Page 63 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“You don’t look fine.” Eyes narrowing, she raked her gaze over Ruby’s face. “You look pissed. What’s going on?”

“I don’t even know,” Ruby said with a groan. “I told you guys Beckett was acting weird at the coffee shop this morning.”

“Right. Did you text him?” Silver asked.

“I did. He said everything was fine and he was just ‘in his head’ about something and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on me again. So I figured we were fine. Until he came storming in here, guns blazing, trying to pull the Daddy card and telling me I needed to go home.”

Lottie frowned, her brows drawing together in confusion. “I thought hewasyour Daddy. At least when you’re here at the club.”

“Not when I’m working. That was part of the deal.”

“That makes sense.” Ivy, who had joined them at some point without Ruby noticing, nodded. “Mixing that kind of dynamic with work can get really complicated.”

Taking hold of Ivy’s ponytail, Cordelia tugged, pulling her girl’s head back. “It’s only complicated when you decide to be a brat.”

“Or when you start worrying about me for no reason,” Ivy shot back with a sassy grin.

“Can the foreplay wait until we hear Ruby’s story?” Frankie’s tone was dry as she raised an eyebrow at the pair, earning her the same from Cordelia in return.

“Of course.” Cordelia’s tone was smooth and clearly unbothered. “Continue, Ruby.”

“I mean, that’s pretty much it.” Ruby shrugged. “I reminded him of our agreement and told him if he had a problem with me working tonight he could leave.”

Cocking her head to the side, Cordelia studied her in a way that told Ruby her Domme side was about to come out to play and Ruby just barely resisted the urge to squirm under her scrutiny. “Why would he tell you to go home? It’s not like he didn’t know you work here.”

“I guess he’s pissed because I worked all day, already.” Which she had every right to do without Beckett’s approval because he wasn’t her Daddy.

But judging by the way Cordelia pursed her lips, he had at least one ally in the group. “At the coffee shop?”

“Yeah. Well, I had a short shift there this morning and then I went to my temp job.”

“Whoa, wait up.” Lottie held her hands up in the time-honored ‘time out’ gesture. “What temp job? Since when do you have three jobs?”

“Since always, but my third job is usually just running food deliveries at lunch. You can make decent money during the lunch rush.”

“What about the other job?” Lottie pressed.

“I have a friend who manages a temp agency and sometimes when they’re in a bind she taps me to come help out. I worked for them yesterday, and apparently they liked me enough to ask if I would come back today, too.”

“So you worked a shift at the coffee shop, then I assume a full eight-hour day at this temp job, and then you agreed to come in and cover a full six-hour shift at the club?”

Yup. Just as she’d expected, Cordelia was in full Domme mode. And clearly on Beckett’s side.

“You’re making it sound worse than it really is. I’m only working until Nina gets here in a couple hours.”

“She also hasn’t had a day off in over a month,” Silver offered up.

“Oh, honey.” Ivy’s voice was filled with sympathy as she stepped forward to wrap her arms around Ruby. “No wonder he’s so worried about you. That’s not sustainable.”

“I know. But I have bills to pay, and it’s not like people are just giving away good-paying jobs these days.”

Understanding lit Cordelia’s eyes, but it didn’t soften the steel in her gaze one bit. “Trust me when I tell you that nobody here understands that as well as me. But we need to find you a schedule that doesn’t risk putting you in the hospital.”

Looking around at the women gathered around her, Ruby frowned. “We?”

“Duh.” Lottie rolled her eyes. “You’re ours now. Frankie and I both have contacts, well, pretty much everywhere. We’ll start poking around, see who has openings.”

“No.” Panic wrapped icy fingers around Ruby’s throat. “I don’t want a job someone else got for me. I don’t want to owe you.”

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