Page 48 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“Ah. Thank you for thinking of it, but I’ll take care of it.”

Of course he could lock and unlock his whole damn house without even being there. Why wouldn’t a man with more money than god be able to control his whole life from a distance?

Because the thought made her more uncomfortable than she cared to admit, she shoved it to the back of her mind. “Okay. Um. Thanks for last night. It was fun.”

“You’re welcome, Ruby Red. I have to get going, Jonas is in my office tapping his watch and glaring at me. I’ll see you tonight, let’s say around seven?”

That should give her plenty of time to swing by her apartment after her shift for a quick change into more club appropriate clothes, so she nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

“Good girl. Enjoy your day off, Ruby. Get some rest. I have plans for you tonight.”

“Ah… about that. I sorta got called into work.”

Her confession was met with silence, and she shifted nervously from foot to foot as she waited for a response. “Beckett? Are you there?’

More silence. Which meant he’d probably hung up, or closed the app, or however the fuck those things worked.

Oh, well. She’d tell him about getting called into work when she saw him at the club later tonight. Maybe he’d feel sorry for her and fuck the stress away.

Dreaming of all the delicious ways her ‘Daddy’ might help her unwind after her day, she jogged down the steps to her car and headed to work.

Beckett

More than once throughoutthe course of the day, Beckett found himself reaching for his phone to text Ruby. It was the kind of thing he’d do if he was her Daddy, and he had to remind himself every single time he picked up his phone that he wasn’t responsible for her. And even when he managed to convince himself that he should check in on her, just as her play partner, he had to remind himself thatshehad been very adamant about their dynamic not spilling out into the ‘real world’.

But no matter how much he lectured himself, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Wondering about her. What she was doing, how she was feeling. If she was getting enough rest or if she was finding a million things to do to keep herself busy instead.

That last led to many, many fantasies of how he’d punish her for not taking care of herself. A spanking, naturally, and then he’d make her sit on her red-hot bottom to either write lines or an essay about the importance of self-care. After which they’d cuddle on the couch with her favorite dinner, watching a movie she picked out.

Of course, he wouldn’t actuallydoany of those things. That was how he’d behave if she was his, but since he wasn’t looking to be her Daddy outside of the club, those fantasies would have to remain firmly in his head.

Still, he was looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble she might get herself into at the club tonight. With a brat like Ruby, the odds were in his favor that she’d try to push him at least a little bit when they were at the club. Especially if she was still trying to win her bet or whatever it was with Frankie.

Which is how he found himself sitting at a booth, sipping a bottle of water a full half-hour before they were scheduled to meet. Loud laughter caught his attention and he looked over to the stairs, where Lottie and Frankie were making their way up to the restaurant, their arms linked.

But no Ruby.

Dammit.

Lottie spotted him, and her entire face lit up as she pointed him out to Frankie. And the next thing he knew, they were descending on his table, sliding into the booth across from him with twin expressions of barely concealed excitement.

“Ladies.” He kept his tone even as he greeted them. “What have I done to deserve the pleasure of such company this evening?”

Across from him, Frankie rolled her eyes as Lottie giggled into her hand. “Can’t two girls just sit and chat with a friend?” Frankie asked, her tone borderline defiant which amused him tono end since he knew damn well it wasn’t him she was rebelling against.

“Of course you can. It’s just unusual to see you without your entourage.”

Holding up her fingers, Lottie counted off. “Ivy and Delia are both working tonight. Silver and Ice are running late, which means Silver either got herself in big trouble or Ice took one look at her in her club gear and jumped her bones. And Ruby… well, we were hoping you knew where Ruby was, actually. She’s not answering her texts.”

The hairs on the back of Beckett’s neck stood up straight. “What do you mean she’s not answering you?”

“Relax,” Frankie said with another eyeroll. “We added her to a group text this morning for Lottie’s wedding stuff and she hasn’t checked in. But maybe she’s just not a big texter. We thought you might know.”

“I don’t, unfortunately.” It was unfortunate for him as well, seeing as how their concern had activated the ‘Daddy’ in him and his imagination was running wild with different scenarios.

It was a bit of a drive from his house back into town. Had he heard from her at all after she’d gotten in the car?

Who was her emergency contact? Would they even be able to find out if she’d been in an accident? What if she was lying in some hospital somewhere, alone and in pain, because he hadn’t bothered to check in with her all day?

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