Page 24 of Daddy's Heart

“You don’t need to be afraid of me, Samantha. I won’t—”

“I’m not,” she interjected. “I’m…” she sighed. “I’m embarrassed. I acted like such an idiot. And then…I keep trying to handle things like a grown up. Right? I mean, I’m a grown up. I do adult things all the time. I AM an adult. But sometimes, I just…” She took a deep breath. “It was really wrong what I did. You’ve been nothing but kind to me and you don’t deserve to be treated that way. I pushed you into doing something you probably didn’t want to do, and I’m really sorry for it.”

Ryder took a breath, ready to start responding, but she cut him off before he even started.

“And I completely understand that you’d want me to find somewhere else to stay. I already called a hotel and got a room. Don’t worry about George, I’ll tell him something.” She finally lifted her gaze to his. Her eyes were distant, as though she’d pulled herself away from their conversation to get through it.

She was being terribly hard on herself. For nothing.

He sat down on the couch beside her, draping one arm over the back. “Samantha.” He blew out a breath. “I’m not even sure where to start. You had a lot going on in that beautiful head of yours.”

The blush bloomed, and she bit down on her lower lip.

“First off, I know you’re sorry. And I know you might be a little embarrassed. Maybe I shouldn’t have jumped the gun with the spanking, but you really needed it.”

“I did.” She nodded in agreement. “But—”

“But nothing.” He shook his head to keep her from going off in a rambling tangent again. “You needed it, and I didn’t mind helping you—hell, I wanted to. Aside from cursing at me, you were obviously having trouble getting yourself composed. It happens. Some people need to scream into a pillow, other’s need a bare-assed spanking.” He lifted a shoulder.

“I shouldn’t need a spanking.”

He reached over and ran his thumb along her jawline. “You need what you need, little girl. Fighting who you are never helps. Besides, I liked taking care of you this afternoon.”

She pinched her lips together.

“As for you getting a hotel…” he dragged in a heavy breath, “I won’t stop you, but I don’t want you to.”

“Really?”

He huffed. “Yes, really. I don’t say things just to say them. If I say something, I mean it.” He brushed her hair away from her face. “You really had a shit day.”

“You can curse, but I can’t?” she teased.

He raised a brow. “I’m going to lay this out for you, plain and simple.” He cupped her chin with his hand and stared into her blue eyes, so clear, so open. “If you stay here…and I do want you to stay here…I don’t think I can just be your roommate.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, resting in his hand, not giving any indication she wanted to pull away.

“It means I’d like to be more. If you need help like you did this afternoon, I’d like to step in without stepping out of line,” he said firmly. Pretending to ignore his attraction wasn’t going to work. Not when something as simple as a gentle smile from her made his heart beat in weird patterns.

“I…it’s been a while since I had someone like that,” she said softly.

“For me too. And I’m not saying we jump into anything heavy. When you’re ready for something a bit…well, more, you’ll tell me. We won’t go further than this until you say so.”

“So, if I come storming in throwing a tantrum…” her words trailed off, letting him finish her thought.

“If you behave like that again, I’ll punish you just like I did today. And…little girl…you aren’t going to pretend to be anyone you’re not. If you feel like getting your jammies on and having a coloring party in the living room, you do it. If I catch you trying to be a big girl when your insides don’t want it, you’ll be put over my knee for a much longer, much harder spanking.”

“I—” She pulled back, blinking away the sudden tears. “What about George?”

Ryder laughed. “If he wants to be a little girl, he can do it at his place.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“I know.” He rested his hand on her shoulder. “We can tell him we’ve decided to see each other, or we don’t tell him anything. I’ll let you decide.”

“If we don’t tell him, it would be like lying, right?”

Ryder nodded. “Borderline.”

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