Page 100 of Bet On Me, Daddy

He shoved Ruby’s phone in his pocket with his and headed back to her bedroom. She’d settled back down after her coughing fit, and she was looking much more peaceful than she had all night.

Maybe she was getting better. Maybe he was being a big ole worrywart for nothing.

Maybe.

Ruby

“I don’twannagoto the doctor.”

She’d been making the same whining protest for the past fifteen minutes, not that it seemed to matter to Beckett. He’d simply steamrolled over every protest, every complaint, every whine. Even when she’d refused to brush her teeth, he’d simply plopped her down on her toilet seat and held her mouth open while he scrubbed her teeth clean.

Which he’d only been able to do because her muscles felt like someone had poured lead into them. Everything from her head to her arms to her legs seemed to weigh a thousand pounds each and moving them took more energy than she currently had. That was the only reason she wasn’t giving Beckett more of a fight.

It had nothing to do with howniceit felt to be taken care of. To just let him completely take over and handle everything. She didn’t want him stepping in and taking over.

Shedidn’t.

Yeah. Apparently, she still sucked at lying to herself.

“I know you don’t, baby.” Beckett’s voice was surprisingly gentle, considering she’d done nothing but argue with him from the moment he’d told her he was taking her to the doctor. “But you’ll feel so much better after we do, I promise.”

“I can’t afford a doctor’s visit for a cold, Beckett.”

Glancing over at her, he cocked a brow. “Have you forgotten who I am, Ruby Red?”

“No. You’re Daddy. And you’re fucking loaded. Sorta hate that about you.”

“I know. I don’t know why, but you can tell me all about it when you’re feeling better. Isn’t that a good incentive to go to the doctor? So you can get better and tell me what a rich, entitled asshole I am?”

“Maybe. Don’t wanna.”

“Baby.” Cupping her face in his blessedly cool hands, he locked his gaze with hers. And even through the haze of whatever virus currently had her in its grip, she could see the worry, verging on panic, in his eyes. “Please don’t fight me on this. When you feel better, you can be a brat all you want. You can fight, you can break rules, you can do whatever you need to do. But right now, I need you to be a good girl. For me. Please?”

It was the worry, and the edge of panic that finally cut through her own concerns and general feeling-shittiness. “Okay, Daddy.”

Some of the panic faded from his eyes as his lips curled upward. “We’re not at the club, or in my bed.”

She hadn’t meant to. But at that moment, there was no denying hewasDaddy. “Sorry. Just slipped out.”

“I don’t mind.”

Was that another tick in the ‘Beckett’s in love with you’ column? “Don’t get used to it, Bex.”

“Even sick, you’re a brat. But don’t worry. Daddy will be keeping track for when you’re feeling better.”

“That’s not very nice.”

“You love it when I’m not very nice.”

Well, she couldn’t argue that point. So she simply kept her mouth shut as he finished helping her into a pair of clean pajamas—despite her insistence that she should wear realclothes out in public—and bundled her out the door and down to his car.

She’d thought she’d experienced all the luxuries the one percent had to offer. But as she was carried through the front door of the most pristine, cozy-looking doctor’s office she’d ever seen and straight to the back, where they immediately checked her vitals and swabbed her throat—ugh—without even stopping in the waiting room, she found herself wondering how many other hidden luxuries the rich had that she’d missed out on.

They’d barely been in the exam room for five minutes before the door opened again and a stunning woman stepped inside, a warm smile on her face. She looked to Ruby more like an actress who’d been hired to play a doctor on some tv drama than an actual doctor, with her sleek chestnut hair pulled up in a ponytail that only helped to highlight her incredible bone structure.

“Doctors aren’t supposed to be that pretty.”

She didn’t even realize she’d said it out loud until the woman tossed her head back and laughed. “Well, thank you for the compliment, Miss Ruby.”

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