Page 203 of Daddy, Sir

The voice was deep. Familiar. Unmistakable.

She didn’t even have to turn around.

Her breath caught, her heart hammering. Slowly, she lifted her head, hands tightening around the doll in her lap.

Greyson.

He washere.

Chapter Three

Greyson

Greyson hadn't been able to shake her from his thoughts.

From the moment she walked away from him at that restaurant, Lily had taken up permanent residence in his mind yet again.

He told himself it was just nostalgia. That it was the shock of seeing her after so many years. But as the days passed, an ache settled deep in his chest, one he hadn’t felt in years.

He thought about her at night when he lay in bed, staring into space. Remembered the way she used to curl up in his lap, resting her head against his chest while he read to her. Remembered the soft lilt of her voice when she called himDaddy. Remembered the way she had trusted him, given herself over to his care so completely.

And then he had walked away from her. From their future.

Leaving her had been the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. Serving his country had been his duty, his responsibility, and he had done it with pride. He was proud of his service. But Lily had beenhis. The one thing in his life that had felt effortless. Pure.She had made him feel like the best Daddy in the world, and she had been the perfect Little for him.

But that had been nearly twenty years ago.

Surely, she was married by now or at least there was someone who filled that need in her life. It was pretty obvious by the way she’d rushed away from him that she had no interest in him. He had no claim to her, no right to eventhinkabout what could have been with her.

He needed to let her go once and for all.

By Friday, he'd had enough of torturing himself with his regret. If he was going to move on, he needed to reclaim the part of himself he’d buried for so long.

So he went toThe Playground.

The club was familiar, though he hadn’t been since the last time he’d been in town several years prior. It was a world he had once thrived in, a place where he had feltwhole. Of course, that had also been when he’d been there with Lily.

He stepped inside, nodding to a few familiar faces as he entered the littles’ play area, his eyes scanning the area.

But then, his heart stopped.

Because he sawher.

Lily.

He would recognize those curves anywhere, the delicate slope of her neck, the way she moved, so effortlessly soft, so naturally little.

She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, a doll in her lap, her hair in pigtails tied with pink satin bows like he always used to do for her. A frilly dress pooled around her, the color soft and sweet, just like her.

His pulse raced.

For a moment, he thought he was imagining it, that his mind was playing some cruel trick on him. But no.

It was her.

And from what he could tell, she was there alone.

Before he could stop himself, he took a step forward, then another. His body moved on instinct, years of longing pulling him toward her like a magnet.

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