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These were the times when submission was the hardest. When she honestly felt he wasn’t being reasonable or fair, but she had to swallow her pride and do as she was told.
“Okay, Daddy.”
The tension gripping him eased a bit. “Thank you, little one.”
His arms tightened around her, and she snuggled into his embrace. If this was what it took to give her Daddy some peace of mind, then she would try her best to be a good girl.
For him.
Chapter10
“Maybe you should take the day off.”
Lifting her gaze to the bathroom mirror, Olivia forced a smile, hoping it would ease the worry she could see in her husband’s expression. “I’d rather stay busy, keep my mind off things.”
The struggle between understanding husband and protective Daddy was written all over his face. “Then we’ll both work from home, keep each other company.”
“James.” Turning away from the vanity, she looped her arms around his neck. “The one thing that will help me the most right now, is for everything to stay as normal as possible. And in this case, that means both of us going to work as if nothing has happened. Please?”
It felt like an eternity before he finally gave in with a sigh. “All right. But if you need some time, you’ll take it. Understood?”
“Yes, Daddy.” Pushing up to her toes, she pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “But if we’re going for normal, you need to get out of here. Whatever will you do if you’re not at the office thirty minutes before everyone else?”
A wicked gleam flashed in his eyes. “I could think of plenty to do with that extra thirty minutes.”
“Then we’dbothbe late, and you’d just use it as an excuse to spank me. Now go, so I can finish getting ready.”
“Fine. But you’re mine when you get home tonight, little girl.”
Butterflies danced in her tummy at the growled promise. “Yes, Daddy.”
Despite her own insistence on keeping things normal, she was nearly half an hour later than usual walking in the door. Her mind was busy conjuring up all the delicious ways her Daddy might ‘punish’ her for being late right up until she pushed through the front doors of the office.
Patty and Ryan, the two realtors who had been with them the longest, were crowded around MaryAnn’s desk. Which wasn’t in and of itself unusual, except for the eerie silence that fell over them the moment Olivia stepped into the lobby, and the pity in their eyes when all three of them turned to look at her in unison.
Maybe she should have just stayed home after all.
Determined to continue as she’d meant to go on, she forced a smile and put as much cheerfulness as she could muster into her greeting. “Good morning!”
“Good morning, Mrs. Monroe. Is there anything I can get for you?”
For once, MaryAnn didn’t sound absolutely terrified of speaking. If anything, her tone was strong but soothing, as if she were finally in her element. It caught Olivia so off guard, it took her a moment to respond. “Oh, um. I’m fine, thank you. I’ll just…be in my office.”
Without giving any of them a chance to grill her or issue any kind of platitudes, she hurried down the hall. She was just turning the knob on her office door when she heard her name.
It was MaryAnn again, this time looking a bit more like her usual uncertain self. “Mrs. Monroe, I just wanted to say, um, I know we aren’t really friends but if you ever need someone to talk to, well, I’m…around.”
“I appreciate that, MaryAnn, but I’m fine. Really. Nothing to talk about.”
Olivia reached for the door again, biting back a groan when MaryAnn kept going. “It’s just, things like this have a tendency to sneak up on us. Violent death takes a toll on the people left behind, even if you didn’t know the person all that well.”
The earnestness in her tone had Olivia dropping her hand and turning to study the other woman more closely. Sincerity shone in her eyes, but there was something else there, too. An understanding, the kind born from a shared experience.
Who had she lost, to put that look in her eyes?
When Olivia smiled this time, it was distinctly less forced. “Thanks. I promise to come find you if I need to talk. Deal?”
“Okay. Um, well, you know where to find me.” With a nervous laugh, she turned to hurry back to the front desk.
