by Pepper North
Littles were supposed to be young and small. Their Daddies needed to take care of them and protect them. She’d had her chance to be Little many years ago. Her husband had been a wonderful Daddy. Unfortunately, he’d loved to fly his small plane. A terrible accident during a sudden spring storm had stolen her Daddy away from her. She had never found anyone to replace him. Now, it was too late.
She was older now and able to provide for herself. A man would have to be very strong to carry her to bed, she thought, laughing self-consciously. The sound hollowly rang through the empty store startling her.
Enough sad thoughts for one day, Samantha decided. Patting her apron pocket, she smiled. She had brought some of her treasures with her today. She unwrapped a chocolate caramel and popped it into her mouth. Sweets would always be there for her, she smiled as she unlocked the front door and flipped over the sign to signal that the store was open.
Her eyes fell on the clearance shelf. She’d forgotten to mark down the Christmas candy. After running through the swinging door to the back for her pricing gun, she heard the bell at the front door jingle as someone walked into the store. She tried to yell that she’d be right there, but the gooey caramel stuck her teeth together. In a flash, Samantha began to choke. Unable to breathe, she started to panic.
Excerpt From Sharing Shelby: A SANCTUM Novel
Shelby Daniels twirled around in the dressing room, making the pretty blue dress float around her thighs. It was the same color as her big, blue eyes, which made them stand out even more in her heart-shaped face.
“Hi, Daddy,” she practiced softly in the mirror, but sadness shadowed her eyes. She had dreamed since she could remember of meeting her Daddy, well, Daddies, because her dreams always featured two men, but they hadn’t appeared in her life. Her family and friends were all encouraging her to date and find her Mr. Perfect. They said it wasn’t right for such a beautiful woman to not go out on Friday and Saturday night to flirt. Did she expect to have Prince Charming ring her doorbell?
They couldn’t understand that Shelby preferred her e-reader to fending off the groping hands of men who were so wrong for her. Reading and rereading the erotic romances she had found on the internet inspired her hope that she’d find the men who were right for her. She just needed to keep looking. She knew her Daddy was out there. Shelby crossed her fingers as she corrected herself: she knew her Daddies were out there.
Picturing them in her mind, she knew they were strong and forceful. The details of their height and hair color didn’t matter to her. Her Daddies were looking for her, too. They needed to find their Little girl, the baby whom they would care for completely. She knew it would be embarrassing at times. Her face colored in the mirror at the thought of submitting to the intimate care they would lavish on her. Their requirements would push her boundaries, but she wouldn’t be able to refuse them. They were her Daddies.
A cough in the next dressing room startled the slender brunette. She glanced at her watch with dismay. Quickly, she unzipped the dress and hung it carefully on the hanger. She couldn’t leave it here. Crossing her fingers once again that no one would be at the register, Shelby rushed to redress and run from the dressing room with her precious find cradled in her arms. She was in luck: no one was checking out. She put the dress on her credit card and waited long enough for them to hang a plastic bag over the beautiful garment.
Dashing out of the store, she ran as fast as her sandals allowed back to her office building. Her boss had been out this morning. With luck, he’d have meetings all day. She opened the door to rush into the air conditioning. Looking down to make sure she wasn’t crumpling her dress, Shelby walked straight into a hard, male body. She bounced back, stumbling on her heels. Just as she was about to fall backward, a strong hand wrapped around her elbow to steady her.
“Whoa! You were going too fast there, Little girl. Are you okay?” a low, masculine voice enveloped her.
Shelby looked up into a handsome chiseled face. Her eyes drifted down his expensive, custom-tailored suit that hugged his broad shoulders. A warm feeling started in her tummy and expanded into her body. She hadn’t had this sensation before.
She paused as they looked at each other. In a flash, she remembered she was late and stammered her apologies as she ducked around his body that almost spanned the width of the doorway. “I’m so sorry, sir. I should watch where I am going,” she called over her shoulder as she rushed into the warren of cubicles. That feeling in her tummy scared her. What was her body telling her?
“Wait! Are you alright?” his voice followed her into the building.
The proverbial thumbs-up was the only answer she took time to give him as she escaped from his view. Finding her home away from home, she stumbled into her cube. She hung her dress on the cube wall and flung herself into her chair as she dropped her purse on the desk. Her fingers flew over the keys to log back into her computer.
Taking a deep breath, she felt her shoulders drop from around her ears. She’d made it. Looking up at her screen, she saw the blue sticky note: You’re late. Thank you for volunteering to work on Saturday without pay.
Her head drooped despondently. “So much for going to play in the park,” she mumbled to herself.
“He came by about five minutes ago. He looked pretty smug. I read the note. I bet he was going to ask you to work this weekend for extra pay. You just saved his budget by coming in late,” a snarky voice came from behind her.
“Hi, Veronica. It’s okay. I didn’t have anything to do this weekend.”
“You didn’t buy that dress, did you? It looks like something a six-year-old would like,” Veronica observed as she examined her long red nails for nicks.
“Oh, you know me, Veronica. I have horrid taste in clothing,” Shelby answered with a smile. She was determined not to let the catty woman know she was bothered by her incessant negative comments.
If she had to work on Saturday, at least Veronica wouldn’t be there. Shelby typed a quick message to her boss that she’d mark her schedule to come in as he requested. She wanted him to know she hadn’t been that late. Maybe he’d let her leave at noon.
She turned to the stack of papers and started working. Her boss had left additional work for her to complete as well when he’d visited her cubicle. Starting to feel a little depressed, Shelby turned to look at the beautiful dress. It was so wonderful. “Worth it!” Shelby whispered before diving in to complete as much of the paperwork as possible.
She locked the picture of the handsome man and the feel of his body against hers into a small box in her brain and threw away the key. He was way out of her league.
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