’t plan to let you go,” he gently corrected her.
“Our door?” she repeated. “I like that.”
“I do, too. Look, here’s Caesar with dessert for everyone. I’ll get him to watch the cameras for a few minutes, and we can claim our space.”
“And then get dessert?” she asked hopefully.
“And then get dessert,” he promised, smiling at her.
Chapter Seventeen
In the wee hours of the morning, Juniper woke up wrapped in her Daddy’s arms with Beaky snuggled against her cheek. She froze, not wishing to disturb either one as she memorized this moment. Surely, she wouldn’t be lucky enough to live this blissfully for long.
Her secret popped into her head. She needed to tell her Daddy that she knew a lot about computers. Maybe even as much as he knew. Maybe different things. She had no doubt that he always worked for the good guys while she preferred to focus on her financial goals. Juniper never sought out a gig that would have negative results for someone—but that little voice in the back of her mind had warned her several times, and she’d ignored it.
Lalalalalalalalalala! She sang the syllables silently, trying to push away her regrets.
“You’re thinking very hard, Little girl.” Her Daddy’s growly voice startled her, and she jumped.
“Daddy! I didn’t know you were awake.”
“I wasn’t until your thoughts ricocheted around the room. Do you need to talk about something?”
“Oh! No! Everything is good. I was just thinking how much I’m treasuring our time together,” she said, revealing part of her thoughts, trying to be as honest as possible so he couldn’t tell she wasn’t telling him everything.
“Hmm. We are pretty lucky,” he mumbled.
“Go back to sleep, Daddy,” she urged. “I won’t think hard anymore.”
Juniper closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. Now that she wasn’t supposed to ponder anything, all sorts of things popped into her brain. How was she supposed to go back to sleep with all these ideas ping-ponging through her mind?
The touch of her Daddy’s warm lips on her neck made her shiver. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I’m trying.”
“Let Daddy help calm your mind,” he suggested before kissing down the cord of her throat.
It felt so good. Immediately, those errant thoughts disappeared as she wiggled closer to his hard body.
“That’s my Little girl.”
His hands tugged the bottoms of her favorite sleeping clothes. The elastic waist of her baby-blue shorts stretched easily to allow him to stroke down her abdomen and cup her mound. He squeezed the soft skin slightly, and she could feel her juices gathering as her body skyrocketed with need. Sneaking Beaky out from between them, Juniper twisted slightly to set him on her nightstand, facing the wall. He did not need to see what her Daddy had in mind to help clear her mind.
The next time Juniper opened her eyes, she yawned big and stretched her hands over her head. “Daddy?”
She turned over from her side and found the space next to her was empty. Smoothing her hand over the crisp sheets, she discovered that they were cool to the touch. He’d been gone for a while.
Immediately, she knew where he had to be. The team relied on him to keep an eye on so many things. His job was never-ending and happened at all hours. She crossed her fingers, hoping that nothing dangerous had happened.