Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 34451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
“Daddy!” Autumn yelled, relief filling her face as she ran and threw herself at him.
“Bunny,” he murmured, grabbing hold of her. He could feel her shaking with cold. “You don’t have enough clothes on for this weather. What were you thinking?”
“Fox?” Sunny said hesitantly. He was still wearing his latest disguise, though his babies were no longer fooled.
“Sweet girl, you look cold as well. Brody, where are your gloves?”
“Oh, I, um, forgot them.”
“What are you all doing out here?” the Fox asked.
They all glanced at each other.
“I want the truth.” And then, he was bundling them back into his car and Duke’s truck and they were all going home. Where they were all getting their asses paddled.
What did they think they were doing sneaking out of home like that? And why was Sunny here with them?
“Well, we came to look at this cabin,” Sunny said. “We thought we could all stay here for a night or two over Christmas. We were just about to head home, only . . .”
“I lost the truck keys,” Brody blurted out.
“How did you do that?” he asked.
“There was a spider.”
Alarm filled the Fox, and he moved toward Brody, grasping him around the back of his neck. “Are you all right? Did you have a panic attack?”
“Just a small one,” Brody muttered, looking down at his feet.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” the Fox told him firmly. “Do you hear me?”
Brody nodded.
Frankly, he didn’t understand why both Brody and Autumn were ashamed of their panic attacks. It didn’t make sense to him. If you had a phobia or fear or something in your past that could trigger you, then it wasn’t exactly something to be ashamed of, was it?
“Of course it isn’t.” Autumn wrapped herself around Brody, kissing his cheek.
“You guys are just the sweetest,” Sunny said through chattering teeth.
“You’re all coming back in my car. It’s parked down the road.”
“Why did you park down there?” Autumn asked. She glared up at him with her hands on her hips. “Were you trying to spy on us, Daddy? That’s not very nice, you know.”
“Neither is sneaking out of the house without telling me where you were going.”
Both of his babies looked at each other guiltily.
“Um, how did you know we’d left?” Brody asked. “I thought you weren’t coming home until this afternoon.”
“Pup, you don’t think I have safeguards in place to watch over you when I’m not there?”
Autumn sighed. “You do l-love to spy on us.”
“Right. Car. Now. All three of you.”
“But we can’t!” Sunny said. “I need to find the keys for Duke’s truck.”
“We’ll leave it here,” he said. “The snow is getting heavier. And we won’t be able to find his keys in this snow.”
“But . . . but I have to find them,” Sunny said urgently. “This is Duke’s new truck. He’s gonna kill me if I lose the keys.”
“He will not,” the Fox replied fiercely. “I would never allow that to happen.”
All three of them stared at him in shock.
“Turn of phrase,” Brody whispered to him.
Oh. Right. Of course.
“Fox, you know Duke wouldn’t actually kill me. Spank me every night for the next month, yes. Kill me, no.”
“It seems like you deserve those spankings. Although I will have a word with him about giving you some break nights.”
Sunny gaped at him. “Wow. That’s nice of you.”
“I would do anything for you, sweet girl.”
Sunny sighed, shaking her head. But she also grinned. That made it difficult for him to understand what she was thinking.
“What do we do? I need those keys,” Sunny said.
“We can keep l-looking,” Brody said, his teeth chattering.
“The three of you are not standing out in this weather looking for those keys. We are leaving,” the Fox said firmly.
“Fox, please.” Sunny gave him wide eyes.
Damn it. He would not cave.
“Does he not have spare keys?” he asked.
“Yes.” Sunny clicked her fingers, smiling. “At our place. If you could take me home, then bring me back—”
“Not happening,” he told her.
“But, Fox!”
“No, you’re going home and staying there. You’ll call Duke and tell him what happened. He can get a ride up here tomorrow.”
“But I can’t leave his truck here overnight! What if someone finds the keys and steals the truck?”
“Do you have a key to this place?” he asked.
“Um, yep. It’s under the fake rock.”
He nearly rolled his eyes. Of course it was.
“Inside. All of you. Call Duke. Tell him what happened. I’ll go get my car. You’re too cold to walk that far now.”
“Do I have to call him?” Sunny whined.
The Fox sent her a look.
“Well. I’m toast.”
17
DUKE AND SUNNY
“I’m so sorry, Sunny,” Brody whispered to her as they entered the house.
She sighed. “It’s not your fault.”
“Kind of is, though.”
Sunny reached out and took his hand. “Please don’t worry. It was my decision to take Duke’s truck. And it was also my decision not to tell him where I was going. So now it’s my butt that’s going to bear the consequences.”