Page 40 of Daddy Down Under

But every time I so easily followed his commands or fulfilled his wishes, alarm bells went off. Being with Ocean stirred up memories. Bad ones. Not because he was anything like his father. He wasn’t. The more I got to know Ocean, the more I saw Marcia in him. He had that same vibrancy, that zest for life, that charisma that drew you in.

But he also had that natural dominance, the one Victor had possessed. And like Preston, Victor had been firmly relegated to my past…until recently. I kept thinking about him, about what he and I had shared. Our life together had been good, had been gold until it wasn’t and everything crumbled. My fault as much as his—I was honest enough to admit that.

What would’ve happened if he hadn’t believed Preston? If Victor had given me a chance to explain and had listened to me? Would we have made it as a couple?

He was married now. I’d looked him up a few years ago and saw him tagged in pictures on Instagram by his wedding photographer. His husband had been younger than him—probably my age—and they’d both looked radiant and happy.

I was glad. I wanted him to be happy. Well, I did now. It had taken me a long time to stop being angry and blaming him and start to wish him well. Once I did, I’d been able to let him go…until this week.

The comparison between Victor and Ocean was an easy one, a natural one, yet they couldn’t have been more different. Victor had been fifteen years my senior, a respected businessman, and an experienced Dom—though I hadn’t figured that part out until later in our relationship. The only thing Ocean had in common with him was that dominant side, which came as easy to him as it had to Victor.

But unlike with Victor, I was terrified. When Victor and I had started experimenting, as he’d called it at first, I’d been excited, elated even. Being with him had given me something I’d never experienced before, a peace I hadn’t even known existed. The joy of submitting, Victor had called it once he’d explained the dynamics to me properly. And it had been joy. Pure, peaceful joy unlike anything else. I’d never felt it again.

Until now. When Ocean fucked me, and I surrendered to him wholly, I’d experienced that same joy of submitting. I was in so much trouble with him, but what was the alternative? Walking away? The thought alone made my insides clench. I wasn’t ready for that.

Maybe if I stayed vigilant and ensured it didn’t go too far, it would be okay. It had to be.

My phone buzzed, startling me out of my reverie. Oliver’s name flashed on the screen. I took a steadying breath, trying to shift back into business mode. “Hey, Oliver.”

“Good morning to you and a good night to me!” Oliver’s voice bubbled through the speaker. “How’s my favorite bossman doing?”

I smiled at his irrepressible cheer. “I’m good.”

“Yeah? I wanted to check in because I didn’t see any emails from you over the weekend, and I feared I might have an issue with my email. Maybe a server problem?”

Oh crap. It hadn’t even occurred to me that Oliver would notice, but of course he had. From the day he’d started working for me, he’d adopted the philosophy that if I was working, he was, so he often clocked a few hours each weekend. “No, everything is fine with the email. As far as I know, at least. I just didn’t send any emails over the weekend.”

Oliver was quiet for a beat. “Why?”

I sighed. There was no avoiding this, was there? “Because I didn’t work.”

“Did you actually leave your hotel room?”

I chuckled despite myself. “As a matter of fact, I did. I took some time to explore the city and go sightseeing like you suggested.”

There was a dramatic gasp on the other end of the line. “Sightseeing? Cash Sullivan, workaholic extraordinaire, actually played tourist? I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you!”

“Very funny,” I said dryly, but my cheeks warmed.

How could I possibly explain the whirlwind of the past few days? The unexpected connection I’d felt with a man young enough to be my son? The way Ocean had somehow slipped past all my carefully constructed defenses?

I wasn’t ready to share that yet, even with Oliver. So I deflected. “How are things at the office?”

“Oh no, you don’t,” Oliver scolded. “You can’t casually drop that you went sightseeing and then change the subject. Something’s different. I can hear it in your voice.”

Damn. Sometimes, I wished Oliver didn’t know me quite so well. “It’s not that big a deal, Oliver.”

“Oh, but it is. When was the last time you took a break? And I mean a real break, not answering emails from a different location.”

I opened my mouth to protest, then closed it again. He had a point.

“That’s what I thought,” Oliver said smugly. “So, come on, spill. What convinced you to step away from the spreadsheets?”

I hesitated, my mind flashing to Ocean’s infectious laugh, his bright eyes, the way he looked at me like I was something precious. And suddenly, I wanted to tell Oliver. “Actually, I met someone.”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, then Oliver’s voice erupted with excitement. “Youwhat? Tell me everything. Right now.”

I chuckled at his enthusiasm, even as nerves twisted in my gut. “His name is Ocean. He’s…different from anyone I’ve ever met.”

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