Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“New rule,” he said.
“Oh no, Daddy! Not another one.”
“Yes, another one. If something goes into the basket, it doesn’t come out unless I take it out.”
“All right, Daddy.”
He realized he’d made a mistake after that as she stopped reacting with excitement at everything she saw. Finally, he drew her to a halt after they’d walked past a red onesie with white hearts on it that he just knew she had to love.
“Right. We need a chat.”
Her eyes widened in alarm, and she pushed her hand behind her to cover her butt. “I didn’t do it! It wasn’t me! I’m innocent, I tell you!”
“Little girl, what are you talking about? Innocent of what?”
“Um, of whatever you were about to punish me for.”
“I wasn’t going to punish you,” he told her.
“But you said chat. Chat is the code word for I’m gonna spank you.”
He shook his head. “Sweetheart, no. Sometimes a chat is just a chat.”
“Drat. Gonna have to update my internal book of Daddy code.”
“You have an internal book of Daddy code?” he asked.
“Yep. It only had one word. Chat means you’re gonna get spanked. Now chat can have a dual meaning.”
“I’m sorry,” he said solemnly. “That seems very confusing.”
“Oh, it is. You have no idea how confusing you Daddies can be.”
“Have other Daddies been confusing you?” he demanded.
Rein it in. You sound jealous.
“Um, no, just you, I guess.”
Right. He smothered his jealousy. “I just wanted to talk to you about why you aren’t looking at anything.”
“Um. What do you mean?”
“Before you were all excited about everything. Now you keep telling me you don’t want or need things. Is it because I’m getting these things for you?”
“It doesn’t feel right to spend your money, Daddy.”
“I don’t want you worrying about money,” he told her.
Maybe you should tell her that you have plenty of money. That you could likely buy everything in this shop four times over and still not put a dent in your bank balance.
He opened his mouth to do just that, but something held him back. Or should it be someone held him back? Because all he could see was Krystal telling him that she’d only been with him for his money. It wasn’t that he thought that was the reason that Phoebe was interested in him.
Far from it.
She had no idea he had money. And did she need to know yet? It wasn’t like she’d spoken about her finances. This was early days, and those conversations could come later. Still, he didn’t want her to worry about that.
“This isn’t something for Little girls to worry about, understand?” he said. “Money is an adult worry.”
“But even Littles have to worry about money.”
“Did you come to Rawhide so you could worry about adult things or so you could escape for a while and indulge your Little?”
“Well, yeah, I didn’t want to think about Big stuff for a while.”
“Then you won’t. Understand? You’re going to trust me to have this handled.”
“I’m not taking advantage of you?” she asked worriedly.
“Little girl, no. You could never.” Reaching up, he cupped her face between his hands. “You’re my best girl. Now, how about we get you that onesie back there?”
“Oh, yes, please, Daddy!”
Twenty minutes later, she gaped at the pile of things on the counter. Wow. Daddy had bought her half the store it seemed.
“You have some nice treasures here,” the woman behind the cashier desk told her. “I’m Becky, by the way.”
“I sure do, Becky!” Phoebe said excitedly. Then she pointed at a bright item that was attached to a black piece of leather. It was long and rounded at the bottom. “What’s that, Daddy?”
“It’s something that you can chew on instead of gnawing on your thumbnail,” he explained.
“You can also suck on it like a pacifier,” Becky told her as she packed it away in a bag.
“You put the leather part around your neck and wear it like a necklace,” Barren added.
“Oh. That’s a good idea.” She caught sight of a blue notebook with something written across the top. “Rules for Littles. Daddy!”
“You said you wanted all your rules written down.”
“This book is very helpful,” Becky said as she packed it away. “It even has pages for you to write down any transgressions and punishments if you want. Helpful when a Little is sick and can’t be punished straight away.”
Goodness. Wasn’t that helpful?
Not.
“Come on, little girl. Let’s go put your new things away.”
She sighed. “All right, Daddy! Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 13
Phoebe glanced over as Barren’s phone rang. He’d been getting a lot of phone calls lately. And having to go onto his laptop more and more to get some work done. She was starting to feel bad because she was the one keeping him from his work.
They’d been at Rawhide together for five days now and it had been magical. Every day, he took care of her. He chose her clothes, dressed her, took her to breakfast and fed her. He decided what they were going to do for the day, but it was always something she enjoyed. Like coming to the playroom or going outside to the play area, having a picnic while watching the horses. That last one had been her favorite.