Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45821 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45821 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“I must have been a total mess,” she laughed.
“You were a sight I’d been hoping to find for years. My Little girl. I’m still amazed that after all my searches to find you, you came to me. Easton knew you were special. I wouldn’t put it past him to have already known that you were mine.”
“He’s pretty smart. How come you never ate at the cafeteria? I don’t remember running into you on the Edgewater campus.”
“I wasn’t ever there, except for meeting with Easton. We decided years ago, when he first designed the Edgewater campus, that it would be best if he housed the attorneys away from the other departments. Often, I even attended meetings virtually. It was more time efficient,” Dirk shared. “You may, however, remember catering frequently to meetings.”
“I do. My duties always squashed the temptation to deliver the food myself.”
“You work too hard. I will talk to Easton about this.”
“You will not!” she retorted, exasperated. “I just got my job back and I definitely haven’t earned any special treatment.”
“Watch your tone, Little girl,” he warned.
“Dirk, I’m serious. Please do not make demands about my hours. I chose to work overtime because I didn’t have anything else to do.”
“No more overtime.”
“I’m not going to agree to that,” she answered stubbornly as they pulled into the driveway.
Dirk silently put the car into park and turned to look at her. His dominant look sent tingles down her spine. “Would you like to state that differently?”
“I would like to have some wiggle room. You have to know that I don’t want to live in the cafeteria in B Tower. I want to enjoy my life with you.”
Cynthia was pleased to see a bit of the sternness leave her Daddy’s eyes. “I do want to be able to call you and say, ‘Daddy, I’m working an extra hour or two this evening for a catering order, but I’ll be able to take tomorrow afternoon off in exchange.’ It’s important to me that I can be flexible to support the employees at Edgewater Industries. They’ve been so wonderful to me.”
Holding her breath, she watched Dirk consider her words. When he nodded his understanding, she flung herself forward to kiss him.
“Poo!” she swore when the seatbelt restrained her from reaching him. With a click, Cynthia freed herself and wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him. Heat flared instantly between them.
When Dirk set her back from his body to capture her gaze, they both breathed heavily. “You cannot manipulate your Daddy with kisses. I won’t let you work your life away.”
“Just a bit of wiggle room,” she implored. “There will be times when your schedule will be packed as well.”
Dirk studied her face. Finally, he nodded. “I agree we will both need a bit of leeway for our jobs. I will draw a firm stop to extra hours if I see that you are stressed or overworked.”
When she opened her mouth to respond, he set a finger over her lips to silence her. “I will not budge on this, Little girl.”
Deciding she could live with this agreement, Cynthia nodded and answered, “Okay, Daddy.”
“Now, shall we go inside to get out of these stuffy court clothes? We’re headed to a picnic to celebrate our win.”
“A picnic? Here?”
“No way. You’ve been at this house for months. We’re headed out into the world, sweetheart.”
Her heart beat faster at this thought. She’d loved being with her Daddy as they awaited the trial, but the walls of his house had begun closing in on her. Cynthia had been petrified at the thought of being even more confined in jail.
She saw his eyebrows draw together in concern and quickly answered, “I would love that. But I didn’t make anything for us to eat!”
“Leave that to your Daddy.”
She smiled and nodded. Cynthia would gratefully leave many things for him to take care of—just as she had relied on him for the trial. That had worked out pretty well for her.
“Let’s go get ready,” he urged.
Once inside, he removed each piece of specially chosen clothing to create the image he had determined she needed to present. This time, however, he tossed them willy-nilly to fall to the carpet around the special area he had created for her during her stay.
Gone was the guestroom. In its place, a frothy canopy stretched over a twin bed. A beautiful desk sat next to a bookcase with a vast variety of cookbooks that he’d brought home for her at random intervals to surprise and distract her from the worry of the approaching trial. She’d tried all sorts of recipes on him—some phenomenal successes and some that had resulted in a pizza delivery.
When she stood dressed in only her bra and panties, he scanned her body slowly. A couple of months ago, Cynthia would have shriveled under such close scrutiny. Now, she pushed her shoulders back and stood straight. Confident in his love, she welcomed his attention and basked in the desire she could see in his gaze.