“Are you all set for college?” he asks. “Anything else you need?”
He takes a seat opposite, tucks right in to his eggs like I didn’t just call him Daddy last night. Like he didn’t sleep in my bed with his big, hard cock against my ass.
“I’m all set,” I say.
“Good.” His eyes are so dark on mine. “I think we should make a start on those ground rules.”
Rules.
I can handle rules.
I nod. “Ok.”
“I’ll be dropping you at college and picking you up at the end of the day. If there are any problems, you call me. If you’re going to be late, you call me. If you need anything, you call me.”
I nod. “Sure.”
“We eat dinner together every evening. You do your college work here. If you need help with it, you ask me.”
“Ok.”
His eyes don’t leave mine. “Do you have any obligations, Laine? Any jobs? Friends? Clubs you need to attend?”
I shake my head. “Just babysitting. Casually. Most weekends.” I pause. “And Kelly Anne. Sometimes I hang out with her.”
“There’s no more need for babysitting, Laine. You’ll have an allowance. It’s better you concentrate on your studying.”
I feel like I should argue, tell him he’s done too much already, but there’s something different about him this morning. Something so… authoritative.
I don’t want to argue with him, so I don’t.
And I like that I don’t.
I like how it feels to have rules.
To have someone who cares the way he does.
“Ok,” I say, and he smiles.
“Good girl.” He tips his head. “How are your eggs?”
I’ve barely noticed them. “Perfect,” I say, and it’s true. They’re just right. Just the right amount of runny.
I dip my toast in and they sure taste great.
Everything is great around Nick.
He slides my phone across the table. “I’ve saved my number in your contacts. You’re on an unlimited plan.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll call you, at lunchtime. Just to check in on you.”
I can’t stop my goofy smile. “Thank you.”
“There’ll be other rules,” he tells me. “But they aren’t for now.”
I nod. “Ok.”
Ok. Everything really does feel ok.
Better than ok.
I feel all the words in my throat. Words about last night, about how good it felt to have him beside me. About how much I like him, how grateful I am, how he’s the best thing ever, and I really mean it.
But they don’t come out.
I just smile, like an idiot, and eat my breakfast.
He takes my plate when I’m done and loads it into the dishwasher with his.
“Get ready,” he says. “We leave in fifteen minutes. We can’t be late, Laine. I’m never late.” He fastens up his cufflinks and slips on his suit jacket from a hanger on the door, and I’m staring, gawping like a silly fool, until he raises an eyebrow. “Chop-chop,” he says, but his eyes are sparkling. “You don’t want to try my patience, sweet thing.”
I don’t try his patience, not even a bit. But there’s a weird flutter between my legs at the thought.NickShe cradles her lunchbox in her lap, looking at it as though she’s never had one before. Maybe she hasn’t.
It pleases me to see her so taken aback by simple gestures. It’s one of the things I love the most about Laine, the way everything is a wonder, everything is such a gift.
Spoiling Laine Seabourne brings me great pleasure.
Disciplining Laine Seabourne will easily bring me equal pleasure.
But I don’t let myself consider that. Not yet.
Not before we’ve worked out the ground rules.
I pull up at the college and she looks so hesitant.
“All set?” I ask, and she nods. “I’ll call you at lunch.”
She nods again, but she doesn’t move. “Thank you, for the ride.”
“My pleasure,” I tell her, and her little fingers grip the door catch before she changes her mind and leans in my direction.
Her lips brush my cheek for just a moment, but I feel the contact right the way through to my dick.
“See you later, Nick.”
Nick.
That will have to change.
All in good time.
I watch her leave, her college bag thrown over her shoulder, her tiny frame wrapped up tight in her new coat. She’s still holding her lunch as she makes her way to the entrance, and it fills me with a sense of satisfaction I’ve been missing for far too long.
It feels so good to have someone to take care of. Someone to care for.
Someone to love.
I’m about to pull away when I see a girl bound up the steps and grab hold of Laine’s elbow. The girl has a mass of dark curls, a face full of makeup, and I know, instinctively, that this must be Kelly Anne. Laine’s useless, selfish non-friend.
I see Laine shrug, and Kelly Anne is looking in my direction. She sees the car and says something, and Laine shrugs again before she carries on walking.
I wait until they’re out of sight before I drive away.