Page 24 of A Daddy for Maddy

“I love it here. I might even make some new friends.”

I frowned. “Not the daddies. Just the boys.”

“Of course, Daddy.” He opened the book and smoothed out the page before reaching for the crayons.

It made me sick that I had to leave him. But I couldn’t let myself become ridiculously over-protective. He lived with a roommate. He had a job. He was fine. It was just the nasty texts that had gotten me paranoid, and I wouldn’t allow that. I wouldn’t allow my stalker to win.

When I returned to the front doors to my usual position, I checked in with Cuddles.

“It’s a slow start tonight,” he said.

“Yeah, the club’s a little empty. But it always picks up.”

Cuddles held up his tablet. “Looks like a huge number of prepaid tickets.”

I nodded. It would be a busy night. Everyone just needed to finish their dinners first and then they’d be here.

I itched to text Maddy. I wanted him to come out here and be in my sight. I wanted him sitting in the chair by the wall again. But I couldn’t ask that. It would be so boring for him. As it was, he was going to be waiting eight hours for me to get off my shift. That seemed unfair to him, as well.

Guilt began to edge my thoughts.

When I was nervous, I fiddled with the silver band on my middle finger. Tonight, I was going to wear away the skin. I was constantly twisting it.

I could no longer resist my urges. I picked up my phone and texted him.

Colin: If you get tired, come to me and I’ll escort you home on my break.

I knew he’d driven here, but I could at least follow him home and give him a goodnight kiss, couldn’t I?

Maddy: I won’t get tired. I promise!

Already loyal. Already mine.

Well, I could hope.

13

Maddy

Daddy Colin. It was exciting to think of him that way. He was my daddy now. He had said so. I felt it strongly in my bones. I hoped he had the same opinion of me.

I was pretty sure he did. He had walked with me hand in hand to deliver me to the littles room. And he had gotten me juice. Only daddies did that.

Now he’d just texted me, worrying I might get tired. I loved being looked after like this. I loved that he cared. Plus, he’d gotten me into the club for free. I’d been worried about how I’d pay for it. I had made some tips at work, but I needed those for gas and food until my next paycheck.

My coloring was beautiful tonight. I didn’t color like a baby. I wasn’t feeling all that baby-ish at the moment. I found a great picture of a lion and I blended all sorts of colors into his mane. Gold. Green. Red. Brown. When I put my mind to it, I could make pretty nice pictures in my empty books at home. I had always loved drawing. I did it all with crayon because I couldn’t afford expensive pencils and pastels. Surprisingly, I made it work. It was my art.

“That’s pwetty!” The boy to my right could not keep his coloring within the lines. He held his crayon awkwardly.

“Thank you.”

“I wanna learn to be that good when I’m bigger.”

“You can. Just be patient,” I said.

“I a little boy. I not growed up yet.”

“That’s okay.” I smiled at him. He was in diapers which explained a lot.

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