He smiled, lightening the mood. “This means I get to take you out as well.”
A date with Caleb? That was something to make her nervous and excited. He ran a finger down her cheek. “Now do I spend time with Vivi or my jelly bean?”
“Both? Can we do that?”
“Jelly bean, didn’t I just tell you that I’m the boss? Are you having short term memory problems?” he asked teasingly.
“Wolfe just asked me the same thing.”
“Must be because we keep having to tell you things so that they sink in. Like, that we want you here. That you’re safe. That you can trust us to take care of you.”
“I’m trying to believe it.”
“I know. And I’m trying to be patient. Funny, I’ve always been so patient with everything else, but when it comes to you, I feel like I’ve already waited a lifetime.”
She got it. She felt the same.
“And I don’t want to waste any time. If I could be selfish, I’d keep you all to myself.”
“You have me now.”
“I do, don’t I?”
They smiled at each other. “That’s why we have this time together, to woo you.”
She giggled at that word. She was already feeling lighter just from talking to him.
“Hey, what’s wrong with the word woo?” Caleb tickled her lightly.
“Nothing! Nothing!”
He stopped tickling her.
“If you’re an eighty-nine-year-old man,” she added.
“You brat. Are you calling me old?”
She pretended to study him. “You do have a couple of wrinkles here. And I think I see a few grays. Is your hair receding?”
His mouth dropped open. “Right, that’s it. I don’t think Wolfe spanked you hard enough.”
“No, Daddy! No! I’m sorry.”
“Not sorry enough.” He stood and held her in his arms. “I think another spanking is required.”
“Noo. Not fair. No more spanking.”
“Hmm, I’ll need something else then to punish you. I know. I’ll tell Wolfe how much you secretly like kale.”
Her mouth dropped open as he carried her out of the study. “You wouldn’t, you big meanie.”
He took her into the playroom. She hadn’t realized it, but this is exactly where she needed to be.
“You can’t tell Wolfe that. He’ll make me eat it all the time.”
“But it’s good for you. You should be eating it all the time.” He set her down on her feet. “Want some Little time?”
She nodded shyly, unsure what to do now that she was here. It seemed her Little side slipped free when she was feeling relaxed. But when she started to actually think about it, she kind of jammed up.
He studied her for a moment then he walked over to the wardrobe and pulled open the doors, revealing a walk-in-closet.
“Would you like to try getting dressed in one of your outfits?”
She stepped into the small room with him. “What outfits?” Then her mouth dropped open as she stared around. “Are these . . . these can’t possibly be all for me?”
There were dresses with frills and short overalls in bright colors. There were T-shirts and skirts. Shorts. Hats and shoes in a range of colors and styles.
Caleb grunted. “I told him to buy a few outfits. I think he bought one of everything in your size.”
“What? Who?”
“Wolfe,” he told her. “He may have a shopping issue. I’d take his credit card but he’s memorized the number. And if I cancel it, he’ll just steal Aleki’s.”
She gulped. She couldn’t believe he’d done this. For her? She reached over and picked out a pair of pale-yellow overalls with white flowers over them. They were gorgeous. They did up at the shoulders with buckles but there was also a bit of material that opened at the back.
“What’s this for?”
Caleb grinned. “It’s a drop seat, of course. So you don’t have to take them all the way off to go potty.”
“Daddy!” Did he have to say potty? Why couldn’t he say toilet?
“Or so that we can get to your bottom easier when you need a spanking. Want me to demonstrate?”
“No!” She placed her hands back over her bottom. “My bottom has been spanked enough.”
“I’m certain that’s not true.”
“Daddy!” she protested, stomping her foot. “Take that back.”
“You’re so darn cute.” He tweaked her nose. “But no foot-stomping. Or I’ll think you’re having a tantrum and then you’ll actually go over my knee.”
She pouted a bit. But kept both feet flat on the ground. She reached out for a white T-shirt that had chains of yellow flowers around the arms. It looked like it would be a perfect match for the overalls.
“These still have tags on. We can take them back and get a refund.”
“Why would we do that?” he asked.
“There’s so much here. He bought too much.”
“Hey, I was joking about taking his credit card,” he told her. “We have plenty of money. Wolfe can buy what he likes. I’m the head of our household, not a dictator.”
“I didn’t mean. . .I just . . . I don’t have anything to contribute.” And she felt kind of ashamed. They were doing everything. While she liked being taken care of, she didn’t like being a burden. And she wanted to do things for them too.
“Look at me.”
She tilted her face up, her gaze meeting his.
“Right now, all you need to concentrate on is getting better, stressing less, and getting to know us. Our relationship. That’s enough. That’s why we have this time. Because it can be overwhelming.”
“Plus the men here steal the women,” she added. “They likely need the time to convince the women not to murder them in their sleep.”
His lips twitched. “There is that.” He reached for her top then hesitated. “May I?”
She blushed slightly but nodded, helping him get the top off. He put the white T-shirt on, being gentle with her arm.
“But once we convince you that you want to stay here forever, then we have time to think about what you want to do.”
“You mean I’m allowed to have a job?”
He stared down at her. “You thought you wouldn’t be?”
“I wasn’t . . . I don’t know how things work here. What the rules are.”
“And I’m an idiot,” he muttered. “Vivi, of course you can have a job. If you want to continue on with your career, we’ll make it happen. There would need to be some concessions for security reasons. It’s safe here, very safe, but you do live at the palace. But whatever you need, we’ll make it happen. Okay?”
Something inside her unraveled. A tightness, a worry she hadn’t actually realized existed until just then.
“Okay,” she agreed.
He crouched and grabbed her shorts. “Hold onto my shoulders, jelly bean.”
She held on, stepping out of the shorts and into the overalls, which he pulled up over her shoulders. Then he drew out a full-length mirror which had been hidden away in a slot.
She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked so cute.