Chapter 16

Dessie

"What are you doing?" Austin leaned over my shoulder. "Why are you searching for coloring books?"

"To drive Daddy nuts." I thought it was a reasonable answer, but Austin leaned closer and stuck his face in front of mine.

"Why?" Frowning, he had that stubborn look that said he wasn't going to move.

"Um, well, he likes knowing what I'm doing and I like constant attention, so when I'm bored, I just make sure to leave a rabbit trail of what I want to talk about or what I want to have at his house." So far, I'd left him clues about clothes and jammies and a new binkie.

Work had been busy, which meant there'd only been so much time to mess with Daddy over the past two weeks, so he was slightly behind on his plan to keep me.

Austin couldn't seem to decide if he wanted to frown or smile. "He's stalking you already? Tracker on your phone?"

"I wouldn't say it like that." It was rude to think of it that way and I wasn't going to explain how Daddy had done it. "I'm important to him, Austin."

Yes, that was much better and Austin started nodding. "Yes, you are. He likes you."

I should hope so—he was my Daddy.

"He does." My confident answer made him giggle and he finally went back to his side of the booth. "He's also worried about privacy stuff, so we're not going to talk about him yet."

I wasn't sure when we'd get to the talking about him in public part of our relationship, but I kind of had a feeling we'd be living together before that happened. Not because I thought it'd take years to get to that point. No, it'd probably happen next week at the rate Daddy was going.

Austin rolled his eyes and sat back on the bench. "Fine. I think he's nuts but I'm willing to let this play out a bit longer."

I wasn't sure what that timeline meant in his head, but warning Daddy about it seemed like a smart idea.

"Thank you." Yes, Austin had that look again and I wasn't sure I wanted him being stubborn at us. "And thank you for introducing us. You knew how important privacy was to Daddy and you did your best to make him feel safe."

Ha.

His pout said I'd won, but I made sure that didn't show on my face.

Austin finally shrugged and shifted to lean back against the wall. "So stalking, huh?"

It was better than the alternative, which might've been his plan, so I played along. "It depends on how you see it, but I got my first spanking because of it, so I'm not complaining."

Austin laughed. "I can see why."

"And before you ask, it went very well and he is a very good Daddy." Especially in the spanking area. I managed not to say that or giggle, though. "He's good at reading me and he's good at communication."

Even when he talked around the subject.

Like the fact that his friend in New York had to have been a woman.

Just because I'd surrounded myself with men who liked men didn't mean that I had an issue with anyone who was more flexible than I was. I worked with omegas who were Doms and alphas who were into other alphas. I was not going to be shocked by Daddy having had sex with a female, no matter what their secondary gender.

I just couldn't decide if I needed to point that out or not.

"You're thinking too hard." Austin's glare was taking shape and he was leaning closer. "What happened?"

He was some kind of psychic.

"I was thinking about the best way to introduce Daddy to the club." I'd been thinking about that earlier, so it made the lie more believable. "He's still going to come. Did he mention that?"

I knew he had, so I wasn't surprised when Austin nodded.

"I think it's mostly to see me hanging out in the playroom, but I think he'd enjoy meeting the other Daddies if he can relax." With me, Daddy was always sweet, but I'd seen him in some interviews and he'd been icy.

Watching those had gotten me another spanking and a fabulous orgasm because Daddy had been worried that I'd be worried about him being gruff and cranky. But I'd taken my bribe and then promised that I understood he was Daddy and that meant he was different with me.

That was true, so I hadn't even been lying just to get a spanking.

I'd seen peeks of that part of his personality on our first date, so seeing him online in the interviews hadn't been a surprise. He'd been polite until the reporter had gotten pushy, and I thought that was very fair. If Daddy told someone no, that meant no.

Duh.

"I wasn't sure about that at first, but now I think you're right." Austin's worried expressions had faded, making me much happier. "He's got some practice with it now and he feels more confident about it."

"Are you stalking Daddy?" Everyone else was going to show up any second, so I knew I couldn't wait. "I'm not sure how I feel about that."

Austin rolled his eyes. "I'm not stalking him. I'm watching other people and that's taking up a lot of my time at the moment. I just called him a few times and showed up at his office yesterday."

Again.

Because Daddy didn't have a real job.

Daddy was still kind of salty about that, but I was just glad Austin wasn't stalking him. I wasn't sure what Daddy would do if he felt like he was under surveillance all the time. No. I wasn't going to let them end up in some kind of weird cold war like two countries that had more money than common sense.

"I think it's time to leave the relationship up to us." Right? That sounded reasonable. "He needs to feel like we're a normal couple and like he's not worrying about what you'll think all the time."

Well, it was more like Daddy didn't need to imagine killing Austin all the time, but it was basically the same thing.

Sighing, Austin seemed to get it. "That's what Silas said."

Oh, even better.

"He's very smart, but he's really lucky to have you." And Austin was off.

For the next couple of minutes, he rambled about all they'd been doing and what ridiculousness he'd been up to that he thought was perfectly rational.

It wasn't…but I didn't see the need to tell him that.

Thankfully, Charlie and the other littles from the club that had wanted to come finally showed up and I was saved. I was also a wonderfully patient friend because I didn't even call Austin a butthead for telling me to arrive fifteen minutes early just so he could interrogate me.

I was amazing and deserved a reward.

I deserved it even more when Austin smiled while whispering to himself as the group made their way through the restaurant. "Marty's next. That's one little who needs boundaries."

Being his friend was exhausting.

****

"I was good. I didn't tell Austin he was crazy and I think I got him to stop showing up at your work unexpectedly and I didn't tell him anything private." I. Was. Amazing. "I didn't even let him talk about anything you'd think was private and now I'm exhausted, so you have to take care of me."

I'd collapsed into Daddy's arms as he'd opened the door, and now I sighed and ignored his snickers. "I thought going out with your friends was supposed to be relaxing or at least something positive?"

"No." Where had he gotten that idea? "That's ridiculous."

He picked me up, cradling me in front of his chest. "Can you explain why?"

Daddy was so silly.

"I went out to dinner with Austin and four other littles who couldn't be little and had to be big in public. Around other people. Around Austin." The restaurant was notorious for chasing away anyone with a camera, so we'd actually had a reasonable amount of privacy, but regular peopling was still hard for a lot of the littles.

"I hadn't thought about it that way." Carrying me into the house, Daddy took care of the door and kissed my head. "You're right. You had a rough night."

He finally got it.

"I was so good, Daddy." Closing my eyes, I rested my head on his shoulder and sighed. "I like talking to my friends, but I think it's easier to play with them when they're little. They're really nervous adults."

That was exhausting to be around.

They made me worry.

Daddy managed not to laugh out loud, but his chest jerked and it took him a second to respond. "I can see how that would be stressful, but I'm glad you're not that nervous."

Me too.

"You'd be a good Daddy to a nervous little once you stopped worrying about making them nervous." Petting his chest as he tried to decide if he was going to laugh or complain, I ignored his dramatic breaths. "But I'm glad you're my Daddy."

He finally settled on chuckling and probably rolling his eyes. "I'm glad of that as well. Some of the other options that Austin could've put in front of me sound…stressful."

Oh yeah.

"But you got me." Austin was smart about that. "And I'm not stressful like that."

I might've been a pain in the butt in other ways…because he was carrying me since I'd been too dramatic to walk…but at least I wasn't so nervous I'd give Daddy an ulcer.

He laughed. "No. You are a unique individual in different ways, though."

"Hey." Daddy was silly and smacked my bottom. Okay, I'd take unique if it got me a spanking. "Yes, Daddy."

That made him start snickering again, but he stopped by the time he sat down on the couch and cuddled me in his lap.

Hmm.

"Daddy?" Looking around, I realized I had a question.

"Yes?" He must've realized that because he was trying not to smile. "What are you thinking about?"

"Who else lives here?" Leaning around the back of the couch and searching to make sure I didn't see shoes anywhere or other clues, I finally sat back down on his lap. "You have too many bathrooms to clean by yourself but I know you like privacy."

I should've thought of that sooner, but I'd never seen anyone around and we got distracted easily.

"Ah." Daddy nodded, looking around too. "Yes. This is too much for me to manage by myself. But I have help. They just don't live on property because I'm a pain in the ass and they need space."

Huh?

"That's rude, Daddy." He clearly didn't know it, but Austin would help me figure out how to point that out very clearly. "They have to be nice to you."

Daddy looked at me and cocked his head. "You look scary."

"Thank you." Kissing his cheek, I decided to take a very subtle way of torturing them. Nothing flashy that would draw attention to us.

"You don't have to worry. My housekeeper has known me since I was a child and she's the oldest daughter of my parents' housekeeper. She's basically an older sister, and I'm…" Daddy shrugged. "She says I'm overbearing."

Oh, they were family.

"She doesn't appreciate you, Daddy." I shrugged, doing my best to look innocent but not too innocent. He'd see through that. "I bet you were just trying to take care of her."

Some people didn't appreciate good helpers.

Daddy nodded and gave me a kiss. "Yes, but I understand boundaries, so I respect her decision."

Hmm.

"Does she do everything?" Maybe Daddy didn't know she couldn't do it all? Had he ever cleaned his own bathroom? He might not know they took forever.

"No." Daddy laughed and shook his head. "Before I bought the house, I sat down with her mother and she helped me put a plan together."

"Oh, good." Kissing Daddy's cheek, I remembered another question. "So she knows about you? But does she know about me? I leave before she gets here, I think."

Maybe?

Had I not been paying enough attention?

Before I could decide if I needed to be bigger, Daddy kissed my forehead. "You miss her by about five minutes in the morning and she always leaves before dinner. Her schedule is flexible, so sometimes she's here on Saturdays but that's up to her."

Oh.

"And?" Daddy's breathing took too long and interrupted my answers.

Trying not to laugh, he shook his head. "And yes. I've told her that I'm seeing someone. You. And she knows not to tell her mother yet or everyone will know."

Giggling, I nodded. "Everyone is a lot."

Especially for someone who liked privacy.

"Yes." Daddy was dramatic and sighed before slouching back against the couch. "Her mother and the rest of the family are wonderful but they're a lot."

Oh, their family was Daddy's family?

"They're probably as nosy as me and Austin." That made Daddy laugh, and he forgot he was thinking too much.

"They are. They're going to like you too." Daddy seemed very confident about that. "My housekeeper and her mother both know about me from when I was a child, but I can't see why it would come up in connection to our relationship."

People were weird.

"I will also do my best to let you know if you get here early enough or leave late enough to run into her." Daddy made a silly face. "I haven't told her how cute you are, so there are things we don't want to surprise her with."

"Good plan, Daddy." I gave him a smacky kiss. "But you have to tell me what she can know. She won't tell about me, will she?"

Daddy cocked his head again. "About me seeing you or about you being an adorable little who loves being carried?"

"That one." I didn't care if anyone knew I was seeing Daddy. "I don't want to surprise anyone."

Or end up arrested or on the news.

Austin wouldn't like me ending up on the news, and I didn't think my boss would be happy about it either.

He'd have explaining to do and he didn't like when that happened.