Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Fuck.
If this was going to work, he needed to set some boundaries.
He’d been right about her. “Wildfire,” he grumbled under his breath as he refilled his googly mug and carried it back into the living room. Standing in front of Sage, he lifted the mug slightly. “Something you’d like to explain, Wildfire?”
Sage tilted her head. “I’m Wildfire now?” She batted her eyes at him in an overblown display of innocence.
Grady nodded. “Yep,” he said, as gruffly as possible. “Explain,” he repeated, pointing to the googly eye on the side of his cup.
That sunshine grin of hers returned. “Googly eyes make everything better,” she said. “Your mug looks extra cheerful today.” She held up her hands as if to stop him. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
He glanced at Rose and then back to Sage. Was there an ointment for the itch a sassy Little gave a Daddy’s palm? If there were, he should probably buy stock. “Funny you should say that. I was just considering thanking you. Long and hard.”
She stared at him for a second before he saw the realization of what he meant dawn on her. She crossed her arms over her chest, but not fast enough for him to miss the way her nipples hardened at his words.
Jutting out her chin, she said, “Just wait till you see the eggs.”
“Oh, I saw them,” he said. “I’m thinkin’ I’ll thank you for those later, too.”
Rose let out a small giggle, then quickly covered her mouth.
Grady’s gaze immediately shifted to his daughter. He’d never take that sound for granted again. Until a few days ago, he hadn’t heard it in two years. Not once. Now, in the space of those few days, he’d heard it several times. All thanks to Sage.
“Just… watch it,” he said, turning his attention back to Sage. “Trust me when I say you don’t want me thanking you any time soon.”
Oh, he was definitely spanking her bottom soon. He knew it as well as he knew his own name. It was good to have something to look forward to for a change.
“Yes, Sir,” she said, and accompanied it with a salute.
Rose popped up and saluted, too.
He narrowed his eyes and tried to make it clear he was addressing Sage. “Actions have consequences, you know.”
She wiggled her brows at him. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
It had been an empty threat, and they both knew it. She was Rose’s nanny, and that was all. No matter how much something pulled at him to invite her to be more. She was a nanny who was good with kids. A nanny who would be moving on to her next student at the end of the summer. A nanny he couldn’t help but imagine bending over the couch, and spanking her ass red.
Fuck!
Setting down the mug, he took a breath. “There are some things I’ve been meaning to go over with you.”
“But you—”
He held up his hand and stopped her mid-sentence. “Now that you’re settled in, I’d like to get Rose back to her normal routine. That includes chores. I took the liberty of assigning you a few as well. Chores start after breakfast, to be completed before Rose’s lessons,” he told her. “You have a list on the counter, right next to hers. Curfew’s eight o’clock sharp. No exceptions. Rose has lessons from nine until noon as you requested. That way, you can both have the afternoon for fun things. Are we clear?”
Sage stood up, brushing imaginary dust from her jeans. “As crystal, boss.”
“Now it’s boss?”
She nodded her head. “Yes, boss.”
Well, that was a step in the right direction, whether it felt like it or not.
Mid-afternoon, he found her in the barn. She was supposed to be sweeping the aisle between the horses’ stalls, so of course, she wasn’t doing that. The broom lay abandoned on the floor.
Instead, she was on her tiptoes trying to braid one of the horse’s manes, belting out Lainey Wilson’s “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” off-key and at the top of her lungs. Damn, she was cute.
“Sage.”
With a yelp of surprise, she turned toward him, tugging the horse’s mane in the process. The horse pulled away, knocking Sage to the floor.
Grady reached her in three long strides. He picked her up as if she weighed no more than a feather. “You all right?” he asked, gruffer than he intended.
She stared up at him, trembling. “I’m fine,” she answered quickly. “Sorry, you startled me.”
“I noticed.”
She brushed herself off. “Yes, boss?”
For someone who’d just been bumped to the dirt by a horse, she looked far too pleased with herself. The woman needed constant watching. It was like she looked for ways to get hurt. If he didn’t find a way to stop grinding his teeth, he was going to owe his dentist a fortune.
At least she hadn’t called him Daddy, which was good. Even if it did irritate him a little.