Page 17 of Until Daddy

“I’m waiting for an answer, little girl.” His lowered voice, coupled with the intensity of his stare, made her squirm. “What was that naughty word you said?”

“Fucking,” she whispered, not quite meeting his eyes anymore.

“That’s right. That’s the word.” He cupped her chin, dragging it upward and forcing her to find his eyes.

“Why didn’t you want to tell me where you were last night? Are you seeing someone else?”

“No!” She jerked away from his touch and put distance between them. Finding a safe place behind the rocking recliner her grandmother had gifted her when she’d gone off to college, she straightened her shoulders. “I’m not seeing anyone else.”

“Good. Then please answer the rest of my question.”

Impossible man. “I was with some friends, that’s all. We met up for some drinks.” There had been wine, though she’d only indulged in one glass.

“You went out drinking?”

“No, I mean, yes, we were drinking alcohol but we didn’t go out to get plastered.” She gripped the back of the recliner in her fists.

“Why couldn’t you just tell me that? Letting off some steam after the shifts you have isn’t something I’d try to stop you from. You have a stressful job.”

That was putting it mildly. Dealing with the patients and families gave her enough of a headache, but the doctors were the real pains in the ass. Dishing out orders, barking demands, and handing out more attitude than anyone should have to deal with.

“I told you I was going out. You never said you wanted to keep tabs on me.”

“I don’t need to keep tabs on you, and I won’t be putting a tracker on your phone or any other stupid thing like that. But when I ask you a direct question, I expect a direct answer. I do not want to hear vague responses likejust out. That’s not an answer. An answer would have been,heading to the bar with my friends.”

He was on the move again, inching closer to the recliner, and the determination completely darkened his expression. He was now a man on a mission.

“And you would have said,Oh, okay?” she snapped her question.

“You’ll never know now, will you?” He quirked an eyebrow. She didn’t like his tone—hard and unrelenting.

“Fine. I should have told you.” She folded her arms over her chest, picking up her own defensive attitude to shield her from whatever he was about to say.

“Oh, little girl. Your attitude really is going to be the first thing we work on.” The smirk on his lips eased the knot in her chest enough for her to breathe a bit easier. “I don’t expect you to tell me what you are doing every second of every day, but when I ask you where you are, or where you’re going, you will tell me. Is that clear, Carissa—girl?”

Did she want that? With all her past relationships, she’d never ventured too far from the bedroom with a power dynamic. And all of those relationships had failed, miserably. Either the men were too wimpy, or too frustrated with her to give her anything other than a few rounds of spankytime before marching out.

But with Jamison, the idea of taking everything between them everywhere didn’t feel so suffocating. The fear she’d felt previously didn’t clutch her throat the way it had in the past.

That didn’t mean anything, not really. It still wouldn’t matter; once the month was up, he’d saddle up and ride off. She couldn’t let him affect her the way he was, she needed to remind herself they had a time stamp.

“Do you think I’ll tuck tail and run the first time you show me your little rebellious side?”

“I didn’t think that,” she defended herself. “I was just thinking, it was late when I got home and I’d talk to you in the morning.”

“That’s not what I told you to do, is it, little girl?”

Of course that wasn’t what he’d told her to do. That was obvious, given the fact he was glaring at her with a very clear desire to redden her ass.

“I asked you a question.”

“No, that’s not what you told me to do.”

“Remove your pants and your panties and find a corner to get comfortable in,” he instructed.

She opened her mouth to speak, sure something full of wisdom and reason would come to her aid.

Nothing. She sighed.

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