Page 43 of Until Daddy

She jumped and instantly began to rub away the bit of sting he’d left behind.

“Sorry,” she muttered and pulled the sheer curtains open. “But your view is amazing.”

A look of pure astonishment covered her features and he couldn’t help but smile. The woman wasn’t just beautiful, she wasn’t just pretty—everything about her was beyond words.

“Come here.” He grabbed her hand and led her over to the bed. “Sit down on the edge.”

Once she was sitting, she folded her hands in her lap and looked up at him with expectant eyes. “What is it? You look so serious.”

“I want the air cleared between us. I wasn’t going to push, but it has to be dealt with. I want you to tell me everything. Tell me what made you so quiet on the way to Garrick’s.” He pulled an armchair from the corner of the room over to the bed and sat in front of her, placing his hands on her knees.

“I thought we came home for fun, if you want to ruin the mood for that—”

“It’s my job to take care of you, and us, and the longer this festers inside of you, the darker you feel, the bigger the gap I’m sensing between us will get. And I’m not going to let that happen. Now, if you’d like some incentive to get your mouth moving, I have my own bottle of hot sauce in the kitchen, or maybe I should pull a finger of ginger out of my fridge?”

“Ginger?” Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No, please, never ginger.”

He wanted to laugh when her cheeks blushed and her lips started to turn white from pressing them together.

“I won’t, so long as you behave like a good girl. Now, out with it.”

Carissa looked away, back to the windows.

“Carissa-girl, I don’t like repeating myself and I don’t like it when you hide things from me. I’m not asking again.” Deepening his voice seemed to get her attention.

Her shoulders dropped a bit, as well as her chin.

“It’s a surprise,” she whispered. “If I tell you, it’ll ruin it.”

“The surprise is for me?” He felt the corners of his lips tug toward a smile. She looked too adorable at the moment to get angry at her attempt to keep something from him.

“Yes, Daddy.” She nodded.

“Is it dangerous? Are you doing something that I wouldn’t like?” He couldn’t help the worry in his tone. Although he knew how intelligent and capable she was, the woman still thought she could take on the world all by herself.

“No, it’s not dangerous. I promise.” She looked up at him then, her eyes wide and her lips wet from her tongue running along them.

He narrowed his gaze and nodded. The sinking sensation in his stomach warned him nothing good was going to come from her surprise, but she appeared genuinely excited about it.

“Okay, I won’t press you on it. Are you still angry about the project; are you still worried about the hotel?”

Again, she nodded. “Even if you don’t agree to it, he’ll do it, right? He’s not going drop it just because you don’t go along with him.”

He tilted her chin until she focused on him. He could see the fear and anger mixed in her gaze. “Carissa, I’m not going to join this project, not unless he agrees on a new location. The shelter is not going to be shut down if there’s anything I can do to stop it. You have my word.”

“Your father will do whatever he wants, it’s what he does.” She leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, letting her have a moment to snuggle into him and settle her panicked mind.

Silence stretched out between them. Her fingers played with the collar of his shirt, and she let out a few ragged breaths.

“I’m not broken,” she finally said. Her voice cracked, and her fingers clenched on his chest. “I’m not like this because of my childhood.”

Jamison covered her hand with his. “What do you mean,like this? Do you mean wanting a daddy?”

“Yeah.”

“Thewhydoesn’t matter. This is how we work, this, right here. You snuggled up with me, letting me comfort my little girl. I don’t care why, I only care that it makes you happy—that this thing we do makesushappy. But I do care if someone hurts you.”

She took a ragged breath, one that caught in her throat.

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