Chapter Twelve
DAISY
“He-hello,” she tentatively said as she answered the phone call.
Palms sweating, her heart beat picked up as she waited for Asher to reply.
“Daisy.” He finally said her name, and her fingers tightened around the phone.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm her body. Hearing him use her name or those Little nicknames made her stomach do somersaults. She wanted him to call her that all the time.
“Daisy, are you there?” he asked.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“The offer still stands, but are you sure you’re up for it?” he asked, concern lacing his voice. “You said you were tired at the grocery store. I don’t want you to push yourself. Like I said before, the Littles hang out all the time. You can come another day.”
Chilli was now standing right next to her, watching.
“I’m okay, girl,” she whispered.
“Daisy.” Asher’s gentle voice infiltrated her ears.
“I want to go. I think it would be fun…” She trailed off. “I think it would be good for me. You said I don’t have to stay the whole time, or I could just go for a little tour.”
“I did say that,” he agreed. “Then, how about we start with a tour. If you want to go home after, you can. No pressure.”
“I think that would be best. What time should I meet you there?” she asked.
“I would like to pick you up and drop you off, but if you aren’t comfortable with that, you can drive yourself or have one of the girls pick you up,” he replied. “I know you don’t know them, but they are really nice and would love to pick you up.”
“I can take a taxi,” she said. “Just in case I am still in Little headspace or pass out. Then I don’t have to worry about leaving my car behind.”
“You will not be taking public transportation. Do you know how dangerous that is?” he asked.
“Every town I’ve lived in, I’ve always taken public transportation when I could,” she rambled. “I have mace, and I carry a small frying pan in my purse... when I have it.”
“Frying pan?” His voice was full of disbelief. “What is that going to do?”
“Well, I saw Tangled. She used it to knock Flynn Rider out. I figured I could do it as well. And now I’m realizing just how stupid it sounds.
Who uses cast iron to knock someone out?
It was in a Disney movie, but it looked so cool.
I thought that, if I were in danger, I could do the same.
” Daisy kept talking, embarrassing herself.
“I’m sorry. You probably didn’t want to know any of that, but I just tend to ramble on whenever I’m nervous—”
“Do I make you nervous?” he interrupted.
“Yes and no,” she replied before she could stop herself.
“I want you to listen to me. I don’t want you to ever use the cast iron if you don’t have to. You’ll have to be close to the person to hit them, and I’m afraid you’d get hurt. And you won’t be taking public transportation while you live here,” he laid down the law.
“Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do?” she asked.
He sighed. “You’re right, I’m not your Daddy. Sometimes I wish we lived in Petersburg so I could tell you that you can’t take public transportation. If we lived there, it would be safer to, but I still wouldn’t want you to. I would want you to rely on me and let me take care of you.”
Daisy’s brain short-circuited. “Wh-what?” she whispered. “You know about Petersburg?”
She decided to focus on that, not on him wanting to provide for her or on her relying on him. She didn’t have any words for that, and she didn’t want to make a fool of herself.
“I do. I’m assuming you know about it too,” he gently said.
“I found out about it today from my friend.” Her voice was soft. “I think I would like to visit someday.”
“Maybe we can take a trip there,” he suggested.
“Maybe we could.” Her eyes went wide when she realized what she had just said. “I mean—”
“You let me know when you want to go, and I’ll go with you,” he said.
“Asher, I didn’t, I...”
“It’s okay, Little One,” he cooed at her. “How about we change the subject?”
“Please,” she practically begged.
“What time do you want me to pick you up?” he asked. “They are meeting at seven thirty tonight.”
“How long do you think the tour will take?” she asked. How was she supposed to pick a time to go when she didn’t know how big it was?
“Hmmm, I think an hour would be safe,” he replied. “That way, you aren’t rushed and will have some time to relax before they get there.”
“So, six thirty?”
“Let’s do six so that you have a little extra room for traveling. Is that okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” she whispered, not feeling confident at all.
“It’s going to be okay, baby,” he gently said. “Everything is going to be okay. I would never allow anything to happen to you. If you get closer to the time and realize you can’t do it today, just tell me. I won’t be mad at you.”
“O-okay.”
“I’ll pick you up at six if I don’t hear from you. Take care of yourself,” Asher said before he hung up.
Daisy set her phone down and looked at Chilli. “What did I just get us into?”
Daisy paced the hallway, trying to calm herself down. It was almost six, and she wasn’t ready to go to the club at all.
She didn’t know what to wear. Did she bring her stuffy? No.
She didn’t know if she was going to stay, so she shouldn’t bring it. Daisy didn’t know if the other Littles were going to have their stuffies with her.
“Everything is going to be okay,” she tried to reassure herself.
But the longer she walked up and down the hallway, the more nauseous she got. Daisy didn’t know if she could do this.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Screaming, she placed a hand on her chest and dragged in several heaving breaths.
“Daisy?” Asher’s voice called through the door. “Are you all right?”
Daisy quickly raced to the door and opened it. Asher’s eyes searched her body before settling on her eyes.
“Are you okay? Did something happen? You look a little pale. Are you sure you want to go tonight?” he rattled off.
“Asher,” she gently said, her voice shaking from nerves.
“Why don’t you sit down? I’ll grab you a glass of water.” He ushered her into the house, helping her onto a chair, before he disappeared into the kitchen.
Her mouth dropped open as she waited for him to come back.
“Here you go.” He held the glass to her lips, and she took several sips. “Good girl.”
Daisy pulled her head away and looked at him. “What just happened?” she whispered.
“You screamed when I knocked on the door. When you opened it, you didn’t look too good, so I told you to sit down,” he explained. “Can you tell me why you screamed?”
“I didn’t realize that it was already six. I wasn’t expecting it,” she mumbled, looking at her hands. “I don’t know if I can do this. Am I wearing the right thing? What do they wear to the club?”
Her eyes went wide as she stared him.
“Wait, don't answer those questions!” she yelled, placing her hands over his mouth.
Asher looked calmly at her, and she quickly snatched her hands away from his mouth when she realized what she had done.
“Oh my goodness. I can’t believe I just asked those questions and then put my hands over your mouth. I’m so sorry!” she wailed.
Asher pulled her into his embrace and held her close. “Everything is going to be all right. Your questions are valid, and you don’t have to be embarrassed about it.”
“But I do!” Tears filled her eyes.
“No, you don’t. You did nothing wrong. The other Littles probably asked or thought those same questions when they first came to the club.
Everyone does,” he explained. “And to answer your question: what you are wearing is perfectly fine. There is no dress code. Some of the Littles arrive in their PJs, Little clothes, or their work clothes. Whatever makes you most comfortable is what you should wear. No one is going to judge you.”
“But—”
“No buts. What you have on right now is perfectly fine, but if you aren’t comfortable, I suggest you change into something that you will be,” he gently said.
“You are cute in your pink sweatpants and big shirt. And as for you not knowing if you can do this, why don’t we drive over there for you to see the outside.
If you decide it’s too much, then I can drive you back to your house.
But if you want to go inside, then we’ll take it to the next step. ”
“O-okay,” she stuttered.
“Why don’t you put the leash on Chilli, and we can go to the car? Then you can relax on the way there. If you decide to go in, you will need to read and sign a contract. Just club rules and safety stuff,” he said.
“Oh,” she mumbled. “I didn’t think I would have to do any of that.”
“Everyone who enters the club has to. It’s for your safety as much as it is ours. We want you to be safe and secure while you are there. We screen everyone who comes in to make sure they say who they say they are,” Asher explained.
“How long is that going to take?” she asked as they walked out of the house.
She was really going to go to the club with Asher... someone she was desperately trying to avoid. How was she going to get through the night when she knew he was going to have to drive her home?
“All you have to do is fill out the form of what you like, hard limits, and your safe word. Since I already ran a background check on you for the rental, you don’t have to do anything for the club,” he replied. “I’ll just put the information into your file, and everything will be okay.”
“Oh.”
Asher helped Chilli into the back of the car before opening Daisy’s door.
“Are you sure the other owners won’t get mad that I didn’t do the screening for the club?” she asked as he buckled her up. “Wait, I can do it myself.”
Asher smiled. “I know you can, but I want to do it for you. I want to take care of you,” he said. “As for the other owners, they won’t be mad. I promise. We all trust each other. When they see the background check from the rental agreement, they won’t bat an eye at it.”
Asher closed the door before she could say anything and walked over to his side.
“Remember, anytime you want to go home, just let me know,” he said as he started the engine.