Page 89 of Daddy's Naughty List

“Ah, well, a mother can still dream. Here, let me take that casserole and you two can go join Dom and Noelle out on the back deck.”

“Thanks, Mama.”

“You’re welcome. Now go. Get out of my kitchen.”

Laughing, he dragged Taylor out back where Dom and Noelle had claimed a set of Adirondack chairs.

“Hey lazy bums,” Noelle said, flashing them a wide grin. “What took you so long?”

As soon as the question left her mouth, Noelle’s eyes went wide. A quick glance to his right revealed Taylor’s bright red face, and this time Ian couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“Oh, ewwww. It’sChristmas,you pervs!”

“Noelle.” Despite the warning in his tone, Dom’s eyes danced with amusement. “Leave them alone.”

“I didn’t do anything!”

Leaning over, Dom whispered something in Noelle’s ear that hadherface turning just as red as Taylor’s and Ian had to bite his tongue to keep from groaning.

“Merry Christmas, brat,” he said instead, bending down to brush a kiss across her cheek.

“Merry Christmas. Now, if you’ll excuse us, Taylor and I need to go compare notes on what Santa brought us.”

Popping up from her chair, Noelle grabbed Taylor’s hand and dragged her into the house. Leaving Ian alone with the man who was going to be his brother-in-law.

It was still weird, thinking of Noelle as a whole person instead of just his baby sister. A whole person who was grown enough to have a job and a fiancé at that.

But since she was, and since Dom was going to be part of the family, Ian lowered himself into the chair Noelle had just vacated. “Having a good Christmas so far?”

“Can’t complain.” Dom’s smile turned sheepish. “I might have spoiled Noelle a bit. It’s our first real Christmas together and I may have gone a bit overboard.”

“If Taylor comes out here asking for a pony or something, I’m holding you personally responsible.”

Tossing his head back, Dom let out a loud laugh. “Nothing as drastic as that, I promise. It’s just hard to say no to her, you know?”

“I get that.”

As his laughter faded, Dom tilted his head to the side, studying Ian with eyes that seemed to see far more than Ian was comfortable with. “You and Taylor seem more… settled today. Everything back to normal?”

“Yes and no.” It was weird, discussing his personal life with Noelle’s fiancé, but he only had so many sources. “We talked about the punishments and stuff. But we also, ah, talked about her being more… Little.”

“More Little?” Brows furrowing, Dom frowned. “Like more often? Or younger?”

“Both, I think. We’ve been playing around with her being my Baby and it feels right. For both of us.”

“I love that for you.” Dom tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair, as though he was carefully considering his next words. “You know it’s okay if you want to be softer for her, right? I know Matt and Edie were giving you a hard time yesterday but if you’re not comfortable being as strict when she’s in that younger headspace, it’s okay. You don’t owe any of us an explanation for how your dynamic operates.”

“I appreciate that. But it was never really about me notwantingto be strict with her. It was more about the guilt I’d been feeling around it lately. Like, I’d punish her and it felt so good and then I’d start to question myself. And then I’d start comparing myself to you and?—”

“To me?”

Shit. He hadn’tactuallymeant to tell him that, but the proverbial cat was out of the bag now. “Yeah. You keep Noelle in line without being over the top with the rules and stuff, and I just started to wonder if I should be more like you, I guess.”

“Dude. The worst thing you can do in any relationship, but especially one like ours, is compare yourself to others. You gotta find what works for you and Taylor, and that’s going to look completely different from what works for me and Noelle. Or even Matt and Carly.”

“I did finally come to that realization myself last night. Thanks in part to a certain Little girl telling me in no uncertain terms how much she loves it when I’m strict with her. And how much of a dumbass I was for second-guessing myself.”

“Good. I’m not saying it’ll be smooth sailing from here on out, because relationships like ours require constant attention and adjustments to make things work. But I’m glad you two talked it out and you’re focusing on what works best for you, not what works best for everyone else.”

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