Chapter 40
40
Rule Eight: Must let Daddy spoil you
By the time they made it to the back of the store, where the play area was, they had a full cart.
“Can I play here, Daddy?” she asked. “Please?”
“I suppose you can for a few minutes.”
“You can leave her here while you go shopping, sir.”
They glanced over as an older woman approached.
Faith moved closer to Reuben. He wrapped an arm around her.
“I do have a few more things to get,” he said.
He did? Like what? Their cart was overflowing.
“Do you want to stay here while I get the other things? Or I can wait here while you play, then we can both go.”
She bit her lip while deciding. “I think I’ll be okay here on my own, Daddy.”
The woman smiled. “I’m Andrea and I’ll be here the whole time. We have these wristbands for each of you.” The woman held a black band up with a flashing red light on it. “You can press this flashing light, dear, if you need your Daddy to come back. It also alerts me too. And I can call you back as well,” she said to Reuben.
Reuben nodded, and she gave each of them a wristband. Reuben still appeared a bit unsure. He cupped her face between his hands. “You’ll stay right here. You will not leave. And you will press that button immediately if anything happens.”
“She’ll be fine, sir,” Andrea reassured him. “She can’t leave, and this is a safe area.”
Reuben shot the woman a hard look and she gulped in response, taking a step back.
Uh-oh.
Faith had forgotten how intimidating her Daddy could seem to other people.
Who are you kidding? He was intimidating you not that long ago.
“It’s okay,” she said to Andrea. “Daddy is just a worrier. He’d worry his butt off if he could.”
“Um, right,” Andrea responded, still looking unsure.
Reuben drew Faith to him, pressing his lips to her ear. “Worry my butt off? You owe me for that.”
“What do I owe you, Daddy?”
“A blow job. When and where I choose.”
Um. Okay. That was a penalty she would gladly pay.
“All right, Daddy,” she said with a fake sigh. “It’s a tough ask, but if I must.”
“Brat. When did you get so sassy?” he grumbled.
“It was always there. Just hidden.” She’d never been this sassy before. Maybe because, deep down, she’d always worried she’d be too much for Matt.
Perhaps she’d never felt safe enough in that relationship to fully be herself.
It was a sobering thought. Especially when she might never have broken things off with him if the business hadn’t gone broke.
Then, she might never have moved to New York.
Never have met this man . . . who was fast becoming her everything.
Who she couldn’t imagine living without.
And wasn’t that a scary thought?
Perhaps she’d had to go through the worst time in her life to get to the best time of her life.
To this man. This life.
Perhaps she’d failed. But, also, maybe she wasn’t entirely to blame.
“Baby?” Reuben grasped hold of her chin, tilting her face back. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She smiled up at him. “Nothing at all.” Leaning up on her tiptoes, she kissed him lightly. “I’m just so grateful to have met you. To be here with you. Thank you.”
He cupped her face between his hands. “I know I’m not the easiest man. And I’m not going to change. But I want you to know that I’ll do whatever it takes to look after you.”
“I know you will.”
He kissed her again. This time it was deeper, hotter, dirtier.
God, she loved when he kissed her dirty.
When he drew back, she was shaky. He turned her toward the gate and slapped her ass. “Go play. I’ve got to go get a few supplies.”
Part of her wanted to ask him what he was going to get.
The other part of her thought that she probably didn’t want to know.
Instead, she ran into the play area.
“No running!” Reuben ordered.
“It’s fine for her to run. It’s safe,” Andrea said.
Faith turned to see him glaring at poor Andrea again.
Yikes.
Moving into the castle, she squealed as she saw that it had steps leading up to the turret. She climbed them and stepped out onto the turret. She was queen of the world!
There was even a slide on the other side. She used that to get down.
Whee!
At the bottom, a man stepped in her path. For a moment, nerves filled her before she realized it was Charlie. The Little boy who’d gotten his bottom smacked earlier.
Like you got your bottom smacked.
Yeah. She didn’t want to think about that right now.
“Um, hi,” she said shyly.
“Hi, I’m Charlie.”
“I’m Faith.”
“You want to play, Faith?” he asked.
She bit her lip, feeling unsure.
“It’s okay if you don’t.” He tried to smile, but there was a sad look on his face. “Most Littles don’t want to play with me.”
What? Why the heck not?
“Why not?”
Charlie shrugged. “I think it’s because I’m big, you know, physically. And I’m kinda old. You know, in Big years.”
“I don’t think that’s very nice. It shouldn’t matter if you’re bigger. Or older in Big years.”
He shrugged. “I guess not.” He turned away from her, his shoulders slumped.
“I’ll play with you, Charlie.”
“Because you feel sorry for me?” he asked, turning back. “It’s okay, Faith.”
“It’s not okay, and I pinky swear it’s not because I feel sorry for you. I just . . . I’m a bit nervous, I guess. I’m not used to being Little in front of other people. I’m kind of scared that someone will be mean to me.”
Charlie beamed and it was a beautiful smile. “I’d never be mean to you, Faith.”
“Aww, thanks, Charlie.”
“Come on, they’ve got blow-up swords over here. They’re pretty sad as far as swords go, but they’ll do.”
They reached an area that was made to look like a pirate ship.
“This place is awesome,” she said.
“It’s really fun.” He handed her a sword.
“Is your Mommy doing some more shopping?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
She stared at him worriedly. “Are you all right?”
“Our relationship isn’t very traditional. She’s an old friend who is actually into women. I’m bi, but I’ve never met anyone who could give me what I need. So Ella stepped in to help. But . . . it’s getting a bit weird now that she’s started dating someone else.”
“Oh, Charlie, I’m sorry.”
He smiled sadly. “Yeah, her girlfriend really doesn’t like me and I get it. Even though there’s nothing sexual about our relationship, it is weird. So I understand why Merry doesn’t want me around.”
Oh, Merry was the girlfriend?
Damn. That sucked.
“You can find someone, Charlie. I know it. I found my Daddy when I wasn’t even looking. He’s also my boss.”
“Yeah?” Charlie asked.
She nodded. “Have you got a phone?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Put my number in. Maybe we could meet up for a coffee or a playdate or something.”
“Your Daddy won’t object?” he asked.
“Um, I’ll talk to him. He’s pretty possessive and protective. But once I explain things, I’m sure he’ll understand.”
“They’re the best kind.” Charlie winked at her as he put her number in. “Thanks, Faith. Now, en guarde!”
She giggled as they started to play fight. This was a lot of fun. She felt sorry for Charlie, though. Too bad there wasn’t some sort of dating site for Littles that would also help them stay safe while searching for a Top.
Charlie knocked the sword from her hand as she stumbled back over her own feet and fell onto her back.
“Faith!” he cried out.
Owie.
That hurt. Silly clumsy feet.
Charlie appeared above her, looking worried. “Faith! Are you all right?”
Tears filled her eyes. “I . . . I . . . ”
“Just stay there. I’ll get help.”
“I want my Daddy.”
“Oh!” Charlie reached for her wrist and she wondered what the heck he was doing, until he pressed something on her wristband.
Then she realized he’d hit the button to buzz Reuben.
“Oh no! What happened?” Andrea rushed in. “Are you hurt? Can you get up?” She grabbed Faith’s hands and tried to tug her up.
“Wait, you shouldn’t do that!” Charlie protested.
“What’s wrong? Faith!” Reuben yelled as he rushed up to her. “What the fuck happened?”
“I fell over. I’ve got owies.”
“I thought this area was supposed to be safe!” Reuben barked at Andrea as he crouched beside Faith, running his hands over her.
Now, she was feeling bad. She’d kind of overreacted.
“I’m fine, Daddy.”
“You’re not fine. You said you had owies. Where are they?”
Oh Lord.
She had said that, hadn’t she?
“I don’t really have any owies,” she explained. “I tripped over my feet while I was fighting with Charlie. I’m fine.”
Reuben stood, then bent down and lifted her onto her feet. “Fighting with Charlie?”
There was a dark note in his voice and she suddenly realized how that sounded.
“Play fighting! We were playing and I tripped. That’s all. I’m really fine.”
Reuben stared down at her for a long moment. “You’re certain he didn’t hurt you? Push you?”
“No, Daddy! Charlie is my friend! We were planning a playdate.”
“Playdate?” Reuben asked in a strangled voice.
Charlie smiled sadly again. “It’s okay, Faith.”
No, it wasn’t okay. Although Reuben didn’t know what Charlie had told her. And since he was rather protective of her, she knew he would want to check Charlie out first.
“Charlie, come on. Merry is waiting on me.” Ella, Charlie’s kind-of-Mommy, walked into the play area, looking impatient. She glanced around. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Charlie said. “Let’s go. Bye, Faith. Nice to meet you.”
“You too, Charlie.” She waved goodbye to him.
Reuben drew her close, bending down to whisper to her. “You do remember that I’m a very jealous man, don’t you, baby? I wouldn’t take kindly to you spending time with another man. At least not one that I don’t know and trust.”
“But you don’t know the full story. And Charlie isn’t interested in me like that.”
“Isn’t he? I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“Daddy!”
“Fine. Come on, let’s get you home. I want to check you over and make sure you’re all right. Safe, huh?” he muttered.
Luckily, Andrea wasn’t around to face his ire. She’d disappeared.
Smart woman.
Picking Faith up, Reuben set her on his hip.
She sighed happily, wrapping her limbs around him. Her body protested a bit, but she wasn’t really hurt.
Falling over had been a shock more than anything else.
“All right, baby?”
“I love being carried like this.”
“I’ll carry you anytime, Little Blossom,” he told her as he carried her over to the cart. Then he laid her down in the capsule. She let out a small protest.
“I can’t carry you safely and push the cart,” he told her.
“I cans walk.”
“I don’t think so. You look very tired. I’ve got a couple more things to get and then we can leave. Here.” He picked a blanket out of the cart and showed it to her. “Do you like this?”
It was cream-colored with butterflies on it. She reached out and touched it. So soft.
Faith nodded. Like it? She loved it.
“It’s so nice, Daddy.”
“Good.” He ripped off the packaging around the middle of it and then laid it over her.
“Daddy! You can’t do that!”
“Of course I can. I’ve already scanned it. Besides, do you think anyone here is going to tell me no? Especially after you hurt yourself in their play area. I ought to sue.”
“You can’t!” she protested.
“I could.”
“Daddy, be reasonable. I tripped over my own feet,” she told him as he grabbed one of the cushions she’d chosen earlier and placed it by her head. Lastly, he handed her Piggy.
With a sigh, she snuggled in, almost missing his next quiet words.
“When it comes to you, Little Blossom, I’m not reasonable at all.”