“Thanks.” This next part was a little trickier, in part because she still wasn’t sure she hadn’t dreamt the whole thing. “We, ah, had dinner.”
“Makes sense. A man like that probably doesn’t have much free time. Hope he at least picked up the bill if he made you work through your dinner,” he said absently, rolling the ball over in his hands.
She’d had plenty of 'working dinners’ with clients over the years, and none of them had featured her stripping off her panties in the women’s room and letting her client finger-fuck her under the table. “Ah, it wasn’t really a work thing. We had an appointment at my office. He asked me to dinner afterwards.”
That finally pulled his attention away from the ball in his hands. Lifting his head, he frowned at her. “Like a date? You had a date with Austin Barrick?”
If the disbelief in his voice stung, she did her best to ignore it. “Yeah. And we’re having dinner again tonight, so I can’t stay too late. I promised I’d cook for him.”
“You invited him to your place?”
Something about his tone worked its way under her skin. “Yes. Is that a problem?”
“No. You’re an adult. I know you…” Trailing off, he waved his hand around, red staining his neck as he implied things he’d obviously rather not imply. “Just be careful.”
“I’m always careful, dad.” Because she knew it would fluster him, she smirked. “I’ve known how to use a condom since I was seventeen.”
“Jesus. That’s not what I meant.” Just as she’d expected, the embarrassed color crept up to his face and his eyes went a little wild, reminding her of a trapped animal looking for an out.
“What did you mean, then?”
“Guys like that, you know, they have lots of… fans.”
Fans. Right. ‘Fans’ thinner than her, prettier that her, the type of women Austin and his ilk usually went for.
“I’m aware.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
It was harder to ignore the sting this time. Or the anger that followed quickly on its heels. “Because a guy like Austin Barrick wouldn’t be interested in me, right? Why would he want the fat girl when he could have his pick of supermodels or cute little baseball groupies?”
His frown deepened and he shook his head, but his eyes seemed to look everywhere but at her. “I didn’t say that.”
He didn’t have to. But there was no point in making a big deal out of it. “You want a beer?” she offered instead, dropping the conversation for now.
Relief flooded his face and she felt a twinge of guilt for upsetting him. “Yeah.”
The trip to the kitchen gave her an excuse to dawdle, which helped her nerves settle. Fighting with her dad always left her feeling shaken, like her whole world could flip itself over at any moment.
And the worst part was, she couldn’t even be mad at him because he was right. Austin could have his pick of any woman he wanted, and she still couldn’t wrap her mind around the idea of him wanting her. Especially considering the list he’d given her. Those books she kept hidden away on her Kindle, the ones where they did all those deliciously naughty things Austin apparently liked to do, they almost all had one thing in common. In damn near every one, the heroine wastiny. Short, slender, small enough to be picked up and carried places.
What would he think when he couldn’t just pull her over his knee? Or toss her over his shoulder? Sitting on his lap was definitely out. Is that what it would take for him to realize what a horrible mistake he’d made?
Maybe it was better to break things off now, before she got too emotionally invested. Like that time Gregory Hartman, her high school crush, had asked her to prom right there in the middle of the cafeteria. She’d turned him down before he’d had a chance to humiliate her with whatever prank he and his buddies had cooked up. He’d taken Tiffany Willis instead, the tall, svelte captain of the cheerleading squad. They’d been prom king and queen, and last she’d heard, they had two wild preteens and a yappy little dog.
She’d done them all a favor, it seemed. And spared herself a humiliating heartbreak in the process. It was probably for the best to do the same with Austin before she did something completely stupid like fall in love with him.
Pulling her phone from her jeans pocket, she typed out a quick message and hit send.
Hey, sorry for the last-minute notice, but something came up and I have to cancel. Probably better if we don’t reschedule. I’ll see you at our next meeting.
The meeting would be hard, but she was nothing if not professional. She tucked the phone back in her pocket, grabbed two beers from the fridge, and returned to the living room.
Settling into her seat, she handed her dad his beer and did her best to ignore the buzzing in her pocket.
* * *
Austin