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“ U m. I’m sure that wasn’t me.”

“No? Then who was it?”

“Naughty Betsy,” she told him.

More of that knot inside her unraveled. Between shifting houses and getting ready to have a foster child, Betsy realized that she’d had barely any Little time.

Perhaps that’s why she felt like such a mess at the moment. On edge. Worried.

“Naughty Betsy, huh?”

“Uh-huh.” She nodded emphatically. “Naughty Betsy. I can’t be held accountable for her actions, Daddy.”

“You can’t? How am I going to discipline naughty Betsy, then?”

“I don’t know, Daddy. But I heard she really, really hates ice cream. So maybe you should buy some ice cream and make me eat it. That would really show naughty Betsy.”

“But if you can’t be held accountable for her actions, then surely you can’t eat the ice cream for her. That wouldn’t be fair to you, would it?”

Shoot. She bit her lip. Trust Ink to find a loophole.

He was just too smart for her bottom’s own good.

“Um. Well. I think I could take her punishment.” She sighed. “I mean, if I really had to.”

“Well, that’s very good of you. So you can do the five minutes corner time she’s owed.”

She gasped. “But, Daddy! What about the ice cream? Weren’t you going to punish her with ice cream? Naughty Betsy hates ice cream and loves corner time.”

“I’ve never heard of a Little who loves corner time. That sounds suspicious. Would you be lying to me, Button?”

“Me, Daddy?” She put her hand on her chest and gave him an earnest look. “I would never lie. I’m Good Girl Betsy. I can see how you’d get us confused seeing as we look very alike. But I am a good girl who does not deserve corner time.”

“You’re adorable, is what you are.” He booped her nose. “But you’re not getting ice cream and you are getting corner time for rolling your eyes at Daddy.”

Darn it.

So not fair.

Her bottom lip dropped. Then it wobbled.

“And put that away, little girl.” He tapped her lip. “Wait there while I come around and get you.”

Sheesh.

She felt like rolling her eyes again at him. She always waited for him to open her door. Whether she was Big or Little.

That was the rule.

But she decided rolling her eyes would likely just get her ten minutes in the corner. And since they were about to go shopping for new toys . . . yeah, she didn’t want to waste any time.

Betsy watched him walk around the front of the truck. Lord, he was gorgeous. Tall and muscular with blond hair and all of those tattoos . . . yep. She was a lucky girl.

Ink opened her door and gave her a funny look. “Everything all right, Brown eyes?”

“Yes, just admiring how sexy you are.”

“Well, admire as much as you like.” He winked at her as he undid her seatbelt.

Heat filled her and she pressed her legs together. Then she realized she couldn’t remember the last time they’d had sex.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as he lifted her out of the truck.

“Sorry for what?”

“I feel like I haven’t been a very good girlfriend, urgh, fiancée.” She was still getting used to that considering he’d just proposed to her over the weekend. “I mean, we haven’t even had sex in weeks.”

“Hey.” He cupped her face. “Our relationship is not all about sex and you do not have to apologize to me. You have not been a bad fiancée. Things have been busy. Not saying it’s an excuse. But we’re both in this relationship and perhaps we just need some time to get things back on track, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered.

“That’s why I’ve taken the whole day off today to spend with you. We’re going to buy some toys and clothes for your Little. Then we’re going to buy some outdoor Christmas lights. After that, we’ll go home and play for the afternoon until we have to pick Zippy up. All right?”

“Christmas lights?”

“Yep.” He smiled. “Christmas lights.”

Oh, yippee! This day just kept getting better and better. Christmas was just over seven weeks away and she hadn’t thought they’d have time to get any extra decorations. They’d never decorated the outside of the warehouse, but this new house was made for outdoor lights.

Ink took hold of her hand and led her to the door. He rang a doorbell, then held up his phone to the camera.

“My membership card is electronic,” he explained as the door opened and they stepped into a small foyer with marble floors and dark walls.

A huge man stepped into the foyer. She immediately drew closer to Ink.

Yikes. He might have been considered good looking if it wasn’t for the scary scowl on his face. Tattoos ran up his neck and over his hands. He wore black pants and a long-sleeved blue shirt.

He kind of had a high-class gangster look to him. A mob man.

Oh, Lord.

Her imagination was running away with her.

“Hello,” Ink said, eyeing the guy.

He eyed Ink back. “You carrying?”

Holy. Moly.

“No,” Ink replied. “And I have a membership.”

“Then you won’t mind if I pat you down.”

“That won’t be necessary.” A gorgeous woman glided into the room.

And when Betsy said glided, she meant it. She had a pair of shoes on with wheels built into the heels.

“You have Rollies!” Betsy said, forgetting the scary man or to be shy. “I would love some Rollies.”

“Well, that’s just perfect because I have some in the store. These are my favorite because they also light up.” She glided around in a circle so that Betsy could see the lights in the heels.

“Oh wow. They’re so cool. Daddy?” Betsy turned to Ink.

She didn’t know why she wasn’t concerned about allowing her Little out in front of these people.

Maybe it was because of the other woman. Because she seemed so openly Little. What had Greer said her name was? Oh yes, Bonnie.

Bonnie was dressed in the cutest outfit. A pair of neon pink cut-off shorts with long socks. One sock had an image of the Grinch on it and the other one had a reindeer whose antlers were actually pieces of stiff material that stuck straight out from the socks. They were so cute and fun.

Her T-shirt also had the Grinch on it and she had her pale-blonde hair up in two ponytails that she’d braided and threaded green ribbon through.

In other words, she looked adorable.

And Betsy instantly liked her. There was something about her smile. She seemed so open and friendly.

Unlike her grouchy friend.

“Not happening,” Ink said firmly.

Her mouth dropped open. “But, Daddy, they’re so cool! And I’ll be able to get around the house so quickly in them. Imagine how fast I’ll be when I’m doing the vacuuming.”

Ink’s eyes widened with horror. “That definitely isn’t happening.”

Betsy sighed and turned to Bonnie. “Sorry, my Daddy is very overprotective.”

Bonnie nodded solemnly. “I understand that most of them are. It’s a good quality for a Daddy to have, but it can often ruin a Little’s fun.”

“You are right,” Betsy said mournfully as she stared down at the Rollie shoes. They were so cute too.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got some light-up ones that don’t have wheels in them.”

“Really?” Betsy asked.

“Uh-huh and I’ve just gotten in some cute Christmas outfits. Want to see?”

“Yes, please.” She started walking after Bonnie when Ink wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Excuse me, are you forgetting something?” he murmured in her ear

“Oh, I’m sorry, Daddy. Silly me. Did you want to look at cute Christmas outfits?”

“I would,” he said, squeezing her lightly. “I would also like to remind you that you shouldn’t wander off without Daddy.”

Uh-oh.

Ink didn’t like when she did things like that. She gave him a guilty look over her shoulder. “Sorry, Daddy.”

“Hmm. We’ll talk about this later at home.”

Yikes.

She didn’t like the sound of that.

“We’ve got a spanking room,” the big behemoth said.

Betsy turned to gape up at him. What the heck? Who just blurted those sorts of things out?

Who even had a spanking room?

No one.

Spanking rooms should be banned.

“If you need it,” he added with an evil-looking grin.

Okay, it was a normal-looking grin. But she was going to call it evil. Because it was evil to tell a Daddy that you had a spanking room.

“Hmm. Interesting.” Ink gave her a knowing look.

“Titus,” Bonnie scolded, putting her hands on his hips. “That’s not very nice. You shouldn’t tell them about the spanking room, when he’s clearly thinking of spanking her.”

Titus raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t that what it’s for? Why else is it called a spanking room? And why have it if it isn’t going to get used?”

“Well, I guess that’s true. It should be used. That’s a good point. All right, would you like me to show you where the spanking room is?” Bonnie asked.

“I would like to lodge a protest,” Betsy told them. “I feel like I’m being ganged up on.”

“Do the crime, do the time.” Titus shrugged.

How rude.

What crime had she even committed? Was wanting to look at Christmas outfits a crime? If so, send her to jail.

Actually, don’t. She wouldn’t do well in jail.

“I don’t need the spanking room this time, thank you,” Ink said.

“All right. Maybe next time.” Bonnie grinned widely.

Like that was an actual possibility.

Betsy didn’t think she’d come back if she was going to end up in the spanking room.

“There won’t be a next time.”

Bonnie’s smile dropped and Titus scowled at her. Ink tensed.

Uh-oh.

“I meant that there wouldn’t be another time where I’d end up in the spanking room,” she said hastily. “I’ll come back here, but I won’t end up in the spanking room. If that makes sense.”

Great. Now she was waffling.

“Never say never,” Ink said as Bonnie’s smile returned to her face.

Whew. Crisis averted.

It was interesting how upset Titus had become when Bonnie was upset. Betsy wondered if there was going on between the two of them.

“Can we go look at Christmas outfits now, Daddy?” Betsy asked.

“Of course.”

“Yay!” Bonnie clapped her hands. “Follow me. I’m Bonnie, by the way. I own LittleLand.”

“I’m Betsy and this is Ink,” she said.

“Ink? Cool name. The big dude is Titus. He’s my stalker, but don’t worry, I’ve trained him so he doesn’t bite. He’s even toilet-trained.”

“Bonnie,” Titus said in a low voice.

Yikes.

Bonnie was either super brave or really dumb. Because Betsy would not tease Titus like that. Bonnie just smiled up at him.

So perhaps she was a bit of both.