hair brush and some hair ties. As she sat between his legs, he tied her hair up into pigtails.
Once finished, he helped her stand then stepped back to take her in. “Adorable.”
For the first time in her life, she felt adorable. Cute.
He took her hand and led her to the room that she’d slept in that first night. He’d already dismantled the double bed that had been in there. He’d ordered a princess bed for her but that hadn’t arrived yet.
When she walked into the room, she gasped. “Daddy!”
She let him go, moving into the middle of the room and turning around in a circle. She made another circle, then one more.
“Whoa, teeny, you’re gonna make yourself dizzy.” He grasped hold of her hips as she stumbled.
“Um, whoops. Too late.”
He let out a low, growling noise. Uh-oh. Here came overly protective Linc. He set her down on the chair by her desk which he’d somehow found the time to make up. Next to it, in the corner was her beanbag. At the moment, it was empty, the beans still needing to be poured into it. There was also a bookshelf that was still in pieces. A white, fluffy rug was underneath the beanbag, making a cozy reading corner. Her crafting stuff, coloring books and pens and a five-drawer cabinet were set up on the other side of the desk and along the back wall were her other toys. Another corner held her time-out stool which he’d obviously moved in here.
She’d just ignore that corner.
“Are you all right?” He crouched in front of her, placing his hands on her thighs. “Maybe you should lie down. Do you need a drink?”
“I’m fine, Daddy. Just twirled one too many times.”
“No more twirling.”
She huffed out a sigh. “Daddy, you can’t ban twirling.”
“Sure can. Just did.”
She just shook her head.
“I’m gonna write it on your rules.”
“You are not. I like twirling. I do it when I’m happy. Daddy, I can’t believe you did all this!” She needed to distract him. Or he really would make it a rule.
“We still need some more cabinets for storage. And I don’t think you have nearly enough toys. Although it won’t be long until Christmas. You just need to make sure you’re on Santa’s nice list and not his naughty one.”
She gave a shocked gasp. “I is always nice.”
He tapped her nose. “No more twirling then.”
She pouted. “Daddy, that’s silly.”
“If I wasn’t there, you could have fallen over and hurt yourself. What if you’d done it outside and hit your head on something? Nope. No more twirling.”
He was truly insane. She’d just have to save her twirling for when he wasn’t around.
“Daddy, can I do some more crafting?”
“Yep. I’m going to get you a snack first, then set up the cabinet with your stuff. I’ll find a sheet to put down to save the carpet. You sure you’re not dizzy?”
“I’m fine, Daddy.” She clasped his face between her hands. “Thank you for doing this for me. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me before.”
“You like it then?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I love it.”
Just like I love you. Surely it was too soon to say it. She bit her lip as he moved back and the moment was gone. It welled inside her. This love for him. It was deep and limitless. It could consume her if she let it. And she wanted that. Wanted him to fill her entire world. And she wanted to be the same for him.
Doubt bubbled in her stomach and she pushed it down.
He’s not going to leave you, Marisol.
Trust him.
Linc watched Marisol crafting with an indulgent smile as he set up the rest of her room. He wished he’d had time to put it all together before she woke up. But it needed a few more things anyway, including her bed.
Had anything felt as right as this? Not even leaving his job in the city and coming here had felt this right. Certainly, being with Jess hadn’t felt like this. Marisol was a part of him in a way Jess never had been. She fulfilled all parts of him. While Jess had been a Little, she hadn’t really embraced it like Marisol did. Now, he was coming to realize that while she’d liked him serving her, she hadn’t wanted to give back.
This was it. This was what he’d always wanted.
“Daddy! These scissors aren’t sharp enough. I need proper scissors.”
“Not sure you’re old enough for proper scissors.”
“Daddy, of course I am. I