Page 23 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

“I’m glad.” Connor let go of Brian’s shoulder.

Brian nodded at Tessica. “Is she still friends with your sister?”

“She is.”

“Do you think she’ll tell her about you?”

“Definitely not. She claims she never told Erin about herself, and I believe her. She seemed just as horrified by the idea of my sister knowing as me.”

“Great, so bullet dodged. No harm, no foul,” Brian said.

“It’s not quite that clear-cut. Tessica also helped my mom run the animal shelter out of her house, and is the one who gets half the money if I sell it.”

Paul said, “Wait a minute. You’re Fiona’s son?”

Connor frowned. “That’s right. Did you know her?”

“No, I never met her, but I feel like I know her since Tessica and Gwen talk about her sometimes.”

“Gwen?” Connor looked back over at the three women watching cartoons, and then back at Paul. “Wait,thatGwen is the veterinarian Gwen who helps at the shelter?”

Paul nodded. “One and the same. Tessica met Gwen here and then introduced her to your mom once she found out Gwen was a vet.”

“Small world,” Brian muttered.

“You can say that again,” Connor agreed, and turned to Paul. “They must have been coming here for a while for you to know my mother’s name.”

“Tessica has been doing my books for five years now. And she’s been coming to Littles’ night for about four years. Gwen’s been coming for about two.”

Connor stared at the back of Tessica’s head for a few moments, taking that answer in. “She’s been coming here for years,” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Sounds to me like you both need some time to process all of it,” Paul said. “You’re both still grieving. You both have to figure out how to move forward with the shelter due to the terms of the will.Andnow you know about each other’s secret lives.”

“Damn,” Brian muttered.

Connor nodded in agreement. “We’re having dinner tomorrow night so we can talk without the pressure of people waiting for us.”

“That’s a good idea,” Paul said.

Connor turned to him. “She told me she has a Little side. Have you ever seen it?”

Paul’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not sure she’d want me to comment on that.”

“That’s fair,” Connor agreed, somewhat dejected.

After a couple moments of silence Paul added, “But I don’t mind telling you about her Mommy side since that’s the persona she displays most of the time.”

“That would be really helpful,” Connor said.

“Tessica tends to follow old-school gender stereotypes.”

“Old school?” Connor asked.

Paul nodded. “I don’t want this to come off the wrong way, but I’ve met plenty of female Dommes in my time, and most of them have a certain air about them; a certain confidence. Tessica is a much softer Domme than most. Unless she’s defending one of the Littles. Then all bets are off.”

“A mama bear,” Brian commented. “Soft and cuddly until one of her cubs is threatened. Then the claws come out.”

“Exactly,” Paul agreed. “She’ll defer to any Dominant in the room unless she thinks a Little is in distress. Then she’ll read that Dom the riot act, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she resorted to physical violence if that Dom didn’t listen to her.”

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