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Unfortunately, despite these new revelations, I’m no closer to figuring out how to put them to use by the time the plane lands. Instead, I watch with a lump in my throat as Victoria wraps herself around her Daddy so he can carry her down the stairs.

“Have a good evening, Mr. Stone.”

Pausing at the top of the steps, he turns those dark eyes on me and smiles. “You too, Kerry. Thank you for another smooth flight. You’re a very good girl.”

As it always does, my heart leaps at his praise. It’s not the same as hearing it from my own Daddy, but it does feed a certain need. “Thank you, sir.”

He turns, then stops again to look over his shoulder. “Don’t forget this is a quick trip. Victoria and I will be returning to the island first thing in the morning.”

Ugh, I completely did forget that. Normally when we fly to New York, we stay a few days and I have plenty of time to get in some sightseeing and even a Broadway show or two. But tonight it seems I’ll be going straight to the hotel for room service and a movie.

My smile feels even tighter than usual as I nod. “Thank you for the reminder. I’ll be there.”

“I have no doubt of that,” he says with a chuckle. “You may be the most dependable employee I have.”

His words only serve to cement my suspicions, and I can’t stop thinking about them as I clean up and perform all of the post-flight checks for the cabin. Those words follow me off the plane and to my hotel for the night. But as I stand there, bag in hand, staring up at the towering building, a stubbornness I’ve never felt before blossoms in my chest.

Why should I be so responsible? If Mommies and Daddies want someone wild and reckless, if they’re looking for a Little girl to rescue from herself, then why shouldn’t I be all of those things?

The thought of disappointing Mr. Stone sits like a stone in my stomach, but maybe that’s what I need to do. While the man himself is firmly off the market, he has plenty of connections, and I happen to know several of those connections identify as Mommies and Daddies.

Plan firmly in mind, I turn away from the hotel doors, dragging my rolling suitcase behind me until I find a loud, fun-looking bar with bright lights and even brighter people. Shoving my way to the long, sleek wooden bar in the middle of the room, I wait for the bartender to make eye contact.

“What’ll it be, beautiful?” she asks, her gaze raking over my perfectly pressed suit in a way that makes me feel like a bug under a microscope. It’s clear from the smirk on her lips that she doesn’t think I belong here.

That’s fine. I don’t seem to belong anywhere.

I raise my voice to be heard above the pounding bass of the music. “Two shots of whatever will get me fucked up the fastest.”

Eyebrows winging toward her hairline, she studies me for a moment and then grins.

“You got it, blondie.”

Chapter Two

Celeste

Standing on the tarmac, staring up at the giant plane we’ll be flying for the foreseeable future, I reach for my husband’s hand and squeeze. I glance over, taking in his salt-and-pepper beard that does nothing to hide the sharp edge of his jawline, the close cut of his hair, the broad set of his shoulders. Even after a decade of marriage, he’s still hands down the sexiest man I’ve ever met.

And when he turns his head, his blue eyes sparkling with excitement, my heart does the same jittering dance it did the very first time I laid eyes on him.

“Ready, Mrs. Sterling?”

“As I’ll ever be, Mr. Sterling.”

Hand in hand, we make our way up the stairs to where one of our oldest friends waits for us, a wide grin stretched across his handsome face. “Graham. Celeste. I’m so happy you could make it on such short notice.”

Releasing my hand, Graham allows himself to be pulled into a tight hug. “As if we could turn down Maxwell Stone, the world’s previously most eligible bachelor.”

Maxwell’s grin widens as he lets go of my husband and pulls me in for an embrace. “Previously being the operative word. I was hoping you’d get to meet Victoria this morning, but she was a bit cranky at being woken up at such an early hour, so I’ve put her down for a nap in the nursery.”

My heart constricts at the mention of his Little girl. “That’s all right. Little girls need plenty of rest.”

“They do,” he agrees with a chuckle. “Even if they fight it half the time like my Victoria. And speaking of Little girls…” Shaking out his wrist, he frowns down at his watch. “That’s odd. Kerry should have been here already. She’s never late.”

Kerry. Reaching for my husband’s hand again, I try to quell the quivering of my stomach. Maxwell has told us all about the pretty flight attendant who’s been waiting so very patiently for a Daddy of her own. Graham and I have been talking about finding ourselves a Little girl to share for a few years now, and from everything Maxwell has told us, Kerry is a perfect fit. Sweet, obedient, but with a biting sense of humor that will no doubt give us plenty of excuses to turn her cute little bottom red. “Should we be worried?”

“Let me give her a call. She could just be stuck in traffic.”