Page 12 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

Gwen shrugged. “Or foryou.”

“Brat,” Tessica replied affectionately. “Are you all done with the animals for today?”

“I am.”

“All right, then get out of here. I’ll see you at the club.”

Gwen gathered up her doctor’s bag and put on her winter jacket before heading out the door. “See you tonight.”

Tessica dashed through the rain in her high heels to the front door of Club Connections. Once she was in the lobby, she took her hood off and glanced around. The only other person in the room was Tucker sitting at the front desk.

“Glad you could make it,” he said.

She pulled a twenty out of her wallet and handed it to him. While he put the money away, she checked the clock on the wall. It was nine-fifteen. “Looks like I’m late.”

“You’re not that late.” Tucker got up and pushed the curtain aside that separated the lobby from the back room. He nodded for her to go through.

“Thanks.” She took her coat off, straightened her skirt, and walked through, stopping by the lockers to stash her coat and purse.

The club was decked out for Littles’ Night with four different areas. One section had a bookshelf and several pillows on the floor. Another section had a large conference table with crayons, markers, and coloring pages. A third area had a television set up with cartoons playing on low and beanbag chairs around it. The last area had a table with snacks and finger foods.

Roughly thirty-five people mingled in the room. Mostly familiar faces and five couples that Tessica recognized. Judgingby their outfits, she could tell there were more Littles than Mommies or Daddies, but that was typical. Paul always made sure the unaccompanied Littles had someone looking out for them while they were at the club. All the single Dominants were expected to step up if a Little was having a bad night.

Paul waved at Tessica from the table with snacks and headed in her direction. Before he made it to her, Gwen cheered and jumped up from a pillow next to the bookshelf. She rushed over to Tessica and gave her a tight hug.

Tessica tightened her arms around Gwen and closed her eyes for a moment. Both of her boys had stopped wanting hugs around the age of fourteen, and her ex-husband hadn’t been affectionate toward her since the twins had been three. Getting affection from all the Littles in the club helped fill that void in her life.

Gwen squirmed out of the hug and pouted. “You’re late.” She grabbed Tessica’s hand and pulled her toward the bookshelf. “Susan brought some new books. You have to read to us, Mommy Tessica.”

“New books?” Tessica commented. “How exciting. Let’s take a look.”

Paul stepped in front of them, halting their forward movement.

Gwen glared up at the 6’4” man. “No fair. I’ve been waiting forhoursfor Mommy Tessica to get here. You can’t have her.”

“Hours?” Paul asked as he raised one eyebrow.

Gwen scowled. “Well… It felt like hours, and Susan might cry if we have to wait more. She broughtnew books.”

Paul nodded. “I offered to have Jack read to all of you.”

“Mommy Tessica does it better,” Gwen declared as she crossed her arms.

“I see. Tell you what. Why don’t you and Susan go grab a couple of apple slices to eat while you listen to the story? By the time you get back, I’ll be done talking to Tessica.”

Gwen seemed to consider that suggestion very carefully. Finally, she nodded. “Okay, but you have to promise not to take too long.”

“I promise,” Paul assured her.

“’Kay.” Gwen dashed over to the reading area and took Susan’s hand.

While the two of them were getting snacks, Paul and Tessica walked toward the bookshelf at a sedate pace.

“How are you?” Paul asked.

“I’m all right. Too busy trying to make the animal shelter profitable to do much else at this point.”

Paul put an arm around her shoulders. “Gwen says you’ve been putting in quite a few hours. Maybe a few too many.”

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