Chapter 2
Chapter Two
My jaw drops. I blink several times before I shake my head. I can’t believe this is happening. The sexy man from across the hall is flirting with me. He said so.
“Do you like pizza, sweet girl?”
“Yes, Sir,” I whisper.
“What do you like on it?”
I lick my lips. “Pepperoni.”
“No mushrooms, jalapenos, or anchovies?”
I scrunch up my nose. “Gross.”
“Okay, pepperoni it is. Do you usually eat dinner in your closet?” he teases.
“No, Sir.” I can’t believe I’m calling him Sir. I’ve done so twice. It sort of just slid into the conversation. If he’s going to call me Little then I have to call him Sir, right?
Eli lowers his extended hand and leans to one side. A moment later, he’s holding his phone in his hand. He taps the screen a bunch of times while I watch him. What’s he doing?
Finally he lowers the phone. “There. Pizza ordered. Want me to find some plates and bring you a sippy cup into the closet?”
I stare at him. He’s kind of serious. I think he really would do that if I wanted him to. I shake my head.
He reaches out his hand again. “Come, Little one.”
I can’t ignore his order. After all, he is a Daddy Dom. We’ve established that. And I’m not naughty enough to be disobedient. So I finally set my hand in his.
“Good girl.” He beams before uncurling his legs and crawling backward to get out of the cramped space. He keeps my hand in his the entire time.
I scoot forward on my butt until I’m free of the closet. By then, Eli pushes to his feet and gives my hand a tug, helping me up.
My heart is racing. I’ve never been so nervous in my life.
This is surreal. I can’t believe it’s happening.
I let Eli guide me out of the bedroom, wincing at everything we pass.
My bed is covered with stuffies. My bedding is pink with ruffles all around it.
My princess nightgown is lying on my pillow where I dropped it this morning.
I cringe as I spot my dolls and all their clothes in the corner of the room. As soon as we step into my living room, I groan. Sheesh. I didn’t clean up today.
Eli guides me to my sofa and turns to grab my hips. He lifts me off my feet and sets me on the cushions before sitting right in front of me on my coffee table. His legs straddle mine, and he leans in close to me, setting his elbows on his knees. “Take a breath, Grace.”
I’m stiff. I lean back and look around. My kitchen table has coloring books and crayons all over it. There are dishes on my counter, including plastic things suitable for a toddler, among those items are several sippy cups.
In the corner of my couch is a wadded up pink princess blankie and two of my stuffies. None of that affects me as much as the pacifier on the end table. Shit.
I jerk my gaze to him, but he’s looking at me, not at my surroundings. He’s already seen all of this, though. He walked through my mess to get to me where I was hiding like a coward in my closet.
I shift my attention toward the front door.
My mail is no longer on the floor. I’m sure half of it was inside the apartment and the other half out in the hall.
Eli must have picked it up all. I notice now it’s in a stack next to his hip on the coffee table.
It’s damp because the water bottle exploded all around the mail.
There’s no water on the floor, though, so I assume he wiped it up with something.
“Grace, I need you to stop panicking, sweet girl. You’re Little. It’s okay. I get it. I’m not judging you.”
I lick my lips. “I’ve never met a Daddy,” I whisper.
“Sure you have. You just didn’t know it. There are Daddies all around you. Could be the cashier at the grocery store. Could be the mailman. Could be the guy who brings our pizza.”
“What if the guy who brings the pizza is a girl?” I ask, narrowing my gaze.
He chuckles. “Good point. She could be a Mommy.” He lifts a brow.
He’s right.
“Well, I’ve never met someone I know is a Daddy.”
“Now you have. You’ve known me for months, and I’m definitely a Daddy. Do you want to see my official Daddy certification?”
My eyes go wide. “You have such a thing?”
He chuckles again. “No. I was kidding. But I do know people who can vouch for me if you want to check my references.”
“Why would you have references?”
“I belong to the Dungeon in town. I know the owner and many of the members. I’ve never seen you there. I guess you’ve never gone?”
“No, Sir.” I’ve never even heard of the Dungeon.
“It’s a kink club. A lot of members are Daddies and Littles. I’m serious that I could give you the name of the owner, and you could verify I’m a good guy.”
I slowly shake my head. “I don’t need to.” He moved in across the hall from me six months ago. By now I would probably know if he were a serial killer, right?
He smiles, his eyes so very kind. “Does anyone know you’re Little, Grace?”
“No, Sir.”
“I’m honored then. You know you’re not the only Little who lives alone in Little space without a caregiver. Lots of Littles do.”
“They do?” I’ve never thought about it. I follow several different Littles through their blogs, but I have no idea if there are others out there or just a few.
“It’s very creative of you, Grace. You essentially have to be your own caregiver. That can be exhausting.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean who tells you to clean up? Who makes you dinner? Who gives you a bath? Who disciplines you, Grace?”
I swallow hard. “My pretend Daddy,” I whisper softly, surprised that I’m able to tell him.
He doesn’t even flinch. “That’s what I figured. That’s a lot of work. You basically have to be both parts even though one is imaginary.”
I nod. He’s right. He understands.
“How long have you been practicing age play, Little one?”
“Five years,” I admit.
“What do you do for a living?”
“I work for a surgical center. I make appointments or do intake for patients.”
He sits taller, grinning wide. “That’s so cool. And you do that from home?”
“Uh huh.”
“Now I’m even more impressed. You have an adult side of you who works at such an important job, and you’re able to turn her off and be Little when you’re not working.”
“Yes, Sir.” I relax a bit. He’s proud of me. No one is ever proud of me. He’s the first.
“Such a polite Little girl,” he praises. “How do you know so much about being Little?”
I shrug. “Books and the internet.”
“You must have been pretty young when you figured out you were Little.”
“Yeah.” I don’t offer him more. I’m not sure what I want to share. I’m not thinking clearly.
“Do you have family, Little one?”
I look down. “No, Sir.” I flinch. “I mean, I do. But I don’t talk to them. My parents are not good people. I left home when I turned eighteen. I haven’t spoken to them since.”
“I’m sorry. That’s hard. You’re so brave. You’ve been living on your own for a long time and keeping such a big secret. Do you have any girlfriends, sweet girl?”
I look at him. If he is a serial killer, I’ve given him all the ammunition he needs to murder me and dispose of my body. No one will ever be looking for me. I’ve confirmed it.
Eli sighs. “I’m sorry. I’m making you nervous.
How about this? I have a friend named Tate who lives not far from here with his Little girl Sophia.
They’re members of the Dungeon I was talking about.
I bet you could use a friend who’s Little.
How about if I arrange for you to meet them?
No matter what happens between you and me, you’ll have met another Little girl you can be friends with.
You could even join the club I belong to now that you know about it.
You could go there with me or with Sophia if you decide you don’t like me. ”
I gasp. If I decide I don’t like him? Is he on drugs? He’s the nicest person I’ve ever met, and he’s a Daddy. I’m in love with him, and I just found this out like two minutes ago.
He cringes a bit. “I’m pressuring you.”
I shake my head. “No, you’re not. I’m just in shock.” It’s not as though he’s holding me hostage and now he’s going to rape me. Except for taking my hand in his to help me out of the closet, he hasn’t touched me. Oh, he did touch my hair. I liked it.
A knock at the door makes me nearly jump out of my skin.
“It’s the pizza, Little one.” He stands and hurries over to the door, opening it just far enough to take the box from the delivery guy and hand him a tip.
As soon as he shuts and locks the door, he heads for my attached kitchen. “Does your pretend Daddy let you eat in the living room?”
I giggle. “No. He’s pretty strict about that,” I joke as I slide off the edge of the sofa and follow Eli into my messy kitchen.
Eli sets the box on the counter. “Where are your plates, sweet girl?”
I point to one of the cabinets and bite my bottom lip while I wait for his reaction. I don’t have many things for adults. Why would I? No adult lives here.
Eli doesn’t say a word as he grabs two plastic plates. He opens the next cabinet to find a sippy cup and regular plastic cups. He pulls down one of each and nods toward the fridge. “Water or do you have something else you want to drink?”
I stare at the refrigerator for a few seconds before turning back to him. I have no reason not to reveal what’s in my fridge. He’s given me no reason not to trust him. Besides, he’s seen nearly all of my secrets. Why should I care if he finds out what I like to drink?
“I have some sodas and juice,” I tell him.
He nods toward the fridge, brows lifted as if to ask if it’s okay if he opens it.
“You can get them.”
He pulls the door open and looks inside. I know what’s in there. Juice boxes that have only marginally seen juice, flavored sodas, and milk. I’m not very adventurous.
“Orange soda. I haven’t had that in a long time.” He pulls one out. “What would you like, sweet girl?”
“A cherry juice box.”
He grabs one, chuckling as he looks at the back of the box. “You realize it’s a misnomer to call these juice boxes, right?”
I shrug.
“So, I guess you eat Lunchables a lot…”
I giggle. “For lunch. Duh.”
He laughs. “What do you eat for dinner?”
I glance at my freezer. “Frozen meals.”
“Ah.” He doesn’t look. “I guess cooking isn’t something you enjoy.”
“Not really.”
“And your pretend Daddy lets you have soda?” he teases.
I hold my finger up to my lips. “Shhh. He doesn’t know,” I whisper. This banter is fun.
Eli laughs harder. “I’m super jealous of him. He gets to spend a lot of time with you. Meanwhile I’ve been snubbed for all these months. You’ve only spoken to me three times, and you never make eye contact.” He sets a hand over his heart as if he’s wounded.
“He’s not real, silly,” I tell him, grinning. I don’t know when I’ve ever felt this light. A half an hour ago, I was so heavy I wanted the Earth to swallow me whole. Now I’m nearly skipping.
“Oh.” Eli looks stunned. “So then I don’t have to fight him off? He’s not going to show up here in a while and punch my lights out for honing in on his girl?”
I cover my mouth as I giggle. “He wouldn’t be able to fight you anyway. You’re much larger than him.”
Eli pulls a chair out for me at the table and helps me sit before stacking my coloring books on the other end, getting them out of the way. Meanwhile, he keeps talking. “Are you saying I’m fat?”
I giggle again. “No. You’re taller and have more muscles. He’s just ordinary.”
“What’s his name?”
“Daddy. Duh.”
Eli’s entire body shakes as he chuckles. “Of course. Silly me.” He heads for the counter and returns with the box of pizza before making another trip with our drinks and plates.
My stomach growls when he opens the box. It looks delicious. I never order pizza because I can’t eat more than a few slices, and then I’d have too much left over. Plus I’d have to face the delivery guy.
Eli puts a slice on the pink plate and sets it in front of me. “Do you want me to cut it up?”
“No, Sir.” But I kind of like the idea. I like watching him move around my apartment.
“Okay, but wait a minute to pick it up. It’s hot. Blow on it first.”
My heart races. I love his bossy side. I wonder if he could really be interested in me. It seems like he likes me, but maybe he’s just being nice. So nice that he puts the straw in my juice box and pushes my chair in a bit closer to the table. “Do you need a bib, sweet girl?”
“I don’t have any.” Darn. Now I’m intrigued by that thought. I’ve never bought any bibs.
After he sits and takes a bite out of a slice of pizza, he chews, swallows, and meets my gaze. “What age is your Little, Grace? Seems like most of your things are geared toward a toddler.”
He’s not judging me. He’s just asking. “I don’t know.” I’m being honest.
“That’s okay. You’ve made a life for yourself in the best way you know how. I’m seriously impressed, Grace.”
I smile at him before I finally take a bite of my pizza. I’m totally out of my body. I can’t believe this is happening. The gorgeous hunk of man I’ve been secretly ogling from across the hall is in my apartment. He’s bought me pizza. And he’s Daddying me.