8. Carter
Chapter 8
Carter
Fuck, did I want to see her regress. The little glimpses I’d caught of her Little side coming out got me hard. I wouldn’t be able to stand straight when she was fully in that mindset.
So playful and carefree. Dancing around her apartment and giggling with her friends. If she allowed me to share that with her, I’d never let her go.
But first, we had dinner reservations.
We walked out to the car, and I opened the door for her, gently guiding her into the passenger seat with my hand on her back and then her elbow. Poppy was fully capable of climbing in on her own, but I wanted to touch her. And since she seemed to lean in to my touch, I took that as a good sign that she was comfortable with me.
I pulled the seatbelt strap forward and held it out in front of her. “Would you like some help with this?”
She sucked her lower lip between her teeth and nodded. “Yes, please.
I wanted to lick that lip and taste where she had bitten, but I settled for brushing the side of her cheek with my nose and whispering in her ear, “You smell delicious, sweet girl. Like cookies.”
A shiver ran through her, and she shook out her shoulders as she breathed against me. “Good nose, Daddy.” She caught herself and then cringed. “Sorry, that just keeps slipping out.”
“Please, don’t apologize. I love hearing it slip off your tongue so easily.” I pulled back just enough to give her some space and looked into her eyes. “I have a feeling I could get used to hearing that for the rest of my life.” I winked to lighten the moment, even though I was completely serious.
Her lip curled up in a soft grin. “That sounds nice to me too.” And then her tummy rumbled, and her eyes went wide as her hand flattened over her soft belly. “Whoops. Um, excuse me. I haven’t really eaten today, so I guess I’m starting to get hungry.”
I frowned as I backed away and closed the door. As soon as I was in my seat, I started the engine and glanced at Poppy. “Why haven’t you eaten?”
She shrugged and let out a dramatic sigh. “Too busy. Had lots of unpacking to do and… Well, I was excited for tonight.”
I reached over and rested my hand on her thigh. “Excitement is not an excuse for skipping meals, beautiful. If you don’t eat, you could get lightheaded or worse.” My hand involuntarily gave her a squeeze. “Promise that you’ll work hard to eat something healthy for breakfast and lunch, even when you’re busy?”
She chuckled softly. “Why does every Daddy worry so much about mealtimes? Clearly, I’m not starving.” She poked at her thigh. “I get plenty of calories just…usually all of them are between six and midnight.”
I gripped her hand, and as soon as I was stopped at a traffic light, I turned and caught her eye. “Just because the outside of your body is perfect and healthy doesn’t mean the inside is perfectly healthy. If you’re my girl, I’ll expect you to adhere to rules about healthy eating.”
She scowled, and her lower lip popped out. “How healthy are we talking, because I eat a vegetable with dinner every night, but giving up french fries or muffins would be a hard limit for me.”
The teasing glimmer in her eyes made me smile and shake my head. “I’d never ask you to give up things that you love, but balancing out the times that you eat and making a tiny bit of effort to throw in something green at lunch would make me very happy.”
She sucked in a deep breath through her nose and blew it out slowly. “Okay, that sounds fair and…I would like to make you happy.”
With that simple statement, I knew I was a goner. Poppy had me at her first slip of Daddy, and if she wanted to give up vegetables for the rest of her life, I’d have no choice but to let her. I just couldn’t say no to those big green eyes.
The restaurant I chose was high-end comfort food. Something for everyone and the best baked lobster mac & cheese around. The chef was a friend of mine, so if Poppy had any allergies or food preferences, I knew he’d be willing to accommodate her requests.
But she quickly flipped through the menu and honed in on the sides section. She then closed her menu and looked up at me with those big eyes. “Are there any rules I need to follow for dinner?”
“No, beautiful. Order whatever you’d like. We’ll discuss rules if you agree to be my Little girl.”
She sucked in a breath and nodded as she glanced back through the menu. “Then I’d like a side of the lobster mac and cheese and the braised beef pops.” She looked up at me and seemed to be debating something internally before she spoke. “Would you share the Brussels sprouts if I ordered those too?”
“I’d love to. They’re delicious here.”
She closed her menu and put it to the side. “Thank you.”
Someone was on her best behavior. “What would you like to drink?”
She thought about it for a minute and then smiled. “A glass of bubbles, please.”
“Prosecco or Champagne?”
“Prosecco. Something sweet.”
When our server came, I ordered for both of us and added a bottle of Prosecco. I didn’t usually drink it, but it felt like a good night to celebrate.