19. Haylee

Seeing Kane getting his feathers ruffled by Logan had been entertaining. Except that she could see the vein in his neck bulging as he clenched his jaw. She might need to tell Logan the next time she saw him to behave, otherwise, Kane might kill him. She was pretty sure he actually would if Logan pushed him too far.

His jealousy made her pussy tingle. It probably shouldn't have turned her on so much, but something about Kane being jealous of other men talking to her made her feel precious. Tim had been jealous, but that was because he thought of her as an object and also used his jealousy as an excuse to alienate her from other people. She didn't get that same kind of feeling from Kane. His jealousy felt protective. Silly man. If only he knew that he was the only one she had any interest in.

After they got off the phone with Logan, Kane made her a snack and made her drink a protein shake. He went back to work while she lay around in the living room and watched a cheesy romance before finally switching it to an animated movie. She preferred animated movies much more anyway.

She hated lying around watching TV all the time while Kane was working. She felt antsy and wanted to do something, but she didn't know what. It wasn't like she could go anywhere. Maybe she could clean. At least she'd feel like she was being helpful. She got up and found some cleaning products under the kitchen sink. She started wiping down the cabinet doors and handles, climbing up onto the counter to get to the upper cabinet doors. She was almost done and climbing down from the counter when Kane came into view.

"What the hell are you doing?" he barked.

Her hand slipped, and she began to fall from the counter. Kane rushed to her, grabbing hold of her by the waist before she hit the floor.

"Ooomph!" A whoosh of breath escaped her.

His face looked pained briefly as he set her on her feet. Then his eyes met hers, and they were dark, almost black, blazing with anger as he scowled at her.

"Haylee Ann, what in the world were you doing?" he asked in a low voice.

Uh-oh. Not good.

"I was cleaning."

His eyes darkened even more, which she wasn't even sure was possible, but it seemed like they did, and she was almost sure she saw smoke coming from his ears. If it had been Tim in front of her, she would have been terrified, but she didn't feel scared of Kane. A little nervous, maybe. Aroused… definitely. But not scared.

"First of all, why were you cleaning, and secondly, why were you climbing onto the counter to clean?"

"I was bored. I can only watch so many movies and lay around. I wanted to do something to feel helpful."

Kane stared at her for a long moment, and she felt antsy under his eyes. She knew she was squirming, but she couldn't help it with the way he had his eyes focused on her.

"Do you need to go potty?"

She gasped, shooting her eyes up to his. "What? No… What?"

His lip twitched slightly, but the stern expression was still written across his face, clear as day.

"You're squirming. Doing the potty dance."

She stilled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I am not. You just were staring at me, and you made me nervous."

His eyes softened slightly. "Did I scare you?"

Raising her eyes back to his, she shook her head. "No, not at all. Made me a little nervous, but I'm not scared of you for some reason."

Something flashed in his eyes. Relief, maybe? She didn't know for sure.

"No cleaning. And no more climbing on counters, little girl. If I catch you doing something like that again, you will be in very big trouble. You could have seriously injured yourself, and you are supposed to be resting. Got it?"

She glared up at him, but his expression told her that she wouldn't win any argument she gave, so instead of being a grown-up about it, she stomped her foot.

Really smooth, Haylee. Way to go.

Kane narrowed his eyes. "Did you just stomp your foot at me, little girl?"

Shoot. Tread carefully, Haylee.

"Nope."

He raised his eyebrows. "Nope? I'm pretty sure you just stomped your foot in a Little tantrum, and I'm also pretty sure we talked about this before."

"Didn't stomp my foot. You're going senile."

"Really… I'm going senile? You think I'm that old?"

Good, distracting him is working.

"Yep."

He walked closer to her until he was inches from where she stood and leaned down so his face was at her level.

"Young lady, if you stomp your foot at me again, you will find yourself over my lap getting a red-hot bottom."

Holy shit… What? And why the hell did that not sound awful? Yet at the same time, she was in complete shock that he'd threatened to spank her like she was a naughty Little girl.

"You can't spank me!"

He raised a brow. "Can't I, though?"

"Umm…"

"That's what I thought. Now, behave. And no more cleaning, Haylee. You're supposed to be resting. Got it?"

Dropping her hands from her chest, she slumped her shoulders and gave him a pitiful face.

"Finnnne… I'm just so bored. I'm not used to sitting around doing nothing."

His face softened. "I know. I get it. How about we play a board game?"

She grinned. Big bad Kane, playing a board game with her? Uh, yeah. That sounded entertaining.

She was shocked when he pulled out a bunch of kids' games. They played at the dining room table for hours. She won most rounds, and she was pretty sure he was letting her win. Seeing the small cards held in his large hands as he asked her if she had a certain card nearly had her drooling. How a man like Kane could actually have a good time playing board games, she had no idea, but he laughed and kept up conversation as they played.

It was nearly dark by the time he put the last game away. She pouted, sticking her lip out when he told her they needed to eat dinner.

"We will play again tomorrow, but only if you're a good girl and put that lower lip back where it belongs," he said with raised brows.

She straightened her face. "Finnne."

"That's a good girl."

Ugh. She couldn't get enough of all his sweet little nicknames for her and praises. They made her melt and at the same time caused her body to respond. She'd never felt so eager to please a man. Her panties hadn't been dry since she'd first met Kane, and the need was continuing to build to the point of desperation.

Dinner was uneventful. Kane made grilled cheese again and this time cut her pieces into stars. She decided that her sandwich tasted yummier cut into shapes, and he looked pleased with himself when she told him that. He also made a spinach salad for a side, which she tried to turn her nose up to, but he threatened to put it into a smoothie and force her to drink it if she didn't eat at least half the salad. So rude. She ate the salad, and it made her want to gag with each bite. Spinach sucked.

She offered to start making meals for them since she could actually sort of cook, even though Tim had made it clear that he thought her cooking was awful. She was no Martha Stewart, but living off grilled cheese and canned soup wouldn't be good for either of them.

"Until you are fully healed, you aren't cooking or cleaning. Understand?"

She glared at him. "I'm not an invalid. Cooking doesn't take a lot of effort."

Crossing his arms over his chest, he returned the glare. "Not happening. I know you're not an invalid, but you are recovering from a traumatic experience, and the doctor said you need to rest. We can order out or have Luke and Ally bring us some meals if you don't like my cooking. Okay?"

She sighed, long and loud. She hated that she couldn't do anything. It wasn't like she was completely broken, but she nodded.

"I want to hear you agree using words, little girl. Not just a head nod."

Grrr.

"Okay. Fine. But if we die from eating too much cheese and MSG, that's on you."

He let out a heavy bark of laughter, and she found herself giggling too.

"I haven't died from those things yet, so I think we're probably safe," he said.

After getting the kitchen cleaned up, Kane suggested she soak in the bath. He followed her up the stairs and went directly into the guest bath, turning on the taps and testing the water before plugging the drain. He poured an insanely large amount of Epsom salts into the water, but she didn't complain. She actually found it quite sweet that he was preparing her bath for her. Now, if only he could fit in the bath with her.

Don't think those thoughts, dummy.

She went into her room to find a pair of pajamas and panties. Kane disappeared into his room briefly and then returned and knocked on her bedroom door. That's when things got weird. She opened the door, and there stood Kane, looking ridiculously sexy as always. His hands were full, and all she could see was a stuffed alligator in his hand. Her eyes lit up as he held it out for her.

"I figured you could use a sleeping companion. I thought maybe it would make you feel more at ease and maybe help with the nightmares. If you press under his tummy, there are lights inside of him that light up and illuminate him with different colors."

Kane pressed the underside of the alligator, and sure enough, pink, blue, and purple lights lit up inside the stuffed animal. Tears filled her eyes as she squeezed it to her chest. She would have never said anything to him about her stuffed bear that she had to leave behind, but it had been so hard not having him to sleep with. Tim hated her sleeping with her bear and told her to keep it on her side of the bed, which she always did, but he would often make fun of her for having him.

The alligator was so soft and fluffy, despite having lights inside of it. His face was so cute, and he looked friendly. Definitely not the kind of alligators she pictured Kane wrestling with.

"Kane, this is so thoughtful. I can't believe you got me a stuffy."

Shoot. She said stuffy. What if he thought she was weird because she liked stuffed animals so much and called them stuffies? But no, he wouldn't have gotten it for her if he thought it was weird.

"You'll have to pick a name for him."

She tapped her chin, trying to think of a good name for her new friend.

"I have something else for you."

Kane held out his hand, and in his large grip, he held what looked like adult-sized light pink pull-ups. She stared at his hand, confused, and then looked up at him. Was he making fun of her for having an accident the night before? Or was he upset that she had ruined the mattress and wanted her to wear them so she wouldn't ruin the new bed she was using if it happened again?

"I can see you are thinking and questioning, so I guess I should explain before you think it's something bad. Sit down."

Kane led her to the edge of the bed and sat down next to her, setting the pull-ups on the bed.

"Sometimes when Littles are feeling sad or sick or scared or insecure, they wear pull-ups or diapers to help them feel better. They find comfort in them. Sometimes they wear them all the time, and sometimes they wear them only sometimes. I thought that you might want to wear one at bedtime for some extra comfort. You don't have to, of course, but I wanted to offer them to you to use if you'd like."

Haylee squeezed her alligator to her chest. She had more questions now than she'd had before.

"Are you worried I'm going to have another accident and ruin your mattress?"

Her cheeks flushed. Bringing up her having an accident wasn't exactly the most enjoyable topic of conversation.

"What? Oh, baby, no. Not at all. Is that what you're thinking? I don't care about the mattress. I care about you, and I'm trying to comfort you in as many ways as I can."

She patted her alligator's fur absently as she let his words sink.

"You want me… to wear them?"

She couldn't look at Kane when she asked that question. Heck, she couldn't even look at him at all.

"I want you to do whatever you are comfortable with, baby."

Okay, even more questions in her mind now. Oh God. What was even happening? How did it go from a fun evening of games to Kane offering her diapers? Well, not diapers… pull-ups. But they were almost the same thing!

"I'm just not sure… I promise I will try not to have another accident. It's never happened before."

She felt Kane shift next to her. His large hand cupped her chin, gently turning her head so she was facing him.

"Baby alligator, listen to me very carefully. I don't give a shit about the mattress. If you have an accident, you have an accident. It happens and is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. You've been through a lot lately, and you are still dealing with it. I just want to make you feel as comfortable and safe as I can.

"You don't have to wear the pull-ups, but I just wanted to give you some in case you change your mind. You never know, you might find comfort in them. But it is totally up to you. Now, why don't you go take your bath before the water gets cold, and I will be back in a bit to give you medicine before you go to sleep. Deal?"

A small squeak escaped her lips, and she nodded. Kane grinned and tapped her nose before leaving her room. She looked over at the stack of pull-ups he'd left behind. She picked one up, wrinkling up her nose. It was soft and fluffy, but she wasn't a baby. She was perfectly capable of using the toilet. She tucked them into the top dresser drawer and carried her clothes with her into the bathroom.