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Would Derek like the real me? Did he realize I was a little?
I was ninety-eight percent certain he was a daddy, and not just because of his earlier slip of tongue.You can call me Daddy. I flushed at the memory.
A look of relief had entered Derek’s eyes once I accepted his invitation, and a smile had also tugged at his lips. Lips I kept staring at and thinking about kissing. When I wasn’t trying to get a glimpse of the bulge in his pants, that was.
“You think I’m cute?” he asked, and his dimples became more pronounced. His eyes twinkled with amusement. “Cute?”
I flushed. Was it getting hot in here?
“Well, you’re certainly easy on the eyes,” I said, borrowing a line from Sarah. Fortunately, it was the right thing to say, because it earned me another chuckle from him. “Let me grab my purse and we can head out.”
I rushed back to my bedroom, feeling on top of the world. I had a breakfast date! With the oh-so-sexy cowboy daddy who also happened to be my landlord.
Also happened to be at least twenty years older than me.
What could go wrong?
A moment of panic rose as I started to imagine all the things thatcouldgo wrong. What if I’d misread him completely? Or what if he learned about my reasons for fleeing Connecticut? Would he judge me? Look at me with disgust?
I grabbed my purse and took a few deep breaths.
You’ve got this. It’s just breakfast. It doesn’t have to go any further than pancakes and coffee.
You are strong and you are brave. You moved across the country all by yourself and you’re about to open a freaking business in a brand-new town. You’re a rockstar.
Trying to ignore my nerves, I retrieved my phone from the floor, shoved it into my purse, and departed the bedroom with a spring in my step and hope in my heart.
* * *
I staredat the menu in awe. Kay’s Diner hadtendifferent kinds of pancakes. Plain. Strawberry. Chocolate Chip. Blueberry. Rainbow Sprinkles. And so on. I gnawed on my bottom lip as I tried to reach a decision.
“Well?” came the cowboy’s deep voice from across the table. “Know what you want yet?”
My pulse jumped when I looked up from the menu and met his gorgeous blue eyes. Had I ever met anyone with eyes so blue before? I didn’t think so. And those dimples. Every time he smiled, I found myself squirming in my seat as the heated pulses between my thighs built and built.
“Um,” I glanced back at the menu. “I think I’ll go with Rainbow Sprinkle Pancakes with a fruit cup on the side. And coffee.”
He lifted one dark eyebrow at me. “Coffee? Are you sure? That’s a very grown-up drink, Gemma, don’t you think?” There was a knowing gleam in his stare when my head shot up and I peered at him in shock.
He was calling me out as a little. He was letting me know thathe knew my secret. But there was an understanding look in his eyes too, and a spark of excitement on top of that.
I flushed when his leg touched mine under the table and he didn’t move it away. “Uh, if I don’t drink at least two cups of coffee every morning, I’m not a very pleasant person. Trust me, you don’t want to see me caffeine deprived and grumpy.”
“Hm.” He stroked his chin for a moment. “Well, I suppose you’d better get the coffee then. Grumpy little girls have a tendency to get in trouble, and we wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?” He leaned forward and spoke in a deep but hushed voice so no one around us might overhear.
A pang of heat surged to my feminine core.
Holy crap on a whole wheat cracker, this guy was for real a daddy.
And he was absolutely one hundred and fifty percent flirting with me.
My spirits soared and excitement coursed through me, causing a full body flush. I was starting to feel feverish in his presence, and a bit tongue tied. I still hadn’t responded to his statement about little girls getting into trouble. I tried to think of something witty but came up empty.
“Well, I try to be a good girl,” I finally whispered, “but sometimes I can’t help being naughty. It just happens.” There wasn’t enough oxygen in the room. My breaths became shallow and faint and there was a strange buzzing in my head. This couldn’t really be happening, could it?
A stern yet playful look came over Derek akaYou can call me Daddy. Butterflies swarmed in my tummy, and I couldn’t stop fidgeting in my seat. The ache between my thighs was getting worse.
“Well, it sounds like you need a daddy to keep you in line, little girl,” he said, not blinking as he held my gaze.
