Page 6 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“Thank you, Ruby Red.” He hovered for a moment, rather than moving to the end of the counter, his eyes boring into hers. “Will I see you tonight?”

Great. Now she was never going to convince Jay there was nothing going on between her and the hot, obviously loaded Beckett Stone. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“I see.”

There was a wealth of meaning in those two words. She just wasn’t sure what that meaningwas. Disappointment? Anger? Hurt?

Not knowing had her stomach twisting into knots. To cover the disconcerting feeling, she offered up a polite smile. “Sir?”

That hint of smugness returned to his face. “Yes?”

“You’re holding up the line. Could you please move down to the end of the counter to wait on your drink?”

Beckett blinked, and then to her complete surprise, he let out a long, loud laugh. “Of course. My bad. Thank you for the drink recommendation, Ruby.”

“You’re welcome, Sir.”

He moved down the counter as requested, and she somehow managed to ring up their next few customers while he waited.

But instead of getting his drink and leaving like she’d expected him to, he carried his cup and the scone she’d added to his order over to a table. Right in her direct line of sight. With that same self-satisfied smile still on his face, he lifted his cup as if toasting her, and sipped.

It was going to be a long fucking morning.

Beckett

Flustering Ruby was fast becomingone of his favorite pastimes. At the club, she was the badass bartender, and while he’d managed to fluster her a bit on occasion, it was nothing compared to the way she’d blushed and stumbled her way through their conversation just now.

Which only seemed fair, considering he’d been feeling a bit flustered himself at the sight of her behind the counter, looking dead on her feet despite the bright smile she offered up to all of her customers. And her co-workers, he noticed. When there was a lull between guests, they all laughed and joked together in a way that told him they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company.

Still, he didn’t love those dark circles under her eyes. She’d been at the club until nearly two last night. How early had she needed to report this morning?

Not your problem. Right. Not only was she not his submissive, they hadn’t even done a scene together yet. Which meant Ruby… shit, he didn’t even know her last name.

Definitely not his concern.

If shehadbeen his, however, he would make it very clear that she needed to be more intentional about her schedule. Closing the bar at the club and then opening at the coffee shop would never happen under his watch. And if she tried to go around him, like a brat of her caliber would be expected to do, she would learn very quickly that Daddy Beckett did nottolerate disobedience. Especially where health and safety were concerned.

Grief, old and familiar, yet still as raw as ever, slammed into his chest. Reminding him of why he wouldn’t be taking on that role for pretty little Ruby, or any other brats for that matter. Playing at the club was one thing, but when it came time to settle down, he wanted—needed—someone who could be trusted to listen. An obedient little subbie girl who followed the rules and didn’t take unnecessary risks.

The bell above the door rang again, distracting him from Ruby and his own dark thoughts as he glanced over. Good. Jonas was here, which meant he could focus on work instead of reminding himself of all the reasons Ruby wasn’t, and never would be, his concern.

Jonas waved in acknowledgment before walking up to the counter. From his seat, Beckett could only hear snippets of the conversation, enough to know Jonas was flirting with her the way he did with pretty much every living, breathing human he came into contact with. So there was no reason for the churning in his gut, the burn in his chest that made him want to snarl at him to get the fuck away from her.

What he was feeling must have shown on his face, because when Ruby next glanced over at him, her eyes went wide and she quickly looked away again.

Fuck.

Schooling his face into what he hoped was a more pleasant expression, he sipped at his drink again—points to Ruby for an excellent recommendation—and waited for Jonas to join him at the table.

Which he did a few minutes later, a shit-eating grin stretched across his face and his eyes sparkling with an excitement Beckett recognized all too well. “I have news.”

“What kind of news?”

“Preston Kingsley is shopping around.” Looking positively gleeful, Jonas leaned in. “Rumor has it Pinnacle fumbled the ball and lost him nearly ten billion on the last deal they brokered and he’s pissed.”

A familiar hunger rose up inside him and Beckett straightened in his chair. “Really, now?”

Preston Kingsley was the one percent of the one percent. The man had built and destroyed more empires in a single lifetime than most people could even fathom. Stone Investments was already on the map and had been for a while, but landing someone like Preston would mean theyownedthe map.

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