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The sound of his voice froze her in place. It wasn’t fear, exactly, that sent the butterflies dancing in her stomach. It was some strange mix of anxiety, anticipation, and excitement. She turned to the door, and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of her daddy filling the doorway.
He’d changed out of his perfect business suit into a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. The sleeves were rolled to his elbows, perfectly showcasing his lean, taut forearms. And threaded through the loops of the old, faded jeans was the thick leather belt her bottom was well acquainted with. Was she drooling? She lifted a hand to her mouth just to be sure, relieved to find her chin dry.
“Yes?” The word was barely a whisper.
He lifted an eyebrow, a gesture that never failed to have her tummy doing somersaults. “Are you doing what you were told?”
She was so distracted by him, by the longing in her heart, it took her a moment to remember what he’d told her to do. When she did, she rushed to her bed and hopped up on mattress again, her hands folded in her lap.
James walked over to the large desk in the corner of her bedroom and grabbed the straight-backed chair. He carried it over to the bed and placed it directly in her line of sight before dropping onto the hard wooden seat.
“You want to go first, little one?”
The endearment emboldened her, and Olivia nodded. Her fingers twisted against each other in her lap, and the nervousness she’d held at bay all afternoon flooded her. “I...” She swallowed, her throat suddenly too dry to speak. “I just, I know things have been weird and I...” She looked up and met his gaze, his eyes filled with emotions she hadn’t seen in so long she’d forgotten what they looked like. “I want my daddy back!” The words burst out of her, accompanied by a rush of hot tears streaming down her cheeks.
Seconds ticked by with the silence growing heavy and strained between them before he spoke. “Do you?”
“Huh?” Sniffling, she swiped at her eyes and stared at him.
“Do you really want your daddy back? Or is that just what you think I want?”
She blinked, momentarily at a loss for words. “What kind of question is that? I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t want it!”
Sighing deeply, he scrubbed a hand over his face. “I want to believe you, Olivia. God, I want to, so badly. But I need to know you mean it.”
Flabbergasted, she gestured at her pajamas. “What do you think this is all about? You think I just put on my little girl PJs and had you come in here, to my space, for the hell of it?” Though she hadn’t been given permission, she slid from the bed and knelt in front of him. “Why don’t you believe me?”
“It’s a lot of little things. At first I thought you were just pushing the boundaries, testing me. But then the last few times I punished you, you seemed to resent it. Not immediately, but you were... distant, for a day or so after.”
As much as it hurt to hear, he was right. She’d gotten so wrapped up in being a hot-shot realtor, it had grated to have him issuing orders. Looking back, it was clear to see how she’d pulled away, little by little.
“You’re right. I was having trouble balancing my career and our home life. But,” she broke off and shook her head.
“No. None of that, Olivia. Finish your thought.”
Chewing on her lip, she finally lifted her head to look up at him again. “Can I be completely honest?”
“Always.”
She took a deep breath, reaching deep for the courage to say what needed to be said. “I did pull away. And there were days I struggled with submitting to you. I own that, and I know that’s on me. But you let me push you away. You never talked to me about it or asked me why. You just let me go, and it broke my heart.”
The silence that filled the room weighed on her. Did he feel it too? Did it sit on his chest, making each breath a chore like it did for her?
“You’re right.”
Shock had her mouth falling open. “What?”
“You’re right. I thought you wanted me to back off, and instead of sitting down and talking it out, maybe renegotiating our dynamic, I pulled away from you. I’m sorry, Livvy. I let you down, both as your husband and your daddy.”
The knots in her stomach began to loosen. “We’re both to blame. I wasn’t honest with you about how I was feeling.”
“How about we give ourselves a fresh start? Wipe the slate clean and hit the reset button tonight.”
She smiled, love for him filling all the empty places she hadn’t realized were there. “Okay, Daddy.”
