Page 45 of Until I Find You

He only nods.

The car ride home, the rest of the night, what I really want to call him lies on my tongue like a magnet I’m afraid to swallow.

Daddy. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.

9

JACK

I stareat the digital clock at my bedside. The time switches from two fifty-one to two fifty-two.

When we got home from dinner, I crashed almost immediately, the whisky becoming oppressive for my brain.

However, now my body is wired. Awake.

Remembering what I said to Camilla. What she said to me. And how her hand was pressed against my chest and our lips were so close.

How she almost called me “Daddy”, knowing that it would drive me fucking wild.

I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling, sober now. Aware how stupid I must have sounded and terrified for the morning and how she’ll act around me.

All that separates us is a pillow, but she may as well by miles away.

And it’s all my fault.

I rub my hands over my eyes, praying a headache isn’t starting to come on and swear under my breath so as not to wake her.

“Daddy?”

My heart stops.

“Are you awake?”

I turn my head to the side and look at Camilla in bed beside me. She’s looking at me. Her amber eyes brilliant and shining in the dark like a cat.

“What did you call me?” I must be dreaming or maybe I misheard.

All I hear is Camilla’s breathing for a few moments. Then, again, a whispered, “Daddy.”

My cock is already standing at attention.

“I called you ‘Daddy’.”

Third time is the fucking charm. I grab the pillow separating our hips and toss it off the bed. No more separation. Then, I take the top of the blanket covering Camilla between my fingers.

I lift my eyes to hers for permission.

Camilla nods.

So, I pull the blanket back, revealing her scantily clad body. A tiny nightgown that in the wiles of sleep has become rumpled, lifted up enough to reveal the tops of her thighs and her underwear. The straps are also out of place, one of her breasts almost freed from its cover.

“Touch me,” she whispers.

If that’s what baby girl needs, that’s what baby girl gets.

Because I’m her Daddy. If for tonight or longer, I don’t know.

But tonight…

---