He leans against the counter again, arms folding over his chest, while I cautiously take a bite. I immediately regret every ounce of attitude I’ve given him this morning. “This is really good,” I groan around the food in my mouth.
“I know.”
I glare at him while taking another bite, and then another, his eyes not once leaving me through every lift of the fork. After finishing my last bite, I set my fork on the now-empty plate.
“That’s a good girl,” Damon praises, pushing off the counter as I reach for my coffee. His words hit me like a physical blow, and my hand freezes before I manage to wrap my fingers around the mug. Heat flashes violently through my entire body.
Myentirebody.
Damon reaches for my plate, and I catch the faintest flicker in his eyes, like he noticedexactlywhat that did to me. That realization somehow makes the heat spread even faster and wider, curling low in my stomach and igniting an unfamiliar ache between my thighs. I focus very hard on keeping both hands around my coffee mug and lifting it to my lips.
Oh, this is bad.
Not catastrophic bad. Definitelystare-at-the-coffee-and-avoid-eye-contact-before-you-ruin-your-own-lifebad. Even with my eyes fixed on my creamy coffee, I know his attention lingers on me as he carries my plate to the sink, entirely too calm for someone who just detonated my nervous system with two little words.
My cheeks burn harder.God, this is humiliating.The worst part isn’t what he said. The worst part is some traitorous part of me can’t contain my reaction, and he had a front row seat as it happened.
By mid-afternoon, or the ninth hour, of Mackenzi avoiding me, I’m ready to put my fist through one of the security monitors. Not because she’s difficult. Christ, she’s been difficult since I pulled her out of that lecture hall. It’s because I knowexactlywhy she’s avoiding me.
Good girl.
Two careless words.
That’s all it took.
Now, every time she enters a room, she does this subtle shift whenever I look directly at her, like she suddenly remembers breakfast and doesn’t know where to put her eyes. I can’t tell whether she’s angry at herself for reacting or embarrassed.
And fuck, if I haven’t been thinking about that reaction all goddamn day. Her cheeks flushed, and her fingers tightened around that coffee mug as she sucked in a sharp inhale that she tried to hide the second the words rolled off my tongue.But it’s not just that. Not for me. It’s the way she responds to my direction without even realizing she’s doing it. The moment I give her a strong enough structure, all that bratty energy wanes.
The constant testing, pushing, and provoking isn’t because she wants chaos. It’s because sheneedsboundaries and guidance. Someone solid enough to push back and take control when her emotions start outrunning her common sense.
Not protection wrapped in softness and coddling, but authority, care, and discipline balanced with patience. Someone who will feed her when she forgets to eat and put that smart mouth in place when she spirals too far with it. Someone who will make her feel safe enough to stop fighting every second of the day.
A Daddy.
The realization lands like a fucking landmine to my soul every time I think about it, because I know exactly how naturally she’d respond. And worse, I know how much I would enjoy taming her. I scrub a hand over my face and lean back in the chair inside the command center, eyes tracking the security feeds, trying to think about literally anything else.
The room hums quietly with electronics and overlapping camera angles of perimeter views, interior hallways, and thermal scans outside the fencing. Every inch of this place is under surveillance to mitigate threats, which means I notice Mackenzi the second she storms into the east-wing hallway.
My posture straightens instantly. She’s moving fast.Too fast.Dark hair bounces behind her while anger radiates off hereven through grainy security footage. She is making a beeline for the patio French doors at the rear of the mansion.
“Shit.” I shove aggressively away from the desk, hard enough that the chair slams into the console behind me. I take off down the hallway, my boots pounding against the tile floors as I race to catch up with her. I round the corner just as her hand touches the door handle. “Hey,” I bark sharply. “Where do you think you’re going?”
She startles violently, spinning toward me with wide eyes.
And the second I see her face, my irritation evaporates. Her eyes are glassy, and her breathing is erratic. “I need to get out of here,” she whispers, her voice cracking slightly with every word.
Fuck.
I slow my approach immediately. “You know I can’t let you go anywhere.”
Her shoulders tremble beneath the oversized sweater she’s wearing as she tries desperately to hold back her tears. “I just…” She swallows hard. “I just need some fresh air.”
Her simple request hits harder than it should, because suddenly, she doesn’t look spoiled, bratty, or difficult. She looks trapped, cabin-fevered, and overwhelmed, trying not to crawl out of her skin.
I glance at the security camera overhead before pressing two fingers against my earpiece.
“Jagger.” Static crackles briefly.
