Daddy, Sir (Dirty Daddies 2024 Anthology #6)

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Reflecting on her day as she drove home, Tatiana rated it in two different sections. The time while Captain Murphy was in the office and the hours when he wasn’t. She’d gotten a lot done throughout the day. The time she was working with the captain was so much more exciting.

“Just stop. You’ve got a good job. You don’t need to ruin it by getting gaga over your new boss,” Tatiana lectured herself in the safety of her car. “Don’t even dream anything could happen between us.”

That reprimand didn’t keep her from thinking about his handsome face and how hard his thighs had been under her weight. She’d never sat on anyone’s lap. Well, no one she wasn’t related to.

He’s a Daddy Dom.

Totally distracted by that thought, she missed her turn. “Crap!”

Tatiana pulled into an abandoned gas station to turn around. A pop followed by a hiss told her she’d chosen a terrible place to stop. Hopefully, they could just patch it. Tatiana couldn’t risk damaging the tire by driving home on it. She debated her next move.

Her phone vibrated, startling her. Automatically, she fumbled for the device. “Hello?”

“Tatiana, are you home?” Captain Murphy’s voice boomed through the speaker.

“No. Um… Did you need something?” she asked, hesitating to tell him the mess she’d gotten herself into.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“I’m on Patriot Avenue.”

“Call me when you get home. I don’t want you driving and talking,” the captain told her.

“Wait!” she blurted. “I have a flat tire. It’s going to take me a while to get home.”

“Where are you exactly?”

“I’m in the parking lot of a former gas station about a mile past the Sycamore turnoff,” she told him.

“I’ll come change your tire.”

“Um… I don’t have a spare. Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out,” she rushed to assure him.

“I’ll be there in two minutes.”

Tatiana looked at the blank phone screen. He’d disconnected. Should she call him back? Debating, she looked at her watch. He’d said two minutes. It would take her more than two minutes to figure out what to do.

Putting on her thinking cap, Tatiana went through all the scenarios. A tow truck? Too expensive. And where would she take it? Take off the tire and haul it to a shop? One, she didn’t know how to unfasten the lung nuts. They were lung nuts, weren’t they? Two, where would she go? Three, how would she get anywhere? Rideshare! That would work. Crap! She didn’t have money. She’d have to get the tire off—somehow, roll it to a shop—somewhere, and pray she had enough money to pay for it.

I am so screwed.

The sound of a car slowing on the shoulder made her look up. Instantly, she bolted out of her car, waving her arms frantically. “Don’t pull in here!”

Captain Murphy stopped on the shoulder of the road. He turned off the car and exited. “Tatiana, let’s get that tire off.”

“Do you know how to do it? I don’t. It’s something to do with the lung nuts. I thought about checking for directions on the phone, but I didn’t want to use your minutes.”

“Lung nuts? I think you better leave them to me. They can be tricky.”

She couldn’t quite tell what his expression meant. The captain was a tough man to read. Probably that military training in case they were captured and tortured for secrets. Deciding she needed to say something, Tatiana settled for a heartfelt, “Thank you for coming to help me. I’m sorry to bother you.”

“I’m glad I called. Next time, you call me. Pop the trunk.”

“Um. I can’t promise that. I don’t want to bother my boss.”

“Then you bother your Daddy.” Jack pulled a contraption out of the trunk after shaking his head at the empty spot the spare tire was supposed to go.

“My dad doesn’t really have a lot to do with me. He remarried after my folks got divorced.”

“Daddy. Capital D,” Jack told her as he squatted down to do something with whatever that was. “Jack.”

“You want me to call you by your first name?” she asked. “That’s probably not…”

The captain interrupted her. “You looked like you didn’t know what this was. It’s your jack.”

“Oh. Sorry. I won’t call you Jack.” Tatiana wanted to smack her forehead. Of course, he doesn’t want you to call him Jack. Silence stretched between them as she watched him loosen what she supposed were the lung nuts. Finally, the car rose. He really did know how to do this.

“You can call me Jack when we’re with other people.”

After the long pause, she realized she hadn’t screwed things up so badly. He had simply been concentrating. “Oh. Okay. Thanks, Jack.”

He removed the tire and threw it in the trunk of his car. He stopped and took a picture of the label inside her car door. “Let’s go get this tire fixed.”

Tatiana allowed him to help her into his car. When she struggled to secure the buckle in the unfamiliar vehicle, the captain silently took it from her hand and snapped it into place. “Thanks.”

“I’ve got you, little girl.”

He circled the hood and slid inside. After an efficiently made U-turn, the captain headed toward town and turned where Tatiana missed turning. The captain didn’t chatter. Tatiana sat quietly. She’d already disturbed him so much.

She noted the name of the tire shop. It was good to know an honest place to go. There were businesses out there that preyed on clueless women.

In a few minutes, as Tatiana stood out of the way, the mechanic fixed the tire. When she saw Jack pull out his wallet, she rushed forward. “I can pay for it.” She crossed her fingers that it wouldn’t be too much.

“Already done,” Jack said, handing the mechanic a few bills.

In a few moments, they headed back to where her car was waiting. Once again, there was a companionable silence between them. Tatiana relaxed against the seat, knowing Jack would have her back on the road quickly.

“Thank you, Captain. For all of this.” Tatiana waved a hand through the interior of the car and toward the trunk behind them.

“I want you to promise me you’ll call if you are in another situation like this,” he said, looking over at her with a serious expression.

“You are going to be so sorry you hired me.”

“That’s not going to happen. Promise,” he ordered.

“Yes, Sir. I promise.”

“Good girl,” he said, parking his car on the shoulder.

He had her car put back together in a jiffy. “Be careful getting out of here.”

He didn’t leave until she pulled out safely. The captain followed her for a short time before turning off to head the opposite way. Tatiana missed him immediately.

“Stop thinking,” she told herself as she parked her car. Throughout the entire drive, she’d replayed their conversations. One thing he’d said stuck out in her brain.

Then, you bother your Daddy.

She hadn’t processed that phrase when he said it. Her jumbled thoughts had been focused on her worry about the tire and the logistics of getting it fixed.

He hadn’t been talking about her father.