Page 86 of Big Daddy Christmas
“What’s going on, Silver? Why is the door locked?” Another jiggle of the handle. “Let me in.”
Fuck. It would only take him about thirty seconds to realize she was hiding something from him. The man had a goddamn sixth sense when it came to her. “I’m in the shower, Ice.”
“Okay, but why is the door locked?”
“Because I wanted some fucking privacy, is that a crime?”
She winced at the sharpness in her tone, freezing in place as the steaming water poured over her.
“Locking the door isn’t a crime, but that attitude sure as hell is. Open the door, Amanda. Now.”
She couldn’t think of a reason not to, so she did the only thing she could think of, even though it was ninety-nine percent certain to end in her getting her ass blistered.
She ignored him.
Heart in her throat, she pumped her shampoo into her hand, massaging it into her scalp while he jiggled the handle of the bathroom door again.
“Amanda Louise Sterling, if I have to go hunt down a key for this door, I’m going to take a paddle to your bare, wet ass. One.”
Ah, fuck. He was counting, which meant he was deadly serious about his threat. “I’m washing my hair, Ice, I can’t just get out of the shower now!”
“After you put your conditioner in, I expect this door to open, little girl.”
Goddammit. That was the trouble with having a man who knew you as well as Ice knew her. He had her rituals and routines memorized, so he knew she’d leave her conditioner in for a solid ten minutes before rinsing it, giving her plenty of time to open the door for him.
“I have to, uh, shave my legs and stuff, too. You’re going to have to wait for me to finish.”
A long silence met her response, followed by what sounded like a growl. “I’ll be waiting out here when you’re done, then.”
Fuck.
Ice
* * *
What the fuck had gotten into his babygirl?
Seated on the edge of their bed, the clear plastic paddle he was very tempted to use on her the second the bathroom door opened laying beside him, he ran through their morning up until that point in his mind. She’d seemed fine, more than fine when she’d bounced off to the bathroom to get ready. But she’d never locked him out of the bathroom, or any room in their house for that matter, and worry churned in his stomach as his imagination went wild.
Was she sick? Upset? Had Ace texted her again and she was trying to keep it from him?
Anger joined worry in a sickening dance. She’d kept messages from Ace a secret once, and only once as far as he knew. If Ace was in contact again and she wasn’t telling him, the paddle sitting beside him on the bed would be the least of her worries.
On the other side of the bathroom door, the shower cut off and Ice sat up straighter, folding his arms across his chest so the first thing she would see when she opened the bathroom door was her very disappointed Daddy.
And it worked. The door flung open, steam billowing out around her, and she froze in place, her eyes going round at the sight of him.
“Um. Hi, Daddy.”
“Hi, naughty girl. Come here.”
“Can’t.” Flashing an apologetic smile, she skirted past him, just out of reach and bolted for the giant walk-in closet they shared.
“Amanda Louise.”
Poking her head out of the closet, she pouted at him. “There’s no reason to use my full name. I’m not being naughty.”
“Locking me out of my own bathroom, swearing at me, and then avoiding me when I try to talk to you seems pretty naughty to me, little girl.”
