Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
When Aria Martin stepped into Little Cakes to pick up the order for her best friend’s bachelorette party, she stopped in her tracks, letting the door swing shut behind her. There were six women gathered around the display case, all of them laughing and talking over one another.
Aria stared at them, a mixture of emotions consuming her. Their exuberance made Aria smile. Their happiness was palpable. Their demeanors reminded her of people much younger.
Jealousy was front and center. These women were clearly close friends. Anyone could tell that in an instant. Several of them even had their arms around each other. Aria did not have a posse of friends like this.
She felt like she’d stepped into a private party, and she wondered if she’d arrived too late. Had they already closed? When she’d called to place the order, she’d told the owner, Ellie, she would be cutting it close picking up the cupcakes tonight. Ellie had told her it wouldn’t be a problem.
“Hey!” A cute, brown-haired woman waved and broke free of the group to skip toward Aria. “You must be Aria. I’m Ellie. I’m sorry it’s so loud in here. Some of my friends stopped by after work. We get a little rowdy.” She giggled as she shook her arms. Several colorful sprinkles fell to the floor.
“I’m sorry I’m so late. I tried to get here as fast as I could.”
“Don’t worry a bit. Are you in a hurry? Come join us for a cupcake,” Ellie exclaimed.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose.” Aria shuffled forward as Ellie motioned toward the counter.
“No imposition at all. We were just about to try the next flavor of the month. I always love to have a fresh opinion.”
Aria’s stomach grumbled at the thought of eating a cupcake. She’d been stuck at work late and hadn’t had dinner yet. “Uh, okay. If you’re sure it’s not a problem.”
It smelled so good in there. Aria had placed the order by phone. She’d never visited the cupcake shop in person. Now she realized she’d been missing out. Especially when she saw the variety inside the display case.
The crowd of women parted when Ellie cleared her throat. “Everyone, this is Aria. She’s picking up an order for a bachelorette party. I invited her to stay and sample the new flavor with us.”
The other five women all smiled and gave a little wave.
The blonde woman closest to Aria’s right spoke first. “Nice to meet you. I’m Daisy.”
“I’m Lark,” called out the woman next to her.
It was impossible to keep track of their names as one by one the others introduced themselves as Sue, Tori, and Riley.
Ellie giggled. “There won’t be a name quiz later. Don’t worry.” She pointed at the first two women. “Daisy works at Blooms by Daisy, which is also on this strip. Lark is my best friend, a realtor in town. The rest of these women work here.”
“Oh, how fun. I’d much rather work in a cupcake shop than the busy management position I’m stuck at for too many hours a day.” Aria curled up her nose and shuddered. The stressful office she worked in had a completely different atmosphere from Little Cakes. This place was refreshing.
The door to the back room opened, and a large man with a tray of cupcakes entered. “Girls,” he bellowed. “The volume out here is making my head hurt.” He sounded gruff, but he was grinning as he walked right past everyone to set the tray on a table. His back was to them as he continued, “You all better have permission to eat cupcakes at this hour. I won’t be held responsible for any sore bottoms resulting from sugar intake.”
Aria was baffled by his speech. It sounded like he was speaking to a bunch of five-year-olds.
A hush fell over the room, and the man spun around. He spanned the ladies, wincing when his gaze landed on Aria. “Shit. I’m sorry, Ellie. I thought you’d locked up for the night. I didn’t realize you had a customer.”
Ellie drew in a breath. “This is Aria. She’s here to pick up the order for the bachelorette party. I invited her to join us to try the new flavor first.”
The large man wiped his hand on his apron and held it out. “My apologies, Aria. I’m Tarson.”
As Aria shook his hand, a lightbulb went off in her head. She glanced around at each of the now-quieter women, taking in their appearances. Two of them had low pigtails. One had a high ponytail. Two had colorful sneakers. One had a dress with cartoon characters on it.
If she wasn’t mistaken, these women were Little. She’d read about people who enjoyed age play. It had always intrigued her. She had not ever thought such a thing existed outside the pages of her books though.
Based on the insinuation from Tarson that someone might get spanked for eating sweets, she knew she had to be correct. “Are you all… Little?”