Page 39 of Protecting Little Phoebe

Her mouth was open as she gaped down at him.

“I get that you’re younger and maybe this is too much too fast. But honesty is important to me. And so is laying out my expectations so there are no misconceptions. I should have said this last night, maybe. However, if you were going to tell me to get lost, I wanted a bit more time with you. My expectation is that if we both enjoy ourselves during this time at Rawhide, if you like having me as your Daddy, if you want me… then our relationship won’t stop when the vacation is over. And we will do what is necessary to keep our relationship going. Which would likely necessitate one or both of us moving. So… have I totally made you want to run away screaming?”

What was he thinking? He’d told himself to wait. To give her more of a chance to get used to him and his pushy ways. But he wanted more.

Jesus.

Why couldn’t he have kept his mouth shut? She was far younger than him. Just because he knew his own mind and didn’t want to waste time because he was getting older with every second that passed didn’t mean that she wanted to move at lightning speed.

Barren opened his mouth to try and take it back or at least make it sound like he wasn’t a complete nut case for wanting to move so fast, for thinking about the future already.

“I like knowing your expectations,” she told him.

“You do? You don’t think it’s too much? That I’m pressuring you?”

“No, I think… I mean, when you said while we were here, I thought you just wanted a… wanted a short-term fling or something and my heart felt like it might break. I know it’s very early to say this, but it doesn’t feel like we just met. It feels like we’ve known each other for years. My brothers would tell me that I’m being an idiot, but how can this be wrong when it feels so right?”

“I’m glad you feel that way, sweetheart. But I do want your promise that if your feelings change, you will tell me. Don’t hide your feelings from me or go behind my back and cheat on me.”

Her eyes widened. “Cheat on you? I would never!”

“I know, sweetheart. Or I wouldn’t want to be with you. My wife cheated on me and it hurt because I thought everything was fine. I never realized she was miserable, that she was turning to someone else behind my back.”

He still felt like a fool. The idiot who hadn’t been aware that his wife no longer loved him. That she was finding affection with another man. God. He felt ill when he thought about the fact that he’d been coming home to her, climbing into bed with her each night, when she’d been with another man. But worse than losing her, was feeling like a fool.

And that’s when he’d realized that he obviously didn’t love her anymore either. But he would never have cheated on her. That was a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

“I’m so sorry,” she told him. “That’s awful. I would never do that to someone. Especially not someone I was supposed to love.”

“I wouldn’t be attracted to you if I thought that you were that sort of person,” he reassured her. “I like how open you are.”

“You don’t know everything about me, though,” she told him, looking concerned.

“And you don’t know everything about me. That’s what this time together is for. And I don’t have to know everything at once. As long as anything you tell me isn’t a lie.”

“I can do that. I don’t like lies either. I don’t see the point of them. Sometimes I can be a bit too open, though. Then it can get annoying. And my brothers say that I have to be careful not to let anyone take advantage of my naivety.”

“Well, I finally agree with them about something. I didn’t think that was going to happen.”

CHAPTER 10

He agreed with them?

“You think I’m naive?” she asked, feeling a bit hurt. The last thing she’d thought was that he’d judge her the way her brothers did.

“That’s not what I mean,” he told her. “I don’t think you’re naive. At least, not in a bad way. I do think that you’re very trusting. You should have been more reserved and cautious when a stranger came to help you.”

“And instead I hugged you… is that what you mean?”

“Yes, sweetheart. That’s what I mean. Luckily for you, I wasn’t an asshole or someone who would hurt you. But that doesn’t mean I want to change you.”

“You don’t?” she asked. Because it kind of sounded like he did. And all she had ever wanted in life was to find someone who accepted her just the way she was. Her dad had tried. Uncle Timmy had come close. But still, she’d held back a bit with them. She’d kept her Little safe by only letting her fully out in her bedroom.

Sure, she generally dressed how she wanted and perhaps her Little was just part of her personality. She couldn’t keep her completely suppressed. But when it came to things like playingwith her toy ponies or painting and drawing, or sucking on her thumb, which she did when she was really upset, she kept those things private.

“Why would I want to change perfection?” he asked.

Phoebe could feel herself blushing. Was he for real right now? How could he call her perfect? “I’m a mess.”

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