Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 50402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Watching him devour the rest of the food amazed her. Where did he put it? There wasn’t a spare inch of flesh on his body to pinch.
When the conversation took a serious turn, Ivy listened carefully. The men seated around them began to give her tips for self-defense. Steele promised to give her lessons when she was fully healed, but for now, they shared vulnerable places for someone her size to hurt an attacker.
“Do you know how to punch someone, Ivy?” Kade asked, leaning forward.
Thinking it was a trick question, Ivy balled up her fist with her thumb protected inside her fingers. “Like this?”
“No, Little girl.” Steele peeled her fingers apart to pull her thumb out. “You’ll break your thumb that way.”
“And it will be safe this way?” she asked, turning her fist around to look at it from different angles.
“Safer,” Kade verified. “Something that doesn’t take a lot of strength is to blind an attacker. Put your fingers together to form a spear and strike at their eyes.”
Steele helped her form her fingers into the shape Kade suggested, and pulled her hand toward his face. Immediately, she tugged her hand away from him. She didn’t want to hurt Steele.
“I don’t think I want to know this,” she whispered and hid her face against Steele’s neck as she took hold of his cut to reassure herself.
“We want you to be safe, Ivy. If you’re in trouble, don’t hesitate. Strike hard,” Kade growled.
“She’s listening, Kade. It’s just too much now. We’ll practice when she feels better,” Steele assured him as he stroked a reassuring hand over Ivy’s back.
The men changed the conversation to focus on the repair shop, distracting her with funny stories about the customers. Ivy relaxed against Steele’s brawny chest and listened to the dangerous men laugh about floofy dogs, entertaining customers, and messed-up tattoos. Exhaustion crashed over Ivy, and she yawned widely.
“Bedtime, Emerald Eyes,” Steele announced as he stood to carry their dishes over to the kitchen where two members stood loading plates into the dishwasher.
Suddenly exhausted, when he returned, she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against him. Without saying a word, Steele lifted her as if she were as light as a feather to hold against his chest. Ivy rested her head on his shoulder as her feet looped around his waist. He swayed gently as he answered a few questions from the surrounding men.
In a few minutes, he walked back to his apartment. Setting her feet on the wooden plank floor in the bathroom, he put toothpaste on her brush and handed it to her before fixing his own. It felt strangely intimate to clean their teeth simultaneously. Somehow, this simple act made their relationship feel more real. Seeing a glob of foam on the corner of his lips, Ivy reached up to wipe it away and received a minty peck on her cheek as a reward.
When they finished, Steele washed her face and sent Ivy into the toilet area with a light swat on her bottom. After returning to his side and washing her hands, Ivy let him steer her into the bedroom. She was almost asleep on her feet. Somehow, she ended up tucked into the big bed with her teddy bear in her arms.
“Night night, Lucky.”
As she tumbled into sleep, Ivy heard Steele comment on the name she’d settled on for her stuffie.
“Perfect name, Little girl.”
CHAPTER
EIGHT
So warm. Ivy rubbed her face against the lightly furry material. That didn’t feel like Lucky’s fur. Hairy sheets? She didn’t remember those from yesterday. Blinking her eyes open, Ivy stared down into deep brown eyes that crinkled with amusement.
“Are you blowing your nose on me, Little girl?”
“No,” she answered, horrified that he would even suspect that. His chuckles shook her body and only then did she realize she’d draped herself over his hard frame.
“Oh! I’m sorry.” Ivy wiggled toward the side to slide off him, but Steele’s hands spanned over her back, holding her in place. “Steele. Let go!”
“I like you here, Little girl. You fit perfectly.” He flexed his hips upward slightly to press his thick erection against her.
“Oh!”
“I think you should call me something different now, Little girl,” he reminded her.
“Daddy?” she guessed, still trying to figure out how to slide off.
“Exactly. I’m glad you agree,” Steele said, finalizing their pact.
“Wait! You want me to call you Daddy… Like all the time?”
“Yes, Little girl. You’ve used it before, but now we’ll make it official. There will be times you’ll use my legal name because you want to avoid conflicts with others who wouldn’t understand. Like at the bank, for example.”
An image of her racing across the lobby with widespread arms, calling Daddy, flashed into her mind. “That would definitely not be appropriate if I want to keep my job.”
“Probably not, but we don’t need to worry about the bank now.”