Page 60 of Ruin Me, Daddy

“You’re not bothering me at all. Something happen with you and your hot viking Daddy?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t know.” Letting her head fall back, Silver let out a groan of pure frustration. “Last night everything was fine and this morning he won’t even talk to me.”

“What?” Shock filled Lottie’s voice. “He’s just straight up ignoring you?”

“Not exactly. Like, he’ll talk to me but it’s the bare minimum. He won’t even let me help him with the song he’s working on.”

“Oh. So… he was working?”

Something in Lottie’s tone had Silver raising her head to glare at her new friend. “Why do you say it like that?”

“Nothing,” Lottie said, far too quickly for it to actually be nothing. And when she smiled, there was a hint of apology in the gesture that had Silver’s stomach twisting into knots. “It’s just, was he ignoring you or was he working? Those seem like really different things.”

“He was working, and ignoring me.” But Lottie’s words had those knots in her stomach tightening.

“Sure. And that sucks. But is that like, weird for him? To ignore the people around him when he’s working on a new song?”

Narrowing her eyes at the woman across from her, Silver folded her arms over her chest. “I’m not going to talk to you if you’re going to insist on being logical about shit.”

“Sorry, babe.” A buzzing sound had Lottie sighing heavily as she picked up her phone from the cushion beside her. “I’ve gotta get to work, but we can talk on my break if you want.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Pausing beside the booth, Lottie raised a brow. “Or you could call your hot viking Daddy and, you know, talk to him about what’s bothering you.”

“Maybe.”

She wasn’t against calling Ice, but she wasn’t quite ready to talk to him, either. Despite Lottie’s logic, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there really had been something wrong and that he was shutting her out.

“Well, hello.”

Glancing up, Silver nearly swallowed her tongue as the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on smiled down at her. Jet-black hair, eyes so brilliantly green they had to be contacts, and a face that looked to have been sculpted by a very ambitious angel, the man in front of her was far more suited to a Hollywood movie set than a kink club in South Carolina.

For once in her life, it was Silver who found herself starstruck and at a complete loss for words. “Ah. Hi.”

The corners of the stranger’s full mouth curled up just a fraction, lending him a hint of amusement that did nothing to dull the perfection of his face. “May I join you?”

Ireland whispered in his voice, not enough for him to have been born there, but certainly enough for him to have family overseas, or perhaps only recently moved to the states. The faint accent only made him more alluring.

“Sure. Yes. Of course.” Heat infused Silver’s cheeks as she stumbled over her words. What the hell was wrong with her? She lived in Los Angeles for fuck’s sake, she was exposed to men just as beautiful as the one settling onto the bench across from her every day.

But there was just something about him. A quality most A-List actors could only hope to imitate on screen that made him… Irresistible was the only word that came to mind.

“I’m Killian,” he said as he popped open the buttons on his impeccably fitted suit, leaning against the back of the booth in a way that spoke of comfort and familiarity.

His smile flashed then, and if she’d been in the market for a play partner she probably would have dropped to her knees then and there. “Silver. I should probably tell you I’m not looking to play tonight.”

One dark eyebrow raised. “Probably?”

A nervous laugh burst out of her. “No, not probably. I’m spoken for.” At least for now.

The thought brought with it another pang of grief, much like she’d felt the night before when she’d realized she would have to leave all of her new friends behind soon.

“Ah, more’s the pity,” Killian said, sincere regret in his tone. “We would have enjoyed each other.”

Not even a hint of doubt entered his voice, and she found herself grinning in response. “I’m sure we would have.”

“Are you here with your Daddy, then?” Another of those quick, wicked smiles flashed across his face. “Forgive me for assuming, it’s simply the nature of our club.”

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