Page 19 of Daddy's Little Cupcake

She already struggled with a lot of things, and when people made fun of her, it made everything so much more difficult. Charlotte felt like she could never fit in anywhere, and she tried so hard.

In the beginning, she would just act like herself, but people told her that she was annoying, clingy, too emotional, and Charlotte didn’t want to be those things. So she started to be less clingy and emotional, and people still didn’t like her.

Now, at this point, she just stuck to herself because she didn’t want to disappoint anybody else. Charlotte went to the club and played by herself. She went to the bar and drank by herself. If she went out to eat and Diana wasn’t there, she would eat by herself.

It was sad, it was lonely, but she’d started to get used to it.

“Now, how’d you slip?” James asked, turning toward Charlotte.

Charlotte looked back down at her feet, not wanting to tell James. How was he going to react when she told him she slipped trying to get away from Finn?

“Wait, before that,” James said as he turned toward Finn. “Who are you?”

Charlotte’s heart stopped beating as she stared up at Finn. How was he going to introducehimself? Was he going to say that they met at the club last night?

James and Amelia didn’t know that Charlotte went to the club, and she wanted to keep it that way. She felt weird if they knew she went there. A ton of people went to that club, but she’d never seen anyone she recognized. And she was thankful for that.

“I’m Finn, a friend of Charlotte’s,” he said, holding his hand out.

“James, owner of this bakery.”

James shook his hand before he turned back to Charlotte with a raised eyebrow. Charlotte took a step back and caved in on herself. She didn’t like the look James was giving her.

“Charlotte didn’t know I was coming to see her today. Sometimes she gets a little embarrassed when I show up unannounced. Charlie was trying to hide from me, and when she went to turn around, she slipped and fell,” Finn said before Charlotte could say anything.

Her mouth flew open, and she stared at Finn. Did he really just say that?

“Why were you trying to hide from him?” James asked, looking at Charlotte again.

She opened her mouth, ready to give an explanation but quickly shut it when she didn’t have one.

“We have some matters that we need to discuss, and Charlotte’s been avoiding them,” Finn said again.

Charlotte didn’t know how she felt about Finn speaking for her. On one hand, she was grateful because she didn’t have to think about coming up with a lie or an answer, but on the other hand, she didn’t like that he kept talking for her.

It made her feel safe and like he cared for her, but Finn wasn’t her Daddy. He shouldn’t be doing this.

“Charlotte, can I talk to you alone for a second?” James asked before he looked at Finn. “If you could wait in the customer area, that would be great.”

Charlie looked up at Finn and saw that he was hesitant to leave. Did he really care about her that much? Charlotte knew Diana and James cared, but they had known her for years. Finn hadn’t even known her for a full day yet.

“It’s otay,” Charlotte whispered to him.

Finn looked down at her and gave a small smile. His hand came up and held her cheek for a second. “I’ll be right out there if you need me.”

Charlotte nodded her head and watched as Finn left the kitchen area.

“Charlotte?” James said.

She looked over at him. What did he want to talk about that Finn couldn’t be around for? Did something happen, and he was letting her go?

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she looked down at her feet.

“What are you sorry for?” he asked.

“It was inappropriate for me to be in his arms. I’ve been distracted all day and haven’t done a good job.”

James kneeled in front of Charlotte and brought her head up with his hand.

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