Page 76 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“Probably. I need to get going, but again, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. See you round.”

They ended the call and Beckett gave into the fist-pump urge.

It was going to be a great fucking day.

Ruby

Beckett

Still on for dinner at 7?

Butterflies dancing in her stomach like a middle-school girl with a crush, Ruby grinned down at her phone as she typed out a response to Beckett.

Ruby

Yup. Where are we going? Do I need to dress fancy?

Nope. There’s a place about 30 minutes from here that makes a fantastic burger. Are you good with me driving that far or would you rather meet me?

God, she loved that he thought to ask. A lot of so-called Doms in her experience would have expected her to simply fall in line with whatever they decreed. Which was why none of those Doms had lasted more than a scene or two with her before running for the hills.

I’m good with playing passenger princess.

Perfect. I’ll pick you up at your place at seven, as planned.

Sounds good.

The sound of someone clearing their throat jerked her attention up from her phone, and heat infused her cheeks at the sight of Nancy, the co-worker who had been assigned to train her for her new assignment, staring down at her with a stony expression. “Phones aren’t allowed at your desk, Ruby.”

“Really?” That was news to her, though it probably shouldn’t surprise her. It wasn’t like she got to spend all day at the coffee shop on her phone, either. “Sorry, I didn’t realize.”

“Uh-huh. Are you ready to get back to work or do you need to text your boyfriend back?”

He’s not my boyfriend.The denial sat heavy on her tongue, but she held it back and offered up a sugary-sweet smile instead. “Nope, he can wait. What’s next on the list?”

Four hours later, she was finally on her way home, with her head so stuffed full of brand-new knowledge she thought it might burst. She downed a couple Tylenol and a bottle of water before heading to her bedroom to stand in front of her closet.

Beckett had said burgers, and he’d specifically told her not to dress fancy.

But what if his definition of fancy and hers differed like alot? Jeans and a cute top would work for most burger places she knew of, but he said they were heading out of town. Thirty minutes out of town.

What the hell was thirty minutes outside of Charleston?

The internet was of no help in that regard since she had no idea which direction they would be going for that thirty minutes.

In the end, she settled for swapping out her top for a sweater in a deep cobalt blue that never failed to give her a bit of an ego boost. Plus it was soft enough she could almost imagine it was cashmere, which was one of the few luxuries she missed from her old life.

She added a pair of sapphire drop earrings that had been a Christmas splurge for herself with the generous bonus Braden had gifted her before the holidays. The more logical, realistic side of her had cried a bit when she’d swiped her debit card, insisting that money would be of better use in her meager savings account, just in case. But the part of her that had always had a weakness for shiny things had been positively gleeful over them for days.

And honestly, what was the point of living a life on her own terms if she didn’t get to enjoy it every now and again?

The buzzer for her front door sounded just as she was spritzing herself with the perfume Tara had given her for Christmas—another gift she hadn’t been expecting, and one she’d had to fight back tears over when she’d opened it.

A quick check of her phone told her she still had a good ten minutes before Beckett was supposed to show up, and she rolled her eyes as she hurried over to hit the button to unlock the front door. “Come on up, I’m still getting ready.”

Keeping an ear out for his knock, she headed back to her bathroom to do… something with her hair, she wasn’t exactly sure what. Obviously she didn’t have time to straighten or curl it, since Beckett was already here.

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