Page 66 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“It’s not that simple. You—” As if catching herself before she said something she shouldn’t, she rolled her lips together and shook her head.

“What?”

She looked away, and everything about her seemed to tense up as if she was expecting some kind of negative reaction. “Nothing. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Ruby. Eyes on me.”

Maybe it wasn’t fair to put that hint of Daddy in his tone when she was standing there, looking so goddamn vulnerable. And he half expected her to call him on it, but she slowly shifted her gaze back to his. “Sir?”

Fuck, he was a sucker for that soft, submissive tone. “Thank you for listening. Now, please tell me whatever it is you’re trying so hard to hold back. Because from where I’m standing, all I see is someone I care about, a good friend being reckless as hell with her safety. So if there’s more to it, explain it to me. I want to understand.” And it surprised him how true that was. He should be sending her on her way, with a mutual understanding that they obviously weren’t a good match.

But he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. To watch her leave, knowing this may well have been the last chance he had to learn more about the adorable, sassy bartender with the big sad eyes.

“You can’t understand,” she said with a jerk of her shoulder. “Unless you’ve been in my shoes, working multiple jobs just to make ends meet and maybe,maybehave a spare twenty bucks to put in a savings account at the end of the month that you’ll probably have to spend anyway because your car broke down or you had to go to the doctor or any one of a dozen other unexpected expenses pops up out of nowhere, you can’t understand. And I can’t explain it to you.”

Everything in him wanted to tell her she didn’t have to worry. That Daddy would take care of her. But as much as he wanted to do exactly that, he knew without saying the words that his offer wouldn’t be welcome. “You’re right. I’ve never been in that position, and I have no idea what it’s like. But that doesn’t stop me from worrying about you when you tell me you sacrificed your one day off a month, and then you turn around and work what? Eighteen hours in a row? It doesn’t stop me from noticing the bags under your eyes or how fucking exhausted you looked back at the club.”

“I know. I… appreciate that you care.”

“But?”

The corners of her lips lifted in a sad smile. “But, I can’t let you have control over that part of my life, Beckett. I did that once and it nearly destroyed me.”

His heart cracked at the pain in her voice. “Will you tell me about him?”

Cocking her head to the side, she studied him. “Will you tell me about her? I assume there’s a ‘her’ behind that hot button of yours.”

“Maybe. Not tonight.” Not ever, if he could manage it. No matter how that little voice in his head insisted she deserved to know. That they couldn’t keep dancing around their pasts like this.

“Fair enough. Maybe I’ll tell you about him. But not tonight.”

That should be the end of it. But he found himself pulled toward her, like a magnet seeking its mate. She was his complete opposite in every possible way, but he was drawn to her in ways he couldn’t explain. Closing the gap between them, he lifted a hand to her cheek. “I should make you go home. Get some sleep.”

She raised a brow in that sassy way she had that made him want to spank her or fuck her, he never was quite sure. “Make me?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Didn’t we just have a fight about you trying to make me do things I don’t want to do?”

“Touché, Ruby Red. But you had a long day and you need your rest.”

“I need you more.”

Fuck. How the hell was he supposed to say no to that? “All right. You can stay.”

“Thank god. Take me to bed, Bex.”

Shifting his hold on her, his fingers digging ever so slightly into the soft skin of her cheeks, he forced her head back. “That reminds me. Your little nickname seems to be catching on at the club.”

“Oh?” Sheer delight danced in her eyes. “What a shame.”

“Hmm. It is a shame. For you.”

“And why is that?”

“Because every time I catch someone calling me ‘Bex’, it’s your ass that’s going to pay the price. Starting tonight.”

Releasing his hold on her, he scooped her up over his shoulder, landing a hard swat to her upturned ass while she shrieked in protest. “No fair! I didn’t know that was a rule!”

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