Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Heck, he’d even asked her if she’d expected a spanking, and she’d sort of admitted that she had been. Fat lot of good that did her because even though she’d broken a rule... well, sort of accidentally... all she’d gotten was a lecture. The spanking she’d been certain she’d earned hadn’t happened. Part of her was glad. But another, much louder, part of her was still pouting about it. That made her crazy, right? From everything she’d read, spankings hurt.
Some of her friends in Wilder had verified that in no uncertain terms. Their descriptions left her feeling tingly and a bit jealous, even though she was very happy for them. They also felt the same way she had when an expected spanking didn’t happen. Disappointed.
So, if it was crazy longing for something you knew might really hurt, at least she wasn’t alone in her craziness.
Honestly, the whole thing had left her with nothing but more questions. Why hadn’t he spanked her? It was pretty obvious he’d wanted to, but what stopped him was a mystery. All she’d gotten was a scolding before he sent her to bed, like a naughty Little girl.
Even without the spanking, something had definitely shifted between them. He somehow had her Little slipping out more and more often. And he seemed to be growing less and less annoyed about it.
Maybe one day he’d actually like having a bouncy, sassy Little around. Goodness knew, her Little was into growly, scowly cowboys with big hands and even bigger rules. Unfortunately, it appeared she’d have to go on wondering for now.
While Rose was in the other room gathering more stuffies, Sage busied herself building the palace. Well, she would be, if she could just get this blanket to drape over the end of that ginormous entertainment center.
Without thinking, she stepped up on the flat part at the top of the stepladder. Leaning way over, she readied herself to toss the edge of the blanket, sticking one foot out behind her for balance. Their pillow castle would be the perfect height if she could just get the blanket she held over this end of the entertainment center. Of course, balancing had never been her strong point, and the next thing she knew, her ankle began to wobble. She over-corrected, turning her wobble into a teeter.
You are as graceful as a ballerina, she told herself sternly, you can do this. About the time it became evident that she was about to fall, two large hands grabbed her around the waist and lowered her safely to the floor.
Spinning around, she came face to face with a very scowling cowboy.
“Indigo Sage Cartwright, just what in the hell do you think you were doing?”
Her name on his lips shot sparkles and spasms straight between her thighs. The way he growled at her made it even worse. It didn’t seem normal for her tummy, let alone her bottom, to clench like that.
She should step back, create some nice, safe distance between them, before she did something completely ridiculous like melt into a happy little puddle at his feet. But her traitorous feet stayed rooted to the floor, refusing to listen to reason.
Every tingling nerve in her body felt like it was waking up from the longest nap ever, stretching and sparkling in ways that made her tummy do excited little flips. She’d never felt anything like this before Grady, and she had absolutely no idea how to handle it.
Oh no, she thought, her cheeks burning brighter. This was very, very dangerous.
“You need somebody watching you every second. What if I’d been out on the ranch somewhere and you’d fallen and broken your neck?” He pointed to the ladder. “That, little girl, is what I was talking about when I said not to put your safety at risk.”
Her gaze followed the direction of his finger toward the ladder. It wasn’t like she had actually fallen. He was making a big deal out of nothing.
Of course, she didn’t dare say those words out loud. As she stood there thinking of a suitable comeback, he snatched the blanket from her hands and, without any need for a ladder at all, draped the blanket over the edge of the entertainment center for her.
“All you had to do was ask.” Crossing his arms over his wide chest, he continued to glare.
“Thanks, boss. You’re right, that was easy. But I really was doing fine before you interrupted me.”
A look of disbelief exploded across his face.
“Do you call falling off the ladder doing fine? Maybe you didn’t notice the ladder starting to slip away from under your foot. One more second and you would have been lying on the floor.”
Unable to stop herself, she glanced at the hand weight she’d found in the exercise corner of the basement. Even though it looked like the front wheel set for the giant Hot Wheels car, she’d thought that if she put the end toward the edge of the entertainment center, it would be fine and hold the blanket in place. Now she was rethinking her decision.