Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
He blinked in surprise. She just kept shocking him. “Absolutely.”
She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“Now, back to Shibari. Out of curiosity, have you ever tried it?”
She hesitated a long time before shuddering slightly. “Yes. Can we not talk about it, please?”
He reached over, stroked her cheek, and stared at her profile. She was truly gorgeous. Every inch of her. And he couldn’t wait to see all the inches. He bet there were a lot of tattoos under her clothing he’d never seen.
He hoped one day soon she would grant him the privilege of exploring those tattoos, but he wouldn’t rush her. “Baby, we can table discussing Shibari for tonight. But not forever. There’s a story behind your aversion to ropes, and I want to hear it one day soon. Understood?”
He held his breath as soon as those words were out, suddenly worried that perhaps she’d been abused at some point. If someone mistreated her and used ropes, no wonder she had no interest in that kind of restraint. He sure hoped that wasn’t true, because it would gut him to find out someone had dared abuse his Little girl.
And yes, she was his Little girl. She simply hadn’t admitted it yet.
At least not out loud.
Chapter Five
Riley was relieved when the pizza arrived and interrupted the intensity of their conversation. “Oh, good. The pizza’s here.” She reached out to snag a piece as the waitress wandered away.
Milo grabbed her wrist. “It’s too hot, baby. Slow down. Let it cool off a bit, and then I’ll put a slice on your plate.”
“Yes, Sir.” Why did submitting to him come so naturally? Her heart raced every time he gave her another command. Being with him felt…right.
They fit together. Like he said. But what if he didn’t like her as much when he got to know her? She couldn’t hide herself from him forever. It wouldn’t be fair.
Milo thought she was the strong, opinionated, confident woman who tended bar at Blaze. And to a certain extent, he was right. But what he didn’t know was that side of her was an exhausting cover.
The truth was Riley was an introvert. It took effort to pretend otherwise, and it wore her out. After a few hours at the bar or working at Little Cakes, she needed downtime.
Now was one of those times. She was running out of energy to maintain any semblance of the person he thought she was. She’d been at the bakery for several hours. At this time of day, she would usually go to her apartment to recharge, especially if she had to work at Blaze that night. Luckily, Blaze wasn’t open tonight.
There was a reason she hadn’t had a boyfriend in a long time. She didn’t like them to realize she was so needy half the time. It was embarrassing.
She doubted Milo would be disappointed to find out she was needy. He was a Daddy after all. She’d never had a Daddy of her own, but she knew a lot of them from Blaze, and they enjoyed caring for their Littles.
But what if he wasn’t expecting her to be as introverted as she was?
His arm slid around her shoulders and he eased her against his chest. “You’re thinking awfully hard, baby,” he murmured. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I bet the pizza is cooled off enough to eat. Shall I put a slice on your plate?”
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered softly. Something about him drew out her Littlest Little. It always had. Every time he walked by the daycare at Blaze, she would pull into herself, tongue-tied and Littler.
She loved how he checked the temperature of the pizza with his finger before offering her a slice. “Be careful, baby. It still might burn the roof of your mouth.”
She took a bite and moaned around the flavor. It was delicious. She didn’t order pizza very often because she couldn’t eat an entire pie herself, and she wasn’t very fond of leftover pizza. Tonight was a treat.
When they were done, he paid the bill and walked her back to his car. Before opening her door, he cupped her face and met her gaze. “Do you have a car at the bakery, baby?”
“No. It’s in the shop. The brakes were going bad. I took an Uber to work today.”
“Okay, then we don’t need to go back for your car. Did you mean it when you said you’d like to go to my house? I can take you home if you’d like, but it’s still early. I’d love to spend more time with you.” He bent his knees to put them closer to eye level. “You know I have no intention of having sex with you tonight, right? That’s not why I want you to come home with me.”
She hesitated. “Uh, what if I wanted to have sex with you?”