Page 40 of Daddy’s Fortitude

Okay, that hit a bit too well.

It had been a long day. A long week.

A long life.

No. She shouldn’t think like that. In a lot of ways she was lucky. She was healthy. She had Kevin and Kirsten. A roof over her head. At the moment, anyway.

Don’t think like that.

Everything would be okay. She’d figure it out.

She had to. There wasn’t much choice.

“Is there anything else you need done around here? Gonna do the backyard tomorrow. Then Monday, I’ll do some planting. Is there anything in the house you want done right away?”

“Oh no.” There was too much to list, but she couldn’t ask him to do any of it. Not when he’d done so much already.

He eyed her for a long moment. “Starting to get annoyed with the lying.”

“From what I’ve seen most things annoy you.”

“Yep. But you’re skating on the edge of what I’ll tolerate.”

“And what happens if I push you over that edge?” she asked.

She probably shouldn’t have opened her mouth because she had a feeling that she wasn’t ready for his answer.

“Not sure you want to know.”

He was offering her an out. She should take it.

But Aimee had never been very good at backing off.

“I do.”

He stepped closer, looming over her. Maybe she should have felt threatened or annoyed.

But she was buzzing. Her skin was electrified, her stomach bouncing.

She felt alive.

And she hadn’t felt like this in such a long time. It was exciting and scary all at once.

“No, you don’t.”

Back down. You have to back down.

But she couldn’t. “I want to know.”

“Push me too far and you’ll find yourself being punished.”

“Punished?” she asked in a high-pitched voice.

“Yeah, you need a good spanking,” he told her. “Right now, I’m being lenient with you. But like I said, keep pushing and you’ll find yourself with a hot bottom.”

He did not just say that. And she did not feel a rush of heat at his words.

Nope. That didn’t happen.