Page 52 of Daddy's Princess

“Hey, beautiful girl.”

“Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you’ve seen my sketchbook.”

“You’re not a bother. You can call me anytime you need me. I haven’t seen your sketchbook. When did you have it last?”

“Friday…”

“Did you leave it at my place?”

“I don’t know, maybe? I was slightly distracted this weekend, so I don’t really know.”

I chuckle at that. “It was a blessedly distracting weekend. I look forward to a lot of those. Why don’t you go over to my place and see if you can find it? I’ll call ahead and let the doorman know to let you up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“But isn’t is weird for me to go there when you aren’t there?” She sounds slightly bewildered. It’s adorable that she has yet to realize that everything that is mine is hers.

“You’re welcome anytime, babygirl. Besides, maybe I’ll get lucky and come home to you in my bed waiting.”

She giggles. “Let me guess, in this scenario, I’m waiting in your bed naked?”

I bite back my groan. “God willing.”

“Hmm. Well, I suppose you better get back to work then, Mr. Titan. I think this could be your lucky night.”

This time I do groan. Sugar fucking kills me. “Sounds perfect, babygirl. See you soon.”

My focus is absolutely shot after that. All I can think of is a very naked, very happy to see me, Sugar stretched across my bed, wet and waiting for me. Just as I decide to hell with work, Sugar waiting is way more important than the next applicant, my mom bursts into my office.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re still here!”

“Mom, is everything okay?”

She smiles, nodding wildly. “Everything is better than okay. I found our next illustrator!”

“Really?”

“Yes! Just look at these.” She starts laying papers across my desk. Each sketch is fantastic. Most of them are in pencil, but several look like oil pastels and charcoal. “Those aren’t even the best part… look.”

The next five pages she sets in front of me are perfect depictions of the storybook Barry was tasked with illustrating. Even though it’s done in pencil, I can see the fluffy pink and purple naterwhal as clearly as if it were colored in. They are amazing. It’s like the artist plucked the images directly from the author’s imagination and brought them to life.

“Who did these?”

“You’ll never guess. It was that pretty little intern.”

My mind instantly goes to Sugar. I can see her being this talented. Sheisthis talented, but why would she bring them to my mother and not me? That doesn’t make any sense. “Sugar Larson?”

Mom frowns. “No, Britney Chamberson.”

“Really?” I ask, shocked. She’s not shown anything at this level in the past. In fact, the project she just presented was poorly executed. Sloppy and uninspired. I suppose it could be because she didn’t feel she could let the creative juices flow. I’ve seen it happen before. I just find it hard to believe that she has this kind of talent and put forth such subpar work. Most artists take great pride in their work. I had to wonder about her qualifications after that.

And that’s not even taking into consideration the things that Sugar has told me about Britney. And the fact that she’s the one that started the rumors about us out of pure jealousy. I’ve seen the type before. If she’s not the center of attention, she’s going to do anything in her power to knock the person who is down a few pegs.

There is a quiet knock on the doorframe them Britney lets herself in. “Oh, good. Thank you so much for coming in after hours, Ms. Chamberson.”

“Britney, please, Mrs. Titan-Rose.”

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