He chuckled, and his voice seemed a bit more relaxed. “I wanted to thank you for your gift. I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you, but it was very thoughtful, and I appreciate it.”
“Oh, I almost forgot about that. A lot has happened in the past few weeks. My wounds are so much better. They barely hurt, but I’m still keeping them wrapped up. And one of my videos went viral, so I’m kind of a big deal on the tok.”
He groaned. “Please tell me it’s not from prancing around in your ruffle panties to strangers.”
My lower lip popped out. “You didn’t like my panties?” I still hadn’t bought a replacement set, but I planned to. I loved them.
“No, Cassie. I loved them. In fact, I have a gift for you too. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I stopped by to bring it to you.”
“Oh. Like, today?”
“Sure, I can come today. I’m just leaving the hospital now, so if you want to give me your address, I can bring this to you and check your new burn.”
Huffing, I rolled my eyes. He sounded like Daddy Carter. And Daddy Troy. And all the other Daddies I knew. “Okay, Daddy. Come on by.”
“Watch your tone, Little girl.” He cleared his throat. “Text me your address?”
“Yes, sir.” My candles were immediately forgotten as I completely focused on the man who wanted to come to my apartment. “But, um, my place is a little messy.” I looked around and cringed at the chaos in every corner. “I’ve been making a lot of candles lately, on account of being viral and all.”
His Daddy tone was back. “Are you sick? What do you have? Have you seen a doctor yet?”
I giggled and turned off the burner for my second pouring pot. “My video. It was really popular and went viral. I just told you that.”
“Oh, right.” He exhaled forcefully into the speaker of his phone. “I’m in my car now, so please send the address.”
Oh, oops. Already forgot about that, but he didn’t need to know everything. “Yeah, um, okay, sir.”
Chapter 6
Dayton
Between thesirsand her slip ofDaddy, I was rock hard and doing my best to convince myself that I was just gonna give her the gift, check her arm and legs, and then say good night. It was late enough that she’d probably already eaten dinner, but maybe she’d like to grab some dessert. It didn’t hurt to have some options, just in case.
Right after we ended the call, I got a text with her address. Cassie lived on the other side of town from me, but not far from the hospital.
I considered stopping to get her a bouquet of flowers as well, but showing up with a bouquet and a hundred bucks in kinky underwear seemed like a little much for a random thank you gift. I didn’t want to scare off the poor girl.
Cassie lived in a fourplex apartment, so it was easy to park on the street and walk straight to her front door. All the windows were lit up, and I could hear soft music coming through the walls, so I knocked firmly.
“Coming.” The music turned off, and a few seconds later, there was a thump against the door before it opened up. Cassie was standing there, backlit like a halo surrounded her whole body. “Hi, Doc.”
“Hello, Cassie. Thanks for letting me stop by.”
“Thanks for coming by.” She stepped back and waved me inside. “Like I said, it’s a bit of a mess.”
She was not lying. There were tarps and spread out newspapers, stacks of wax in various stages of being turned into candles, and it looked like hundreds of completed candles, all piled in her living room/dining room/kitchen area. “Wow, you’ve been busy.”
She shrugged and shut the door behind me. “Told’ja.”
“So you’ve been selling more candles?” I hoped the answer was yes and she wasn’t just making all these in the hope that a viral video would lead to future sales.
“Yeah, that stack over there are all purchased candles that I just need to pack up.” Then she pointed to a smaller stack of candles underneath one of the folding tables. “Those ones are not sold yet, but I get lots of orders every day, so I will sell them shortly.”
“That’s very impressive, Cassie.” I met her gaze and smiled. “I’m really proud of you.”
Her eyes lit up as she inhaled from that simple praise. This girl needed so much attention. I hated that she wasn’t getting it. “Thank you, Doctor Dayton.”
“So, show me what you’ve been working on.” I peeked over to the mostly completed jars. “And what smells so good in here?”
