13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Archer

It had been another day full of taking family holiday photos, but it hadn't been a bad day at all. I'd taken photos of a baby who slept through most of the shoot and an older couple who were delightful, and now I was finishing up a shoot with a spirited little girl who'd been a real ham. Instead of trying to get her to pose most of the time, I'd had to reel her back in, but it had been fun, and we'd taken some excellent photos. There was one more I wanted to get because I thought her mother, Amy, would like it.

"What are you going to ask Santa to bring you for Christmas, Clara?"

"A Gabby's Dollhouse doll house," she said, her face lighting up with a smile.

"Oh, that sounds so cool." I had no idea what Gabby's Dollhouse was, but Clara was obviously excited about it.

"It has all the furniture and everything, right, Mom?"

"Wow, the furniture and everything?" She nodded her head vigorously, and I chuckled. "So what I want now is for us to take a picture with you making a pouty face. Do you know how to make one of those? Like how your face would look if instead of Gabby's Dollhouse stuff, you open a gift, and it's a bunch of Brussel sprouts."

She laughed. "You're so silly, Mr. Archer. Santa wouldn't be mean and bring me yucky Brussel sprouts. I was good all year."

"Of course you were, but can you show me what kind of face you'd make if he did?"

She made a face like something tasted horrible, and I couldn't help but laugh. She wasn't wrong. That was probably the face she'd make when faced with the green vegetable. I snapped a few shots because, seriously, it was adorable, even if it hadn't been the intended look. Then I tried a different angle.

"Okay, let's try again. What if he brought you new socks?" I paused for effect. "And not even cool, colorful socks with kittens on them, just plain white socks. What kind of face would you make now?"

She pooched out her lips in the most adorable pout ever. I snapped a few more pictures before she couldn't fight it anymore and burst out laughing. I got the shot I'd been hoping for, and I was sure they were going to come out perfect. Sometimes photo shoots with kids tested my patience, but Clara was either such a doll, or my mood was too good to let anything bring me down because today had actually been enjoyable.

When we were done, I walked them to the door of the studio and promised Amy that I'd get them all to her in a few days. I closed the door behind them and locked it before looking at my watch. I was doing pretty good on time. It was still a good hour before Crispin's last class, so I had time to shower and get dinner going.

I went up to my condo, got cleaned up, then turned on some music and started pulling out the ingredients to make a classic stir fry. I'd always enjoyed cooking, but I'd fallen into the habit of grabbing something from one of the places in the building because it wasn't much fun to cook for one. So even though stir fry wasn't all that impressive, I was looking forward to cooking for him. Besides, if I had my way, I'd have plenty of opportunities in the future to wow him with my culinary skills.

I had the rice in the steamer and was cutting up some bell peppers when I heard a knock on the door. I put down the knife and went to greet Crispin.

"Sorry, I'm late. My class ran over."

I stepped back to let him in. "It's fine. I was just prepping vegetables while I waited on you to get here."

"Can I help?"

I was tempted to tell him to go relax, that he'd just gotten off work and I had it, but he sounded so excited about the idea that I didn't have the heart to tell him no.

"Sure, do you like to cook?"

"I do. I used to cook all the time when I had my own apartment, but now that I'm buying the studio, I normally get home too late to cook dinner."

"Well, tonight you're here, so let's get to chopping. You can start on the broccoli."

I got him a cutting board and a knife, and he got to work. We spent the next few minutes chopping up veggies while he told me about the class he'd just finished. It felt so natural to be here with him like this. I could so easily imagine our evenings like this, preparing dinner together while we talked about our day. I'd convinced myself my work was enough. That I liked living alone and didn't need anything or anyone else, but in such a short amount of time, Crispin had turned that idea on its head.

When he'd finished with the broccoli, he grabbed an onion and went to work on it. I glanced over to see him cutting that onion like he knew what he was doing. "Your knife skills are pretty impressive."

He laughed. "I used to watch a lot of Food Network . My favorite is the one where the people are terrible at cooking, like worse than terrible. They're actually horrible. One of the first things they work on is knife cuts."

With him helping me, it didn't take us long to get everything finished. "Do you want to eat at the bar or at the table?" I asked.

"I don't know. I usually scarf down some food on the couch while I watch television." He shrugged.

"Let's reserve that for pizza nights, and tonight we can eat at the table."

"Sounds good to me."

He took the plates to the table, and I grabbed us both something to drink, then we both took our seats. As we ate, I told him about the people who'd been in to have their pictures taken.

"So this is a really busy time of year for you, huh?"

"Yeah, I mean, wedding season is worse, but this is more back-to-back every day."

"It's kind of funny because it's the busiest for me, too. It gets colder outside, and more people are looking for things to do indoors to help stay fit, and a lot of them choose yoga."

"That makes sense to me. Have you thought about bringing someone else in to teach some of the classes?" I asked.

"I have, but then I have to pay them, and that would cut into the studios' profits."

I nodded because he was right. He'd have to pay someone, and that would cost money, but he couldn't keep going at this pace. He was going to burn himself out. "Who knows, maybe if you did that, you could add enough classes to cover the cost."

"That's what Aziza says," he said with a sigh.

"She sounds like a very smart lady."

"You're just saying that because you agree with her, but you're right. She really is the smartest, and the kindest, and an overall wonderful person."

"Well, I hope I get the chance to meet her someday. Hitch has nothing but nice things to say about her."

We talked a little more while we finished eating, and then, just like we had when we prepared the meal, we worked together to clean everything up. It didn't take us but a few minutes, and when we finished, I was surer than ever that right here with me was where Crispin belonged. Now I had to find out if he felt the same way.

Crispin

Archer gripped my hand, tugging me from the kitchen and drawing me into the living room to sit with him on the couch. "So I suggested we needed to talk before we went further."

My stomach dropped. This wasn't usually a conversation that went well for me. I licked my lips, trying to think of a flippant reply that wouldn't make me look needy, but I didn't have to. Archer tipped my chin up, and his lips quirked. "Don't go looking sad. This isn't a bad conversation. At least, I hope it's not, sweet boy."

I gulped, and Archer leaned in, pressing a sweet kiss to my mouth. "I'm hoping this is a good thing for both of us," he said as he sat back.

I inhaled sharply and nodded.

Archer raised an eyebrow. "You ready?" I nodded again. His skin wrinkled at the corner of his eyes as he smiled at me. "Crispin, I'd like to be your Daddy. Officially. Is that something you're interested in?"

I kept myself from leaping into his lap, but just barely. "Yes!" I burst out. Then I giggled, slightly embarrassed.

Archer's smile widened even further. "I'd very much like you to be my sweet boy, so I think this conversation is going pretty well so far, don't you?"

"I do." I bit my lip. "But I've never actually had a Daddy before." I waved my hand in front of my face, needing him to understand what I meant. "I've had some guys who like to play with being my Daddy in the bedroom." I giggled as Archer growled.

"Nothing serious, though." But I needed to know how serious Archer was. I wanted it all. "What are you asking for? Is it like bedroom play or—"

"Full-time," Archer said, cutting me off. He scrubbed his hand down his face. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt, but I'd like to be your full-time Daddy. That doesn't mean you won't have autonomy or that I'll l interfere in your business—much."

He quirked a brow, and I knew he was thinking about me running myself ragged, but since I didn't know how to fix that, I asked, "You mean like helping me with my website?" I flashed him a sassy grin, wanting to distract him.

"Oh, so you're going to be cheeky." He shook his head, not buying what I was selling for a moment. "I'll help you with anything like that, you know I will. But I'm worried about the fact you're not taking care of yourself."

Ugh . I knew this was coming. And if I could do things differently, I would. "I know, Daddy." Gah . I really liked calling him Daddy. "And I really try, but there's so much to be done."

He reached over and gripped my hips, moving me closer to him on the couch, and wrapped an arm across my shoulders. My head fell onto his broad chest like it was the most natural thing in the world. Could this be my new normal?

"I realize that, but I want to set some rules to help you find a better balance."

I groaned. I wanted help. I needed help. But what if I couldn't do what he asked? I didn't want to lose Archer, but I didn't want to lose this opportunity to own Harmony and Joy, either.

"You don't like the sound of that?" he asked with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"I do want that." I huffed. "But I don't want to start out on the wrong foot. We both know I'm going to break any rules you give me about not working so much."

He barked out a laugh. "You really are cheeky tonight. Where's my sweet boy?" I groaned again, and he snickered. "How about we start off easy?"

"What do you mean? Easy how?"

"I want you eating three meals a day."

That wasn't as bad as I was expecting. There was only one problem. "I'm not always hungry for breakfast."

"You will be once your body expects you to get something into your stomach first thing in the morning. And I don't mean just a lemon scone, either."

I giggled. "Bram told on me?"

"He did, but only because he's as concerned as me. Hitch is, too. We all see how much you're working, which means you need to fuel your body."

"I know. Hell, I'm a yoga instructor. I'd be all over one of my students if they told me that they're eating as abysmally as I do." Since I'd started working for Aziza, I'd discovered it was much harder to practice what I preached.

Archer hummed. "We'll start there then. I don't even mind if you have a scone, but I'd like you to get some protein in you, too. As far as lunch goes, you can decide when to eat as long as it's by two PM."

"Okay, Daddy. I'll try." That wouldn't be too hard to do, as long as I remembered. I had a long stretch in the afternoons where I generally washed blankets and the slipcovers for the pillows and recharged the energy in the studio. I'd have to incorporate making time for lunch into that.

"No, I need you to do better than that. If you don't have time to pack your lunch, run out and get something. Or shoot me a text, and I'll run over to Luxe or the bar and grab you a to-go order. I don't want you to worry about spending money you don't have, but I do want you to eat."

It felt gross knowing that he knew I didn't have enough money to be casually eating out every day. It was stuff like this that made me wonder if my father was right. I'd had a fairly decent job, so the fact I was hurting for money was embarrassing. But I'd been so miserable.

"Hey, sweet boy," Archer said in a soft voice.

I tilted my head up to look at him. "Yeah?"

"There's no shame in struggling financially while building a business. I don't know too many people who haven't. But as your Daddy, it's important to me—as well as being my job—to make sure that you're getting proper nutrition. I consider feeding you a privilege for me, so don't you worry about that. Are you drinking enough water during the day?"

I smiled with relief. "I have that one covered, Daddy. I drink so much water throughout the day. I also have a couple cups of hot tea."

"Good. How about sleep? Are you getting enough rest at night, or are you going home and staying up until all hours?"

Score . He'd be happy with my answer to this one, as well. "No, except talking to my brother, I'm so tired by the time I get home, I fall right to sleep. Well, until recently." I batted my eyelashes at him playfully. "Since we started hanging out, it takes me a while for my brain to shut down since all I want to do is think about you."

Archer's expression turned smug.

"Oh, brother." I rolled my eyes. "Don't let it go to your head or anything."

He snorted. "Then don't go saying such pretty things to me," he teased.

I burrowed in closer. My only fear of this working out was that he'd lose patience with my determination to buy the studio. Before I celebrated him being my Daddy, I needed to know what he expected of me in regard to working. "Should we talk about my job situation?" I asked in a small voice.

He tightened his arm around me, then took pity on me. "We'll save the talk about Harmony and Joy for another day. I'll sit down and help you come up with a game plan. Sound good?" I nodded into his chest. "Good. But we do need to talk about your side hustle."

"What?" I asked, confused. Then it hit me. "You mean DoorDash ?"

He kissed the top of my head, and my heart fluttered, even though I knew he was about to say something I'd hate. "Sweet boy, I'm going to put my foot down on that one. No more food deliveries. I know it makes you extra money, but it's dangerous. You never know who you're going to encounter."

I'd told him some of my funniest stories on our picnic date about my time with food delivery, but he wasn't wrong. I'd also ended up in some sketchy situations and had to deal with some not-so-nice people. For the most part, the good outweighed the bad, but it wasn't like this was my favorite thing I'd ever done. I'd have to think of a way to replace that income, but I'd worry about that tomorrow. For now, I had a Daddy of my very own, and I wanted to enjoy him.

Turning, I swung a leg over him and straddled his lap. "Done. No more DoorDash ." I leaned in, and right before my lips touched his, I whispered, "So can we seal our newly committed relationship in a Biblical way now?"