Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
“Would you like to go to bed with a sore bottom?”
She shook her head rapidly. “No, Sir.”
His phone vibrated again as he rose and carried her to the crib. He settled her on her back, tucked the blanket around her, and slid Sprinkles and Cuddles into the crooks of her arms.
Ellie whispered introductions between the puppy and unicorn. Of course, they were best friends immediately. Rewarding them, she hugged the stuffies close to her chest and kissed the top of the unicorn’s head before repeating the care to Cuddles.
Garrett kissed her forehead and patted her tummy before lifting the side of the crib. “Remember, no climbing out of the crib. If you need Daddy, call out. I’ll always have the other end of the monitor with me.”
“Yes, Sir.”
He headed for the window and pulled the new blackout curtains closed. He’d installed them earlier while she was interviewing.
She giggled from inside the crib. “Wow, that really blocks the light out.”
“Yep. And wait until you see my next surprise.” He flipped off the lights next to the door and strolled back toward her as she gasped.
“Daddy! There’re stars on the ceiling. It’s like nighttime in here.” She giggled.
“That’s the idea. I hope you like it.”
“I love it. Now, I can pretend it’s dark out and late at night.”
“Sleep tight, Little girl. I’ll wake you at three-thirty.”
He stroked a stray hair from her forehead and had to force himself to leave the room. He would rather stay and watch her sleep, staring at her to keep reminding himself she was real. She was in his house. In his nursery. Sleeping in the crib.
He wanted her to be permanently his more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life.
He was smiling as he eased the door almost closed and headed for the living room, pulling out his phone. Two missed calls from Tarson Kirkwood, AKA Bear. Weird. The two of them knew each other from Blaze, but they didn’t speak on the phone often.
Garrett grabbed the baby monitor and stepped out onto the back patio to return the call, not wanting to risk disturbing Ellie.
Tarson answered on the first ring. “Garrett. Thanks for calling me back.”
“I didn’t check to see if you’d left any messages. I just hit redial. What’s up?”
“You know Daisy Galante, right?”
“Of course. She owns the florist shop in my building.”
“Yes. Well, she had an incident this evening and she’s pretty shook up.”
Garrett stiffened. “What happened?” He didn’t like hearing about any disturbances in his strip mall. This would make two in a week.
“Four guys came into her store as she was closing and harassed her.”
“Shit,” Garrett muttered under his breath, automatically assuming they must be the same four guys he’d seen bothering his Little. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. Mostly they just wandered around in her store looking at everything and tossing their weight around. They asked her how much money she had in the cash register, but she’d already sent today’s cash to the bank with her employee.”
Garrett groaned. “Same thing happened to Ellie yesterday. I bet it’s the same four thugs. I wonder if they’re scoping out the area to plan which business would be worth robbing.”
Tarson growled. “I don’t like it.”
“You and me both. I’m glad you’ll be working with Ellie at Little Cakes. I don’t like her being there alone.”
“I agree. And that puts me close to the florist, too, but I can’t be in both places at the same time.”
Garrett rubbed his forehead. “I’ve hired some extra security to patrol the area. They start tomorrow. Did Daisy get any pictures by chance?”
“Even better. She has surveillance cameras.”
“Good. I assume she called the police?”
“Yes. They’ve come and gone. They took the footage with them.”
“Great. I’ll call them in the morning and make sure they compare the footage with the pictures I took the other day. Maybe someone will recognize these thugs and we can get them off the street.”
“Let’s hope,” Tarson agreed.
“Hey, how did you get involved?” Garrett asked, suddenly realizing he didn’t know the connection.
“Daisy called me. We’ve known each other for years. She has my number in her phone. She knows I would have tanned her hide if she hadn’t called me when she was in trouble like this.”
Garrett chuckled. “I hear ya.”
“I may spank her little bottom anyway just for being alone in the shop at closing time. That wasn’t safe.”
“I’m working on that with Ellie, too. These Little girls think they’re invincible. I’m imagining it’s going to take more than one solid spanking to get Ellie to see reason where her safety is concerned.”
Tarson chuckled. “So, you and Ellie? Sounds like you’re getting close.”
“Yes. I hope so. She’s a very special Little girl.” Garrett glanced at the back door, smiling as he thought about his Little tucked in her crib in the nursery. He hoped she was his forever, but he wouldn’t elaborate prematurely to Tarson.