Chapter Nineteen
DAISY
Daisy rolled onto her side and whined. She had told her authors that she wasn’t going to be working today. Not when her mind was constantly on Asher and what had happened last night.
No.
She really needed not to think about him. He wasn’t her Daddy and never would be.
But he called himself Daddy several times, Tator said.
“I know,” she cried out. “And it felt amazing to hear him call himself that. It makes me want to call him Daddy and beg him to have a relationship like that.”
Then tell him that! Tator yelled.
Okay, he didn’t yell it out loud, but he yelled it in her head.
“I can’t possibly tell him that I want him to be my Daddy.
I haven’t even told him that I am considering staying here for longer than I intended.
No.” She shook her head. “I can’t possibly tell him that.
What if he just wants to see if I’m interested, and when I am, he’ll leave?
I can’t deal with someone else leaving me. ”
He won’t leave you. You’ve already told me everything he has done for you. I really think he is interested in you, Tator said.
Daisy took a deep breath before pushing her face into her pillow and letting out a scream. It was a very effective way to let out some of the stress building inside her.
She pushed herself up and out of the bed, quickly putting on pants before heading downstairs, Chilli following her.
“Let’s go get some coffee. I need to stop thinking about him,” she whispered to herself.
After putting Chilli’s leash, she walked outside and got them both into her car. Quickly, she pulled up the nearest coffee shop on her maps app and started to drive.
Would Asher drive her everywhere if they were together? Would he take care of her and make sure she was safe?
“Nooooo,” she whined and closed her eyes briefly at the red light. “Stop thinking about him.”
Daisy pulled into a parking spot and took a deep breath before she got out of the car, gripping Chilli’s leash. They stood in front of Rainey’s Coffee Shop. There was no way this could be the same Rainey she met last night.
Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, she walked into the coffee shop and was immediately welcomed.
“Everything is okay,” she whispered to herself.
“Daisy!” someone yelled. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you right now. I thought after last night we were never going to see you again, and I got really sad. I’m sorry if you got upset because of something I said. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
Rainey came into her vision, and Daisy forced a smile.
“Oh, it wasn’t. I’m okay now,” she said.
“Let’s get some coffee and sit down. I want to talk to you.” Rainey pulled her to the front counter. “What would you like?”
She looked at the menu and immediately felt really overwhelmed. There were so many different choices.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she whispered.
“Oh, you sound just like me when I first started to drink coffee. Is there anything you don’t like or can’t have?” Rainey asked.
“I like sweet things.” Daisy smiled, hoping that would help somehow.
“Perfect. Why don’t you and Chilli go find a table? I’ll be with you in a second,” Rainey suggested.
Nerves ran through Daisy as she looked around the coffee shop, trying to find an empty table. Thankfully, no one was looking at her, but she had felt eyes on her when she first walked in.
“Everything is going to be okay,” she whispered to herself as she walked over to a clean table in the corner.
Daisy sat down and placed her face in her hands, taking a deep breath. She was going to enjoy her coffee and keep her mind off Asher. Off how much he made her want to beg him to be her Daddy.
“Oh,” she whined, stomping her feet. “Don’t think about him.”
“Think about who?” Rainey asked as she set two cups of coffee on the table.
Her eyes grew wide as she looked up at Rainey, who was now sitting in front of her.
“Nothing,” she mumbled. “Thank you so much for the coffee. Tell me how much I owe you, and I can either give you cash or transfer the money to you.”
Rainey waved her hand in the air. “You don’t owe me anything. I give out free drinks to my Little friends all the time. Since you are now part of the group, you get the benefits as well.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t want to take advantage of you. You do have a place to run. I don’t want to take business away from you.”
Rainey laughed. “You won’t, I promise. It might not look like it, but this is actually pretty dead right now. Normally, every single chair is taken, and the line is out the door, so you don’t need to worry.”
Daisy looked around to find almost every chair taken already, but there was no line. She had thought it was busy because it was so full.
“Now, who were you trying not to think about?” Rainey asked before she took another sip of her coffee. “Daddy said I’m a really good listener when I want to be, and right now, I really want to be.”
She glanced at her cup and gently wrapped her hands around it, trying to distract herself from her mind going to Asher once again.
“It really isn’t anyone,” she replied. “Just a character that my authors are writing. Well, characters. They have been teasing them for ages in their books, and I just want their stories.”
“You work with authors?” Rainey leaned forward. “What do they write? I absolutely love to read!”
“They write Daddy Dom books.” Daisy’s cheeks turned pink. “They are amazing. I can text you some of their books if you want?”
“I would absolutely love that! Daddy has some set hours for when I can read, sadly.” She trailed off.
Gasping, Daisy shook her head. “That can’t do. Why does he have certain times for when you can read?”
That didn’t sound like a good rule to have.
“Do you need someone to help you get out?” Daisy asked before she could stop herself. “I don’t know much, but I have a friend who is amazing at changing identities and disappearing. I know her as her birth name, but I think, by now, she has had like twenty different names.”
And Daisy probably shouldn’t have given all that information away, but she figured Rainey wasn’t after her.
“Wh-what?” Rainey looked scared. “You have a friend who is always on the run and changes her identity a lot?”
“That’s not important. What’s important is whether you need help or not.” Daisy reached over and gently held Rainey’s hand.
She didn’t know any of the Daddies here to know whether they were good people or not. She had hoped, with Asher being good, all the other Daddies were as well, but someone could never be too sure. People could be downright evil.
“My Daddy isn’t harming me in any way. In any case, he is trying to help me, so I take better care of myself.
When I got with him, I had some free time, and I found out I love to read.
That’s when I realized that I was starting to wake up earlier and earlier, so I could read more.
Daddy put a range for when I could read.
He also has set aside time in my day so I can just sit and read and not be distracted,” Rainey explained.
“Daddy isn’t harming me in any way. None of the Daddies in Springfield would ever harm any of us.
I think they would harm themselves before they touched a hair on us. ”
Daisy’s shoulders sagged, and she took a sip of her coffee. Sweet hazelnut swarmed her taste buds. “Oh, this is good.”
“Why is your friend on the run? Does she need any help?” Rainey asked.
“I would rather not talk about her,” Daisy muttered.
Not that she didn’t want to, but she had offered to help Gabby too many times to count, and she had always said she had to do it herself. That she didn’t want to drag Daisy into it and have someone come after her.
“We know some pretty powerful people who don’t like to see any women harmed. If you want, I can get you in contact with them. We can help your friend,” Rainey gently said.
“I’ll think about it and ask her,” Daisy replied, forcing a smile on her face.
The last time she got a video call from Gabby was a week ago.
It took everything in her not to fly out to where she was right now.
She had been caught, beaten almost to death, before she could manage to escape.
Now she was holed up at Whiskey River Mountain Lodge while she healed and until she could figure out what went wrong and where she was going next.
“We have gotten so far off from our original conversation. I want to talk about who you are trying not to think about.” Rainey gave her a pointed look.
“I know you saying book characters was a distraction. I’m here for you if you need anyone, but if you really don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. ”
Daisy looked at her cup of coffee and moved her finger across the rim. She had been trying not to think about Asher, but no matter what she did, her mind always found a way back to him.
“You don’t have to say anything, but I want you to listen, okay?” Rainey asked. “Can you do that for me?”
“O-okay,” she replied.
“I have a feeling the person you are trying not to think about happens to be Asher,” Rainey said.
Shock riddled Daisy’s face. Was she that open about who she was thinking about?
“I want you to know that everything is going to be okay. I’m not going to tell him anything about this conversation.
Not unless you want me to or it is going to harm your health. ”
“They are always on about health, huh?” Daisy asked.
“Big time. We’ve all had a little scare every once in a while.
They like to make sure that we are okay.
While I have kept things from Daddy and the other Daddies for my friends, I try not to make a habit of it.
The guilt eats me alive, but I also don’t want to see my friends suffer,” Rainey rambled.
“And that includes you now. I know you don’t have a Daddy, but in some ways, Asher has stepped up and is acting like yours right now. ”
Daisy had noticed that as well. “I think it’s just because I’m new, passed out in his bar, and am one of his tenants.”
That had to be the reason why he cared so much about her. It was the only thing that made sense.
“If that helps you, then sure, but I want you to know there have been several Littles who have lived in that house. Asher always made sure they had what they needed, but he didn’t cross that boundary.
He made sure they were tenants and nothing else,” Rainey explained.
“But with you it’s different. He sees something in you.
You’ve caught his attention. I’ve never seen him act like this with someone.
Whenever unaccompanied Littles come into the club and need to be disciplined or have aftercare, he could never do it.
It was something he had set in the very beginning, apparently, and has never crossed that boundary.
I think he was waiting for his own Little—waiting for you. ”
“Me?” Daisy pointed at herself.
Rainey nodded. “Yes, you. You walked in at the perfect time. From what I could see, he was slowly giving up on ever finding someone. I think that you are so tired and want to settle down. I think you want a Daddy to take care of you for the rest of your life. Anyone with an eye can see that you two have chemistry.”
She did feel it. Oh, how she had felt it so much, but it wasn’t that simple.
“I don’t know why you are so hesitant to give him a try, but it’s going to be okay. Tell him your worries, and he’ll listen. He’ll help you process it and give you the space if you need it... or if you don’t need it.” Rainey chuckled.
“I don’t know,” she whispered, starting to feel overwhelmed.
“Just think about it. If it helps, do a pros and cons list about staying in Springfield and being with him. It doesn’t hurt.
It normally helps me see it from a different view because I’m not having to think about everything,” Rainey suggested.
“If you ever want to talk about it, call or text me. I’m always available. ”
“Thank you,” Daisy said as she looked up. “I really appreciate it.”
Her mind was now on Asher and everything she wanted to be with him. She had seen the spark between them, but what if that was it? What if once she said something to him, he would cave entirely?
“All those doubts popping into your mind, write them down and tell him. He’ll want to know so he can help you work through them.”
“What if the cons list is so long?” Daisy couldn’t help but ask before she took another sip of her coffee.
It was almost done. She was definitely going to have to come here a lot, given how delicious it was. Maybe she could even do some work while she sat in here.
“Then it is. There is no right or wrong answer. He won’t get annoyed if it’s a super-long list. He’ll want to know. Don’t try to hide things from him. Daddies don’t like that, and you normally end up with a hot bottom if you try. I know ’cause I’ve done it too many times.” Rainey shook her head.
Her cheeks heated up at Rainey casually talking about spankings in public.
“Thank you,” Daisy shyly said, keeping her voice down.
“You’re welcome. Sadly, I’ve got to go back to work. Do you want another coffee to-go or one for here?” Rainey asked.
Daisy waved her hands in the air. “Oh, I’m okay. I probably shouldn’t drink another one, or else I’ll be up all night.”
Caffeine had suddenly started to affect her more and more. Probably because she kept drinking another each day, trying to get the same feeling she had gotten when she first tried it.
“Well, come again. If you need anything, let me know. We’re here for you if you need anything. You’re part of the group now, which means you have a ton of people on your side who want what’s best for you.”
“Thank you, I really mean it,” Daisy replied.
Rainey smiled and cleared their cups away. Daisy grabbed Chilli’s leash and walked out of the coffee shop and straight to her car. She didn’t remember how she got home, but before she knew it, she was inside her house.
“I’m going to be okay,” she whispered to herself.