Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 42379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
“I love that you’re focused on the positives,” Beau said with a smile.
“Is it time for the secret?”
“We’ll go get dressed and brush our teeth. Then, the secret,” he promised.
Jumping to her feet, Maisie dragged Beau into the bathroom and brushed her teeth in record time. “Come on, slowpoke.”
“That’s slowpoke Daddy to you, Little girl.” Beau leveled a stern look at Maisie that made her laugh. He looked in the mirror to note that the foam of toothpaste totally ruined his Daddy talk.
“Do I need to wear anything special?” she asked. “Where’s my suitcase?”
“Just something comfortable. It’s just you and me. I stashed it in the closet. Sarah will unpack it for you later this morning.”
“No way. She doesn’t need to wait on me. I don’t need to unpack. I’ll only be here for a few days.”
“Let’s unpack after the secret, then,” Beau suggested.
“She won’t do it during the secret, right?” Maisie asked skeptically.
“No.” When she still looked suspicious, Beau laughed. “We can take it with us to the surprise if you’d like.”
“Do I need to do that?”
“No, my little cactus. It will be untouched here.”
“Okay.” She walked into Beau’s enormous closet to find her suitcase and turned to look at him. “Cactus?”
“It seemed an appropriate pet name for your prickly side.”
“Prickly? Well, maybe. Does that bother you?” she asked, looking concerned.
Beau walked forward to wrap his arms around her. After kissing her deeply, he reassured Maisie, “I wouldn’t change a hair on your head.”
“I’d seriously address your suit addiction,” she popped off, waving a hand at the precisely pressed suits lined up on hangers.
The laughter welled out of him with abandon. He always missed her when they were apart. Maisie challenged everything and everyone. She kept him grounded in what was important and what wasn’t.
“I got something for you to wear,” he told her.
“I have plenty of clothes.”
“I know you do. This is from your Daddy.”
Stepping away from her, Beau opened a drawer and pulled out a folded set of leggings and a t-shirt. “I thought this would be comfortable to wear while we hang around the house today.”
“The surprise is here?”
“Let’s get you dressed.”
Stripping off the softball T-shirt she wore, Beau stepped back to admire the beauty before him. She fidgeted, and he knew with all her scholarly smarts, Maisie would never understand how much she turned him on. Beau cupped her jaw and kissed her lightly.
“You are irresistible, my Little cactus.”
When she opened her mouth to argue, he stopped her with a finger over her lips. “No arguing. It’s too early. Let me try this new outfit on you,” he urged.
Flicking the fold marks out of the T-shirt, he guided it over her head and helped Maisie feed her arms into the right places. Pulling it down, he waited for her to look at the design.
“It’s a cactus shaped like bunny ears. They do have a bunny ear cactus, Daddy. Did you know that?” she asked.
“I do. It’s my favorite one,” he assured her and knelt in front of her to help Maisie into her leggings. “Lift your left foot.”
By the time he had smoothed them up around her waist, Maisie had detected that the dark gray material was also decorated with bunny ear cacti—but hundreds of them, scattered all over her legs. He watched to see how she would react.
Maisie traced one small pattern on her pants and grinned up at him. “These are incredibly cute. I love them. By the way, I do know you’re telling me I’m prickly. I’m not upset by that, and you seem to like me, anyway.”
“I love you, Little girl. If Colt was here, he could tell me how many days I’ve loved you.”
Blinking up at him, Maisie smiled and reached her hands up to cup his face. “You’re right, Colt would definitely know how many days,” she confirmed. It was one thing that made Colt—Colt. The fun part was not knowing the specific answer. Lumped together, all the days seemed more important than they were individually.
She rose on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth against his. “I love you, too. I can’t remember a time I didn’t.”
CHAPTER 8
After a flurry of kisses, Beau set her an arm’s length away. “You are dangerously risking never getting to see the secret,” he told his Little girl.
Instantly, the arousal softening her face evaporated and the curiosity that he loved to see when she was approaching a complex problem replaced it. “Secrets, then sex,” she declared.
This time, it was Maisie who studied his body as he stripped off the robe to pull on a T-shirt, boxer briefs, and gray gym shorts. “Damn! They sure are right about a man in gray athletic pants.”
“My cock’s not going down until you stop looking at it.”
“I’m okay with that,” Maisie said with a wink.
When she reached out a hand to touch him, Beau linked her fingers with his and towed her to the door. “No fair,” she said from behind.