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“When you passed out in my arms, I carried you to my truck and drove you to the lodge.”

“No.” She battled against sleep and tried once more. “I’m talking about this room. It belongs to you, right? How did I end up here?” The pain in her throat was excruciating but she really wanted to know.

“The same way I did, gypsy. Up the stairs. I brought you up here after the doctor left. You needed watchin’ over by someone, and I decided it was going to be me. I brought you to my room so I’d be right here if you need anything. As long as you’re on my ranch, I’m in charge.”

He stared down at her, all stern and Daddy-like, as if he expected her to object. And maybe if she felt better, she wouldhave. But somehow, she didn’t think so. He just stepped up and took charge, but it was always for the good of those he considered his. If he wanted her to be one of those people, even for a short time, she wasn’t about to say no.

There was just something about him. He could be gruff, but he was always good. From what the people at the Friendsgiving had said, he cared about the people. He’d keep her safe, and she hadn’t felt safe in a long time.

And he was so fun to tease. “Did you change my clothes, too?”

“Yep, but don’t you worry, babygirl. Daddy’s gonna take care of you. Besides, it ain’t nothin’ I haven’t seen before,” he answered, as if he did things like that all the time.

Maybe he did. Maybe he’d brought a lot of Littles up to his room and taken care of them. She probably wasn’t special at all.

She had never been special to anyone. She was used to it.

But it sure would have been nice to be special to Chance.

Chance watchedover Joy as she drifted off to sleep. She could be quite the Little spitfire when she was under the weather, couldn’t she? He smiled. That was one Little girl who’d give her Daddy a run for his money.

No problem, he’d had plenty of practice dealing with spitfires thanks to Kenzie. Those two would be fast friends. Add in Tildi and there was no telling what they’d be up to. All the Daddies would have to stay sharp. But he could handle his Little gypsy just fine.

Except she wasn’t his. He was pretty sure she’d never want to be. Not when she really got to know him and everything he needed from her.

But she could be as sweet as a coltsfoot blossom in winterwhen she wanted to be. The way her face lit up when she was happy.

Someone needed to warn her about her smiles. She handed them out far too freely. Her kind of smile, the one that lit up her entire body, should be reserved for the people who meant the most to her.

Reserved just for him, that was. If he saw her smile at some other man that way, he might just have to kill him.

CHAPTER 9

Two days later, she still felt like poo.

Her throat would never recover. It took everything she had to sit up in bed. Her throat felt like dry parchment paper all the time. To make matters worse, she could barely drink anything because it hurt.

She did her best to hide it. Chance hadn’t left the room for three days. What was he giving up to take care of her? If anyone wanted to know what a burden looked like, her picture was probably right there next to the definition.

Speak of the devil, and up he popped. Chance headed her way with the foul-tasting spray that numbed her throat. He might not be a devil, but that spray was definitely witch’s brew.

“Open wide and stick out your tongue.” Chance lifted the bottle, prepared to spray. When she refused to comply, he tapped the nozzle against her bottom lip. “Open up, little girl. You know it will feel better once we spray your throat.”

She shook her head, pressing her lips together as tightly as she could.

Sighing, he shook his head. “Why do we have to go through thisevery time? Open, or I’ll add another tally to your naughty girl book.”

He had begun threatening her with tally marks in a naughty girl book the day before. She hadn’t thought he would go through with it, but by the end of the day, she had seven tally marks. She had no idea how many she had now. Her bottom clenched at the thought of what that might mean.

Knowing she wouldn’t win a battle of wills with him, she opened her mouth. The spray wasn’t really that bad, and within seconds, her throat felt better.

"Now, drink this." The cup he held up made her giggle every time. It was a sparkly wine glass with a pale pink sippy cup lid. “At least five big swallows. We don’t need you to get dehydrated.”

Even for a Daddy, he was bossy. She’d tell him that as soon as she could speak again. Right now, her voice still sounded raspy, and it hurt to talk. At least she didn’t sound like a croaking frog anymore. She did manage a whispered, “Bossy.”

He grinned. “Hmm. And here I was thinkin’ the problem was that for a Little, you’re very stubborn.”

Even though he was teasing her, his words stung. She had been right. She was a burden. She managed a “Sorry,” but that was hardly enough for all the time he had spent taking care of her. She had been a pain in the butt. She couldn’t stop herself from whispering, “Better, now.” After swallowing, she added, “Leaving soon. Trouble.” She pointed to her chest on that last word.