Chapter Twenty-Six
DAISY
Her eyes found his, eyebrows bunching at what he just said. “Wh-what?”
Was he not sorry about it?
“I’m not sorry you called me Daddy in the diner,” he repeated.
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It doesn’t, but it got your attention,” he replied. “I’m glad you called me Daddy. It gave you the little push you needed to realize your true feelings.”
She didn’t need to realize them when she already knew what they were. It was just a matter of whether she was moving to another state. She had never done long distance before and knew that, with a Daddy, it would be so hard.
“You know that I want to be your Daddy, your man, your everything. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I know you are a little hesitant about starting something because you don’t know your plans, but I want to give this a try,” he said.
“If you don’t like it, don’t feel that it’s going to go anywhere, you can tell me, and we’ll break up. ”
Daisy had a feeling that once she was with him, she wouldn’t want to move on from him. She knew she would want to stay with him for the rest of her life, given how he had been treating her and her attraction toward him.
“Do you want this?” he asked. “Think about it before you answer.”
“Yes,” she replied, immediately.
“Then let’s give this a go. Let’s talk about your rules, hard limits, what punishments you’re okay with, and everything,” he said. “Do you want to do that?”
“What if I leave?” she asked.
It seemed like she wasn’t going to be leaving any time soon.
This town had grabbed hold of her heart and wasn’t letting go.
No one pointed at her when she walked down the street with Chilli, or when she had the episode in the grocery store.
Daisy had made some Little friends for the first time in her life who weren’t her two authors or Gabby.
“Then we can do long distance and make it work until you find somewhere you want to settle in or want to come back here,” he explained.
“I don’t know about long distance,” she whispered. “There are too many things that can happen, and I just... I’ve never seen it work out before.”
One time, Janelle had a long-distance Daddy when she had to move. It didn’t end well at all. He started to get really mean about her not answering the phone, even when she was in an important meeting.
“Then we don’t. We just stay together until you leave,” he said. “And if you never leave, then we don’t split up.”
“And you’d be okay with that?” she asked.
Daisy wasn’t okay with that. She figured once she started with someone, she wouldn’t want to leave them.
“I’ll have to be okay with it. If my time with you is just a couple of months, I’ll be the happiest man alive. If it’s for the rest of my life, I’ll still be the happiest man alive. No matter how much time I have with you, I won’t regret a single second of it,” he said.
Tears pooled in Daisy’s eyes, and she looked up, blinking to get rid of them.
“Oh, Little Flower. That wasn’t supposed to make you cry,” he gently said as he cupped her face and wiped away the tears. “It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t okay. She continued to cry. Before she knew it, Daddy was sitting on the couch next to her and pulling her into his lap, holding her close.
“I’ve got you. Everything is going to be okay. Just let it all out,” he whispered in her ear as he rocked them from side to side.
Daisy didn’t know how long she cried in his arms, but it felt like forever. And the whole time, he held her close, never once letting her go.
“Are you okay?” he asked, pulling away to get a good look at her. “Do you feel better?”
She nodded.
“You let me know what you want to do. I’m not going to pressure you into anything,” he gently said.
“I want this... I’m just scared,” she whispered.
“Why are you scared?” he asked.
“I have so many insecurities. I don’t feel like I’m worthy to be with you with everything going on in my life.
There are some things that I can’t talk about.
I’m worried that you are going to get annoyed when I can’t talk about them, but I don’t want to lie to you,” she blurted out before she could really think about it.
“This all just feels too real. I’m worried I’m going to wake up in the middle of this wonderful dream to realize that I’m all alone and I don’t have anything around me. That I don’t have this town... or you.”
Once she started to feel more comfortable after meeting the Littles, these thoughts had appeared in her mind. It was hard not to when she had been moving around for almost fifteen years. It felt way too good to be true, and she didn’t want to grab hold of it and then realize that it was all fake.
Asher cupped her face once again, giving her a tender look.
“You aren’t alone, and you aren’t in a dream.
We are all very much real, and we would do anything for you.
When you feel like it’s all going to disappear, I want you to grab hold of me as tightly as you need to and not let go. Do you think you can do that?”
“Physically hold onto you?” she asked.
He chuckled. “If that’s what you need. You can hold onto me for however long you need to.
But I’m also talking about you telling me when you feel that way, so I can reassure you that everything is real.
I don’t want you to ever sit in these feelings, not knowing what to do.
I want you to tell me so I can help you through it all. Do you think you can do that?”
She nodded.
“Good. Now, should we talk about your rules after we get a little snackie?” he asked.
“O-okay,” she whispered as her stomach grumbled.
“Let’s go feed this monster before it starts eating you,” he said as he stood.
Daisy placed the last orange slice in her mouth, savoring the taste. She had a couple of oranges in her fridge in case she felt like peeling them... which wasn’t often. Daddy was true to his word and peeled it for her, cutting it into small pieces for her to enjoy.
“Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered, feeling shy.
As he was peeling the orange, he’d told her to call him Daddy if she wanted to. Daisy wasn’t so sure, but in her head, she was already kind of calling him that. Now she just needed to be brave and do it out loud.
“You’re welcome, Little Flower.” He kissed the top of her head. “Do you need anything else?”
She shook her head. “I’m okay.”
If she ate any more, she didn’t know if she would be able to survive their conversation. Her stomach was already in a tiff for eating that little bit.
“Right. Let’s talk about rules, punishments, and your hard limits,” he announced as he sat next to her with several pieces of paper. “And your safe word.”
“Red,” she said immediately. “I have always used that. I would like to continue to. It’s easy to remember, and if something happened at the club, people would know what it means.”
Some people used special words, but she liked to keep it simple.
“All right, red is your safe word. If you ever need to use it, please do,” he said. “Now, for rules. There are several. We can always add or take away some if we need to. This isn’t set in stone. Understand?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Daddy started writing. “Daisy’s rules. No lying.
Safety is always a must. Communication is important.
No hurting yourself, which falls under safety.
I want you to tell me where you are, where you are going, and how long you think you will be.
If you ever feel like your emotions are getting to be too much, I want you to immediately call me, and I will help you. ”
“What if you are in a meeting or doing something?” she asked.
“Then I will still answer the phone. You are important. I know that if you call me, it’s something important,” he explained. “I want you to eat three meals a day and drink at least sixty ounces of water. If you need to, you can send me pictures whenever you are going to eat if I’m not with you.”
“Okay, I can do that,” she replied.
It was a relief to know he was giving her rules, which she thought was odd. She didn’t think she would like them, but it gave her a sense of security that she had always longed for.
“You are also not going to be eating premade meals any longer,” he announced.
“But I don’t know how to cook!” She raised her voice.
“I’ll be cooking and bringing the food over. I want you to eat a balanced diet, and I can’t guarantee that you will with those meals.”
“Oh, okay,” she said. “Are you a good cook?”
“I would say so. You can come over to my house, and I can cook for you. If you don’t like it, we’ll come up with something else.”
“Okay, that sounds okay.”
She was honestly looking forward to having a home-cooked meal. She was pretty sure it would taste just fine, but a little panic coursed through her. What if it was horrible and she had to pretend it was the best food she’d ever had?
Daisy was horrible at lying when it came to food and her liking it. Plus Daddy just seemed to always know when she was lying.
Her gag reflexes would speak before she could utter a word. Or her face would tell him what she thought.
“Are you sure you are okay with doing that?” She couldn’t help but ask. “You already have so many businesses to take care of. Adding me on top of that with cooking... Are you sure it’s not too much for you?”
Asher cupped her face. “It’s perfectly fine. If it becomes too much, I’ll get some help for the businesses. You don’t have to worry about a thing. Everything is going to work out.”
“I don’t want you to have to stop working because of me,” she mumbled.
“I have been working hard, saving up money, so when I found my special someone, I would be able to relax. Everyone who works for me knows this and is prepared to step up when they are needed. If I need to hire more people, I will,” he explained.
“So don’t feel bad. Everyone at BTS has done the same thing.
The guys used to be there all the time, night or day, but now most of them are gone during the night and have set hours that they work during the day so they can be with their Littles. ”
“Okay.”
“Now, let’s talk about punishments.”
Oh, joy.