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)
“Good cupcake, huh?” the bakery owner suggested.
“Good doesn’t even come close,” Daisy assured her.
Chapter Twelve
Humming a popular song as she tidied the front counter, Daisy kept an eye on the door as it ticked down to closing time. On her schedule for tonight was paint shopping, dinner, and a visit to Blaze. Bear was working tonight and she couldn’t wait to hang out with him and her friends.
Daisy was going to try out a few designs for flowers on paper before slathering paint on the wall. She hoped some others would paint with her tonight.
When her door opened, Daisy looked up with a smile that quickly froze on her lips. She forced herself to be professional. It could be a coincidence that he was there.
“So, this is where you hide during the day,” Leo Miller commented with a smile that didn’t quite make it to his eyes.
“Are you interested in ordering some flowers?” she asked, stiffening her back to resist curling into a ball.
“Flowers do fascinate me. I particularly like daisies—even when they misbehave.”
His words felt like oil to her skin. They oozed over her. She tilted her chin up and answered, “Flowers can’t misbehave. They respond well to someone who respects their special attributes and creates an arrangement that highlights them positively.”
“I see that you haven’t learned to respect your Daddy.”
“I respect my Daddy. I don’t follow the wishes of others who try to step into that role without building a relationship with me,” Daisy answered defiantly. She pulled her phone from her pocket and searched for Bear’s number in her directory.
“You are extremely naughty, Little girl. It’s a good thing I know how to deal with rebellious Littles,” he answered, walking forward to brace his palms on the counter.
Her fingers flew over her phone as her heartrate skyrocketed. Fumbling, she selected the wrong number and hung up as her aunt Teresa answered the phone. She’d call her back later.
Daddy! Daisy touched the call emblem as she backed away from the counter to put more room between herself and the man who called himself Daddy Leo.
“Baby girl,” Bear’s growly voice held delight to hear from her. “I’m almost there to pick you up.”
“Daddy! He’s here.”
“Who’s there, Baby girl?”
“Daddy Leo.”
“Lock the door.”
“No! He’s inside.”
“Put me on speaker.”
Daisy’s trembling finger quickly pressed the audio button to switch him to speaker.
“Got it,” she whispered.
“Leo, this is Tarson Kirkwood. I am two blocks away. Get out of there now or just being banned from Blaze will be the least of your worries.”
“Tarson, I’m sure Daisy will be glad to play with both of us. There’s no need for this aggressive reaction,” Leo answered smoothly as he pushed away from the counter. With a wink at Daisy, the unwanted visitor walked to the door and disappeared.
“Listen, asshole…” Bear began.
Daisy couldn’t hear the rest of what he said because she dropped the phone onto the wooden surface to run around the partition to flip the deadbolt closed.
“Daisy!” he shouted as she returned to the counter to pick up the cell.
“I’m okay. He just left. I locked the door.”
“One block away. Damn this traffic. I’m almost there. Stay inside,” he demanded.
Five minutes later, Daisy heard the squeal of tires before heavy steps ran to her front entrance. Huddled out of sight from anyone looking through the glass at the entrance, she waited until she heard his voice.
“Daisy? It’s me, Baby girl. Let me in.”
Flying to the door, she fumbled with the lock before throwing the barrier open and flinging herself into his arms. She buried her face against his broad chest. “I was so scared. Is he still out there?”
“The parking spaces in front are all empty now. He scurried away like cockroaches usually do,” Bear growled.
“Thank you for coming to save me,” she whispered as she looked up at his face.
The concern etched into his features made her rise onto her toes to press her lips against his. The fiery kiss that followed made Daisy feel as if he’d marked his possession on her heart. She slid her hands up his torso to wrap around his neck. Clinging to his strong body, Daisy put all her emotions into the next kiss as she claimed him as hers as well.
Bear’s mouth gentled on hers. Seemingly reassured that she was unharmed and he had reached her in time, he seduced her with long, slow kisses that ramped up their breathing for an entirely different reason than the adrenaline rush that Leo’s visit had evoked. When her hands drifted back down his chiseled chest to slide under Bear’s snug T-shirt, he set her a few inches away from his body as he pressed her fingers against his abdomen.
“We need to call Wyatt.”
“Later?” she suggested, trying to wiggle her fingers away from his control to trace the hardness pressing against his fly.