It was naïve in retrospect—and a bit silly—but maybe it was something some people just had to go through.
“Sadists never know,” Jordan yawned.
Nice try.
I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Time to make things even more personal.
“What about Daddies? Do they know?”
He sat up straighter in a flash, and his gorgeous blue eyes brimmed with hope.
“It depends. Most Daddies, not so much. But if you wanna bemyDaddy, you knoweverything.”
Wow. Solid brat logic in action.
I kissed his nose. “I wanna be your Daddy. When I can fill those shoes. And those last words are important.”
“Oh gosh.” There it was, the smile that could light up a room. “Are yousure?”
“I’m 100% sure.” I pulled him a little closer to me on my lap, and my stomach tightened with anticipation. This could actually be happening to me. I might get to live out all those dreams after all. “But I’m also 100% sure I’ll need to take this slowly. With a lot of discussion, a lot of negotiating, and a lot of testing the waters.”
He nodded, and his beaming smile told me he was undeterred. “I have a ton of patience for that sort of stuff, as all brats do.”
I snorted in amusement. “You hide it damn well most of the time.”
“You, Sir, are wrong. But anyway.” He wriggled in excitement. “How slowly do you wanna start? Can we kiss? Can I call you Daddy? Can we?—”
I planted a hand over his mouth and chuckled. His enthusiasm was as infectious as it was flattering, and it hit me how badly I needed that kind of energy in my life. He was a breath of fresh air in my misery.
The boy predictably licked my palm, and I shook my head and bumped my forehead to his.
“Sweetheart,” I whispered.
He nodded, and I withdrew my hand but remained close.
Savor the moment.
I exhaled.
“We can take it as slowly as you want,” he murmured. “Snail’s pace! Like…maybe, um…maybe Daddy is mostly a nickname in the beginning? While we get to know each other better?”
He needed this too, didn’t he? Maybe as much as I did. Otherwise, I didn’t know why he’d push to include the titles so fast.
“If you’re okay with that, so am I,” I replied. “Here’s my immediate plan. Tomorrow morning, I’ll see Nathan. I’ll talk to him. He deserves to know that he did the right thing in fighting for us—and then cutting me loose when I didn’t fight alongside him.”
Jordan cocked his head. “I struggle to believe you didn’t fight, Sir.”
“We didn’t fight the same battle,” I amended. “He wanted us to find a way so we could have our family without me denying that I’m a Daddy Dom. I fought to keep the family the way it was. My intentions were in the right place, but he was right. I need this. Iwantthis. So we’ll see how my talk with him goes—and if I can open the door to a possible solution, or if I’m too late.”
“I don’t think you’re too late,” he stated confidently. “I would totally seduce him and woo him, though. Like, surprise him. Or, or, or—” He lit the fuck up “—send him on a scavenger hunt!”
I laughed under my breath and hugged him to me, and I pressed a kiss to the side of his head.
“You’re too cute for words, little one.”
He snickered before the sound morphed into a hum of contentment, and he wrapped his arms around my neck.
His idea was sweet, and if my marriage hadn’t depended on it—or if the situation hadn’t been severe—then maybe. But I wasn’t going to play any games with Nathan. Just straight-up communication without waiting around.
