Page 17 of A Daddy for Maddy

Winterbourne: Not your concern. I’m a night owl.

Colin: I can call in about twenty minutes.

Winterbourne: I’ll be waiting.

Fuck. Now I was making my boss, the club’s billionaire owner, wait for me.

Trent had a family now. A boy of his own. I hated that I might be intruding. And then I had Maddy to take care of.

What had started as a fairly calm night had suddenly gotten a little more complicated.

I walked back to Maddy, who was poking at an ice cube in his drink. He looked up and those eyes of his glimmered as if all the world was contained in them.

“I’m going to get my things. Don’t move from this chair.”

“Yes, sir.” His voice came out soft, almost fluffy. His tongue poked out again, but not at me. This time he was licking ginger-ale from his lips.

I turned away, my libido alive and kicking.

In the employees’ locker room was a door that led to a break room with all the amenities. Trent spared no expense for his club, even though I’d heard it didn’t break even. Tax shelters were helpful for the uber rich, and kink was what he’d chosen, which was all good for the rest of us. It was a great place to work, but we couldn’t play here. That was in the contract all staff signed. If we needed to get our kinks on, we went across the valley to the neighboring city to The Red Door. If and when we found the time.

I grabbed my shoulder pouch from my locker. No jacket tonight. It was still warm out.

As I turned, I heard a loud bang as if someone had hit the back of the locker unit. I jumped about three feet into the air, then froze and listened. No footsteps. Nothing.

Then my phone chimed.

Unknown: Fucking loser. You’ll never find me. You’ll never know who I am. You can’t stop me.

A chill went up my spine. My muscles bunched. I quietly walked around the end of the lockers, ready to pounce. All that greeted me was yellow light reflecting off solid metal and an empty wall. Dust motes swam slowly in the air.

It was just the locker bank settling, I told myself. The building was old, a re-modeled warehouse. The foundation was big and solid, but over the decades there were bound to be cracks. The earth settled sometimes. That was all.

Or it was haunted.

I laughed quietly to myself. Ghosts would be highly preferable to real people. Ghosts were more predictable.

I passed the well-lit break room. It had a completely decked out kitchen and living area. No one was inside at the moment.

Good. My bouncer reputation was about strength and resolve. I could keep my response to the loud bang and my other jitters to myself.

I came back to the front of the club. Maddy was just finishing the last drops of his drink, making slurping sounds with his straw. Stewart stood by Cuddles, who sat with his tablet in his lap. Neither was talking.

Interesting. I suddenly got couples vibes. Was Stewart a daddy? Did he want Cuddles? It was none of my business even though fraternizing went against my own rules.

“Okay, Maddy. We’re free to go. Still want that coffee?”

He jumped up, setting his drink on the seat of his chair. “Yes, sir.” He did the one-arm carry for the unicorn and Cuddles opened the door for us instead of making us go all the way to the back exit.

Off to coffee now. And then I’d take the boy home.

At least, that’s what I told myself.

11

Maddy

When Colin’s relief showed up, a big guy who kept making eyes at the doorman, Colin left to get his things. He told me not to move from my chair.

---