She stiffened. Oh my God. Shewassniffing him. That was embarrassing.
“Sorry, you smell good,” she said croakily.
Cash leaned back and gave her a stern look. “You’re supposed to be resting your voice, Little girl. Shit. This is going to be hard.”
She bit her lip, wondering if she’d made a mistake. For a few days, she could have a Daddy, and not one who was just doing this out of obligation, but because he actually wanted to.
Addie felt torn. And she also felt like she had to explain part of the reason why she’d run off just before to hide.
She typed into the tablet. “As a kid, I experienced some bullying. And my mother . . . well, she never trusted anyone. Itmade me very wary and untrusting. Now I worry about being made fun of.”
He frowned. “You shouldn’t be worried about what Ralen or Butch think. Ralen is a Daddy Dom too. And, while it’s hard to believe that anyone would want that overgrown rhinoceros, Butch is too, apparently. Nobody here is making fun of you, I promise. And if they ever did, I’d take care of them.”
That was a vow, a promise.
“I will try to rein myself in. Won’t lie, though, that will be hard. You send my Daddy instincts into overdrive.”
She did? Was that good or bad? She couldn’t really tell.
“So you really like doing this sort of thing?”
“This sort of thing?” he asked.
“Daddying people.” Was Daddying a word? If it wasn’t, it should be.
“I like Daddying you. The truth is that I haven’t done anything like this in a long time. I haven’t been to a club, had a Little as a girlfriend, had any sort of girlfriend in ages. I just haven’t felt in the right headspace.”
But did he feel in that headspace now? Was it this situation?
Or her?
Definitely not you, idiot.
You’re nothing. No one special.
Just a girl who is scared of life. Who can barely speak. Who barely lives. And has so many hangups that she can’t remember a time where she wasn’t scared of something.
No. Definitely not her.
“But you are in the right headspace now?” She typed the words slowly, reading them over before pressing send. It was somehow easier to talk with Batman asking the questions.
He tilted his head to the side as he stared down at her. They were still so close that parts of them were touching.
And those parts of her were all tingling and warm.
“I guess I am. However, I’ll stop.”
Oh shoot. She didn’t want him to do that, though, did she?
She just wasn’t brave enough to tell him that.
“Friends?” he asked, pulling back to smile down at her.
Addie had to fight the urge to cry as she nodded.
“Friends.”
32
