6. Royce
6
ROYCE
After my unexpected pseudo date with Abby, I had been waffling on whether or not I should be nicer to her at work. Not that I was mean, but I was still resistant to letting her have exposure to my team. When I clicked open the latest email from her, I was fully prepared to decline whatever new time-wasting campaign she was proposing.
But something in her proposal caught my eye.
She'd attached a mock-up video demonstrating our newest product suite. My curiosity got the best of me, and I played it. It wasn’t the usual corporate garbage with stock photos and generic voice-overs, but something that actually addressed client pain points. Impressed, I forwarded it to my team with a reluctant meeting invite to let them know we were having a sit-down with marketing and it was mandatory.
That meeting changed everything.
I leaned against the back wall of the conference room with my arms crossed while Abby moved through her presentation. Her navy pencil skirt hugged the curves I was trying not to stare at, and in the middle of the presentation, she must have heated up because she pulled a hair tie off her wrist and used it to tie back her hair in a high ponytail that swung with each emphatic gesture.
"So, instead of spending forty minutes explaining each feature and benefit, you can send this three-minute demo beforehand. That allows the client to come to the sales call with an understanding of the basics and questions at the ready."
Marcus, a previous top seller who hadn't hit his quota in two months, was engrossed in the datasheet she’d handed out to the team. "This will cut my discovery call time in half."
"Exactly." Abby smiled, and that dimple in her left cheek made an appearance. "And these one-pagers answer the most common objections before they're even raised."
I studied her materials, excited to finally have a marketing partner who cared about our success and not just her own.
Abby cleared her throat and was staring right at me when I looked up from the paper. "We can implement these into your email sequences by the end of week, if you’re okay with it, Mr. Elliot." Something flashed behind her eyes. A challenge for me to accept or ignore.
I nodded slowly. "That would be great, Abby. Thank you."
The tension in my shoulders eased for the first time in months. The first time in the office, anyway.
Over the next few days, Abby was everywhere. In all our meetings, at each of their desks, and in my inbox every time I opened it. But her new approach to marketing our products was smart and innovative and already making a difference.
She and I mostly interacted in the breakroom, where we both found ourselves several times each day.
On Wednesday, the tension between us was higher than ever when we both reached for the coffee pot at the same time. "Fancy meeting you here." Her fingers brushed mine as I held out the pot to fill her cup.
"Third cup today." I glanced at my watch. "It's not even noon."
“I know my excuse.” She leaned against the counter, cradling her mug between her small hands as she blew at the steam. "What’s keeping you up at night?"
"Someone…" The word escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
Her eyes widened slightly, and her breath caught. “Oh.”
Shit, it wasn’t the right time for this conversation. "But the new demos you created are helping close sales, so thank you for that. You’re kind of a genius with that stuff."
"I told you they would." Her smile was smug, but she'd earned it. "Your team is amazing, but they just needed better tools. I’m so glad they were willing to try them."
I ignored what was likely a dig at me as she stirred cream and sugar into her coffee. My eyes kept stopping at the soft pink of her lipstick, wondering what it tasted like.
"I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you sooner." I stepped close enough that I could lower my voice so only Abby could hear me.
She shrugged in a gesture that managed to be both casual and deliberate. "You didn’t trust marketing. I get it. It’s not uncommon for sales and marketing to hate each other."
I couldn't argue with that. I'd been dismissive of her since she started. Partly because of past trauma I’d experienced with annoying marketing types, but if I was honest with myself—which I rarely was—it had more to do with how she made me feel. Distracted. Off-balance. Like I needed to pull her into my arms and take care of her like the sweet baby girl I wanted her to be.
"I trust you now, little miss marketing." I winked at her over my steaming hot mug.
Her eyes flicked up to mine with a mischievous spark lighting them from within. "Good to know, mister sales boss." She pushed off from the counter and walked past me with the scent of vanilla trailing in her wake. "See you on your next cup."
By Friday, my whole team was seeing progress. Three more deals had closed, and our pipeline had grown by twenty percent. The pressure in my chest was finally slipping away, even though we still had months of lagging sales to make up for.
I found Abby in the creative bullpen, reviewing graphics with the design team. When she looked up at me, I caught her eye. "Got a minute?"
“Sure.” She excused herself and followed me into the hallway. "Everything okay?"
"Everything’s great." I shifted my weight, unsure if I should pursue this or let it go. “I just wanted to ask if you’re playing tonight.”
"Yeah, Corinne recruited me to be on the roster full-time.” She grinned as she leaned closer. "Even though it cuts into my nighttime routine.”
Okay, so we’re doing this. "Well, I promised to help with that, if you’re open to it."
She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and I had the absurd impulse to do it for her. “If you’re still up for it…”
"I am." I studied her face, watching her eyes to see if she was completely sure. When I saw nothing but desire, I leaned down to speak close to her ear. "Whatever you need, sweet girl. Daddy’s got you."
Abby swayed on her feet, and her eyes closed for a long moment. “Fuck, Royce. You’re killing me here."
The juxtaposition of knowing she could regress to be Little and speak to me with such a dirty mouth made my dick fill with blood and my head spin. I wanted to take care of her and ruin her in equal measure.
"Is that a yes?"
"To bathtime?" She was playing with fire, right there in the breakroom where anyone could walk in and find us.
"And anything else you need, little girl." My voice dropped lower, a clear warning that she was pushing me out of the safe zone.
Instead of backing off, she leaned slightly toward me. "Okay, Daddy. Bring some toys."
The word ricocheted through me like a bullet. We'd never acknowledged this thing between us so explicitly, and I certainly didn’t think it would all come out while we were at work. Before I could respond to her demand, she was walking away with her hips swaying from side to side.
I spent the afternoon in a meeting with the CFO, explaining the sudden uptick in sales, but I couldn’t concentrate. My mind kept wandering to Abby's words and the way Daddy slipped off her tongue so naturally. Maybe she was just messing with me, joking around. But I didn’t think it was a coincidence that she recognized the Daddy in me.
Abby was a Little, clearly in need of a Daddy to take care of her.
And I was pretty sure I was meant to be that Daddy.
Being back on the softball field was a relief. The open air and physical exertion was exactly what I needed to clear my head. It also helped channel my restless energy into something productive. I ran a few laps and then started a series of warm-up exercises with a few people while we waited for the rest of the team to arrive.
Abby showed up in a snug jersey and form-fitting leggings that made me throw three foul balls in a row. "What’s got you so distracted, boss?" Daniel leaned on his bat as he adjusted his cap. “You’re usually our star pitcher.”
I shook out my head and diverted my gaze from Abby. "Just thinking about a meeting I had today." It wasn’t a complete lie. I was thinking about my meeting…with Abby. The one when she called me Daddy.
Across the field, Abby was laughing with Jane from accounting about something. She caught me watching and wiggled her fingers in an adorable wave.
I nodded back, attempting to be polite yet professional with so many people watching us.
A few minutes later, the game began, and Abby proved to have more than beginner's luck. She had serious skills. And an hour after that, the game wrapped up with us victorious once again. Everyone headed to their cars, but I hung back while Abby changed her shoes in the dugout.
"Hey." I slipped on to the bench beside her. "You were really great out there tonight."
She bumped her shoulder against mine. "I'm great at a lot of things."
"I'm noticing that." I didn’t want to put pressure on her, but I needed to check in before I made any assumptions. "Listen, if you were just teasing me about coming over, that’s cool."
She dropped her foot to the ground and abruptly stood up with her keys dangling from her fingers. "I wasn’t teasing. I’m heading home for a bath…" She grabbed her bag and started walking. “Are you coming?”
Hell yeah I was. “Right behind you, baby girl.” I stepped closer, not touching her but close enough to smell her shampoo. "And feel free to call me Daddy, if the mood strikes."
Her smile spread slowly as she hooked her arm around my elbow and leaned into me. "Depends on what kind of toys you brought."
I chuckled, grateful the mood was still light between us even with the gravity of our topic. It was barely our second date and she was inviting me to her home to give her a bath. That wasn’t something to be taken lightly. But it was clear she felt what I felt, and the trust she’d placed in my care was beyond anything I had ever experienced with anyone before.
“Abby.” I stopped walking before we got to the parking lot.
She looked up at me with innocent eyes. “Yeah?”
I sucked in a deep breath and brushed a stray clump of hair behind her ear. “May I kiss you?”
"Yes, Royce." The vulnerability in her question was real, giving me a glimpse of the woman beneath the workplace confidence she always carried. “Kiss me.”
I pulled her close to my chest and lightly brushed my lips against hers. For a moment, neither of us moved, but then we both pressed tighter together and smashed our mouths to each other. My tongue glided over the seam of her lips, and she opened up to me.
Abby moaned into my mouth and then closed her lips around my tongue, sucking on it before licking inside me, tasting me the way I’d been dying to taste her.
She leaned into my touch for just a moment, then straightened to catch her breath. "We should get going."
“Definitely.” I pressed one last kiss to her mouth and then wrapped my arm behind her as we continued to the parking lot. I just hoped she didn’t live far away. I wouldn’t survive more than a few minutes without her in my arms again.