Page 5 of Colby's Lost Binky

“You’re right.” I chewed on my lip for a moment. “I am so grateful not only to be doing the job I love but to have met Stan and bought his practice. It makes it possible for me to do that job in the way I always dreamed.”

Bridger bestowed a daddy smile on me, and even as another daddy, I had to admit that felt good.

“Nobody says it’s theirs.” Hudson returned and sat on his daddy’s knees again. “Here.” He handed me the blankie.

“I guess I’ll have to just turn it in to the management.” I shrugged and tucked the blankie back in my pocket.

“The manager is married and has little kids I think,” one of the guests offered from across the table. “Maybe it fell out of her car?”

“Latte and grilled brie?” a smooth tenor voice asked.

I looked up to see a different server than the girl who took my order. “It’s mine.” It was not a girl at all but a young man who juggled way too many plates and cups at the same time.

Hopping to my feet, I relieved him of my dinner, at least, and he went on his way, distributing his goodies to all the different tables.

Bridger bumped my shoulder. “That kid is the manager’s brother. Maybe he can help you with the mystery blanket? Let you know if it belongs to one of his sister’s kids?”

“Good idea.”

I waited for him to come back our way, but when he hadn’t after a few minutes, I stood up and went to where he stood by the cash register.

“Hi, did you want your check?”

“Oh, sure, but I’m not leaving anytime soon. I just wanted to turn in something I found in the parking lot. Some of the guys mentioned your sister has small children, and I thought maybe…” I pulled it out of my pocket and held it out.

The guy’s cheeks paled, and his eyes widened. “Uh…” His hands remained at his sides.

“Is something wrong?” I set the blanket on the counter. “Is it…are you…” My daddy self surged to the forefront. Then, I knew. Duh. “You might want to put that away somewhere, so it doesn’t end up with food or coffee on it.”

“Thanks.” He smiled, lips wobbling, and looking beyond adorable. “I will.”

Chapter Five

Colby

There are so many correct ways to respond to someone being kind and returning something I’d lost. I was an adult. I knew them all. But in that moment, all I could think about was how the hottie found my binky blankie and gave it back to me in front of everyone. How did I react after I turned beet red? I bolted to the kitchen to hide.

If one of my coworkers came back to find me, I’d have no excuse for being there. I had absolutely nothing to do in the kitchen. Getting to work early had taken care of that. But, given the lack of a hole to bury my head in, this was my only option.

And it wasn’t even the man who returned it to me who had me so embarrassed. Not really. He didn’t show even a hint of judgment. None whatsoever. He gave it back as if it were a normal everyday kind of occurrence, and that was that. And maybe, to him, it was. Heck, in another location such as Chained, the local club, it might actually be an everyday kind of thing. Only we weren’t there. We were at my job—the one Sarah gave me.

I’d made promises to keep focused tonight and not get involved in the munch. What did I go and do? I outed myself as little to a sexy probable daddy. Obviously, it hadn’t been intentional, but intent didn’t matter as much as outcome. Not for something like this. Sarah was gonna be pissed, and she had every right to be. It wasn’t as if I needed to bring my binky. I should’ve left it at home in my backpack, just like I did every day.

I let the memory play over and over in my head, trying to figure out how he found it in the first place. It wasn’t as if I’d brought it into the shop. The only thing I could think of was that it got caught on my sleeve or something and fell to the ground as I was getting out of the car. Things could’ve been so much worse than they had. My heart raced at that thought. I was beside myself.

My carelessness nearly cost me my binky. If it had gone missing—I wasn’t sure what I’d do after I cried because that was a given.

I peeked out the kitchen door to find the man. Had this not been a munch at my job, I’d have rushed out there and brought my A-plus flirt game. Fine, I had a D-plus at best, but was I ever going to bring it. From what little I knew about him, he was nice, hot, and potentially a daddy. There had been a glint of understanding in his eyes when he saw me recognize my blankie. He knew what I was into, and he liked it. I’d put money on it. He was a daddy or master or whatever he liked to classify himself as. Names didn’t matter because, at the end of the day, he was a caregiver. I was confident of that.

A coworker called from the doorway, startling me. “There’s a bunch of coffees to be made. Can you come up front?”

Oh yeah. Coffee. The reason I was here.

“Yep, just a second. I need to take something outside first.” If they happened to think it was trash, so be it. It wasn’t like I was going to scream that I needed to take my pacifier to the car so I didn’t lose it again, for everyone to hear.

I ran out the back door and put my blankie back in the car then ran back inside. I stepped away long enough to wash my hands, and then it was back to work. I was grateful for it being busy. It gave me something to do. And it wasn’t truly busy, far from the morning rush, but for the number of staff on duty and for the time of night, it was hopping.

The man looked at me from time to time, giving me a knowing smile and then going back to his conversation. How I longed to go over there and join him. No, I hadn’t been invited and I was working, but given this was all hypothetical and nothing I’d ever do, I didn’t let that stop me from daydreaming.

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