Page 23 of Daddy's Little Surprise

“Good boy.”

She briefly closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in to calm herself down.

“Now, what do you mean it’s not an even number?” Daddy asked again.

“I.” She stopped herself. She didn’t really want to tell him. He didn’t need to understand she liked even numbers. He didn’t need to know.

There was no way Daddy was going to stick around long enough for it to matter. She was pregnant with another man’s baby, a man who could come here at any point and demand things.

“What is it?” he asked. “Why did you say that?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. It was nothing.”

But it was something. He had given her seven pieces of strawberries, and she could feel her skin starting to crawl. She had learned growing up not to take things for granted. When someone gave her something, she would use it to the fullest or eat all of it, even if it was an odd number, but it didn’t mean her skin didn’t crawl.

“Not okay,” Marco said, bringing her back to the present. “What’s on your mind? Something is obviously bothering you with it not being even numbers.”

“It’s really nothing. Everything is okay.” She gave him her most fake smile.

“Bullshit.”

Her eyes went wide. She was not expecting him to say that in front of her.

“Sorry, but that is the fakest smile I’ve ever seen on you. Imay not know you well, but I’ve seen your real smile, and that ain’t it.”

Rainey started to rub her hands together. Whenever she was around him, he made it so easy to talk to him and spill everything she was holding back. She was ready to tell him things she hadn’t told anyone.

Dane, started to bark again and, leaving his sitting position, walked up close to her. Nuzzling his nose into her neck, he sat beside her and looked up.

“Why is he looking at me like that?” she whispered, trying to change the subject.

It was like he could tell how she was feeling.

“He knows you’re getting anxious and wants to help,” Marco replied. “Even if he broke command.”

Her eyes went wide as she stared at the dog. No way could he tell.

“I thought he wasn’t trained like that,” she said, looking up at Marco and making an assumption about Dane.

“He’s not formally trained as a service dog, but I have trained him a lot,” he replied. “Pet him. It’ll ease your anxiety but also help him.”

Rainey started to pet Dane and could feel herself start to relax.

“Such a good girl,” Daddy praised her.

Once again, her eyes went wide. Did he just call her a good girl? Where had that come from?

“Now, tell me what’s wrong. Why did you say it was not an even number?” he asked.

She took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to tell him. He would make fun of her like all the other people she had told.They had never let it go, and even fifteen years later, they were still giving her trouble.

“You are in a safe place,” Marco gently said. “I would never laugh at you for it or get angry at you. I promise.”

“It’s really nothing. Silly if you ask me,” she mumbled. But it wasn’t silly to her. It helped her skin not crawl and put her mind at ease.

“Not silly at all. If you really don’t want to tell me or aren’t comfortable, I’m not going to force you. But if it helps you, I want to know.”

And there he went, sounding so genuine like he cared. Rainey knew that sounded bad. He did care, and he showed it every time he walked into her coffee shop and every time they interacted outside of when she was working.

---