“Promise me it will always be like this.”
He reached up and cupped the side of her face. “Even when we’re ninety, with great-grandchildren and gray hair and too many wrinkles to count you will still be my baby girl, my lover, my life, that is my promise to you. Always, little darling.”
“Always,” she whispered back.
“Now
get back under these covers before you freeze to death,” he bossed.
She grinned as she lay back against him. He was definitely the bossiest man she’d met and the most arrogant.
Oh, but he was also a good man. The very best.
Epilogue
“Charlotte Jean. Come in here now.”
Charlie froze as she was trying to tiptoe past the entrance to Clint’s study. Crap!
Eden, who had managed to wheel safely past, turned to give her a look of sympathy. Both names. That wasn’t a good sign. He only used her middle name when she was in big trouble.
She moved over to the door, knowing it wouldn’t go well for her if she ignored him.
“Hey, Eden and I are just off to the stables,” she told him with a bright smile. “I’ll come see you when I get back.”
Eden had fast become one of her favorite friends. She’d seemed aloof and cold when Charlie had first moved here, but after living with her for the last two months Charlie now knew that she was really just shy. She had the biggest heart and a snarky sense of humor. She was also kind of lonely, which seemed weird since she lived on this huge ranch with all these people, but before Charlie and Ellie had come along the only other women here had been a lot older than her. And her brothers didn’t approve of the friends she had in town. Truthfully, Charlie didn’t like them much either.
“Tell Eden she’s on her own. You and I are going to have a chat.”
Her shoulders slumped and she pouted.
“In here. Now.”
She turned to glance at Eden who smiled and shrugged. “I’ll see you later.”
“Later.”
Clint frowned at her as she walked in. “Shut and lock the door behind you.”
Well, that wasn’t a good sign. He didn’t usually worry about where they were or who was around when he smacked her butt. Although her Little only usually came out around him. Or Ellie.
It was taking some getting used to, living with someone who was so damn attentive, and who wasn’t afraid to take her in hand if he thought she needed it.
She also felt more loved and safer than she had in forever.
“But I haven’t done anything, Daddy,” she told him. “Can’t I go see the horses? Please, you said I could earlier.”
“That’s before I had a look at this food diary. You want to explain to me while you only had a Pop- Tart for dinner last night while I was working?”
Damn it. She knew she should have fudged that. But Clint had been so busy these past few days, leaving early and coming home late that she hadn’t even thought he was checking her diary. Unfortunately, even though she was feeling thoroughly loved and secure living here with him, it hadn’t magically erased all the mess of her past. The first time he’d been away all day, she’d found herself secreting food away. Only this time, she’d realized what she was doing and forced herself to confess to him.
That had been so hard. Ridiculously hard. She hadn’t been entirely certain how he would react. She hadn’t thought that he would spank her, but she’d expected him to be disappointed. She knew he’d hoped that providing her with a safe place would help her heal and it had. Just sometimes she had a setback.
So, when he’d pulled her into his lap and thanked her for being honest and telling him, and stating that she was a good girl, she’d melted. And she’d truly realized that day just how much he loved her.
Unfortunately, Clint had decided that she needed some professional help and he’d called Doc’s brother. He hadn’t been able to come for a visit straight away, so they’d set up some Skype meetings that Clint always came to.
Doc’s brother was due to arrive for a month-long visit next week. And she was ridiculously nervous about that. And Doc was acting like a bear with a sore paw about it. She hadn’t thought it possible for him to get any grumpier.