Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“You do?”
“Most definitely, Little girl. Now, one last kiss.” He captured her lips in a lingering caress.
“Daddy…”
“No, kitten. Not tonight. Maybe not tomorrow night. Now, lock your door and go cuddle up with Eeyore.” Wyatt squeezed her bottom lightly to remind her of the consequences of not following his instructions before stepping back. He stood there until she followed his command to shut the door and lock it.
“Sweet dreams, Lark,” he said through the door.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned to follow his directions. Yawning, Lark realized she was exhausted. Her Daddy understood her better than she knew herself.
Chapter Nine
“That’s the last one,” Lark announced as the closing company’s representative laid a final document in front of Wyatt.
“Thank goodness. I think my hand might fall off,” he commented, drawing a laugh from the woman in charge of the paperwork.
“Opening that lock on the front door will cure all that ails you,” the employee assured him.
Lark didn’t like the smile Wyatt sent the other woman. She knew it was silly. It was completely different from the ones she received frequently. Still, she wanted to keep all her Daddy’s attention to herself. Unable to stop herself, she scooted a little closer to him in the guise of picking up the inspector’s document.
“Anything in there worry you, Lark?” he asked, watching her face carefully.
“No. I would have told you immediately,” she rushed to reassure him. Lark regretted making him worry.
As soon as they emerged from the office with a thick folder proclaiming Wyatt the new owner of his dream property, Lark stopped and held out her hand to congratulate him, as she always did with her clients.
“Oh, no, Little girl. That’s not going to work for me,” Wyatt growled, sweeping her into his arms. He leaned her dramatically over his arm to kiss her like the hero did in the old movies she watched late on TV.
“Wyatt!” she protested, looking around the parking lot to see if anyone watched when he set her on her feet.
“Just claiming what’s mine,” he said evenly as he took her hand.
A thrill zipped through her. She liked being his.
“Want to go see your house?”
“I do. Do you have any pressing appointments this afternoon, or can you spend some time with me there?”
“I cleared the rest of my day. I thought you might want some recommendations for repair people,” she answered absently as she mentally reviewed the items on the inspection list. He’d need a plumber and someone to work on the gutters to start.
“I’ll work on them myself. I’m pretty handy.”
“Really?” she asked in surprise. “Working with pipes can be tricky.”
“My uncle’s a plumber. I worked for him all through school. I can fix the kitchen sink issue.”
“Of course, you can,” she answered with a laugh. “I don’t think there’s anything you can’t handle.”
“I can’t handle losing you,” he said softly as they reached her car. “Follow me over there. Drive safe.”
She nodded, unable to speak around the lump in her throat. Automatically, Lark let him help her into the sedan. As he waited for her to click her seatbelt into place, she whispered, “I can’t lose you, either.”
Heat blazed in his gaze. She loved his emotional response. Wyatt never hesitated to show her what he felt. As a police officer who had to conceal his thoughts and reactions on the job, Lark knew this was a deliberate choice to allow her to see his honest reactions.
“Drive fast, Daddy,” she whispered and laughed as he closed her door with a firm snap before jogging to his car.
As she followed him, her mind focused on how intense their relationship was getting. She’d started thinking of him as her Daddy, and she called him that often. They’d discussed sex. She knew they would make love soon, though she couldn’t be sure when. And now they’d confessed they couldn’t stand the idea of losing each other.
This was serious. Was she ready for a relationship this serious? It was scary. She hadn’t really seen something like this as being in the cards for her. After watching her parents’ weird dynamic with each other growing up, she’d vowed she would never want something like that.
But this thing with Wyatt looked nothing like what her mother and father had. Her father had definitely been dominant, but in a patriarchal, head-of-household, fifties kind of way. It was true that Wyatt was dominant, but his idea of dominance was nurturing and kind and sweet and loving.
Lark couldn’t remember seeing her father smile at her mother or even meet her gaze very often. He was stern, demanding, and particular about when his meals were served and how his socks were folded.
Lark giggled as she thought about how things were with Wyatt. He nearly always cooked for Lark, and she couldn’t imagine him ever asking her to fold his socks. He liked to take care of her, not demand she take care of him.