Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
“You okay, Daisy?” he asked, his brow furrowed. “I’m sorry. I should have been more sensitive when I told you. You’re shaking.” He rubbed her arms.
She shook her head. “I’m fine. You really think the cops will find the other three?”
“Confident.”
“Good.” She took a deep breath and forced a smile. “I’m glad no one will have to worry about them anymore.”
He slid his hand to the back of her head again and kissed her, not as deeply as he’d kissed her before, but enough that she was squirming and wanting more before he finished.
Daisy flinched when the back door opened. She lifted her gaze to see Lark stepping out back with a stuffed bag of trash in her hands.
Lark’s eyes widened. “Oops. Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.” She was fighting a grin, though.
Daisy was unsteady as Bear stood her on her feet and gave her one more sound kiss, obviously not caring they were being watched. He reached out and took the bag of trash from Lark. “Let me take this for you.” He turned his attention back to Daisy. “Wait right here, Little girl. I’ll walk you back to your shop.”
“Okay.” She would have called him Daddy. It was on the tip of her tongue. And she doubted Lark would care or think anything of it. After all, she was Ellie’s best friend.
Daisy had no idea if Lark was Little or not, but she at least suspected the woman wasn’t judgmental.
“The flowers you brought are beautiful,” Lark said as Bear walked toward the dumpster. “That was very thoughtful of you.”
“I wanted to bring something over to welcome Ellie to the strip mall on her opening day. I’m glad you like them.”
“I bet Ellie will want to start a regular order with you. They really brighten up the room.”
Daisy giggled. “With all those pretty cupcakes and the smell of delicious frosting, you don’t need flowers to brighten up Little Cakes.”
Lark smiled. “Still. Flowers make everything prettier,” she declared.
“What are you girls giggling about?” Bear asked with a wink as he returned.
“Flowers,” Daisy informed him. “They make life better.”
“They sure do, Baby girl. I couldn’t agree more.” He wrapped a possessive arm around her and kissed her right on the mouth yet again. “I know a certain owner of a florist shop who also makes life better.”
Daisy’s cheeks heated as she melted against him.
“Uh, thanks for helping with the trash. See you later.” Lark darted back inside before Daisy could respond.
“Let’s get you back to your shop before I change my mind about PDA and really make you blush behind this bakery.”
Chapter Five
Tarson kept a close eye on the entrance to Blaze, hardly straying away from the front for the first hour of his shift. He wasn’t certain what time Daisy might arrive.
They’d exchanged several texts today when he’d finally gotten out of bed, but all he knew was she would be here after she closed the shop and stopped by her condo to change clothes.
When she finally came through the door, glancing around, his heart nearly stopped. He’d known she was his for almost a week, but every time he set his eyes on her, his certainty went up another notch.
He stood rooted to his spot, unable to move as she approached him. She had on the sweetest yellow party dress, yellow bows at the ends of her braids, and yellow ballet flats.
He also knew he’d made the perfect choices for her nursery because there was no doubt yellow was her favorite color.
She clasped her hands behind her back and swayed back and forth a bit as she shuffled closer. Her cheeks were flushed adorably as if she wasn’t sure how he might respond to her.
When she stopped two feet shy of touching him, he frowned. “That’s it?” he teased. “You’re not going to give Daddy a kiss? I’ve been waiting anxiously to see you all day.”
She grinned and threw herself at him, jumping into his arms. Good thing he was prepared to catch her or the two of them might have taken a tumble backward.
Tarson grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her higher as she wrapped her small legs around him, her arms coming around his neck.
Damn, she felt good in his arms. She smelled good, too, like the floral shampoo she used or maybe her body soap. Not surprising. After all, flowers were her life.
When her lips came to his, all the tension he’d felt for the past few hours dissipated. He cupped her bottom with one hand and slid the other up her back, losing track of the world around him as he lost himself in the kiss.
Daisy was the sweetest Little girl he’d ever known. He’d looked for someone like her for years. Now that he had her in his arms and they weren’t facing down scary thugs or fake Daddies or any other life challenges, he needed some time alone with her.