She sat and turned to face him.
He reached for her hand again. “I want you to think about staying with me.”
“For how long?” she asked.
“Forever, if things work out between us.”
Her eyes widened. “Like in a relationship?”
He grinned. “Yeah. An adult relationship that will eventually turn into marriage down the road.”
“Marriage?” Her mouth dropped open. “What happens when you get to know me and decide you don’t like me?”
He reached out and cupped her chin. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, baby.”
“But I’m ignorant and clumsy. Why would you want to be with someone like that?”
He tightened his grip when she tried to pull away. “I don’t want ever to hear you talk about yourself like that again. You’re not ignorant. You’re probably smarter than most people I know, including me. As far as clumsy, I think the situations that happened are mostly responsible. When you were a waitress, you had people putting you down and making you nervous. Of course, you’re going to be shaky. Anyone would.”
“But it’s not just at the restaurant.”
“I think you’ll be surprised. Once you get settled and meet more people, you’ll be calmer and less nervous.”
She bit her lip. “I don’t know. I’m not good around people.”
“You will be around the ones I’ll introduce you to.”
“What will I do all day?”
“You’ve got choices, honey. I want you to be with me all day, or with someone I trust. I know you like to work with computers, and I have someone I’d like you to meet that’s the same as you. Her name is Kinley.”
“Will she like me?”
“She’ll love you. You guys are a lot alike. Her daddy—”
“Her daddy works with you? How old is she?”
He chuckled. “She’s around your age, but it’s a different kind of daddy.”
Now, she was confused. “I didn’t know there were different kinds besides step and regular ones.”
“Kinley and Eli are in a relationship much like ours. It’s where the woman doesn’t like or understand society.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s like me?”
“Yes. Eli and I need to have control over the women in our lives, and it takes a special person to be able to give up that control.”
“You think I can do that?” she asked.
“I know you can. It’s called a DD/lg or Daddy/little relationship. The woman calls the man daddy much like she would if she called him honey or sweetheart. It’s just an endearment that they like to be called, and the woman like it, too.”
“Would you want me to call you that?”
“I very much would like that, honey. When you’re ready.”
“I’ll think more about this later. So, this Kinley, what would we be doing?”
“Let me explain my business. It’s a contract business, and some of our guys like to take the jobs overseas while others and I like to stay in one place. When we were in the town you lived in, we worked to put in security measures to prevent people from … hacking into a police station.” He grinned.
Her mouth dropped open before she covered it with her hands. “You mean that’s your job, and I told you that I’m the type of person you’re fighting against? How could you possibly want to be with me?”
Oh, God, there was no way he wanted her around, and it was going to break her heart to leave him.