Page 37 of Their Forever Daddy

Whatever Edie had been doing on her phone certainly seemed to improve her mood. She was actually smiling, and a couple times Jesse was pretty sure she caught her humming while she cooked the gravy.

It was the least antagonistic she’d been since Jesse had arrived, and she sent up a silent prayer of thanks to whatever—or whoever—had put her in such a good mood.

A lover, maybe?

The idea of Edie having someone like that in her life should have made her happy. But Jesse’s gut twisted a bit at the thought. It wasn’t dissimilar to how she’d felt when she’d gotten the news that Edie and Ken McDowell had gotten married less than a year after Jesse had left town. Which didn’t make any sense at all. She had even less reason to be jealous now than she had back then.

Turning away from the sink where she’d just finished washing the bowls she and Daddy had used to make the biscuits, she pulled up short when she nearly bumped into Edie who had just turned to put something in the sink.

For the first time since she’d arrived, they were barely a breath apart. Edie’s eyes widened as she tilted her head back slightly, her lips parting in surprise.

Electricity raced through Jesse’s body, sparks of need and longing that heated her skin and sent her heart racing.

“Sorry.” The word came out all rough and scratchy, and Jesse cleared her throat. “Didn’t mean to get in your way.”

“You’re fine.” Was it her imagination, or was Edie’s voice a little rough and scratchy, too?

Her gaze shifted lower, to Edie’s lips. For someone who spent her days outside, they were surprisingly soft-looking. Would they taste the same? Feel the same on her skin? Would Edie still know all those little spots where she loved to be kissed?

But then Edie stepped back, and the moment was lost. Jesse forced herself to turn away, to move, to do anything other than stand there and stare.

When she did, she looked up and found her Daddy watching them, his expression unreadable. Heat rushed to Jesse’s cheeks as she ducked her head and went to work setting the table for breakfast.

How much of an asshole could she be, getting so worked up by someone else right in front of the man whose ring she wore? The diamond felt heavy on her hand, almost as heavy as the rock of guilt sitting in her stomach.

Thankfully, Daddy didn’t comment and breakfast turned out to be a much less awkward affair than dinner had been. Daddy and Edie seemed to have struck some kind of truce, and they spent the meal asking each other the typical ‘get to know you’ type questions. Most of the answers Jesse already knew for both of them, but there were a few that were surprises even for her. Like the fact that Edie had started the animal rescue completely by accident when a friend had called begging her to save her pet pig before her dad turned him into bacon, or that Grant had gotten a full ride to college as a mascot.

“I thought you played football!” she’d asked in sputtering shock at that confession.

Daddy just shrugged. “I told you I got a sports scholarship. You never asked what sport.”

“That seems like a lie of omission,” she grumbled, but she couldn’t be too mad. Not when the whole exchange made Edie snort so hard with laughter she’d nearly shot coffee out her nose.

She didn’t even mind when they started sharing anecdotes about trouble she’d gotten herself into. If it meant they were getting along, she could deal with the embarrassment of Edie talking about that time she’d stolen Farmer Moody’s tractor and Edie had broken half a dozen switches on her bare bottom before sending her over to return the tractor and apologize. Or Daddy sharing his favorite story about the prank she’d played on him when they’d first moved in together and she’d covered his entire home office in post-it notes on his first official day working from home.

“Speaking of my naughty babygirl…” Daddy’s hand came to rest on her neck and Jesse stiffened. “Sometime today, we should probably discuss your disappearing act.”

“We really don’t have to do that, Daddy.”

“You say that every time, little outlaw.” Leaning over, he pressed his lips to her temple. “But you’d be very disappointed if I didn’t give you the chance to atone for your sins with a red-hot bottom.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” As much as she hated to admit it, and as much as she was definitely going to whine about it, he was right. There was nothing like a long, hard spanking over her Daddy’s knee to help get rid of all the yucky guilty feelings in her tummy.

Wait.

Daddy was right.

“Oh my god!” Sitting upright in her chair, Jesse bounced happily, unable to contain her excitement. “Daddy, you’re a genius!”

Daddy and Edie shared a look, and Jesse tried not to get distracted by the butterflies dancing in her tummy. Separately, they were bossy enough. Together, they were likely to revoke her sitting privileges for the rest of her life.

And there was a part of her that wouldn’t mind that one little bit.

Getting off track there, Jess.

“Why am I a genius?” Daddy asked, his brow raising in question.

“It’s like you said,” she explained, waving her hands excitedly. “I need to atone for my sins. With a spanking.”

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