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Looking worried but determined, Nova dug out another shovelful of dirt from the bucket, and screwed up her face when she dumped it into the screen.
Lowering it into the running water, his Little girl seemed almost like she didn’t want to look, and he understood. He kind of didn’t want to either, but that was his job. To wear the Daddy pants in this relationship and show up like she needed him to. And right now, he had to be ready come hell or high water to get this Little girl some sapphire shards.
He’d open every bucket in the cabinet, or, hell, venture into the damn mines himself if he had to, but he really hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Didn’t seem like something Derek would approve of and he didn’t want to cross a man who was an expert with a bullwhip.
Slipping his hands around hers, Linc helped his Little girl shake the screen gently so the sand and finest bits of gravel got washed out. They were getting down to the last bits of that scoop and he was bracing himself to reassure Nova he’d do whatever it took to get her some sapphires when she yelped.
“Look, Sir! I got one!”
The piece she held up was small, and he wasn’t totally sure how Nova could distinguish it from the other rocks, but he was not going to argue. She was beaming like she’d just found the Hope diamond.
“Great job, little girl! See, I knew you could do it. Being persistent paid off, huh?”
Nova smiled and nodded and then dropped the shard into a glass jar with a clatter.
“Can I see what’s in the rest of the bucket?”
“I think you’d better.”
He hoped there’d be more, but honestly his shortcake seemed happier than a clam at high tide to have found just the one. By the time she’d emptied the entire bucket, Nova had found half a dozen more pieces of sapphire, each of them bigger than the first tiny shard she’d found and she’d started singing the dwarf song fromSnow White. It was ridiculously cute and he was tempted to get her another bucket just to keep watching her play, but it was also getting on dinnertime and he wouldn’t be the kind of Daddy to forsake a meal for fun, especially since he wasn’t sure she’d eaten lunch.
After they’d finished cleaning up, and Nova supervised him shutting everything down and closing up the shop, they headed back to the resort. It was a good thing Nova was seated beside him in a golf cart and not hiking back to the Ranch because he figured she’d have a hard time not straying off the path. Little Nova’s attention was on the jar of sapphire pieces she was constantly shaking. Seeing her grinning in joy at her treasure made him smile.
Now that they were back in the tunnels and approaching the main lodge, Linc had a twinge of knowing she was going to leave. He didn’t want her to.
“Will I see you at the hot cocoa social tonight?” he asked.
“Oh. I hadn’t actually thought about it,” Nova hedged and bit her lip.
“But you love hot chocolate,” he pointed out. “And unless you grabbed some without me, I still owe you a mug with whipped cream from the other day. We got distracted.”
The way she looked up at him, almost shy, did something to his insides. Was she pleased he remembered? He hoped so.
“Um, okay. I’m having dinner with Sadie and Quinn and their Daddies tonight but I guess I could come after that.”
“Sounds good to me, shortcake.”
Chapter 17
Linc had never been much for clocks which was one of the reasons living in Alaska suited him so well. During the summer there was so much daylight you could work as long as you liked, and during the winter there wasn’t enough daylight ever so you could easily work all night long if you felt like it as long as your headlamp didn’t run out of batteries. You just lived your life according to what your body told you and what needed to be done, nothing else.
Which is probably why he felt awfully awkward being one of the few people who’d shown up for the hot cocoa social right when it started. He didn’t actually know when Nova planned to get there, what with her dinner plans and all, but he did know he didn’t want to miss her so he’d been prompt, which had elicited some teasing text messages from Owen and even more from Cricket who’d been sending him emoji mashups of kissing stars and other weird things. He was surprised his phone was fancy enough to even have that feature.
Sweets weren’t one of his vices—potatoes were a different story, and maybe he could get Cricket to grow some for him this coming year—so he ordered up a glass of Imperial Stout from the bar. Knox would be so jealous; he was a big fan of craft beers. Actually, all the guys back on Enclave, not to mention their Littles, would love it here. Maybe they’d take a group vacation, but they’d need a bigger plane and probably another pilot to handle that.
He was sipping his beer and looking at the massive Christmas tree when someone sidled up next to him. It was disappointing it wasn’t Nova, but he tried not to show it.
“Hi, I’m April,” the woman said, putting a hand out. “I’ve seen you around the resort this week.”
Her hair was long and wavy, an almost platinum-pale blonde, and she had eyes so light blue they were verging on icy framed by a heart-shaped face. No way to deny she was pretty.
“Linc,” he told her, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
It was hard to pay attention to her instead of searching the increasingly large crowd for Nova but he tried. That’s what he was here for, right? Meeting kinky women? It ought to be a simple matter to focus on a beautiful woman who was trying to get your attention. Especially when she kept touching him.
“I’ve been assuming you’re a D-type, am I wrong?” she asked, laying a hand on his biceps.
“You’re not wrong. I’m a Daddy, looking for a Little girl.”
