Chapter 16
It wasn’t until the next morning that she remembered the basket.
Daddy, the sneaky little toad, must have hidden it away. Because when he’d put her to bed last night she hadn’t seen it.
After she’d told him about her guilt over her mom’s death and she’d discovered he’d spoken to Addie and hidden her phone, he’d distracted her with a movie.
Then Addie had called back. By the time she’d spoken to her, then had dinner, which Brand had insisted on feeding her, she’d been exhausted.
Brand had slept with her again last night. It was a delicious torture, having him so close yet not being able to do anything.
This morning, she’d woken up feeling heaps better. In fact, she almost felt well enough to leave the room. But she didn’t want to give anyone her germs, so she’d wait.
“Daddy, the basket!” she said. “I didn’t get to look in it!”
She’d just had breakfast. More porridge. It didn’t look that great, but it tasted all right. But she wouldn’t admit that.
Not even under the threat of torture.
Brand grabbed a wipe and cleaned up her face, then wiped her fingers. Even though she hadn’t been allowed to feed herself.
Again.
And are you complaining?
Not even slightly.
He’d actually let her get out of bed to eat breakfast this morning. She was strapped into some sort of special high chair for big Little girls and boys. She didn’t know where it had come from, but he’d told her he’d ordered it.
This place really thought of everything.
“Basket? What basket?” he teased as he undid the straps and drew her up into his arms.
“Daddy!” She wiggled as though she thought that would make him put her down. “The basket Derek brought over yesterday. Did you hide it from me?”
“Would I do something like that?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You’re right, I would. I tell you what, you can sit down here, and I’ll go get it for you.” He set her down on a soft, thick rug which he’d put on the floor in front of the fireplace.
She clapped her hands excitedly.
Brand gave her a stern look. “Don’t get too excited. You’ll start coughing and you’ll have to go back to bed.”
“I be good, Daddy. Promise.” She was feeling much better today. She guessed all the care and attention was working.
He grunted but left the room. She was practically buzzing with excitement. Today, she was wearing a different onesie. This one had a hood with a bumblebee face on it.
Which was adorable.
Jolie felt kind of guilty that he’d bought all these things for her, but he seemed to be enjoying everything as much as she was. He also appeared to like dressing her each morning, feeding her, even taking her to the toilet.
Brand had certainly taken to his role as her Daddy. Far more than she ever could have imagined. It was beyond her dreams.
She just hoped she didn’t mess it all up.
You could try to be less demanding. You should stop earning punishments.
True.
And he wouldn’t want to take care of her like this once they went back to reality. He’d be too busy.
Which made her kind of sad, but she had to be thankful for having this time together. It was far beyond anything she could have dreamed of.
He returned with the huge basket in his arms and set it down in front of her. Her mouth dropped open as she took in everything inside.
“I need Buzzy, he’ll want to see all of this!” She tried to stand, but Brand shook his head at her.
“Stay there, I’ll get him.”
Oh shoot. She hadn’t meant that Brand had to get Buzzy.
Idiot.
Be less demanding.
“Thanks, Daddy, you’re the best,” she said as he returned with Buzzy. “Let’s see what’s in here, Buzzy.”
She drew everything out slowly, oohing and aahing over all the things she found. There were coloring books and pens. Colored clay. Building blocks. A wooden doll that came with several sets of clothes that were magnetic. That look like so much fun. And there were also several of those dolls that came in plastic balls that you had to unwrap to see what you got.
“I’ve always wanted to try one of these!” She held up one of the balls.
“What is it?” He sat down next to her.
“You really want to see?” she asked, feeling weirdly shy.
“Yes. I want to see.”
“Well, you unwrap it and inside there’s a doll. And she comes with accessories. And you don’t know what you’re going to get! Sometimes, you can get an ultra-rare one.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“That it’s rare.”
“No, are they worth money or something?”
“No, Daddy! It’s just for fun.”
“Oh, right. Sorry. Well, let’s see what you got.”
She opened it hurriedly and then pulled out the doll. “Ooh, she’s cute. Look at her hair, it’s pink and blonde. I could do that with my hair.”
“You could,” he murmured as he drew out the piece of paper. “But is it an ultra-rare doll?”
She giggled at him as he intently studied it. “Damn it. No! It’s an ordinary doll. Let’s try the next one.”
“Daddy!” she cried. “Don’t be in such a hurry. I has to dress this one first.”
He grumbled, waiting impatiently until she’d dressed the first doll. The next two dolls were ordinary ones too.
“Well, that’s not good enough.”
He stood.
“What isn’t?” she asked, staring up at him in astonishment.
“You didn’t get an ultra-rare one. You deserve an ultra-rare one.”
“Daddy, I don’t need an ultra-rare one. I’m more than happy with these ones.”
“You’re getting an ultra-rare one.” He pointed at her before he headed to the phone. “Yes? Liam? Good. It’s Brand Starr. Yep, she’s doing better, thanks. Listen, does the store have those dolls that come in the balls? Yep, that’s them. I want them… all of them. Yes, all of them. Good. Thanks.”
He ended the call and came to sit in front of her again.
She gaped at him. “Daddy, what did you do?”
“I bought all of them.”
“All of them? How many did they have in stock?” she asked.
“I dunno. But we’re gonna find an ultra-rare one for you,” he said with determination.
“You didn’t have to do that. I don’t need an ultra-rare one.”
“It’s happening. No arguing.”
She sighed. He could be so stubborn sometimes. The only positive thing was that she couldn’t see them keeping many in stock.
He helped her dress her other dolls and play with her wooden doll before there was a knock on the door. Standing, he pointed a finger at her.
“Stay.”
Good lord. His arrogance really could be too much sometimes.
“Hey, Mr. Starr,” someone greeted him when he opened the door.
“Call me Brand, Liam. Thanks for doing this.”
“No worries, are you sure you really want all of these?”
She tried to peer around Brand, but he completely blocked Liam from her view. She owed Liam a thank you for everything he’d chosen for her. Biting her lip, she glanced down at her onesie. Well, he’d probably picked it out so he wouldn’t be shocked to see her in it. Especially since he worked here.
Getting to her feet, she headed toward Brand.
“Yep. I do.”
“Uh, and you want me to charge it to your room?” Liam asked.
“Yep,” Brand replied as he took several bags from a younger guy.
“Holy moly, how many balls did you have in stock?” she asked.
Liam grinned at her around Brand’s body. “Hey, there Miss Jolie! Glad you’re feeling better.”
“I am, thank you.”
Brand half-turned, giving her a stern look. Uh-oh. Right. He’d said that she was to stay there. But she might not get another chance to say thank you to Liam.
“And there’s a hundred and two dolls there,” Liam added. “You’re gonna have a lot of fun, huh?”
“A hundred and two? Brand!” she protested.
Brand crossed his arms over his chest. “Excuse me? What do you call me?”
She swallowed hastily. “Daddy, you can’t buy a hundred and two dolls!”
“Why not?” he asked.
“B-because that’s got to be like close to a thousand dollars.”
“Actually, it’s over,” Liam told her. “One thousand and sixteen dollars and ninety-four cents.”
Holy moly.
She was suddenly feeling lightheaded. She leaned against Brand.
“Shit! Baby, are you all right?” He lifted her up onto his hip. She might be embarrassed about that later. But right now, she was kind of in shock.
“You can’t buy all of them, Daddy!”
“Pfft. Of course I can. Thanks, Liam.” He grabbed hold of the door, but she cried out a protest.
“Wait! I have to say thank you to Liam.”
“What for?” Liam asked.
“For selecting all these nice things for me.” She pointed at her onesie. “Thank you.” She hid her face in Brand’s chest so she didn’t have to look at him anymore.
Liam laughed. “You’re welcome, Miss Jolie. Enjoy the dolls!”
The door shut and she wriggled, trying to get down.
“Stay still.”
“Let me down, Daddy!”
“No. Stop that!” he scolded and smacked her ass with his free hand.
She froze. “What was that, Daddy?”
“That was me smacking your ass because you were trying to get down when I told you to stay still.”
“That wasn’t nice.”
“You were naughty. If you hadn’t just had a dizzy spell, you’d be spending some time in the corner rather than going to bed.”
Bed! She didn’t want to go to bed!
But she also didn’t want to spend time in the corner. Shoot. This was a dilemma.
Although there was only really one thing to do. And it was the right thing to do.
Plus, she really didn’t want to spend all day in bed.
“Daddy, I wasn’t dizzy because of my cold,” she confessed as he settled her on the bed.
He sat facing her. “You weren’t?”
“No, I was just overwhelmed by you buying all those dolls… for me. Nobody has ever done anything like that. You-you didn’t need to.”
“Of course I did. I told you, you deserve an ultra-rare doll. And much more. And I’m going to get you everything you need and desire.”
Leaning forward, she kissed his cheek. “You’re crazy, Daddy.”
“Crazy for you.” He kissed her forehead and she sighed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I just wish we could kiss for real. Stupid cold.”
He cupped her face. “I don’t care about your cold. I just don’t want our first kiss to be while you’re not feeling a hundred percent.” He ran his thumb over her lower lip. “Understand?”
“Yeah. I understand.”
“Good girl. You really feel all right? No dizziness?” he asked.
Well, yeah. She still felt like she’d been run over by a truck. And her head was a bit stuffy. But on the whole, she was heaps better.
“Then it’s into timeout for you!” He scooped her up into his arms and carried her over to the corner of the bedroom. After setting her down on her feet, he walked into the other room and came back with a dining chair that he set behind her.
“Sit down. Ten minutes. And I expect you to think about how you need to obey Daddy and what you could have done differently.”
Rats.
Her and her big, honest mouth.
It was always getting her in trouble.