It was truly turning into a lazy day. They slept late and after another round of sexy play, and breakfast, they returned to bed for another nap. After they’d woken up the second time, Rooker gave her one of his shirts to wear while he washed her clothes with his. No man had ever done her laundry before.
He'd just finished making BLTs for lunch and after setting one on the table in front of her, sat down with his own plate. Carri looked from her sandwich to the man sitting across the table from her.
Taking a deep breath, she asked, “What happens now that the convention is over?”
Rooker put down the half sandwich he’d just picked up and reached for her hands. “I was hoping to talk you into moving in with me instead of moving to that apartment. Then, when you’re comfortable enough, I thought we could get married and you would be my Little girl for the rest of our lives.”
Carri blinked and then her eyes went wide. He’d just described the dream she’d had for most of her adult life. Butcould it really happen this quickly? Could they really build forever based on three days of knowing each other?
When she did not answer immediately, he began to look nervous. “If you don’t like my idea, tell me what you were thinking would happen.”
Carri shifted her gaze to the window behind him and watched the trees across the yard waving in the wind. Though she tried to come up with an alternative, she had nothing.
“I don’t have an idea. I figured we could date while we get to know one another, but other than that I got nothing. I do like your idea better, but don’t you think we’re moving awful fast?”
Rooker’s smile grew. “No, I don’t. I’ve been looking for you for a long, long time. Now that I’ve found you, I don’t want to let you out of my sight. If I could I’d put you in my pocket and carry you with me all day every day.”
Carri giggled at the image his words portrayed. “I’d look awful silly hanging out of your pocket while you went to work.”
Rooker shrugged. “Maybe so. But now that you’re in my life, I don’t want to let you go, so what do you say? Want to move in here and be my Little girl forever?”
Carri froze. “What about Tilly and Lottie? I need to talk this over with them. They’re expecting me to move to the apartment with them, to pay a third of the expenses.”
She was afraid her delaying the decision would be a dealbreaker for Rooker, but he nodded. “How about we talk to them together? We can go help them pack up this afternoon and bring your critters here instead of sending them home with your sisters. That is, if you’ve decided to sell them to me?”
While Carri liked the new sales option for her crocheted friends, she also wanted to discuss that with her sisters as well. All her life she had depended on her sisters to help her make decisions, and she could not stop now, even though she really, really wanted to say yes to all that Rooker was offering her.
“I need to talk to them about that, too,” she admitted softly.
“That’s fine, babygirl. We’ll go to the convention and help them pack up. I also need to check in with my crew and help them pack out our stuff. Then we’ll go from there, okay?”
Carri nodded. “Yes, Daddy, that sounds good.”
With their immediate future in question, Rooker spent what time they had left that day soaking up each moment with his Little girl. After lunch, he carried her to the couch and took a few minutes to examine her ankle. The swelling was nearly gone and the bruising was beginning to lighten as well.
After rewrapping her foot, he sat on the couch and lifted Carri onto his lap. If she ended up going home with her sisters, he wanted as much cuddle time now as he could get. Not that he would allow her to get away from him for long since he would make a point to see her every day until she agreed to move in with him.
Carrying her into the convention center later that afternoon, he was not surprised to see her critters on display. Her sisters had rearranged their three booths so they were more intermingled and there were critters on display on top of the candy cases as well as tucked in with the shirts and tutus and what little clothing Tilly had left. From what he could tell, it had been a very profitable weekend for all of the Smith sisters.
“Carri, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to call,” Lottie said as Rooker set his armful of woman down. He opened a folding chair and set Carri in it.
“I was, but we decided to just come help. I also need to talk to you guys about some stuff,” Carri said as she looked around. “I like this new setup. Very boutique-like.”
“Yeah, we thought we’d play with things. We’ve even sold more critters,” Tilly said from where she stood near her nearly empty hanging rack.
“Very nice,” Rooker said before bending and kissing the side of Carri’s neck. “I’m going to go check on my booth and I’ll be back. Text me if you need me, okay?”
“Yes, Daddy,” Carri responded softly.
Taking a deep breath, Rooker forced himself to walk away, but felt like his heart remained behind with her. He wasn’t sure what he would do if Carri decided she wanted to slow things down, or break things off. Though he had only known her a few days, he knew he was completely in love with her.
Stopping just outside his booth, he looked at the tables, not surprised to see the flyers and catalogues they’d brought were completely gone, as was much of the inventory they’d brought. Both Laura and Sam were talking with late customers, so he moved around and wandered the aisle until they were finished.
“I take it things went well today?” he asked with a wave at the tables.
“Hey, Boss. Yeah, it’s been an amazing day,” Laura said as she pulled out several boxes from under one of the tables. “A lot of people who’d stopped by the past few days and not bought anything came back.”
Sam then added, “Printing up the catalogue was a great idea, and we’re out of business cards and fliers as well. I have a feeling online orders will be jumping this week.”
