Page 9 of Daddy's Naughty List

“Thank you.” She blinked back the last of her tears. “I mean… thanks for believing in me.”

He pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the tearstains on her face. “There’s my good girl. Ready to go?”

Susan squeezed her thighs together in an attempt to hide her reaction to being called his good girl. “Yes, Sir.”

After curling her fingers around the handkerchief, he hurried to the driver’s side and got in. “So, we have a house, pets, cooking, and a Mediterranean cruise. What else is on your bucket list?”

“Um…” She shuffled through the scattered list, careful to hide the last page. “I decided I want to climb Kilimanjaro too, but I also want to do a Lake Victoria photo safari and visit Senegal.”

“Good choices.” He waited for a car to pass before getting on the road back to her apartment. “What else?”

She slid the first sheet to the bottom of the stack. “I want to visit a zoo and pet an elephant.”

“Hmm. If you’re up for a short road trip, we could go to the Phoenix Zoo. I don’t know about petting an elephant, but they have a Christmas light display.”

“Could we?” Unable to control her excitement, Susan bounced in her seat and turned to face him. “Really?”

“Sure. I haven’t been there since I was a kid, so it’ll be new for me too.” He glanced at her and smirked. “But if you really want to pet an elephant, you could go to Thailand.”

“Thailand? Where is that?”

“It’s a country south of China. They even have places where you can ride one. India too.”

“Goodness. That sounds amazing.” She scrambled for her purse and withdrew a pen to add Thailand to the page, hoping she spelled it correctly. “Maybe I need to sort my list. It’s getting really long.”

“Bucket lists should be long.” He turned into her apartment complex and parked in front of her unit. “I’d say what you have right now is a good start.”

“You think so?” Lord, Susan wanted to melt every time he praised her.

Praise kink, anyone?

Finally, after almost a year of working at Club Apocalypse, she had a real, live kink.

“I do. And remember, you can change it any time you want.”

“Yes, Sir.” Her cheeks heating, she added, “It just seems to get longer every time I think about it.”

“Even better.” Before she could unfasten her seatbelt, he laid a hand on her knee. “You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because it won’t be long before you start crossing things off.” He removed his hand, leaving her knee tingling. “Do you need help with your costume?”

“No, Sir.” She unfastened her seatbelt and opened the door, then hopped out without waiting for him to help her. “Thank you. I’ll be quick.”

Chapter Four

Walt

Smiling, he straightened the stack of paper Susan left scattered on her seat, unable to stop himself from peeking. The very act of writing her wishes down made them tangible. Susan had so many dreams, and he was delighted she’d been brave enough to put them on paper.

Hell, everything about her delighted him.

“Disney World is doable,” he murmured under his breath, “but Thailand might be cheaper.”

Then again, she’d look damned cute in sparkly pink mouse ears and a yellow Belle dress.

He flipped through the rest of the pages and froze when he read the single line on the last sheet.

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