Page 14 of Their Forever Daddy

When she turned around, the look on Edie’s face knocked the breath from her lungs. Not because she was afraid of her. But because she recognized that look. It was very much the look of a Dominant about to light a naughty little subbie’s ass on fire.

Instinctively, Jesse’s hands moved behind her, covering her backside. “It was an accident, Edie, I swear.”

At her words, Edie’s attention shifted from the scorched cabinets to Jesse. Edie tensed, her gaze traveling down Jesse’s body, and she was reminded rather suddenly that she was wearing nothing but a very lacy bra and jeans that suddenly felt far too tight.

“Are you hurt?” Edie’s voice was rough, the way Jesse remembered it would get when she was either very pissed…

Or very turned on.

Unsure which was the current reason, Jesse shifted from foot to foot, nerves winding their way around her tummy. “No, I’m not hurt.”

Apparently not satisfied with that, Edie crossed the distance between them in a few short steps. She reached for Jesse, then snatched her hands back at the last second, a pink flush creeping up her cheeks. “Turn around.”

“I’m fine,” Jesse whined, fighting the urge to simply slip into her Little space and let Edie take care of her. Between the fight and the fire, she was emotionally wiped out.

And, if she was being brutally honest with herself, she’d missed this. Missed her. Jesse loved her Daddy, and she couldn’t wait to marry him, she really couldn’t. But Edie had been her first love. Her first everything. A piece of her heart would always belong to the woman with the dark, troubled eyes who had shown her what it meant to really love someone.

Those eyes were watching her now, more guarded than they had been a decade ago but as full of emotion as ever. No matter how hard she tried to hide what she was feeling, Edie’s eyes always told the truth. And right now, they were filled with both anger and worry. It was the latter that had Jesse’s heart tripping in her chest, and guilt churning in her stomach.

“I’m fine,” she repeated softly, turning in a slow circle so Edie could see for herself. “I was more scared than anything. I promise.”

“Good.” Edie’s gaze flicked to the stove, where Jesse’s shirt still lay draped over the pot that had caught fire. With a sigh, she gestured to the crime scene. “Care to explain, little girl?”

“It really was an accident.” Bottom lip trembling, Jesse blinked back the tears stinging her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’ll pay for the damages and everything.”

“I don’t need your money,” Edie snapped, anger chasing the worry from her eyes and turning the brown nearly black.

Jesse lifted her hands in a time-honored gesture of surrender. “I didn’t say you did. But I’m the one who nearly burned down your kitchen, Edie. The least I can do is pay to fix it.”

“Absolutely not.”

The stubborn set of Edie’s jaw was as familiar as Jesse’s own reflection, and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Stop being so hard-headed, Edie.”

“I’m not being hard-headed. I just don’t want your money.”

“Too bad.” Jesse could be stubborn, too. Crossing her arms, she met Edie’s furious gaze head-on. “You’re taking it, whether you want to or not.”

“I told you, I don’t want your money, Jesse.”

“Then what the hell do you want?”

Something dark and dangerous flashed in Edie’s eyes. Just for a moment, and then it was gone. And for the first time in Jesse’s memory, Edie’s emotions were completely shut off from her.

It felt like having her own limb separated from her body.

“Nothing.” Edie’s voice was hollow, and everything in Jesse ached to comfort her. “You don’t have anything I want anymore, Jesse Walker.”

Turning on her heel, Edie strode toward the entrance to the kitchen. And just like when she’d stepped in the kitchen and seen those flames reaching for the ceiling, panic wrapped around Jesse’s chest like a vice.

She had to do something. Say something to fix this.

“Spank me!” The words burst out of her before she even realized she’d thought them, shocking her possibly even more than Edie, who stopped and spun back around, her mouth hanging slightly open.

“What did you say?”

She should take it back. There was a list of reasons a mile long for why she shouldn’t let Edie McDowell put her hands on her.

But this was Edie. Despite everything they’d been through, despite the hurt and the heartache they’d inflicted on each other, Jesse trusted Edie with her life.

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