Page 212 of Papa's Bébé
She groaned. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
He just grinned. “Life doesn’t always need to be serious, you know. It can be fun. It can be filled with bad jokes and laughter.”
“I haven’t . . . I can’t remember when I just had fun. I’ve had some fun times, don’t get me wrong. I think it would be impossible not to smile around Millie. But most of my life, I’ve just been fighting to keep my head above water. To keep myself and my babies in a safe place.”
“And now you don’t have to worry about that. Because I’m here to take that on. So that you can live carefree without worry.”
“Shouldn’t we share the worries, though? That’s the way a partnership works, right?”
“Hmm. Let me think about that a moment?” He tapped his finger against his chin. She moved her hands to her lap, pressing them together. “Nope. I don’t think so. You’ve had enough worries and when you’re left to make decisions, you make terrible ones.”
“Hey, I do not!”
“Rescuing puppies from a puppy farm,” he reminded her dryly.
“That’s not the hardest animal rescue mission I’ve been on or the most dangerous.”
He shot her a dark look.
Yeah, that might not have been the smartest thing that she could have said. Perhaps he was right and she shouldn’t be making too many decisions.
“You won’t be doing that anymore.”
“But—”
“Nope. No buts. There are no arguments on safety issues or rules. Understand? If I give you a rule for your safety, then you just follow it.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “Not sure I can agree to that. You get to make safety rules while I’m in danger, but the rest of the time I think I can at least argue with them.”
“You can think that. But you’re wrong,” he informed her.
Oh, he sounded so sure of himself, didn’t he?
“No arguing. I know how to keep you safe. And your safety is of utmost priority to me. I’m not going to make a rule to be a dick. Every rule, for safety or not, will be with you foremost in my mind. Understand?”
Well, drat.
When he said it like that she couldn’t really argue, could she?
Darn it.
“All right, I’ll agree that safety rules are firm. Other rules, if I don’t like them, I can argue with.”
“You can argue, Bébé. Doesn’t mean they will change. Oh, and all rules for your Little are mine to make. They won’t be negotiated. Littles don’t make the rules. At least, my Little doesn’t. I don’t care what happens in other people’s relationships. My Little girl trusts her Papa to take care of her. Because she knows Papa will always put her first.”
Part of her wanted to tell him that this was happening too fast and she needed more time. Surely, he would understand that.
She thought he would.
But she actually wasn’t sure if that was true or just something that she thought she should say. Because everything he said was something she wanted.
More than that, though, it was something that she thought he could and would give her.
“All right,” she said.
“All right, Papa,” he countered.
“Holy moly, we’re just diving straight into this, aren’t we?”
