Page 13 of Daddy's Little Surprise

Just the authoritativeness in his voice made her want to sit, and she wasn’t Dane.

“Rainey, you have nothing to fear. Dane won’t hurt you. He’s a sweetheart when he wants to be.”

“When he wants to be?!” she squeaked out.

What did Daddy mean when his dog wanted to be? Did he go around biting people and bringing terror? Was he only a sweetheart to Daddy and only him?

Daddy laughed, and she quickly hit his arm.

“It’s not funny. He could kill me and the baby.”

Daddy reached back and pulled her hand off his shirt. As he turned toward her, she saw Dane sitting there looking all calm with his tongue sticking out. He looked so cute, but what she said could be true.

“Dane would never harm you. I promise. You don’t ever have to worry about that. He will harm anyone who tries to harm you. If he thinks someone is being threatening, he will bark at them and attack them if they get too close to you, but he will never turn on you.”

She stared at Daddy wide-eyed, taking in everything he had just said. How did he know Dane wouldn’t harm her?

“I can see it written all over your face. Dane would never harm you because he already has a soft spot for you. We have a walking route, and when you moved into town, he wanted to change it all of a sudden. He could smell your scent because every time we walked by your coffee shop, he would stop for a second. That turned into him taking a potty break, but when I try to take him our old way, he won’t have it.”

Her mouth hung open. He was not being serious. Therewas no way Dane could smell her scent and already be protective of her. Was that how it worked?

“We’re going to pet him together.”

She took a step back and teeter-tottered on her feet. “I don’t know.”

“Rainey, I know you’re nervous, but we need to do this. You’re going to be staying here, which means you’ll be around him. I don’t want you to be afraid of him. He is the biggest teddy bear to the people he loves, and he already loves you. Can you see his tongue sticking out and his eyes following your every move?”

There was no way Dane was following her. She looked at the dog and moved her body to the right a little, and his eyes tracked her the whole way.

“See? I’m not lying to you. I would never lie to you about something like this.”

She nodded and took a step forward. Daddy took her hand.

“Hold your hand in a fist, and we’ll let Dane smell it.”

She did what he said, and Daddy held her wrist as they got closer to Dane’s face.

“Gentle,” Daddy softly spoke.

Rainey closed her eyes as Daddy put her hand closer to Dane’s mouth. A wet, cold sensation went across her hand, and she quickly pulled it back, letting out a little scream.

She opened her eyes to see Dane intently watching her but still sitting where he was before.

“We’re going to try this again, but this time, I want your eyes to be open. All Dane did was sniff your hand and touch it with his wet nose. He did nothingelse.”

Daddy held her wrist again as they tried it once more. This time, she did keep her eyes open but held her breath the closer they got. What if Dane decided to bite her hand? She had no idea how strong his jaw was, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to get away.

Dane sniffed her hand for several seconds before his tongue snuck out and licked her.

“Breathe,” Daddy gently said as he rubbed her back. “Take a deep breath with Daddy. Everything is okay. Dane isn’t going to do anything.”

She filled her lungs with air as Dane started to lick her hand again.

“See, such a teddy bear. You can pet him now.”

Daddy let go of her hand, and she watched intently, waiting to see if Dane would harm her without Daddy touching her. But it never happened. Dane still gave her gentle licks every once in a while.

“Whenever you’re ready, you can pet him.”

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