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Slater grinnedat me from the golf cart. “You look a bit pleased with yourself,” he noted.
I was. Raleigh had slipped up a few more times yesterday, calling me Daddy again. And I couldn’t get enough of it. I wanted nothing more than to be this sweet girl’s daddy.
“She called me Daddy,” I told him quietly. “Numerous times, at that.”
“Well, congrats, man. Think you’ll finally be able to make your move?”
I shrugged. The ball was in her court; it always was. I’d never push her for more than she was ready to give me. It could destroy the tender dynamic we had. And this morning, we were both too busy to have any kind of discussion.
Since Raleigh was out of her little headspace this morning—I’dneverrip her out of it—I’d informed her of what happened at Sizzle Sweets. She’d hurriedly gotten a shower and got dressed, pressed a kiss to my cheek, and rushed out the door with the breakfast sandwich I’d made her.
And I’d received confirmation from her about thirty minutes ago that she’d finally sat down to eat it. She knew I wanted her to eat three meals a day, at the bare minimum, and for some reason, she always wanted to please me. I rarely had to argue with her about anything.
She was the perfect little girl. Any daddy would be lucky as fuck to have her, but for some reason, she was choosing me. I didn’t know why, but I’d never take it for granted. Not as long as I fucking lived.
“Hi, boys.”
I jerked my head up, instantly smiling at Raleigh. She was wearing a bikini I’d bought for her. It was navy blue with red polka dots. It was high-waisted and covered her entire bottom, so she wore it comfortably without feeling like she needed to wear shorts. And the top covered everything with a cute little bow between her breasts.
She’d also braided her hair like I had instructed her to do if she was coming to the beach. The one time she hadn’t, I’d spent hours getting tangles out of her hair. It was so bad, I was afraid I’d have to take her to cut her hair.
“Hey, little one,” I greeted. “Everything okay at Sizzle Sweets?”
She nodded. “I put up an advertisement to hire another person. Hopefully, I’ll hear something soon.” She yawned. A glance at my watch told me it was lunchtime. I’d already rented the umbrella and beach chairs closest to the lifeguard station this morning when I got here just in case she showed up, like she tended to do.
“Nap time?” I asked her.
She flushed and nodded. I nodded my head toward her usual spot. “It’s ready for you, sweet girl.”
She pressed a kiss to my cheek and then walked over to the lounger. After getting comfortable, she was out within seconds. Without a word, Slater traded with me, letting me have the golf cart.
And I spent the rest of the day not only keeping an eye on the people on the beach but also keeping an eye on my little one while she napped, then proceeded to play in the water and the sand, regressing like she normally did after a stressful day.
But that was okay.
Because I was here to protect her—always.
2
Raleigh
“Raleigh, I’m really, really sorry, but my sister just called me. Her husband is in emergency surgery for his appendix, and she needs me to come get the kids—”
I didn’t want to deal with this today. I wasn’t in the headspace to, and my mood worsened even more when I was abruptly ripped from my little headspace.
Lyla was my assistant manager, and she wasamazing. She never abruptly asked for time off, she always showed up early, and she wasreliable. So, I knew this was an emergency.
Biting back a tired sigh, I rubbed my forehead. “Yeah. Can you give me five minutes?” I asked as I stood from the floor and headed for my room to grab my nonslip shoes and my purse.
“Yes. Take your time. I know I sprung this on you out of the blue.”
After we disconnected, I braided my hair back, squeezing my eyes shut as I wished Colwyn was here. Healwaysbraided my hair for me. I was shit at doing it myself. Not to mention, I always went to eat lunch with him when he was working and normally lounged on the beach, and now my entire routine was being screwed with.
But it was my own fault. I wanted to open a sweets shop, and now I had to pay the consequences.
Firing off a quick text to Colwyn, letting him know I had to go into work, I headed for the shop. Lyla was ready to go when I got there, and with a quick wave and wish for her family to be okay, I stepped into the office and picked up where she left off. She’d been going through the evening inventory, making sure everything was together for Meghan to order in the morning.
I grabbed up the notebook and picked up where she left off, smiling politely at my employees as I passed them. They stuck to themselves mostly when I was here, and I was okay with that. I wasn’t always in the headspace to deal with them. And my management team understood that.
