Page 41 of Daddy's Pursuit
His hair was dark, and his angular jaw had matching stubble shading it. He was probably about forty or so.
He was yummy, though there was only one man for Iris.
She was Daddy’s girl. Forever.
“Jack, before we get to the fun, I need to chat with you. I have a message about… You-Know-Who.”
The Little watched as Jack’s smile disappeared. Was this message bad? she wondered. Was Daddy in some kind of danger?
Obviously, his job was dangerous. She understood that. But that didn’t mean she liked it.
Jack looked at her. “Honey, you stay right here. Me and Uncle Ace just need to talk for a few minutes. It won’t take us long.”
“I’m fine, Daddy. May I walk around this helicopter and look at it?”
“Sure. But just this one.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Daddy and Uncle Ace trotted a few feet away, disappearing behind one of the birds. Whatever they were talking about must have been important.
Important was fine, she figured. Dangerous was not.
She tried to distract herself from worrying by looking at the large machine before her. It was awesome, painted black and white, with a giant searchlight mounted on the front.
Before she’d even realized what she was doing, she walked to one of the other ones. Then, a minute later, the next one.
Something floated by, catching her eye, and she giggled when she saw a blue balloon floating. Someone must have lost it on the street and it had made its way all the way up to the roof.
“I’m going to get you,” she said with a laugh, rushing toward the balloon but just barely missing it.
She repeated the process, but the helium that filled it, and the breeze that propelled it, was just too much for her. It drifted just beyond her grasp, but she felt the silver string brush her fingertips.
Closer, she thought. There was no giving up now. That balloon was going to be hers.
Bending her legs slightly to build up some speed, she launched herself forward and charged toward the floating balloon.
“Whoa! Hey!” she yelled, realizing she was about to reach the edge of the building. She couldn’t stop in time to keep her body from bumping the waist-high wall that ran around the perimeter.
Still, she was determined to get that elusive balloon.
Her arms were stretched as far as they could go, her upper half extended over the barrier a ways, as she desperately tried to reach the taunting balloon that hovered over the busy city street below.
Suddenly, she felt stabilizing hands clamping down on her shoulders. Slowly and carefully, she was reeled back.
Once she was spun around, she gulped as she looked Daddy in the eyes.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay where you were?”
“Yes, Sir,” she said. “But I saw that balloon and?—”
“If you wanted a balloon, you could have just asked me for one. Daddy loves to spoil you. There are dozens of shops between here and my place or the nursery that we could have stopped at. But instead you disobeyed me and put yourself in a very dangerous situation. Honey, what would have happened if you would have fallen off this roof?”
The dam broke and tears flooded from her eyes. “I w-would have b-been hurt, Daddy.”
“No. You would have been killed. Little girl, you’re much too valuable to be doing something so dangerous!”
Her bottom lip was quivering as much as her voice was. “Y-yes, Sir. I’m s-sorry, Daddy.”
