Page 21 of Protecting Little Phoebe

With a gasp, she placed her hand over her mouth. “Oh no! You’re like a giant disco ball. Or a mermaid. I’ve always wanted to be a mermaid.” She winced. “I really hope that glitter washes out. Do you want me to wash your clothes? Here, I can do it.” She reached for the buttons of his shirt.

He grasped hold of her hands, stilling them.

“Phoebe.”

She glanced up at him. “Yes?”

“You don’t need to wash my clothes. The glitter will come out. It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hmm. Now, if you’d glitter bombed me, that might be another story.” He raised an eyebrow, giving her a stern look.

Guilt swirled in her stomach. “It was just a small prank. And I didn’t mean to get glitter on you.”

“Ahh, so if I had been here you wouldn’t have participated? Or wouldn’t have glitter bombed me?” he queried as his right brow arched.

“Well, I can’t say that exactly.” She gave him a small grin.

“Sassy girl,” he replied. “You’re going to get yourself into trouble if you participate in Sadie’s pranks.”

“I don’t think I had much choice. It was an all-for-one-one-for-all type of deal.”

“Ahh, so you were just doing it because that’s what all the other Littles were doing?”

“Exactly.” He got it. She couldn’t be blamed and punished for that, right?

He tapped her nose. “That’s not going to fly as an excuse, little girl. You always have a choice. You chose to participate, even knowing there would be consequences.”

Well. Rats.

Shit. She grew all tense and the small smile dropped off her face. What had he said? Was it the threat of consequences? He knew that she was new to this. Had she experienced punishment while here on the Ranch? If anyone had spanked her… okay, he had no right to feel jealous and getting angry was foolish.

She wasn’t his… yet. He had this feeling in his gut that she was meant to be, though.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, fighting the urge to cup her face between his hands. Instead, he reached out and lightly touched her hand. Which was freezing. “Where are your gloves?”

“Oh, um. I don’t know. I had some on, but I took them off for glitter-gate,” she said, glancing around as though they were going to magically appear.

“You should always wear your gloves when it’s cold,” he scolded. “At least you’re wearing a jacket.”

“Nanny J told me that I had to,” she confessed. “No jacket–no movie.”

“You’ve been spending time in the Nursery?” he asked.

“Um, I tried the Nursery, but it wasn’t for me. I like it in the Butterflies room with Miss Price. Do you think everyone is going to be mad at me? They won’t kick me off the Ranch, will they?”

He’d like to see anyone try… he would take on anyone who upset her like that. But he also knew that wasn’t going to happen.

“Of course they won’t, little girl,” he soothed. “It was just a harmless prank. A bit of glitter never hurt anyone. There might be a few lines written, maybe some sore bottoms tomorrow, but no one is kicking you out.”

“I’ve never been punished before.”

“Really? Not even during your stay here?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t been naughty.”

Hmm. He found that hard to believe. The Phoebe he’d met was someone he’d thought would get into trouble on her first day. If not in her first hour. So maybe she’d been on her best behavior since she’d come here? Because it was all new and she was unsure? Or because she was scared of getting punished? He wondered if it was those things or something else.

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