Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
All right then.
It wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy holding her. Even when she climbed him like a tree.
Maybe especially when she climbed him. He held her tight as she trembled.
Poor baby.
Fucking Sav. It was clear she wasn’t just a bit scared of storms.
She was fucking terrified.
“It’s all right. You’re safe.”
“I got . . . I got a bit, um, worried at how long you were taking.”
He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I got a phone call from my uncle and I sat in the truck to take it.”
“Your uncle? Aidan said you’ve been visiting your aunt? Is she okay?”
“Yeah. Well, not exactly. She had a stroke a while back. We thought we might lose her.”
“I’m so sorry, Hack. That’s terrible.”
“I know, we’re pretty close. I try to visit when I can and my uncle keeps me updated.” He adjusted her weight in his arms. “Listen to me, I promise, I won’t leave you here. If I have to go out, I will always come back. Okay?”
“You don’t . . . you don’t owe me any promises, you know. We barely know each other.”
“Because you haven’t told me anything about you. By now, I could know what your favorite color is, your favorite memory, how you take your eggs for breakfast. You know . . . all the important things.”
“Oh, of course. Silly me.”
He sat back on the bed with her on his lap. He rubbed his hand up and down her back. “Did you pee?”
“I really don’t think you should ask me that.”
Aww, she was cute. She thought she got some privacy.
She’s not yours, dickhead.
“I’m a doctor. I’m allowed to ask questions like that. They give us a bit of paper that says that and everything.”
“Really, you get a bit of paper that says you’re allowed to ask about whether someone peed?”
“Yep, I’m approved to ask you all sorts of questions. And you have to answer. It’s the rules.”
“The rules, huh?”
Shit. Having her on his lap, the sweet scent of her tickling his nose . . . yeah he was getting turned on.
He tried to think of something unsexy.
He didn’t want to terrify her.
Also, he’d like to keep his balls attached to his body . . . and he had a feeling that Sav would tear them off of him at any hint that he’d touched his baby sister inappropriately.
“Yep, those are the rules. So I still want an answer to my question.”
“Yes,” she said with a groan.
“Well done, Little girl.” He ran his hand down her back soothingly.
Fuck.
His Daddy instincts kept kicking in. If she repeated any of this to Sav . . .
Bye-bye balls.
And he couldn’t even blame him. This was inappropriate. He was supposed to be looking after her, not going all Daddy Dom on her ass.
He hadn’t even gotten a good look at her ass.
Focus, you dick.
This wasn’t about her ass. It was about her wellbeing and care.
Although there had been a few moments where she’d put off some Little vibes. Of course, that didn’t change anything. She was obviously in a vulnerable state right now. And he would never take advantage.
“I’m so sorry.”
He stared down at her in shock. “What are you sorry for?”
“I know I’m good at pretending that I have everything together and stuff . . .”
Umm. Was she being sarcastic or . . .
“But I don’t. I really, really don’t. I’m terrified of snowstorms, for God’s sake. I mean, you already know that because you had to carry me up the stairs like a baby. And then . . . I wouldn’t let you go even though I nearly peed my pants. How embarrassing would it have been to pee my pants?”
He bit his lip at the horror in her voice. Because now was definitely not the time to smile or laugh.
Even though she was being incredibly adorable and he really wanted to put her in his pocket and carry her around like a doll.
Nope.
You cannot do your over-possessive thing.
While he was responsible for her care . . . he didn’t want to terrify her.
“I’m a total weirdo!”
He frowned. Okay, he really didn’t like that.
She shouldn’t be calling herself names.
“I mean . . . who climbs a man that she barely knows, then makes him carry her to the toilet?” She flung her hands around, nearly whacking his nose. Again.
Right. If he wanted to save himself some bruises, he’d need to calm her down.
“Okay, first of all, I do not like you calling yourself a weirdo.” He carefully gathered up her hands and held them. “Look at me. That’s your next rule. No calling yourself names.”
She frowned at him.
Definitely cute as a button. Or a ladybug.
Now that would be a cute nickname for her.
“Is it just falling snow or snow on the ground that upsets you?”
“Oh. It’s . . . it’s more falling snow,” she whispered. “Although I won’t ever be someone who finds snow beautiful or wants to play in it.”