Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Suddenly her face froze and then she wiped her smile away for some unknown reason that confused him. “What’s wrong, Sunshine?”
“That was a silly idea. I’m sure you have way better things to do than watch me try on clothes.” She shrugged.
He turned to fully face her, took her shoulders, and met her gaze. “No idea of yours will ever be silly, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than watch you try on all the pretty dresses. Nothing in the world pleases me more than seeing your face light up.”
She blinked as if it took her a few seconds to process his declaration, and then she threw her arms around his waist and hugged him close.
He cupped the back of her head and held her tight. She was so very precious. He already knew he was the luckiest Daddy in the world.
When she finally released him, he reached in and chose a frilly yellow dress. He’d filled this closet with mostly girly dresses with ruffles and bows and tulle and all manner of lace and pouf. She’d told him her Little was girly, so he’d gone all out.
“How about this one?”
She reached up to finger the material. “It’s so very pretty, Daddy,” she said reverently. “I didn’t look closely at what was in the closet when I grabbed the cowboy hat yesterday morning. I wasn’t ready to believe this room and its contents were real yet.”
He reached up to stroke her cheeks with his thumb, one at a time. A few tears had leaked out. He knew she’d said she was a tomboy growing up, but he felt sad for her now. Had she really not had any girly clothing and she felt like she’d missed out on something?
Callen led her to the dresser where he pulled out a pair of white panties covered in yellow sunshines.
She giggled as he squatted down to help her into them.
“Are you laughing at the panties I chose, Little girl?” he teased.
She shook her head. “No, Daddy. Never.” Her eyes danced with mirth.
“Arms up, naughty girl.”
She lifted them and let him slide the dress over her head. It was a perfect fit. The top fit snug across her chest with a high waistline just below her breasts that flared out into a full skirt.
Jordi immediately spun around in a circle. “It spins, Daddy.”
“It sure does.” He chuckled. “Better be careful so you don’t fall.”
“I will. Promise.” She stared down at the dress, smoothing the front for a long time before looking up at him again. “I love it so much.” She threw her arms around him yet again.
She was awfully emotional tonight. He wondered if something was causing her fragile feelings.
Scooping her off the floor to carry her to the rocking chair, he decided dinner could wait a few more minutes. He wanted to dig into his Little girl’s mind a bit.
“It seems like you’re feeling emotional tonight, Sunshine. Want to tell Daddy why?”
She shrugged and fidgeted her hands in her lap, staring at them for a long time.
He decided it would be best to wait and give her some time to think, so he rocked her gently with one hand on the small of her back and one stroking her thigh under the hem of her dress.
She finally drew in a deep breath. “It’s just that there’s a lot going on in my life right now, and I’m so proud of myself, and I’m really good at being enough for me.” She lifted her gaze to his. “I’ve spent years learning to be enough for me and learning that I don’t need anyone else’s approval. And now you’ve come into my life, and you’re proud of me, and you’re validating my Little side at the same time, and it feels really good.” Her breath hitched at the end.
Callen’s chest was tight as he leaned over and snagged a tissue from the shelf on the changing table. He used it to wipe her cheeks. “The only time you’ve mentioned your family so far was to tell me you had three older brothers. Are you still close to them? And what about your parents?”
A red flag had gone up in Callen’s mind when she’d mentioned no one was ever proud of her. That made no sense.
“It’s kind of a lot. You sure you want to hear all this?”
“Yes, Sunshine. I want to hear everything there ever was to know about you,” he promised.
She drew in a breath. “I’ll give you the cliff’s notes for now. Basically, when I was young, my life was pretty normal. Or I thought so. My parents were always busy, and my brothers were often put in charge of me. I didn’t really realize until I was in my teens that all my parents ever did was fight, and suddenly they split up.”