Page 55 of Under Daddy's Spell

She couldn’t answer any of her questions. The one from last night that she thought she had all figured out had changed in an instant. From,Oh yeah, I want a big, strong, handsome, dominant daddytoHell will freeze over before I do,especially if his name is Casanova Cooper.

Tired, confused, and heartsick, and having no idea what she wanted, she sent Jordan’s call to voice mail. The one thing she was sure of at the moment, she wasn’t ready to talk to him about it.

After switching her phone to silent, she rolled over and tried to get some sleep. But when she shut her eyes, she saw Jordan with a host of other beautiful women—blondes, brunettes, raven-haired, and a few redheads, but none were short, dumpy, and frizzy like her.

Her self-esteem really took a beating that night. So much so, when her alarm went off at 4:30, she dragged her exhausted, non-sleeping butt out of bed, to walk rather than run with Rufus. She didn’t have the energy or the desire for the first time in longer than she could remember.

***

THE REPAIR HAD WORKED, but as the man warned, not as well as she hoped. The shop was a just-bearable seventy-five degrees with the oven going. But it was business as usual on Monday. That was one less drama to deal with.

With him out of town for two more days, she didn’t have to deal with their situation, whatever it was. Not counting the Oyster House, they hadn’t ever been out on a date and had made no commitments to one another. She was supposed to bethinking aboutmoving forward with him. Other than a few kisses, two spankings, and a one-sided orally induced double orgasm, which she was the lucky recipient of, they hadn’t been intimate.

Okay, she was either so tired she wasn’t thinking straight or rationalizing because it didn’t get much more intimate than what Jordan had done to her that night.

Still, she ignored his two calls on Sunday, including the one he made to the shop. Luckily, she didn’t answer, but she was standing next to Martha when she did.

“Jordan! How are you?” the older woman said in greeting.

When Tessa waved her arms and shook her head, she gave her a puzzled look but followed her signals.

“I don’t think she’s available.”

She closed her eyes, wincing at her poor choice of words.

“It’s been crazy busy today and a big stock delivery Tessa was waiting for arrived late yesterday. I know she was eager to get to that.”

Martha was good, but she didn’t lie. All of that was true.

“Sure, I’ll tell her you called and that... Hang on while I write this down. I don’t want to forget.” She picked up a message pad and pencil, saying aloud as she wrote, “You’ll be home on Wednesday to speak to her about that urgent business.” She emphasized the period at the end of the sentence and underlinedurgentthree times. “Got it. Have a safe trip.”

She laughed at something he said. Jordan’s ability to charm women of any age undeniable.

“You, too,” she said. “Bye, now.”

Once she hung up, she peeled the message off her pad and handed it to Tessa with a warning. “You’d better snatch that man up quick before some other lucky girl does.”

“It’s complicated,” Tessa sighed as she crumpled the note.

“So is a Facebook status, but I don’t consider that as real. Jordan Cooper is. I’m an excellent judge of character, dear. Trust me, he’s a keeper.”

Customers arriving at the register with stacks of books saved her from more of Martha’s friendly but unsolicited advice.

***

TESSA SPENT ANOTHERrestless night worrying about her and Jordan. When she fell into an exhausted sleep, she was awoken by thunderstorms then, much too soon, her alarm blaring.

Without opening her eyes, she blindly searched for her clock, but, when she hit the snooze button on top, the annoying alarm kept going. It took her a moment to realize it wasn’t her clock but her phone ringing.

“Hello,” she croaked sleepily.

“You’ve been screening my calls.”

Her eyes flew open. The room was dark except for the red LED display, which read a half hour before the ass crack of dawn.

Sneaky man. He’d caught her pre-coffee, pre-shower, pre-run, and pre-fully awake. Otherwise, he’d have gotten voicemail again. But she was sure that’s why he called at this hour.

“Have you convicted me without a trial?” he went on. “Everyone from petty thieves to hard-core criminals are allowed to present a defense before sentencing. Shouldn’t I have the same rights?”

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