Chapter Seven
DAISY
Daisy looked at where Asher had been standing. He’d already gone into the kitchen to grab her a cup of water, but she still hadn’t left her seat. How could she when so many different things were running through her head?
“Chilli,” she whispered.
Her pit bull was resting her head in Daisy’s lap, looking up at her.
“What are we going to do?” she mumbled, more to herself than Chilli.
Daisy didn’t say anything but kept her gaze on her.
“Have you gotten up, Little One?” Asher called out from the kitchen. “Remember to stand slowly if you haven’t.”
She sighed and rose. She really needed to go and get ready for bed before he came in and offered to help her. Would Asher actually do that? Did Daisy want him to?
After shaking her head, she walked down the hall and into her bathroom, Chilli following behind her.
“I’m okay, Chilli.” She bent down as she rubbed her head. “Mama is okay. You can go rest right now. I’ll be in bed soon.”
But Chilli didn’t move an inch, but she sat down. Right. Chilli didn’t feel comfortable leaving her so close to an attack. The person who’d helped with the paperwork explained different scenarios to her.
Daisy quickly brushed her teeth and did everything else she needed to in order to get ready for bed. Not just for Chilli’s sake but also her own. She knew once her head hit the pillow, she was going to fall straight to sleep.
“Are you done, Little One?” Asher asked as his head poked into the bathroom.
“Yes.” Daddy was on the tip of her tongue.
She so badly wanted to call him that, but she knew he wasn’t hers. She thought they would never see each other again.
But he said he was going to research your medical condition to know how to help in the future, her mind whispered.
That didn’t mean he was actually going to see her again. It could all be a show to make it seem like he was a good landlord. She had nothing to say against him. The house was beautiful and well-kept... except for the toilet that liked to overflow.
“Did you go potty?” he asked.
Her cheeks flushed, and she looked away. “Yes, and you don’t need to ask that.”
Asher hummed and held out his hand. “Do you need help getting tucked in?”
She shook her head. “I can manage on my own.”
It had been years since someone had tucked her in. She didn’t want to feel what it was like. She didn’t want to love it and be disappointed when it didn’t happen in the future.
No.
It was better to have boundaries, so she didn’t get her hopes up.
“Okay, Little One. Here’s your glass of water. Why don’t you put it in your room, and then you can lock the door behind me?” he suggested, handing over the cup.
“I’ll let you out,” she whispered.
She didn’t trust herself not to ask him to tuck her in.
She also didn’t want him to see any glimpses of her room.
His friend had said she could put up some pictures on the wall as long as they didn’t ruin the paint.
He’d also mentioned that she wasn’t allowed to change the wall colors unless she asked the landlord.
What was the first thing her Little did?
Color part of the walls with paint and markers.
Daisy hadn’t had time to go out and figure out what to buy to fix her mess, and she didn’t want Asher to see it.
Not when he could kick her out. Then she would have nowhere to go, and she would have to talk to people.
She had gotten lucky when she had seen the appointment listing for this rental.
It was quite easy to do everything without having to meet up with him once.
She walked Asher to the front door, but he stopped her before she could close it.
“If you need anything, or if something doesn’t work, text or call me. I will get it fixed. No cost to you, obviously,” he said. “I want you to know so you don’t feel bad about asking. This house is old. At some point, things are going to need to be repaired.”
“I will.”
He eyed Daisy for several seconds. “Promise?”
She nodded, not able to bring herself to say those words. Guilt was already starting to form a tight ball in her stomach as she kept the problem with the overflowing toilet from him. Thankfully, he didn’t see her messing with the water when she used it.
“Is the rent okay? If you ever can’t pay, just let me know. My rental houses are more of a side project... A hobby, if you say. I try to keep the rent pretty low. So if you ever need to give rent a little late, just let me know. I won’t penalize you,” he continued, like he didn’t want to leave her.
Was he all right?”
“O-okay,” she whispered.
She would never be late on her rent if she could help it. It would just invite him to ask questions about her financial situation, and she didn’t need that.
Her work kept her busy, and she had a steady income now. Anything that she didn’t need, she put into her savings, in case of an emergency.
More like an emergency trip to the ER.
Those were expensive. While her insurance covered some of it, it didn’t cover all of it. It always left her stressed about whether she had enough money to pay it off.
“I’m really relaxed when it comes to rules and contracts for my rentals.
They are more of a space for people to use when they are in trouble, or have just moved to town and can’t find anywhere to stay.
Stay as long as you need. If you end up living here for the rest of your life, that is perfectly fine,” he rambled.
“Relaxed with rules and contracts?” she muttered to herself.
He was a Daddy Dom. For some reason, she felt like him saying that didn’t go with how he acted. Was he trying to be relaxed with her, or was he this way with every tenant?
“Only when it comes to the rentals,” he said once again. “I’ll leave you alone for now. But if you need anything, let me know. I live about five minutes away, so it’ll be easy for me to get here if you need me.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“Have a good night.” He stepped out of the doorway.
“Goodnight,” she whispered and shut the door.
Daisy took a deep breath as she leaned against the door. He made her heart flutter, her mind go blank, but at the same time, he made her think about anything and everything. He was doing things to her that no other man or person had ever managed to do.
“Little One, lock the door,” Asher yelled.
She pushed herself off the door and quickly turned the key it.
“Good girl,” he purred.
Daisy fanned her face as she walked away from the door and into her room, Chilli trailing behind her. What was she going to do about all of this? Asher did something to her... made her feel things toward him. It wasn’t a good combination. Her feelings and him being her landlord.
After placing the water on her nightstand, she looked at her drawings on the wall. Her Little side liked to draw, but she thought she had enough paper when she got in the mood. Now that she knew Asher was her landlord, she wouldn’t be able to look at the wall without feeling very guilty.
She had told him two lies already that he didn’t know about. Four lies in total.
“Come on, Chilli, let’s go to bed,” she mumbled as she lay down.
Daisy grabbed Tator, her stuffed alligator, and snuggled into his chest as Chilli got comfortable at the end of the bed.
It had been hours since Daisy had woken up and started working.
“I just need a couple of graphics for my upcoming book. Some teasers for the cover. I’ve got all the art in the folder,” Janelle said over the phone. “Could I get them by the end of the week?”
“Of course!” Daisy replied. “I have a couple of tasks to do for another author, but once I’m done with those, I’ll get working on the graphics.”
“Thank you so much. And, Daisy?”
She hummed as she stood from her chair, her stomach grumbling.
“Don’t forget to eat lunch,” Janelle reminded her. “I know you don’t have a Daddy, and neither do I, so we have to stick together. I often forget to take a break and eat or drink, and I have a feeling you do as well.”
Daisy sighed. “I do. I just get so sucked into work and getting everything done for you guys. I love the job but I often forget about stopping to do things.”
She opened the fridge to find nothing inside. Shit. She had meant to order groceries this morning, but had a pressing task for Janelle she had to get done. She groaned and closed her eyes for a couple of seconds. Of course, she would forget to do something like this.
“What was that groan for?” Janelle asked.
“I don’t have any food,” she whined.
Janelle was one of the few people Daisy was comfortable with. Maybe it was because she was a fellow Little who didn’t like to socialize. They had known each other for five years already.
“Daisy, go grocery shopping.”
“I’ll order them now, and then just eat a big dinner,” she said. “That way, I can work and get my tasks done.”
“Daisy.” Janelle’s voice went hard. “I know you like to order your groceries so you don’t have to go out, but you need food. You know it takes at least three hours to get groceries to your house.”
She sighed once again, her shoulder dropping in defeat. Of course. How could she forget? That was why she normally ordered in the morning, so by the time lunch came around, she had food.
“Go get changed, put Chilli’s vest on, and go to the store. It’s just once. Then you can go back to ordering your groceries online,” Janelle said.
“I don’t want to,” Daisy whined. “I just want to order my groceries and eat a bigger dinner.”
It would be so much simpler if she did that, even though she was starving.
“Did you have breakfast?” Janelle asked.
“No,” she muttered.
Breakfast and she never got along well. She was always nauseous in the morning and could only manage to sip a cup of coffee until it passed.
“Then you have to go grocery shopping now,” Janelle instructed her.
“Are you sure you’re not a switch?” Daisy asked.
Janelle chuckled. “I’m very sure I’m not a switch. Out of the two of us, you’re just more of a sub than I am.”
Daisy didn’t reply, knowing everything Janelle had said was true.
“Now, go do it before I find someone to go help you,” Janelle threatened.
“I’m going,” she said before hanging up and looking at Chilli. “Are you ready to go out?”
Chilli wagged her tail. Daisy put her vest on, grabbed her keys, and walked to the front door.
“Here goes nothing,” she mumbled.