Page 39 of Until Daddy

He was right. Garrick wouldn’t. In fact, he probably already had Jade out of the dining room so as to give them even more privacy.

“You wanted to talk in the kitchen,” she said. “We’re in the kitchen.” She couldn’t keep her voice from tightening but she managed to keep the volume down.

The little crinkle that usually formed on the side of his lips when he found her amusing was missing. There was no laughter in his eyes, or even the softness she was used to. Hard and unyielding, he stared at her from only two steps away. His presence took her breath away when he was simply looking his casually handsome self, but now, standing before her in full Daddy mode, she found herself dropping her arms from her chest and fumbling with the hem of her shirt.

The longer the silence stretched between them, the more she sank into her soft side that would probably give in too easily to whatever he wanted from her. She swallowed hard, her gaze unable to remain too long on his disappointed expression.

“What is it about this shelter that has you so wound up? I know you volunteer there, but you have to know that if they were to sell, they’d probably open up somewhere else. So, what is it?”

She settled her gaze on his chest, finding it easier than looking him in the eyes when she spoke.

“It’s nothing. It’s just not right to close it down. I’m fine.”

The air from his heavy sigh moved her hair. “What did I say about that word?”

Oh, yeah. That.

“You don’t like the word.”

“I told you not to use it any more. And I told you no cursing, but you’ve done both. And you’ve raised your voice to your friends and to me. Do you think this is how a good girl behaves?”

Her stomach twisted. Couldn’t they just go back to having dinner? Now that they were away from the table and had broken away from the topic that had pissed her off, she’d calmed down. She’d talk to him, he’d see the right of it, she could trust him. Jamison would do the right thing. He wasn’t his father. Money didn’t mean everything to him.

“I didn’t mean to raise my voice.” It was really the only concession she could give.

“You’re keeping something from me, and I don’t like it. Especially since it’s making you act rude and disobedient.”

“I said I was fine—uh—okay. I’m okay. I’m sorry I raised my voice. I’ll apologize.” She tried to walk around him, to get away from the punishing stare of his eyes, but he caught her around her middle too easily. Hauling her toward the fridge, he picked her up and put her on the countertop.

“You were naughty, and you’re still being evasive.”

“And you are ruining a nice evening by being all… all—ugh!” She went back to crossing her arms over her chest. She’d already fallen into her softer side, and it was hard to pull herself out of it to argue with him when he continued to hover over her with such dark eyes.

“I’m going to ask you once more, what is going on?”

She squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. “We can talk later.”

He sighed again, a disappointed sound that tugged at her heart. She just didn’t want to talk about his father, not yet, and not that evening.

She heard the fridge open and bottles rattle and opened her eyes to watch him. He returned to standing in front of her, holding up a bottle of hot sauce.

“What are you doing?” She tried to keep her eyes off the bottle of heat but she kept glancing at it. “Are we done? Can we go back to dinner?”

“No. Your naughtiness hasn’t been addressed yet, and you’re still in the middle of your little fit.”

Maybe he’d never seen a fit before, but those didn’t usually happen without screaming and crying.

“You can’t spank me here. They’ll hear!” She gave a pointed glance toward the dining room door.

“I have no intention of spanking you—right now, at least.” He held up the bottle again. “Besides, why make your ass pay for the sins of your mouth?”

“W-what?”

“Open your mouth and stick out your tongue, Carissa-girl.” He unscrewed the top of the bottle.

“Why?” Stupid question. She knew what he was going to do, and she wanted nothing to do with it.

“Because I said so. Do it now.”

---