“All right, Daddy.”
“Next rule. No walking while reading.”
“Okay.”
“You must always wear a seatbelt, no matter if you’re on the road or the ranch.”
She sighed dramatically. “Fine, Daddy.”
“And if you ever are driving, you must drive safely, which means no speeding or using your phone while driving. And no driving my truck.”
“I still think I could manage it.”
“Teeny, you can’t even see out the front window. I ever catch you trying to drive it and you’re getting my belt. Breaking a health and safety rule will always result in you getting a hot ass. And those punishments will be done as soon as is safely possible.”
Damn, she was cute when she pouted.
“Next rule. No talking down about yourself. That’s very important. You’ve had a small punishment, but the next time you do this, the punishment will be much harder.”
She nibbled at her lower lip nervously. “Okay, Daddy. Although for the record, I thought that punishment was plenty hard.”
“Did you? No talking about serious topics while eating. No moving from Daddy’s lap without his permission. When you are Little, you will not swear and you will address Daddy as the most wonderful, handsome Daddy in the world.”
“What? Daddy, that’s not in there!” She glared at him as he stared down at the list in mock-surprise.
“It’s not? It should be!”
She rolled her eyes at him. Little brat.
“Fine. I won’t put that in there. But you can feel free to call me that whenever you like.”
“Thank you, Daddy. I’ll keep that in mind,” she said dryly.
“No doing anything that might put you in danger.”
“That seems rather vague.”
“Well, I couldn’t put down every example. But anything that might put you at risk is a no. Understand?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“No panties unless Daddy puts them on you or grants permission.”
She huffed out a breath but there was no real protest.
“Bedtime is nine-thirty.”
“Nine-thirty!” she exclaimed. “But I can read in bed, right?”
“No way. Doc said no devices right before sleep.”
“I’ll get some paperbacks then.”
“Nope.”
“But what will I do? I can’t go to sleep at nine-thirty.”
“I can think of one or two things.” He gave her a pointed look.
She blushed at his pointed look. “Oh.”
Oh? Was that all she had to say? She was so cute sometimes.
“Now, in this notebook, I figured you might want to keep track of what you eat and when. We could leave it in the kitchen. What do you think?”
“I guess it would be a good idea. What if I forget to do it or write it down, though?”
“Well, I guess that depends on you. If you want my help, I can do that. But this is up to you. I want to help you be as healthy as possible because I don’t like the idea of my baby ill or injured. Why don’t we see how things go first, okay? When you’re in Little headspace, I’ll take more responsibility, but you need to tell me if something I’m doing is wrong or if you feel unwell. That’s very important So I figure this will help me too.”
“Okay, Daddy. That makes sense.”
He wrote out breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as three snacks on the first page, leaving room for her to write next to each heading.
“You sure do love being organized, Daddy,” she told him. Then she wrinkled her nose adorably as she saw what was going on the top of the next whiteboard.
Mari’s Naughty Girl Chart.
“Daddy, we really don’t need that.”
“Oh, I think we do. This will help Daddy keep track of your behavior so he doesn’t miss anything. Each evening we can count up how many ticks you have. I don’t want to wait until the end of the week. I have a feeling there could be quite a few on there by then.”
“Daddy. I is not naughty!”
“Uh-huh. We’ll see. Now, health and safety rules get an immediate spanking and several ticks on the chart, just so you know.”
He placed her rules and naughty girl chart on the mantel above the fireplace while she sulked.
“Hey.” He crouched down in front of her, gently placing his hands on her thighs. “Is this too much? I mean, you haven’t agreed to be totally mine so maybe I should have waited, huh? I think I got too excited. We can adjust the boards or even get rid of them if you’d prefer.”
Marisol saw the wistfulness in Linc’s gaze as he stood and took a step towards the boards.
“No.” She reached up and grabbed hold of his hand.
He looked down at her.
She shook her head. “It’s not too fast. I want . . . the boards. The truth is, the rules make me feel . . .”
Damn it. She couldn’t believe she was going to admit this.
“They make me feel secure. Cared for.” Loved. “My aunt never cared much about what I did as long as I kept the house tidy, did my work and kept out of her way. She never cared about my safety or health.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure. It’s just a lot of changes. Living here. Being free to explore my Little side. Having you as my Daddy.” She gave him a shy look. “I really like it here. With you.” And she definitely never wanted to leave. She opened her mouth to tell him that, but the words wouldn’t come. And she thought she knew why. Because despite his reassurances, there was still a worry in the back of her mind that he would leave her.
Like everyone else.
She knew it wasn’t fair to Linc. He’d never treated her as disposable. But having so many people enter and leave her life, with not one of them trying to find her or contact her again, it had done something to her. And trust just didn’t come easily. Already she was amazed by how she’d opened up to him. However, it was just that step further to reveal her heart to him.
“I love having you here, teeny. I hope you’ll never leave.”
She smiled, her heart opening just that bit more. “You say the nicest things.”
“It’s only the truth. Now, it’s time for your nap.”
She frowned. “Can’t I read my book while lying on the sofa?”
“Nope. You’re having a proper nap.”
“But I haven’t done anything all day.”
“It’s not just physical stress that can be tiring, mental stress can be even more exhausting and you’ve had plenty of that lately. Besides, you told Doc you often don’t sleep well so you have plenty of catching up to do.” He stood and held out his hand to her.
She took it with a loud sigh. But she let him lead her to the bedroom. He stopped by the bed. “Do you need to test your blood sugar?”
Nodding, she grabbed her bag off the bedside table and tested herself. While she did that, he grabbed one of his T-shirts, laying it on the bed. “Arms up,” he commanded when she was finished.
She held up her arms and he took off her sweater then her T-shirt. Finally, he reached around and undid her bra. She clasped hold of the front of it as he drew it off.
“Daddy!”