The man wasn’t known for his wrapping abilities, Kendrick thought with a smile as he took another sip of coffee.
Walking deeper into the den, he realized Christmas music was playing softly in the background. He identified the source—a Bluetooth speaker on the bar. Tony Bennett finishedWinter Wonderlandand The Carpenters came on, with Karen’s beautiful voice singingThe Christmas Waltz.
The music was drowned out by the sound of chattering as Iris, Cami, Lana, and Annika hurried into the room.
The four rushed straight to the Christmas tree. Evidently, they hadn’t even noticed Kendrick as he stood nearby drinking his coffee.
“That big one is for me!” Iris nearly yelled.
“Shake it! Let’s see if we can guess what it is,” Cami suggested.
Quickly, the Littles each had a present in their hands, holding it up near their ears as they rattled the boxes.
Kendrick cleared his throat.
The women yelped as they turned around in unison to face him.
“Do you cuties think your Daddies would be okay with y’all snooping?”
For a second, his Tennessee twang came out as he saidy’all. He didn’t try to hide it. But he’d lived in L.A. for years, so it didn’t come as naturally to him these days.
Hmm. Perhaps being around that beautiful woman last night had brought it back out. She was from Kentucky, after all.
What was going on? he wondered. Sure, he wanted a Little. But he wasn’t the type to just fall for random women he met.
He’d get over her soon enough. Right now, he needed to worry about the naughty Littles in front of him.
“Well…” Iris began, though instead of finishing the sentence she simply winced and hung her head.
Annika picked up the slack. “You won’t tell our Daddies, Uncle Kendrick. Will you?”
He chuckled as he raised the mug to his lips and took another sip. Finally, he replied, “No. I suppose I won’t.Ifyou put those presents down and run along. But if I catch you rummaging around in ‘em again I’ll either let your Daddies know or I’ll pop your bottoms myself.”
That wasn’t an idle threat. Around the mansion, all the guys had full authority to discipline the Littles that lived there on those occasions when the girls’ Daddies couldn’t do it.
Apparently, the four Littles took the warning seriously because they left the gifts alone and hurried away from the Christmas tree.
“Thank you!” Iris said, hugging Kendrick as she passed.
“Yeah, thanks for not ratting us out,” Cami added, hugging him too.
All four women hugged him before skipping out of the den. Kendrick watched them go and then walked to the tree to inspect things. They hadn’t done any damage to the gifts—all the wrapping paper seemed to still be intact. No boxes were exposed.
Crisis averted. For now. He knew the naughty Littles would try again before Christmas rolled around, though.
“What are you doing?” Isaiah’s voice called. “Trying to peek at your gifts early?”
Kendrick laughed as he turned around. He went a little too fast and nearly sloshed some of his coffee over the sides of the mug.
“It’s not me you have to worry about. But I just found the Littles—including your little Cami—rummaging around under there.” He jerked his head back toward the blinking tree. “But I told them I wouldn’t tell their Daddies if they stopped. So, you know… maybe don’t mention it to her.”
Isaiah smiled wryly. “Wanna know what I wrapped up under there?”
Kendrick waited for the answer.
“Socks and underwear.”
With a laugh, Kendrick nodded. “She doesn’t even wear underwear. She’s in diapers.”
