“I’m in heels.”
“Don’t make excuses.”
“There’s still snow!”
“I can see that,” I said, chuckling. “But you’re stalling. So, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to get out and run.And I will chase you. Be assured that I will catch you. Then I’ll carry you back to the truck and take care of you for the rest of the night.”
“Or?”
“Or you can acknowledge that fear pitted right here in your belly.” I moved my hand to her tummy and rubbed. “It feels real, like the unknown is going to spiral you into a panic attack. And it can. But we can see that fear for what it is and move forward. I’ll still carry you into my house when we get there. And I’ll still take care of you. Which option will help you feel better?”
She unbuckled her heels like she was slipping out of handcuffs all with a smirk on her face. One. Then the other. Her bare feet hit the truck floor with a softthud. I didn’t say a word, keeping my eyes locked on her. It’s not like she’d listen anyway. Not when she was hellbent on following that fear roaring through her pretty head about why we couldn’t make a dynamic thrive.
The pretty blush gown showed the dark red blooming wine stain right above her heart like a warning to me. One I wouldn’t heed. It gave me something to focus on while she gathered more courage. A bobby pin slid from her hair and hit the console. Another one followed. Then another. She shook her head like it was too heavy, like the wild in her couldn’t be caged one more second.
She flung open the door.
“Mikayla,” I growled, a low warning but the amusement in my tone stayed there despite the slight annoyance.
Her head snapped to me, eyes blazing.
“I told you not to?—”
“Stop you? I’m not.” I tipped my head toward the field. “Run.”
For once she listened. My girlflewout of the cab of my truck as if her life depended on it, which of course it didn’t. It likelyfelt like it did, given the overthinking she’d been doing since she pulled back onto the tiny, winding roads of Brighton Creek. Ended up in a ditch. Cold, hurt, tired and seeking care. What she found was my cabin.
More bobby pins flew from her curls like sparks off a fire. One of the back buttons gave up the fight as she bolted, bouncing across the snow like it had somewhere better to be. Her gown flared with every step, the blush silk dragging over branches until one caught it just right. Ripped it up the side exposing one leg from ankle to upper thigh. The sight made my mouth water. It was going to take a lot of self-control not to fuck her right there on the snow-covered ground.
Mickie was a cinematic dream full of color and emotion and fury. Well, perhaps fury was a bit far-fetched. She’d been in a perpetual bad mood since the night she returned. I truly believed she wasn’t trying to give me a hard time, or be difficult, but the few moments of reprieve hadn’t been enough to calm her mind.
“Run, little wildflower,” I encouraged. “Daddy’s going to catch you!”
She didn’t stop, though she probably couldn’t hear me with the wind and the rush of adrenaline coursing through her. I didn’t want her to stop. Not when the thrill of the chase beckoned. But I was going after her whether she liked it or not. And I would catch her as I’d promised. I’d scoop her into my arms and against my chest where she belonged. No matter what happened in our past, I knew she was my future. Nothing would stop me from securing it for us, especially not my stubborn Little girl.
Mikayla
Running across the snow-covered grass, feeling the leaves and sticks on my bare feet should have deterred me from the midnight jaunt around the park. But I was determined. Determined to run so far away that Sam would never be able to catch me. Except, I knew he would. Because it wasn’t really him that I was trying to run away from. It was myself. Again. The feelings warring inside my head and heart needed to settle. It was almost as if the very things Sam offered to do for me, his rules and guidelines and whatnot would help those very insecurities.
Imagine that.
Calling him Daddy had shifted things inside of me, given me hope after a long time of having no one. Still, it wasn’t fair to keep acting hot and cold with Sam. Not when I knew what I wanted.
Whipping my head around I saw Sam dashing across the field toward me. I tumbled into the giant oak, my hand finding the icy bark. It gave me something solid to lean on as Sam met the distance between the two of us. He slowed as he approached, seeing that I wasn’t moving any longer. He swallowed hard, pulling me off the trunk and into his arms.
“Did you enjoy your jaunt across the field, little wildflower?”
I wrapped my arms around his neck nuzzling into the crook. “Not as much as I thought I would. This is better.”
“When things get overwhelming, Mickie, I want you to come to me. Will you do that?”
“I’ll try,” I promised. Except I’d been so used to doing everything alone that I wasn’t sure I could keep that promise.
“Good girl. Let’s get back to the truck so I can bring you home and take care of you properly.”
I didn’t argue as he scooped me up, one arm underneath my legs and the other around my waist. Because he knew from everything I’d been showing him, that I wanted to stop fighting and allow him to take the control I’d desperately been seeking to give up.
Chapter Eight
