Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“Oh, Curls.” He immediately hauled her closer to his side, one arm around her waist. “No reason to be upset. It’s your book. I gave it to you. I have dozens of copies in the house. You can doodle in it all you want, Little one.” He brushed her curls from her cheek so he could see her eyes. “Besides, I think your sketch was perfect. It enhanced the page.”
She frowned in confusion.
He suddenly had an idea and sat up straighter. “Do you get inspired to do little doodles like that often, Curls?”
She nodded, lips pursed.
“Could you draw others? For more of the pages? Maybe all of them?”
She blinked at him. “Uh…”
He was getting carried away, but he really thought his idea was a good one. “You could make little doodles to match every page in my next book and we could publish the books with your designs embellishing them. I bet they would make people smile.” He grinned now.
She glanced back at the perfect little bird she’d drawn and then at him again. “I’m not that good, Daddy.”
He shook his head. “Yes, you are. You just didn’t know it.” He turned the page in the book to the next flower, a bluebonnet. “What does this page remind you of?” He reached for the pack of pencils and pulled one out, handing it to her before angling the book so she could sketch in the corner.
It was fascinating to watch her think while she tapped her bottom lip with the pencil. Finally, she lowered her face to the book and started sketching. Her curls hung all around her face, blocking his view, so he forced himself to wait.
When she was done, she tentatively leaned back and showed him.
He chuckled. “I love it.” She’d drawn a cluster of bells like the kind that might hang at Christmas time. They looked exactly like the bluebonnets. “You’re so talented. My fans would love the addition.”
“Really?” She didn’t look convinced.
He nodded. “A Tori Reinhart sketch in the corner of every page. It would be a hit. Fans would be whispering among themselves, ‘Who is Tori Reinhart?’ You’d have to open your own business.” He grinned wide. He meant every word. It was a brilliant idea and it would give her confidence.
She stared at him for a long time, almost smiling. “I don’t know, Daddy. That sounds kind of overwhelming.”
He set the pencil and book aside and tickled her to make her smile complete.
She giggled and fell over backward, her curls creating a halo around her pretty face. “You’re really not mad?” she asked after he kissed her.
He shook his head. “Not at all. You should doodle every page and we’ll show my publisher.”
She bit her bottom lip. She wasn’t fully convinced, but he would encourage her until she recognized the value of her work.
“Don’t move,” he ordered before holding up a finger.
She narrowed her gaze. “Why?”
He turned toward the backpack and pulled out his camera. He wanted to capture this moment, the way her hair fanned out and the wonder in her eyes. He leaned up on his knees and took several shots of her from above.
She started giggling. “Daddy…”
He dropped down on his back next to her and held the camera above them to flip through the last several shots so she could see them in the viewfinder.
She gasped. “Wow. Is that what I look like?”
He turned toward her. “Beautiful.” He pushed to sitting. “I want to take some more.”
“What should I do?”
“Maybe wander around near the blanket a bit. Look at the flowers and the birds and the leaves. Don’t look at me.”
She scrunched up her face. “I don’t know, Daddy…”
“I do. You’ll see. You’re so photogenic.”
She rolled to her side and climbed to her feet. They were sitting under a shade tree, but rays of light were filtering through all around them. The soft pink T-shirt Tori wore was formfitting and left an inch of skin above her shorts. Her nails were still pink because she hadn’t picked on the polish. She had on white sandals, and her toes were also pink.
She took his breath away with her curls blowing in the breeze. He snapped several shots before she realized he was doing so. Just watching her try to figure out what to go look at was a wonder in and of itself.
When she reached up to capture a butterfly, he took dozens of pictures in a row. Her eyes were wide. Her lips parted. Her cheeks rosy. So fucking gorgeous. She had no idea.
“Hey, Tori.”
Evan lowered the camera when he heard the female voice behind them and turned around to find two women walking their direction. One of them was Daisy. She owned Blooms by Daisy and was Tarson’s Little girl.
The other woman wasn’t someone Evan recognized. She had wavy brown hair below her shoulders and deep brown eyes.