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)
Brave and strong? How could he think she was brave and strong? She frowned at him through her puffy, blurry eyes.
He smiled. “You are, you know. Brave and strong. Look at everything you did all on your own. You moved clear across the country, got your degree, started a business, and made it successful by the age of thirty. How many people can do that? I don’t know anyone who could have persevered under your circumstances for so many years, especially while still being torn down week after week by the very person who should have supported you.”
She swallowed. That made a lot of sense.
“You should be proud of yourself, Sunshine. You’re an amazing woman, and I’m so humbled and lucky that you would put your trust in me to care for you and be your Daddy.”
He lifted her chin and smiled. “Now, please finish your story. Tell me what exactly you think you did that was so awful and worth all this self-recrimination.”
“My calendar is online. I realized after Detective Stevens handed me my mother’s phone number that she’d used my calendar to sabotage me.”
“Ahh. I see. She could see your upcoming jobs.”
Jordi nodded. “She could see everything, including Paul’s name and phone number. She called and messaged him, telling him she was my secretary and that I didn’t need him to come to work. She even texted me from an unknown number pretending to be Paul to tell me his daughter was sick. That wasn’t even true.”
Callen winced. “Even that part wasn’t true? His daughter wasn’t sick?”
Jordi shook her head. “He doesn’t even have a daughter.”
Callen’s eyes widened. “Wow.”
Renewed tears fell, surprising Jordi because how could she have any more tears? “See? It’s my fault.”
“Little girl, you could not have predicted your mother would behave with such malicious intent. You’ve told me before that she calls and texts, nagging you to be someone you’re not. There’s a huge crater between nagging one’s daughter to get a different job and sabotaging her career intentionally.”
“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have taken that kind of risk. I’m kicking myself.”
“Did you remove her access when you figured it out?”
“Yes. That’s what I was doing when you arrived. I changed my password. I’m also going to need to contact every single person for every job I’ve done and every future job to make sure she hasn’t personally reached out to any of them with lies.” Her entire body sagged under the weight of that upcoming task.
“I will help you, Sunshine. Don’t you worry. We’ll knock that list out in no time.” He lifted her chin and smiled. “At least you don’t have to call your hardware supplier. And here’s some promising news—I’ve never received a single call from your fictitious secretary to cancel an order. Maybe she didn’t do more damage than we already know about.”
Jordi chewed on her bottom lip for a minute, thinking about his words. He had a good point. If her mother had really wanted to fuck with her business, she could have canceled her lumber orders. The evil woman had no idea that Callen James from The Hardware and Lumber Spot was a man Jordi was intimately involved with.
“I’m concerned though, Sunshine. What your mother did was nothing to ignore. You could have been severely injured trying to do that work alone,” he fumed.
“I know. I’m sure she feels that would have a positive effect. I would have to stop doing anything physical if I’d torn a muscle or worse.”
“I don’t want you responding to any of her calls or texts from now on, Little girl,” Callen said with a dark expression.
Jordi nodded. Her Daddy was right. Her mother had crossed the line this time. “I promise. I’ll show them all to you.”
“Well, this was a crappy day for you, Little girl. I’m so sorry.” Callen pulled her in to kiss her forehead tenderly.
That small show of love made Jordi focus on what was really important. She sat up straight and smiled at her Daddy. “You know it really wasn’t a bad day. I solved the problem with Paul. I discovered and eliminated the sabotage of Cross Remodeling. We made great progress on a stellar deck that Nicoya is going to love. All in all, there were some pretty great things that happened.”
“That’s my Little girl. Focus on the positive.”
Callen looked around the apartment and asked, “Do you need to grab anything from here to take home?”
“Home. Is that what I’m supposed to call your house now?” she asked, smiling at the handsome man.
“Yes.”
“Yes? That’s all you’re going to say?”
“I can have movers here tomorrow. Your place is with me, Little girl.”
“I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you, Sunshine.” He narrowed his gaze. “Just so you know, I have not forgotten the fact that you put yourself down several times. I know you challenged me because you really need a spanking to help purge all the icky feelings from today. When we get home, I’m going to spank your bottom hard enough to remind you that I won’t tolerate my Little girl putting herself down.”