Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Carri could not believe her sister had the gall to talk about her like she was an incompetent child and not sitting right there.
“Lottie, that’s enough,” she said sharply. “Rooker’s not like that. He’s a gentleman and he would never hurt me like you’re implying.”
Lottie opened her mouth to argue, but Carrie refused to let her speak. While she did think things might be moving too fast between them, she also agreed with Rooker that sometimes things worked at lightning speed.
“He loves me. And I love him, Lottie. He’s just the kind of man I’ve been hoping and praying for. He is my Daddy.”
Lottie looked stunned. Had she not expected her to stand up for herself and Rooker? Of course not, mainly because she rarely had before. She usually just folded and did whatever her sisters decided.
Lottie opened her mouth once, and then a second time, looking like a fish trying to breathe out of water. Then she pulled in a deep breath and got her stubborn look on.
“If there really is such an attraction between you, if he really is your Daddy, then prove it. Come home with us now and don’t see him for one week. Prove to yourself, and us, that he really is the man of your dreams.”
Before Carri could argue, Rooker stepped between them facing Lottie. “Done. I’ll let her go with you today and will stay away until next Sunday.”
“But …” Carri started, stopping when Rooker looked over his shoulder at her and winked.
“No calls, no visits, no drive-bys. And you’ll stay away for one week.” Lottie further defined her terms.
“Agreed. But when I show up, I expect you to let your sister make up her own mind about what happens between us after that.”
Before Lottie could speak again, Tilly stepped up beside Roker. “Does this mean you also will be staying away from your man for the next week, Lottie?”
Lottie blinked and her cheeks began to turn a deeper shade of pink. “What man?”
“That one.” Tilly pointed to the man who was approaching from across the aisle.
The one Carri had seen her go off with a time or two during the convention.
When he saw all of them looking in his direction, he spun around and returned to his table.
“You and he have been getting quite cozy over the past few days, going off in the evenings and not coming back to the hotel room for hours.”
Carri straightened and watched as Lottie grew increasingly embarrassed. “It’s not the same. We’re in …”
“It’s exactly the same. Just like you’ve fallen for this man who neither Carri nor I have been introduced to, Carri and Rooker have fallen in love. At least Rooker was gentleman enough to introduce himself, and he put up with our questioning without a complaint.”
“Yeah,” Carri said, realizing it was time to grow up, and stand up for what she wanted. “If I can’t see Rooker for a week, you can’t see him, whatever his name is.”
“And I won’t see the man I’ve met and fallen in love with,” Tilly added, earning a shocked look from both her sisters. “For the next week, we’ll go back to being the three Smith sisters while we purge and pack the house.”
Lottie slowly nodded. “All right. I guess if Carri can do it, so can I.”
Tilly then turned to her. “What do you say, Carri?”
Carri thought it over and looked at Rooker who gave her a smile and nod. “We can do this, babygirl. It’s only seven days and then we’ll have the rest of our lives together.”
With that assurance, Carri turned to her sisters. Looking from Lottie to Tilly she nodded. “I’m in. But I reserve the right to be grumpy without getting harassed for it.”
Tilly giggled. “I have a feeling we’ll all be grumpy by the end of the week.”
Rooker helped the women pack everything into their SUV, surprised everything, including their cart, fit with just enough room in the back seat for Tilly to sit. Once they finished packing, he returned to the ballroom for Carri.
Lifting her onto one hip, he hugged her tight.
She hugged him back as she nuzzled his neck. “I’m sorry,” she said again.
“Don’t be, little artist. Your sisters care about you and don’t want you hurt. I totally understand. But it will be the longest week of my life, and I might get a little grumpy myself without you there to pump sunshine into my life every day.”
“One hundred and sixty-one hours until nine o’clock Sunday morning,” she whispered as she kissed her way up the side of his neck.
“One hundred and sixty-one hours. No problem,” he said with a rough chuckle as they left the building and headed for the SUV where her sisters were hugging and kissing the men they had met during the convention.
Rooker settled her in the front seat and then secured the safety belt around her. “Behave and know that I’ll be thinking of you. And no playing with your pussy. That’s Daddy’s now and you can only get off with Daddy from now on.”
Carri wrinkled her nose at him before she grumped. “That’s just plain mean, Daddy. But I’ll behave. I love you.”
“I love you, too, my sweet babygirl.”
He gave her one last kiss before backing up and closing the door. Then he stood and watched as Lottie drove them out of the parking lot and out of sight.
“It’s going to be a long week,” the security guard who had been kissing Tilly said.
“You said it,” Lottie’s man agreed before they each turned and went their own way. Rooker returned to the ballroom for one last check to make sure Laura and Sam had gotten everything from their booth.
When he walked past where Carri had been set up, he saw the box of critters she had left for him. Picking it up, he headed out, his heart already hurting from being away from his Little girl for only a few minutes. How was he ever going to survive a whole week without her?
“One hundred and sixty hours and fifty-five minutes,” he said as he set the box in the back seat of his car and climbed in the driver’s seat.