Page 2 of Daddy's Lesson

“I think things with Erin are done,” Theo grunted, not looking at all happy about it. Erin was his on-again, off-again Rent-A-Daddy client who we all thought was a little bit more—not that Theo would ever admit it. He was a total ladies’ man.

“I’m sorry to hear that… I think.” Nyla frowned and pursed her lips like she didn’t quite know what to say or think. She wasn’t the only one.

Theo shrugged, and Nyla pushed a packet toward him. “Here you go. You can take Riley.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I tried not to feel like chopped liver. Every time we got a new client I volunteered, and every time they passed right over me.

“If you don’t mind, babe, I can take Ellie.”

Nyla beamed. “I don’t mind. I was hoping you’d say that.” She pushed the third packet at her fiancé, then placed both hands on top of the last packet.

“I guess that means we just have one last client to place.”

“Dibs,” I muttered with far less enthusiasm this time, because I was certain I’d be ignored again.

Instead, Nyla looked straight at me. “I was hoping you’d say that. I think this last client would be the perfect fit for you.”

“Wait… really?” Her words caught me so off guard I tugged the beer Archer was nursing out of his hands and took a long swig.

“Hey!” he protested.

I shrugged. “Go get a new one.” He stood, muttering as he ambled toward the bar to do exactly that, and I turned my attention back to Nyla.

“So… who’s the client?”

There was a strange smile on Nyla’s face, the kind she usually gave Bas when she was up to something. Her eyes twinkled as she pushed the paper slowly toward me.

“Cool. Thank you. I’ll contact her as soon as possible to set up a meeting.”

Nyla just nodded, still staring at me.

“What?”

She just kept staring. “I saved this one just for you, Lennon,” she finally said.

I looked down at the packet in question, my gaze dancing across the page until I noticed the name in bold print across the top. Zoe Kramer. Holy shit. My mouth fell open and I read it again just to be sure.

I looked at my watch, pushed a couple buttons, and looked again at the paper.

Nyla snickered. “Lennon! What are you doing?”

“I was checking the date to make sure it wasn’t April Fools’ Day. Is this really real?”

“It’s really real.”

I looked at Archer. “You were topping Zoe Kramer, and you didn’t even mention it?”

Archer shrugged. “She was just a client. It didn’t seem important.”

I gawked at him, tempted to smack him upside the head for not telling me, but thought better of it. If I’d known that Archer was her Daddy, I would have died from jealousy. It was better this way.

“I don’t get it.” Audrey frowned. “What’s the big deal? Who’s Zoe Kramer?”

“She’s a professor at UPenn. Lennon’s old art professor, to be exact.”

“The art professor he was totally gaga over. I’m pretty sure not a single day went by for four years where we didn’t hear about her.” Nyla was teasing, but it wasn’t an exaggeration. At least, not much of one.

“I can’t believe this is real. Thank you, thank you, Thank you!” Leaping to my feet, I pulled Nyla into my arms and kissed her first on one cheek, then the other. “Thank you!”

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