“Why?” she asked suspiciously. “Can’t you remember what you told me, Daddy? Is your memory going?” She shook her head with a sigh. “That’s real sad, Daddy. Do you need my help? Shall I tell you what it was that you said?”
“Pretty sure that’s just what I asked for.” He couldn’t be upset with her when her eyes were sparkling with mischief. Other than after her dental work, he thought this was the most carefree he’d ever seen her.
He wished she was like this most of the time.
“Well, let’s see. You said that I’m always to get whatever I wants.”
“I did?”
“Yep.” She nodded her head frantically. “You sure did, Daddy Z. I mean, I thought you were being overly generous, but you insisted.”
“Hmm, that doesn’t sound like me.”
“I don’t know, Daddy. You are very generous and kind.”
“Are you deliberately insulting me, baby girl?” he growled at her.
Her eyes widened. “What? No! That wasn’t an insult. How could being called generous and kind be an insult?”
“You should be calling me tough and strong. Handsome and sexy.”
“Silly Daddy Z, you’re all those things as well.”
“Well, then. Good.”
“Being kind isn’t a weakness,” she whispered. “I’ve known very few kind people in my life.”
Damn it. He’d made her sad.
“I know, baby,” he soothed. “Some people tried to take advantage of me when I first left my isolated island home, because I was naïve and foolish. I learned to put up walls to keep myself safe.”
“I know what that’s like,” she replied.
“I don’t mind you seeing me as kind. Just don’t tell anyone else.”
For some reason, she grinned. “Got it, Daddy Z.”
Why did he get the feeling she didn’t think he was serious? He was utterly serious.
“So, back to what you told me earlier, that you can’t remember cause you’re getting so old.”
“I’m not that old. Is thirty-five old?”
“Poor Daddy Z.” She shook her head. “In olden times, you’d have been a grandfather by now.”
“I would have? I’m not ready for that. I’ve only just become a Daddy.”
She frowned. “You’re a Daddy?”
“Yes. Your Daddy. Did you forget?”
A blush filled her cheeks. He loved how easily she blushed.
“I suppose you are.”
“You suppose?” He gave her an outraged look. “I am most definitely your Daddy. You will have no other Daddy.”
She patted his chest. “Calm down, Daddy Z. I don’t want another Daddy. One is enough. Imagine having two?”