Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
She nodded.
“Well, I nearly kissed you. And then I spent these last few days regretting that I didn’t. So I want to know whether you’re as attracted to me as I am to you.”
CHAPTER 8
Phoebe stared up at him in shock. Had he really just said that? That he couldn’t stop thinking about her? That he was attracted to her? What could he possibly see in her?
He was gorgeous. Sexy. Smart. And he obviously had his ducks in a row.
Unlike her.
Her ducks were not all in a row. They were walking off at strange angles, one was riding a horse, another was twirling in a circle, and she was pretty sure that one of them was a touch drunk.
So why would he want her? Sometimes she didn’t want to be around her, and she was stuck with herself. Should she tell him the main reason she didn’t have her phone turned on?
No, no.
She wasn’t ready to talk about it and he wouldn’t be interested in her problems. They were silly problems, anyway. Some people had real issues, like not being able to put food on the table or pay the electric bill. She felt ridiculous for the way she was handling everything and yet she wasn’t quite strong enough to come out of hiding yet.
“You’re interested in me?” she repeated. Maybe she was dreaming. That was likely it. She was having delusions.
“I am,” he said firmly, shattering that thought. “I want you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I know you might not feel the same way. You barely know me and I’m likely old enough to be your father. Perhaps you’d prefer someone younger, less set in their ways, someone less bossy and take-charge. Taking care of others is what makes me happy. But I’m told that I can be rather interfering and controlling.”
Whoa. He’d just laid out a whole lot of stuff and she was struggling to process it all. Someone had told him he was too bossy and controlling simply because he liked taking care of them?
She would kill to have someone take care of her. Maybe he was a tad bossy. She’d certainly never had anyone order her to charge her phone or to wear a jacket and shoes while outside. But she assumed it was because he was a Daddy.
It could also be him. About his needs. Phoebe liked hearing about his needs. Because she wouldn’t want things to be one-sided between them. For it to be all about her.
It sounded like he needed to look after someone… while she needed someone to look after her. Win-win? Maybe. She wouldn’t lie. She was nervous. He barely knew her and once he did… he might decide he didn’t like her.
“What’s going on in your head, sweetheart?” he asked, cupping her cheek with his hand.
He was so nice and warm, and she couldn’t help but turn her head so she could nuzzle into his hand. “It gets loud in there,” she confessed to him.
“I bet it does, little girl,” he replied. “I can help quieten it, but only if you tell me what’s going on. What is it? What are you thinking about?”
“I want you too. I’d be mad not to want you. You’re gorgeous. I just worry that if you get to know me that you won’t like me. That you might find me too much. I can be, you know. I try to tone it down, but I’m not always successful.”
“Hey,” he murmured, rubbing a thumb over her lower lip. “You don’t have to tone anything down. I just want you to be yourself.”
“Nobody ever wants me to be myself,” she warned him. “I’m a lot.”
“I can handle a lot and I happen to think you’ll be perfect no matter what.”
She snorted. “That just goes to show that you definitely don’t know me well.”
“Then we’ll get to know each other, and you can decide if you want someone who is bossy and sticks his nose into your business whether you want it or not.”
“And you can decide if you want someone who is a bit too much,” she said. “Too loud, too excitable, too immature, too much of everything.”
“Good,” he said. “But I will warn you now that is the last time you will put yourself down without consequences. If we’re dating, then there will be rules. And not just for your Little. So you might want to prepare yourself for that.”
“But you put yourself down.”
“I don’t see bossy and interfering as bad things. That’s just something other people might think.” He winked at her.
“What sort of rules are we talking about?” she asked.
“Well, you know some of them. No talking badly about yourself. Keeping yourself safe and healthy, which includes dressing for the weather and always having your phone charged. But it also includes things like not skipping meals, telling me if you’re not feeling well or are upset. Texting me if you’re going somewhere and when you get there. Not walking around at night alone. Taking your vitamins and any medication. Following all doctors’ orders. Eating regularly and healthily. Those are just a few things off the top of my head.”