Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Bella’s tiny grip loosens allowing me to add, “And I’ll make sure Dedu wears it for trick-or-treating.”
“Dedu gonna be so scary!” she giggles, joy instantly restored, which instills noticeable relief along with surprising disappointment in her dad’s demeanor.
“Dedushka is going?” He folds his arms across his chest bringing attention to the sculpted space yet again. “Seriously?”
Bella enthusiastically bobs her head while I ask, “Is that a problem?”
“Net.”
The Russian no often means he’s unhappy but doesn’t wanna talk about it.
Learning to read him like I read his daughter is getting easier.
“He uh…just…” Ig slowly shakes his head doing his best to shrug off his emotions. “He never took me when I was a kid.”
There’s no stopping the sympathetic head tilt his words conjure.
Rather than appreciate it, my boss banishes it with a grunt, “I think she needs more makeup on her cheeks, Princess. She’s still too shiny.”
“You right, Daddy!”
No, he’s not.
He’s an asshole.
And horrible at dealing with his feelings much like the big monster in his daughter’s favorite movie.
After two more fruitless dusts, Bella begins giving herself the action, leaving me to finally give her father fashion approval. “Midnight blue is a good choice.”
Igor stops midmotion of putting the article back. “Da?”
“Clean. Crisp. Classic.” Mindless nods of approval filter into the conversation. “Plus, it’ll make a striking contrast with your eyes.” The tiny bite of my bottom lip is thoughtlessly taken too. “Your promo shots will be hard to look away from.” His lifted double brow has me shaking my head to play off the subconscious confession. “You know for the fans.”
An almost disappointed hum precedes a small echo, “For the fans.”
“And the media.”
“Can’t forget them and those headlines, aye?”
“And the bunnies.”
“Definitely could do without them,” Igor mutters under his breath and turns to look back in his wardrobe. “Shirt?”
“Maybe a blue just a couple shades lighter? That way it makes the suit pop but doesn’t distract from your gaze.”
“Good planskie,” he compliments prior to inching over to search his dress shirts, accidentally knocking a couple off their hangers. “We should make one to go suit shopping together.” He fumbles around to get them back on their wooden holders. “It’s a long season. Can’t wear just the one suit.”
“And I can’t get just the one drycleaned all the time.” Tossing him a playful smirk over my shoulder occurs next. “It would start to look suspicious and not in a cute, I probably have a crush on the grump who owns the place and hates Christmas because it reminds him of how much he hates the fact his parents live so far away from him and that they’re no longer close.”
“Stop watching Christmas movies in October.”
“Stop reading romance novels before pracky.”
Redness ruthlessly travels down the length of his neck sparking me to arrogantly wink.
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a man who reads.
Or reads that genre.
Just don’t come at me crooked for what I enjoy, and I won’t have to clapback about what you do.
Igor rolls his eyes yet poorly hides his amused grin, a combination that gives me a good segue back to his daughter. “Bella, it’s cleanup time.”
She freezes her movements and displays a defiant look in the mirror. “I not ready.”
“I understand your feelings-”
“Then we keep playing!”
“Mouth moving,” my finger flicks to my lips, “still my turn to speak.”
“I-”
“Listening ears.”
Bella’s little fingers mimic turning nobs by her face.
“Great job. Can you catch a bubble, please?”
She sucks in a deep breath, opens her mouth super wide, and then clamps it shut tight with her cheeks puffed.
“Very good.”
“Very weird,” Igor quietly mumbles to himself.
“Nanny Joey understands that you’re not ready to cleanup. I understand this is because you wanna spend more time with Daddy before he has to go to work; however, we have plans to have dinner with Babushka and Dedushka before we go see Daddy at work. And when we make plans – especially with those we love – we follow through because when we say we’re going to do something and we can, we do. That’s what builds the bonds of trust. Can you show me trust bonds?”
Bella touches her index to her thumb on each hand separately and then links them together.
“That’s right!” I complete the action as well. “And when we do what we say, the bond stays strong.” My pulling apart motion doesn’t allow them to part. “But when we don’t do what we say, the bond gets broken.” This time when I yank, I let them fall apart. “And when things get broken like this it’s really, really hard to put them back together.”
“And no don’t break things we love!” Bella enthusiastically squeaks. “’Cause we love ‘em!”
“Right again!”
“We care for ‘em.” She hugs herself awkwardly to demonstrate the word.
“Very, very right.” Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a small movement in the mirror, prompting me to steal a glimpse of Ig who is beaming at her proudly. After giving him a beat to sit with whatever emotions are bubbling over, I redirect my attention back to Bella. “So, what should we do now?”