Page 10 of Tilly's Tutus
Tilly nodded just before she yawned widely. “Sorry, it’s been a long day.”
“Looks like you need to go right home and get to bed,” Carter said, wishing he could take her home with him and let her be Little for the evening before returning to the convention tomorrow for another day of adulting. But he knew it was still too early in their relationship to harbor such desires.
Not that that was stopping him.
Chapter Six
“I hate to intrude, but we’re getting ready to close.” Their waitress paused, setting a black folder with their bill on the table.
Tilly looked around the room, surprised to see there were only two occupied tables. Theirs, and the one across the room where Lottie and a man looked to be deep in conversation. They had been discussing she and her sisters needing to move and Carter had given her a number of options for the better apartment complexes three of them could move into.
“Oh my goodness, where did all the people go?” she asked. “I’m so sorry we’ve held you up.”
“Not a problem, Miss. You two looked like you were having a good time. I’ll be back in a minute,” the waitress said before walking over to the table where Lottie and her man sat.
Tilly pulled her wallet out of her purse, but froze when Carter cleared his throat.
“What?”
“Put it away,” he said with a slight frown.
“But …”
“My girl doesn’t pay when she’s out with me,” Carter stated, his voice taking on a stern tone.
“But I invited you to join us,” she argued, not wanting Carter to feel obligated. He’d already done so much for her just by dealing with Bob and putting together the rack for her.
Carter shook his head slowly. “What kind of assholes have you been with that they would dare allow you to buy them dinner?”
Tilly thought over the men she’d dated in the past. They’d all expected her to pick up at least her meal, and if she’d asked them to dinner then they’d expected her to pick up the whole tab, and on those evenings, they usually added a drink or two to the bill. Which was normally why she stopped seeing them.
“They were assholes,” she murmured. “But shouldn’t I at least pay for my dinner?”
“What did I just say?”
“Your girl doesn’t pay when she’s out with you,” she said. “Does that mean I’m your girl?”
Before answering her, Carter pulled the paper receipt out of the folder. After a glance at it, he laid several bills into the folder before closing it again and turning his full attention back to her.
“I’d like you to be,” he answered carefully, “but the real question is if you would like to be my girl. Would you?”
Tilly hesitated for only a second before she nodded. “Yes, I’d very much like to be your girl. That is, if you want me to be.”
Carter laid his large hand on the table palm up. She laid hers on top of it, and smiled in relief when he closed his fingers around her hand.
“I would very much like you to be my girl. My girl, my Little, my woman, and maybe someday my wife.”
Tilly blinked at his certainty that they could be together long enough to talk about marriage. “Wow, you sure are sure, aren’t you?”
“I’ve been looking for you for a long time. I can see my tomorrows with you already. But for tonight, we need to get outof here so they can close up and you need to get home and get some sleep so you’re bright and bouncy for tomorrow.”
Carter rose, then helped her from her seat. He adjusted his hold on her hand before leading toward the front door. Once outside, he walked her to her SUV.
Tilly wished they could continue in the bubble that had surrounded them for the last three hours. They’d talked about everything from favorite foods, colors, and desserts, to their jobs and their ideas of what a Daddy Dom/Little girl relationship might look like. Carter had even shared a few of the rules he would expect her to follow.
Everything seemed to line up, which made her wonder for a moment if Carter McGee really was as perfect as he seemed. Or was he showing her a mirage, and eventually would be tired of being perfect for her and the real man would come out? She believed Carter McGee was exactly who he claimed to be: a hard-working cop and a genuine Daddy. While she wasn’t as naive as Carri, she was also not as cynical as Lottie.
“Now, little dancer, I want you to be safe going home, get some good sleep and I’ll see you at the convention tomorrow,” Carter said softly as he bent closer.
