“But it’s not your favorite?”
“Oh, I like it. But to be honest, I prefer my own cooking to anyone else’s.”
“You cook a lot?”
He nodded. “I like to. Everyone at the mansion gives me crap about it. But they love it. And, not to brag, but it is pretty good.”
This was her opening, she realized. While she knew about his living arrangements, he didn’t know that she did. At least, she didn’t think so. Her mind raced trying to remember what all she’d revealed she knew.
She didn’t think it was too much.
So, now was the natural time to ask.
“You live with other people in a mansion?”
“Yeah. Not like in weird cult commune way. But… well, you’re a Little. Have you ever heard of the Daddy Guard?”
“Yeah! Word has kind of gotten around town. Y’all are even on the internet!” She realized that in her excitement her Kentucky accent came out strong. She normally tried to mask it.
He looked pleased, but whether it was over her accent or the fact that she knew about the Guard, Samantha didn’t know.
She just knew she loved his smile. There was something about a guy with dimples…
“I’m part of the Guard. We actually all live together in a mansion. The other guys have Littles and they live with us too.”
“That’s cool! Where is it?”
Samantha hoped she was being convincing enough. She knew good and well where the mansion was. She’d shown up there on Halloween night to throw eggs at it—and the Littles who lived there.
“South L.A.”
In the rich part of town, Samantha thought. But she kept that comment to herself.
The conversation continued while they waited on their food and after they received it. She continued to ask him questions—some she already knew the answers to and some she didn’t. He asked her a lot, too. By the time dinner was over, it felt as if they’d known each other for years.
It had kind of felt that way even before they’d lingered at a table for over an hour, chatting.
They’d just sort of had an instant connection, Samantha noted to herself.
Could it be? Was this her Daddy? The one she was destined to find?
Or was stuff like that even real?
Probably not.
That only happened in the Daddy Dom romance novels she read. Right?
It didn’t really matter, either way. Because the minute he figured out she was actually Tonya, there was no way he’d want to be with her. Ever!
Of course, if he never found out…
It was going to be a delicate act. Perhaps she could just retire the Tonya persona forever.
But Tonya had friends at the nursery. Not many. A couple of other Littles were devoted to her, though. She couldn’t just disappear and ghost them forever. Though that did sound exactly like something Tonya would do.
It could raise lots of questions, too. Then people would start poking around and stuff. Investigating. What if that led to them uncovering the truth?
The best way was to make at least one more appearance as Tonya, she decided. Wrap things up. Perhaps a story about her moving away would do the trick.
