“He did?” he repeated, like maybe he needed some reassurance sometimes, too.
I could do that.
I nodded, holding his cheeks and letting the rough feel of his end-of-day stubble against my palms send delicious shivers through me. “Blair let you take care of himalways, didn’t he? You two were happy together. You should have had more time, but the time you had… it was perfect, wasn’t it? You said so.”
Hadn’t he? Or had I just imagined it that way, because it was impossible to imagine any time with Edwardnotbeing perfect.
Edward’s gold-flecked eyes went all soft and syrupy, and he turned his head to kiss one of my palms, holding it against his lips until I could feel the shivers travel all the way down to my lower parts.
“Yes,” he finally said. “My time with Blair was perfect. But Rene, I wasn’t talking about Blair.”
He… wasn’t? I blinked. But he’d said… who else… it had sounded just like…
“You said you didn’t understand,” he went on, “and maybe I don’t fully understand it, either. But that doesn’t make it any less true.”
My heart started to race, my hand trembling as he held it in his bigger one.
“I was talking about you,” he said, which was crystal clear and yet couldn’t,couldn’tbe true. “I know it’s a lot,” he added, a tiny crease appearing between his eyebrows. “You and I only just met, and we—
“What?” I croaked, talking right over him. “Edward… what are you, what are saying? What do you mean? What?”
“Daddy,” he replied, his voice suddenly stern even though his eyes were still so soft and warm that I wanted to sink into them forever.
“What?” I whispered again, feeling… so many things. Mostly, scared to hope.
“I said, ‘Daddy,’” he repeated. “You called me ‘Edward,’ but sweetheart, what I’m saying is, if you’ll have me, I’m your Daddy now.”
For the weekend.
He had to mean for the weekend only.
We didn’t even live in the same city, and even if we had, he owned entire hotels, and I…
Well, there wasn’t any space in my regular life for long-distance dating or a Daddy or all the wonderful things he’d just said. There wasn’t space foranything, not when working and taking care of Mom and just… just trying to keep our heads above water took up every bit of time and energy I had.
This weekend was always meant to be just a tiny little slice out of time, something I’d been scared to try and wanted desperately, both in equal measure. Something that could have gone so, so wrong if I’d ended up with Daryl as my Daddy, but that, instead, had become everything that was right in the world, inmyworld, because Edward had stepped into it and swept me off my feet.
I looked into his melty brown eyes, and a feeling of determination settled over me. I wasn’t going to waste the time I had with him. I wasn’t going to ruin it, or second-guess it anymore, or be sad that it would have to end soon. He said that he wanted me, that he wanted to be myDaddy, and I believed him even if I didn’t understand why he was suddenly offering me the full fairy tale—
Oh, wait.
Yes I did, actually.
He’d already explained it, hadn’t he? He’d said he wanted to give me what I needed, that doing that madehimhappy, and he’d somehow been able to tell that was what I needed, thatthiswas my heart’s truest desire. That when he’d first told me about loving Blair, the deepest, most secret places inside me had wished that someone—no, thatEdward—would love me like that someday, too.
Obviously, he wasn’t ever really going to love me the way he’d loved Blair, but before he’d ever let me call him Daddy, back when he was first trying to understand what a Daddy evenwas, he’d referred to the lifestyle as role-playing, so that must be what this was.
Not forme, but I wasn’t greedy. It was okay that that’s what it was for him. It was more than okay. It was generous and kind and wonderful, just like he was. More than I could have ever hoped to get out of this weekend. And I wouldn’t even let myself be sad that it wasn’t real or forever or truly mine to hold onto—well, not more than a little bit sad, at least, way down deep inside—because I’d never actually expected to get any of that anyway.
Mostly, I was just amazed at how lucky I was that he’d even want to, that he’ddothis for me, especially after losing the man he’d actually loved… and I wanted to do something for him, too. I wanted to make it as perfect for him as I could. I wanted tobeperfect. I wanted to be his.
And for a little while, I would be. I just had to tell him.
I went up on my tiptoes, pressing a chaste kiss against the stubble on his chin. “I do. I want that. I’m yours, Daddy.”
“Rene,” he said, the word exploding out of him as he crushed me against his chest again, making me squeak.
I didn’t mind.
