Page 155 of Cowboy Daddies

Yep, I’d caught that as well. Not the words as they were common enough, but the absolute authority of the tone in which he’d said them had every cell in my body sitting up and taking notice.

“Hey, you rolled your eyes at least three times!”

“True enough, but fortunately for me and unfortunately for you, your butt will only ever be the one paying the price.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Because there is a paddle with your name on it, not mine. Which means, any consequences earned, little girl, are reserved for you. Clear?”

“Crystal, Sir,” I said while my tummy flipped and my girlie bits did their own fluttering as I watched him straighten and then him step back, close my door, and walk around the hood of the truck. I’d imagined seeing him again at least a million times as I’d spent every summer far away from the Cascades. I’d pictured his face as I turned pages of the books I read on my Kindle and heard his voice in my mind when I lost myself in a make-believe world, but not a single one of those fantasies had felt like this.

Once he’d slid behind the wheel and fastened his seat belt, he said. “Once upon a time, there was a woman named Susanne⁠—”

“Ummm…”

He glanced over at me. “Do you wanna tell this story?”

I shook my head. “I just want you to know that you don’t have to tell this story either.”

He smiled. “And that is the very reason why I need to.”

I could see the sincerity in his eyes and nodded.

So he told me how he’d been looking for years for the missing part of his heart. How he’d known from an early age he was a Dominant, but once he’d gone to college, he’d learned of what other roles the dynamic offered. How the moment he’d witnessed the connection between Daddy Doms and their Littles, he’d felt something click into place. How for the first time in his life, he’d had to face the fact that his twin had something he’d yet to find.

“I watched Luther with Kate and it reminded me of the depth of love and caring Dad has for Mom. I’ve known others who have found fulfillment and happiness in other relationship dynamics, in other roles, but I knew with every cell in my body, that I wouldn’t find either until I found the right woman. One who could love me as a man and not just accept, but truly thrive with my need to be her Daddy. For a while, I thought I might have found her in Susanne, but it only took a very short time to know she was playing at the role. I had no doubt that she believed she was in love with me, but I also had no doubt that she didn’t have a Little bone in her body. She tried to convince me she could change or that I could be happy with only part of my dream. I never meant to hurt her…”

When he didn’t continue, I softy said, “But you’ve never been a man who does anything halfway.”

“Or accepts only part of what I truly believed I’d find if I was simply patient.”

My heart thudded against my ribs as he smiled at me. “Then what you do is turn the pages and began a fresh chapter.”

His lip began to curl.

“A chapter that begins with once upon a time there was a Little pixie⁠—”

“Named Livvy!” I practically shouted and then slapped my hand over my face, which, of course, had me yelping as I’d inadvertently pressed against the bandage on my chin.

Lincoln’s hand covered mine to lower it gently back to my lap even as he bent closer. “Don’t hurt my Little girl,” he said and then had me melting into a puddle when he kissed me.

Chapter Thirteen

Lincoln

How I hit the jackpot when I hadn’t even bought a ticket, I had no clue, but I wasn’t about to question the fates. I just accepted the gift of Livvy, my Livvy, sitting beside me just as much as I accepted the fact that her speech became clearer as I listened to a story full of nonsense, and laughing harder than I had in years.

“And the fairies came and waved their dust over her poor little car and made it all better.”

When she paused, I thought it was simply to take a much needed breath as she’d been jabbering practically nonstop since we’d hit the outskirts of town. Only when she pointed and said, “See!” did I glance back at the road.

No, not the road, the side of the road. It took another second for what I was seeing to become clear. When we’d left this scene this morning, her pink Mini Cooper had been buried in a mess of barbed wire, splintered wood, displaced earth, not to mention a bush as large as some trees. Now, however, it sat on the shoulder as if it hadn’t been in an accident at all. Hell, even the tire that had been flat was now as firm as the other three. How in the hell…

Cluck, cluck, cluck.

The same party-line that spread gossip like wildfire also spread the word of someone in need. Whether it be a pet sitter to tend to animals while someone went out of town, a request for advice in how to fix a broken pipe, or a shoulder to cry on when someone lost a loved one, the citizens of our community came through. In fact, I had no doubt there were casseroles coming. Despite thinking Livvy’s question was answered the moment I’d shut down Susanne’s attempt to finagle her way into Livvy’s life, I was no longer sure she wouldn’t make good on her promise of “Mama’s famous chicken and dumplings”. If so, Livvy would discover yet another misassumption on Susanne’s part as I’d never once described that dish as delicious. The chicken had always been bland and the dumplings were doughy, each one probably weighing as much as Livvy did. Still, I was rather proud to live in a town where people cared for one another.

I flipped the signal on to make the turn onto the road that led to the ranch.