Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 81930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“Sadie,” Derek warned.
“You think they’d want that?” Eliot asked.
Sadie’s eyes widened. “Of course! You’ve got the best reading voice ever. I love how you do all the voices. Have you written any new Little books?”
He waited for the sadness to engulf him. It was there, but not as strong as before.
“I haven’t,” he admitted. He hadn’t written anything since Anna’s death. Thankfully, he still received royalties from his mainstream murder-mystery books, so he had a steady income.
He’d also written some special books for Anna, which were the ones Sadie was talking about. He’d never sold them. Instead, he’d had them printed for Anna, and he’d gifted the library here a copy of each of them.
Those books were about Littles and their Daddies and Mommies.
“I’m sorry for making you sad, Eliot.” Sadie wrapped her arms around him again.
“It’s okay. Really. I wouldn’t be back here if I didn’t feel like it was time. I missed the place. And Anna loved it here. Sure, it makes me sad sometimes, but I think it could be healing.”
“We’re glad you’re back, man.” Derek was staring at him intently.
He eyed the other man, wondering what he was thinking.
“I’ll think about setting up reading time for any Littles who want to come, okay?” he said to Sadie.
“Sure thing. Are you going to take part in the Easter egg hunt soon? It’s gonna be epic.”
He had to smile at her enthusiasm. “Easter egg hunt, huh?”
“Yep. We’ve got a whole lot of Easter-themed activities going on. They start in a few days. Decorating eggs. The big hunt. It’s going to be so much fun! I can’t wait.” She was dancing around as though she couldn’t stay still.
He’d forgotten what it was like to be around a Little. He’d only arrived at the Ranch a few hours ago, and after checking in, he’d headed off to see the horses. He didn’t ride, but he always felt more peaceful around horses.
“We’ll see. You got a few guests arriving for the festivities?”
“Yeah, most will be coming in tomorrow or the day after,” Derek replied.
He nodded. “Sounds like fun. You have a good time, Miss Sadie.”
“Oh, I intend to,” she said with a mischievous grin.
Derek certainly had his arms full.
But Eliot was certain he would love every minute of it.
Chapter 5
Isla scrubbed at the bathroom floor until it shone.
There was something about cleaning that soothed her. She liked seeing the results of her hard work.
It might not be glamorous, but it was fulfilling for her. She liked that she could take something dirty and messy and make it shine and sparkle.
If only it were that easy to do that for myself.
She shook off that silly thought. She wasn’t the sort of person to shine or sparkle.
She scrubbed hard at the corner. She just never seemed to be able to get this part pristine.
“What are you doing?”
The voice gave her a fright, and she jumped, her body protesting the movement. Turning, she put her hand on her chest as her heart raced. She stared up at Marcus.
“You gave me a fright!”
“You left the bed without waking me. That’s not very good bed etiquette.”
“Bed etiquette?” she asked.
“Yeah, you know, bed etiquette.” He held out his hand to her.
Without thinking about what she was doing, she reached up to take hold. He drew her up onto her feet.
“What is that?”
“Has no one ever taught you bed etiquette?” He gasped dramatically. “You know, things like not hogging the blankets or sticking your cold feet against the other person. Or getting up without waking the other person.”
He pushed his fingers into her light-brown hair, pulling apart the bun she’d put it into. He hated when she wore her hair in a bun.
“That’s not a thing. And why would I wake you up when you need to sleep?” she asked. He was being crazy.
“You should wake me up so I could tell you that it’s too early to be awake and to go back to sleep. Come on, we’re going back to bed.”
“I’m not going back to bed. I was cleaning the shower.”
“The shower is spotless. It doesn’t need cleaning. And you’re fired, remember?”
“So who is going to clean it?” she asked.
“Cullen can hire someone else.”
He didn’t mean it. He was just joking around. Still, it filled her with panic. The idea of not having a job… a way to support herself… yep, that was definitely fear flooding her.
“Marcus, don’t joke like that.”
He turned, watching her steadily. “Or I’ll just replace the whole damn bathroom.”
“Every time it gets dirty?” she asked dryly.
“Yep.”
He was terrible. She knew he didn’t mean that either; well, she hoped he didn’t. But she decided the best idea was to just go along with him for the moment. He tried to tug her back to bed but she shook her head.
“Bed,” he demanded.
“What time is it? I thought I’d make pancakes for breakfast.”