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Daddy sounded very Daddy-ish as he nearly giggled. “Someone is waking up.”
“No, I’m just going to stay right here, thank you.” Squeezing my eyes closed, I stayed very still since I wasn’t sure which way I should turn to hide. “I’m fine.”
His body jerked again.
It was not as funny as he seemed to think it was.
“I love how your brain seems to work on overdrive no matter what you’re doing.” Daddy started stroking my head like I was a skittish cat. “Even as you were climbing up on my lap and telling me you were just going to rest for a moment, you were assuring me that you could do a good job taking the sub test and you wouldn’t just check boxes because evidently the only well-written tests are ones with short answer questions as well.”
Oh.
“I…I took a few classes on education.” I liked taking classes and learning things.
Daddy snorted. “You almost have another degree in education. I just can’t remember what type. There was a lot to go through in your resume and other things stuck out more.”
Okay, well, he wasn’t wrong.
“I was very good at college.” I wasn’t a genius by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoyed school. “And colleges like people who are good at learning. They find ways to encourage you to stay. They’re very helpful.”
Daddy made another disbelieving sound. “They were probably getting a lot of free labor from you…research and papers, and they liked the connections you made with the museums too.”
Possibly.
“I got things out of the deal too. They weren’t taking advantage of me.” Daddy’s sigh said he didn’t believe that. “My…my family is a bit difficult, and with so much going on academically, I didn’t have to go home very often.”
He kept caressing me, but I could feel the tension in him growing almost like his dragon was rolling around grumbling. “What kind of difficult?”
Ugh.
All kinds.
“You know those movies where rich people are mean and stupid? They say things to get reactions and then smile?” I waited to make sure he understood, and his groan said he’d started to get it. “Well, they were modeled after my family. Think old money in the bad way, not the good way.”
That didn’t sound very nice.
“I know a lot of lovely people who’ve always had money. My relatives just got all the meanness.” There were probably genetic flaws that led to that, but I wasn’t sure how to prove it. “So once I got to college and realized I had lots of reasons not to go home, I just stayed…and stayed.”
Daddy let out a deep breath. “I can’t tell if I want to hug you or laugh. That sounds…”
“Frustrating.” I could understand his problem. “Either reaction is appropriate. The whole situation is insane on a variety of levels, but I was happy at school until I started to get…bored isn’t the right word but I was restless.”
I felt Daddy bend over and his lips brushed my head before he went back to stroking me softly. “That’s when you started doing more internships and volunteer work. I remember thinking you had to have been doing eighty-hour weeks.”
Quite possibly.
“I was looking for something and not finding it. But it gave me lots of good skills and led me here, so I can’t complain.” And having my own library was a nice change of pace. “This is much more relaxing.”
I didn’t understand why he chuckled. “That’s why you kept turning down hiring more help. This was so much easier than all the hours you were putting in before.”
“It’s not that bad.” Rolling over onto my back, I opened my eyes and looked up at Daddy, who couldn’t seem to decide if he thought I was funny or if he was frustrated with me. “I have my systems and a few ladies show up in the afternoon to shelve books whether I want them to or not. So I have help.”
They were stubborn.
And now I knew they were mages, so that probably explained a few things.
Daddy was still studying me, looking slightly frustrated. “I’m not going to let you overwork yourself just because that’s what you’ve always done.”
He was very stubborn.
