Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Bliss

Bliss didn’t want to wake. She’d been having the best dreams of Connor being her Daddy. But dreams couldn’t last forever, so she forced her eyes open. Blinking to clear the fuzz from her brain, she tried to make sense of where she was. Normally she woke to babies gurgling or crying as the early morning sun lit the bedroom.

Only she wasn’t in her bedroom. She was sitting on a sleeping Connor’s lap. What on earth! Why was she on Connor’s lap, draped over his chest, and where were her girls? The last thing she needed was to have him wake up and find her there, straddling his lap.

When she attempted to shift herself off him, the ache in her bottom triggered a flood of memories. Connor had spanked her. Hard. That should not bring a smile to her face, much less a quiver between her spread thighs.

He’d said he wasn’t going to leave any marks, but she hoped he was wrong. Everything inside her wanted to check. She couldn’t risk waking the babies, though, right? Well, she could, but she shouldn’t. But she’d had a lot of practice being quiet.

She probably wouldn’t wake them up. She’d just take a quick peek. Tiptoeing across the room, she’d almost reached the door when Connor’s rumbling voice broke the silence of the room. “If you wake those babies up just to look at your ass, I’m going to redden it all over again. Then you won’t have to wonder if you can see anything.”

She spun around, her hands automatically covering her bottom. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was going to check on them.”

Lie. She was such a liar. The quirk of his brow proved he knew it, too. Darn it.

He crooked his finger and patted the place next to him on the couch. “Come back over here, trouble. there are some things we need to talk about while it’s quiet.”

Hoping he meant talk and not talk , she did as she was told.

“First, I spent the morning moving in.”

Wait. He did what now? He was going to be living with her?

Mary Poppins was aghast. Miranda tossed her cowboy hat in the air with a Yeehaw! Bliss was going to have to side with Miranda on this one.

She wasn’t about to cut off her nose to spite her face. Having him here would be a relief. If she was honest with herself, the bumps and creaks in the night all the way out here by herself had always been scary. Still, he could have asked. Not that he hadn’t been living on her sofa for a week.

“Are you listening, babygirl?” Connor’s growly voice put an end to interior monologue.

“Ugh, of course I was.”

Man, he was really good at those Daddy looks.

Focus, Bliss.

“As I said, I like being closer so I can help you more. I like being able to handle CPS when they show up.” His lips twitched, then he added, “Though I appreciate the yeehaw.”

Argh! Miranda was always getting her in trouble.

“The only thing I have not liked is sleeping on the sofa. Remember me saying I want to give our relationship a legitimate try? Well, my being here will allow us to do that. Believe me, you will know exactly what it means to be my Little girl.”

Her pussy pulsed at his words. She could tell him she wanted that already. But maybe he wasn’t as sure. What if he stayed until she fell all the way in love with him and then decided he didn’t want her or couldn’t handle being a father to the girls? She’d be alone again, only it would be so much worse because she’d know what she was missing. So many people had walked away from her in her life. She wasn’t sure she could take it if he became one of them.

“Bliss? Are you all right? You look like you want to cry. Did something I said upset you? Talk to me, babygirl. I can’t fix it if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

She was being trouble already. No wonder he called her that. She shook her head. “No, I, um, I think I got something in my eye, that’s all.”

Really? She had something in her eye? How lame could she be?

“Here, little one. Let Daddy look.”

His finger was calloused, sending bolts of desire through her when he placed it under her chin and tilted her face up to look in her eye.

“I don’t see anything. You must have blinked it out. Let me know if it bothers you again, okay?”

She nodded again.

“Where was I?”

“Me knowing what it feels like to have a Daddy.” But she already knew. It felt like warm blankets on a cold morning and safety nets underneath the trapeze in case you fell.

“Good girl for paying attention.”

Why did those words make her glow on the inside?

“We need to talk about the way I ran out on you last week. I’ve already told you I’m sorry, but I want you to know that will never happen again. I talked with my brothers and they helped me realize I was worrying about something I’d already proven will never happen. I am not my father. And I will do everything in my power to make sure Sadie, Sophie, and Nori know they are loved by both of us.”

She searched his eyes for any doubt or deceit, but found nothing but love. It was like a three-ton elephant had been sitting on her chest for days. At his words, that weight vanished.

“I know you will, Daddy. You are going to be the best father in the world.”

He smiled down at her and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, sweet girl. I can’t promise to always get it right, but I promise to always try and to learn from my mistakes. Now, about rules. If I’m going to be your Daddy, I have some rules I expect you to follow. They’re more categories than specific actions. And they are things we will both do.”

“You’re going to do them, too?” Wow. She’d never heard of a Daddy having rules.

“I absolutely am. Here’s my list. We treat ourselves and others with respect. We don’t take unnecessary risks concerning our safety or health. Are you with me so far?”

“Yes, Daddy. So far, so good.”

They seemed simple enough. She ignored the disappointment sitting like a rock in her chest. These rules were too easy. She’d never earn another punishment ever again. Not that she was trying to get punished. It was just that, when someone paid attention enough to hold you accountable for breaking rules, it meant they cared what happened to you.

“Just one more rule….”

Miranda whispered in her ear again, hoping the rule would be about drinking enough water or running up the stairs. Mary sighed in her other ear, reminding Miranda that this house didn’t have any stairs, and suggested something about bedtime.

“Trouble, what was the last rule?”

“Oh, um, well, it was… Miranda and Mary were distracting me, Daddy.”

“Who?”

Holy cheese on a cracker! She never told anyone about her shoulder angels. He was going to think she was crazy.

“Never mind, Daddy. Can you please tell me the last rule again?”

“We are always honest with ourselves and others,” he repeated, though he did it with narrowed eyes.

“Gotcha.”

She gave him and his stinky rules the international symbol for okay with her thumb. Maybe Winnie could talk to Reid and get him to talk to Connor about how to make better rules. Miranda and Mary gave each other a high five.

“You don’t seem impressed with the rules, babygirl. Do you want to tell me what’s going in that head of yours?”

Not really. “It’s all right, Daddy. Your rules are, um, fine. I mean, I don’t understand the point of making a rule that’s so easy not to break.”

Understanding lit his eyes. “Easy to keep, huh? So, what rule did you break to earn the spanking you just got?”

That was a good question. He shouldn’t have spanked her at all. Should she tell him that?

Connor sighed. “You already told me, trouble. Think. Which rule did you break?”

“Well, I guess you could say I broke the one about taking care of my health and safety.” She was pretty sure of that, now that she thought about it.

“I guess. Is there another one?”

Was there another one? She didn’t think so. Of course, if you respected someone, you didn’t do things you knew they wouldn’t like.

Oh. Okay, so she broke two of the rules. Maybe his rules weren’t so easy to follow.

“It wasn’t respectful, either.”

“No, it wasn’t. And if you knowingly broke either of those rules and didn’t say anything about it…”

She couldn’t hold back her sigh. Daddies could be exasperating. And sneaky. This one she had read about.

“Not saying anything is a lie of omission.”

“Right. So, you broke all three rules at once.”

Maybe she should have Connor to talk to Reid about setting rules. Although Winnie might not thank her.

“I get it, Daddy. I’ll do my best to follow the rules.”

“That’s my good girl.”

The smile on his face did dangerous things to her heart. To hear him call her his good girl again, she’d never break a rule ever again.

“Let’s not set ourselves up for failure, trouble. Just shoot for not breaking one again today. Besides, what fun would there be in you never breaking the rules?”

Before she could answer, a baby’s cry came from the baby monitor. “That’s my cue. Would you like to help feed them their bottles?” She threw the question over her shoulder on her way to the refrigerator.

Opening the door, she reached in and froze. Holy cow! What had happened to her refrigerator? Everything—and there was much, much more than there had been that morning—was organized and orderly. And the sticky brown puddle she hadn’t able to make herself touch was gone.

She peered over the door of the fridge at Connor. He was watching her. “You… my refrigerator looks… It’s more organized than a grocery store. Wait, hold on.”

She dashed like a kid in a candy store to the kitchen cabinets. Sure enough, they looked just like the refrigerator. “How long have you been here?” It would have taken her hours, maybe weeks, to get this much done.

“I met you right past the turn onto the dirt road leading to your house. If I’d known you weren’t wearing your seatbelt, you’d have gotten that spanking then. Right on the side of the road.”

Yikes. She hadn’t seen him this morning. Still, that was only five hours or so. He wasn’t just a Daddy. He was a miracle worker.

“Well, thanks. It looks fantastic.” For as long as it lasted anyway.

Her face burned with shame. He shouldn’t have had to clean and organize her kitchen. She should be able to do basic household chores. He must think she was a lazy cow. Not that she’d ever thought of cows being lazy, but still. Everyone else could take care of their children and their house. He must be right. She was a slacker.

Large, warm hands landed on her shoulders. Connor stood in front of her, his brows forming the letter V. “I did not call you a slacker. You aren’t a slacker. You are a working woman with three children less than a year old. They are happy and healthy, and more important than organized cabinets.”

She searched his eyes but didn’t see any sign of disappointment. She’d shrivel up into a raisin if she disappointed him after all he’d done for her. Top of the list, moving in with her and pretending to be her fiancé. He’d said it was real, but she still didn’t have a ring.

The cries from the bedroom grew louder. Connor led her toward the bedroom door, lips tight with tension. “I think now is the time to focus on giving the babies their bottles. If you take care of the girls’ diapers, I’ll get the bottles heated and ready. We can feed them together and talk about Christmas. I have to get gifts for the girls.”

Bliss got the babies changed, making sure to keep the correctly colored outfits for Sadie and Sophie. All she had to do was remember to match the nail polish on their tiny toenails. Once she’d finished changing and cuddling with all three, she carried them back to the great room.

Glancing in the kitchen, she watched Connor setting the filled bottles in a pot of steaming water. How could he ever have thought he wouldn’t be good for the girls?

He brought over the bottles and, without missing a beat, picked up Sophie and sat down with her in his lap. She hoped he was serious about being there for all the tomorrows because it wasn’t going to take long for him to become a part of his four girls’ world they wouldn’t be able to live without.