Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Daddy made another disbelieving sound. “They were probably getting a lot of free labor from you…research and papers, and they liked the connections you made with the museums too.”
Possibly.
“I got things out of the deal too. They weren’t taking advantage of me.” Daddy’s sigh said he didn’t believe that. “My…my family is a bit difficult, and with so much going on academically, I didn’t have to go home very often.”
He kept caressing me, but I could feel the tension in him growing almost like his dragon was rolling around grumbling. “What kind of difficult?”
Ugh.
All kinds.
“You know those movies where rich people are mean and stupid? They say things to get reactions and then smile?” I waited to make sure he understood, and his groan said he’d started to get it. “Well, they were modeled after my family. Think old money in the bad way, not the good way.”
That didn’t sound very nice.
“I know a lot of lovely people who’ve always had money. My relatives just got all the meanness.” There were probably genetic flaws that led to that, but I wasn’t sure how to prove it. “So once I got to college and realized I had lots of reasons not to go home, I just stayed…and stayed.”
Daddy let out a deep breath. “I can’t tell if I want to hug you or laugh. That sounds…”
“Frustrating.” I could understand his problem. “Either reaction is appropriate. The whole situation is insane on a variety of levels, but I was happy at school until I started to get…bored isn’t the right word but I was restless.”
I felt Daddy bend over and his lips brushed my head before he went back to stroking me softly. “That’s when you started doing more internships and volunteer work. I remember thinking you had to have been doing eighty-hour weeks.”
Quite possibly.
“I was looking for something and not finding it. But it gave me lots of good skills and led me here, so I can’t complain.” And having my own library was a nice change of pace. “This is much more relaxing.”
I didn’t understand why he chuckled. “That’s why you kept turning down hiring more help. This was so much easier than all the hours you were putting in before.”
“It’s not that bad.” Rolling over onto my back, I opened my eyes and looked up at Daddy, who couldn’t seem to decide if he thought I was funny or if he was frustrated with me. “I have my systems and a few ladies show up in the afternoon to shelve books whether I want them to or not. So I have help.”
They were stubborn.
And now I knew they were mages, so that probably explained a few things.
Daddy was still studying me, looking slightly frustrated. “I’m not going to let you overwork yourself just because that’s what you’ve always done.”
He was very stubborn.
This called for a distraction so I didn’t end up with employees I didn’t want.
“How about we see how often we run into problems and then negotiate around it?” I should’ve had a better conversational topic, but my brain was still running very slowly and I was distracted by how gross my pants were.
But it made Daddy slow down because, I was pretty sure, he saw it as me being reasonable. “I think that’s fair.”
Yay.
“Thank you, Daddy.” Yep, that helped too. His whole expression softened. “Are you going to come have lunch with me this week? I like schedules. Should we set up a lunch calendar?”
Oh yes.
Daddy’s entire body seemed to perk up…Daddy liked schedules too.
“That sounds like a wonderful plan.” It was so wonderful he even gave me a quick peck. “Should we plan out our next dates? Little time?”
Daddy liked schedules a lot.
“Yes.” That was a much better conversation than making me hire people.
I wasn’t against that just on principle, but I couldn’t imagine hiring someone who would spend half the day telling me I was wrong. Just the handful of people who were convinced they were supposed to be helping me were a pain in the butt.
But people who actually had a job and a contract?
That would just be…
No, I wasn’t going to sign up for that until I understood more about what I’d be getting into. What if I accidentally hired a mage or one of the bossy type dragons? I’d be butting heads with them constantly.
Yes, I needed more information before we jumped into anything drastic.
Daddy ran his hand over my head, already firmly in the planning phase of our date. “What do you have going on this week? I want to make sure I don’t overschedule you.”
Weighing the stress of hiring someone versus the stress of having to remind him that I needed a shower, I picked the lesser of two evils.
“First, I need a shower, Daddy.” Yep, that was definitely the better option. “But I’ll be fast.”