“Oh boy,” Rooker said with a chuckle. “Just what I live for, paperwork.”
Setting his bags down, he grabbed the stack of tablecloths that would cover their tables and display racks. It only took a few minutes to unfold them and lay them over the tables.
Instead of pushing the paperwork on his assistant, who had a family to get home to, he had her put together the deposit, making sure to leave plenty of change for the next day. While she did that, he looked over the spreadsheet they used to keep track of what had sold during the day. From that, he made a list of what they needed to restock and texted it to Seth and Ginger, who were running the store for the weekend. They would gather everything so Laurie could pick it up in the morning.
While he would love to sell out by the end of the convention, between now and then they needed to keep the booth well stocked.
“Sales look good,” he said as Laurie finished up.
“Should pick up even more tomorrow and Saturday. Do you want to drop the deposit at the bank or shall I?”
Rooker shook his head. “You do it. I’m not leaving just yet.”
Laurie stared at him, then at the pile of gear he’d brought back with him. “Planning to spend the night?”
“Maybe,” he said as he turned his attention back to his tablet. He scrolled the emails and messages that had come in during the day and decided there was nothing that could not wait until morning.
“You do know there is security on duty, and you don’t have to stay, right?”
“Get out of here. Or would you rather spend the weekend doing inventory at the store instead of being here with me?” Rooker made the threat with a touch of his infamous Dom tone in his voice.
“I’m going. I’m going. I’ll see you in the morning.” Laurie giggled as she grabbed her backpack and hurried away.
Rooker kept one eye on the time as he called the store and checked in. At six twenty-five, he grabbed the picnic basket, a spare tablecloth, and the small cooler that held a couple of bottles of juice before winding his way around the large room toCarri’s booth. His excitement about spending the evening with the woman he was certain was Little grew with every step.
He hoped she was looking for a Daddy who was strict, but indulgent.
As he approached her booth, he frowned. Carri was not alone, and she did not look happy. He immediately went on alert and wondered who he had to kill to put a smile back on her face.
Chapter Four
“But I can’t go home,” Carri explained to the security guard for what felt like the forty-seventh time. “You don’t understand.”
“Ma’am, there will be security here all night. We’ll keep your booth safe. I promise you that no one will steal any of your toys. Everyone else has already left for the evening and I have to lock up,” the guard, whose nameplate read Joe, repeated yet again, sounding like he felt as frustrated as she did.
“But my sisters and I planned to each spend a night. Tonight’s my night,” Carri said. “They’ve already left. They expect me to stay here and guard our booths.”
Tears of frustration were pushing at her eyelids. What would she do if the guard insisted she leave the building? Would Lottie and Tilly come back and get her? Movement behind the guard caught her eye. Rooker had arrived for their date.
“Miss, I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to let anyone stay in the building overnight.” The guard jumped when Rooker appeared beside him. “Sir, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to leave as well. Convention-goers and vendors are not allowed to spend the night in the building.”
Carri turned to Rooker and looked up at him through a sheen of tears. “What do I do? My sisters are gone until tomorrow.”
She was stunned speechless when Rooker wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug. He dropped his head, so his lips were right next to her ear and whispered. “You’ll come home with me. I live just out of town, and we can come back early in the morning before your sisters return.”
“But …” Carri wanted to argue, but with the guard watching them, she could not come up with a different argument to offer.
Rooker straightened and gave her another hug as he addressed the guard. “Can you give us a few minutes?”
Checking his watch, the guard nodded. “I’ve got to lock this place down, but I can start at the other end of the building. I’ll be back here in ten minutes. You have until then.”
“Thank you, we’ll be ready,” Rooker assured the guard, who walked away.
Carri waited until the guard was well out of hearing distance before she stepped out of Rooker’s embrace. “I can’t go home with you,” she whispered.
“Why not? We were going to be alone here, now we’ll just be alone at my house instead. This also means that instead of sleeping on the hard floor, we can sleep in beds. I’ll even let you have first choice of bedrooms,” Rooker said. “I promise not to push for more than you’re comfortable with, but I flat-out will not have sex with you tonight.”
Carri blushed even as she giggled at his frank approach to what almost sounded like the negotiations she had read about in her DDlg and BDSM romance stories. “Are you sure? I mean, I could call an Uber to take me to a motel or something.”
