Chapter 6

"You left this one blank."I pointed to a question on the second to last page of the questionnaire, and Zoe leaned over to peer at it.

"Cohabitation," she read. "Oh yeah, I didn't know what it meant."

"You don't know what cohabitation means? I find that hard to believe."

She looked at me like I was stupid. "Of course I know what it means. I'm just surprised to see it on there. Honestly, there are a lot of things I'm surprised to see on there. The flier I read called this ‘a safe and platonic way to get accountability, companionship, and regular discipline.'"

She was quoting a flier I'd made, so of course I was familiar with the jargon. I shrugged. "And for some people it is, but others want more. And it's up to both parties, of course, but we're all consenting adults, so sometimes things happen, and sometimes people feel like they need a little bit of extra attention."

"Well, I'm fine. I definitely don't need that."

She checked off ‘no' on the questionnaire, and moved on. I felt a stab of disappointment, but I wasn't surprised. The only thing I was surprised about was the fact that Zoe had given in so much already. I'd expected it to be a lot harder.

"That's fine," I assured her. "But just so we are clear, I will be requiring more of your time than an hour once a week."

Her mouth fell open and I could tell I'd surprised her, but after just a moment, she nodded. "I'm sure we can come to an agreement that falls somewhere between an hour once a week and moving in together."

"I'm sure we can."

She went back to working on the questionnaire, and I leaned back on my couch and turned on the TV with the volume down low, determined to be around if she had questions without smothering her, and to give her privacy to answer.

Twenty minutes later, I had the amended packet in my hands. My plan had been to read it later, once I was alone, but now that I had it in my hot little hands the curiosity was too great.

I skimmed the first page, which mostly told me what I already knew. The second page was the one I was most interested in. Limits.

There were major changes between her first questionnaire and her second. She was open to a lot more, both in the realm of the BDSM spectrum, and sexually.

Glancing up, I saw her watching me. Lowering the papers, I met her gaze. "How many of these things have you done before?"

I figured it wouldn't be many, but I wasn't expecting the answer she gave.

Her cheeks were purple as she looked down at the floor and then back up at me. "Aside from the regular sex ones…? That would be none."

"None?" It was a good thing I didn't have a drink anywhere near me. If I'd taken a sip, I would have choked, and if I was holding it, I would have spilled. "None?"

"Is that… bad?" She looked ashamed, like her inexperience was something she needed to apologize for, and I instantly felt guilty for my reaction.

"No, no! It's not bad at all. In fact, it's quite good. Do you know what this means?"

"That I've lived a very vanilla life?"

"Well, that, too," I teased with a grin, hoping to break the tension. "It means," I said, taking both her hands in mine, "that the scales are more balanced. It means that the student becomes the teacher."

"You… want to teach me?" She frowned, and for the first time I noticed the creases around her mouth that she was so self-conscious about, but in my mind, they only added to her beauty.

"I would love to teach you about my world. If you'll let me."

She nodded slowly, the unease mixed with nervous anticipation evident on her face. "If you're sure."

"I've never been more sure of anything."

I was certain that I was in over my head. And I didn't even care. My day had gone completely sideways from what I expected when I'd agreed to meet a potential new Daddy at the cafe this morning. Walking into the coffee shop seemed like ages ago. So much had happened since then. And so much more was about to happen. Arousal hummed through my body like an electric current vibrating just beneath my skin and I waited with bated breath to see what would happen next.

It was very anticlimactic. A timer went off on Lennon's phone, and his face fell. "Oh, crap. Where did the afternoon go? I have to go into the office."

"The office," I repeated dumbly, confused. It was the middle of the day on a Monday, and this was the first time work had come up. I guess I'd assumed that Lennon lived off his lottery winnings, and maybe occasionally sold some artwork for shits and giggles.

"I do have a regular job," he said with a wink. "Running all this…" He waved his hands around his body and I understood it to mean the skyscrapers and rentals encompassed in them. "Well, as much as we would like it to, it doesn't run itself."

I tried hard to hide my disappointment. Today felt like a lot of build-up with no climax. Literally. "Okay, no worries. I can take an uber back to my car."

Lennon nodded. "Don't forget your shopping bags. And before you go… what are you going to do tonight?"

"Ummm… probably grade papers?" I couldn't help but be a little cheeky. I knew what he wanted, but I wasn't ready to give it to him.

"Besides grading papers."

"Oh, I don't know. Eat a TV dinner, watch Golden Girls reruns, and fall asleep on the couch?"

His eyes narrowed. "That sounds miserable. It's also not the correct answer, as I suspect you well know."

"Hmmm… I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."

"Well, let me remind you. Before you go to bed tonight, you will take a nice long bath with your new bubbles or bath salts after you have a nice cup of herbal tea and a chocolate truffle or two. Once you're out of the tub, you'll put on your new pajamas, and I want you to text me a picture of them so I know you've obeyed."

"Do I need to send a picture of me in the tub, too?" I asked before I could stop myself. Shit, why had I said that? Knowing Lennon, he would say yes.

But he didn't say yes. Instead, he just smirked. "Not unless you want to."

That was worse than a yes. I could feel a flush rising up my chest into my cheeks. Now, there was no way I wouldn"t be thinking of him while I was in the tub, and that was my own fault. "Well, I guess I should get going so you can get to work." I began to gather up the many shopping bags.

"I'll call you an uber." He leaned forward and dropped a kiss across my cheek, before turning my head and capturing my lips in a kiss so sexy, so demanding, so…possessive it took my breath away. "I'll call you tonight or tomorrow morning. Be a good girl for Daddy. Oh, and Zoe? Whatever you do tonight… don't touch yourself."

The truth was, I didn't really need to go to work. I hadn't lied when I said I had a full-time job per se… but it was more like I had a full-time office. As the company media guy and art manager, my presence wasn't required on a daily basis, and while my friends tended to keep regular 9-5 work hours as often as possible, I rarely showed up before noon.

Today, I strolled through the doors at 4:06 pm to shocked stares.

"Hey, bro," Archer greeted me. He must have stopped by between court cases and legal meetings. "How was your meeting with Zoe?"

"Fantastic."

"So you're her Daddy now?" He looked at me like he didn't believe that she would have agreed to it, and I wasn't surprised.

We all had our roles, and mine was the charismatic, alcohol-loving, free-spirited goofball. I played it to a tee, and sometimes doing that was more fun than showing them who I really was. And a lot easier. So yeah, I drank. I smoked pot on occasion, too, and sometimes I got caught up in all-day movie marathons. I also ran three miles every morning, had a very impressive stock portfolio with probably more money than Bain and Theo combined, and in my free time I was a patron of the arts, gave generously to the arts programs at local schools, ate insanely healthy six days out of the week, and kept myself on a strict self-care schedule, making sure each and every day to make time for myself and my passions.

I'd come a long way since college, but my friends didn't know that. And as far as I was concerned, they didn't need to. Their idea of who I was was much more fun, and I enjoyed using it as an excuse to let loose every so often. I dated some, and played at the club on occasion, but nothing serious. It made sense that Archer didn't see me as a Daddy to anyone, much less a smart, sophisticated, beautiful woman like Zoe—a woman nearly fifteen years my senior.

But he'd see. They all would. I would be the best damn Daddy I could, and if they were lucky, I might even let them catch a glimpse of the real Lennon Ames. It might be about time. To Archer, though, I just tossed a lewd smile and waggled my eyebrows. It was on the tip of my tongue to say something my college self would have, but I had too much respect for Zoe to say something I didn"t mean that might get back to her.

"I'm her Daddy now," I confirmed.

"Once a week on Thursdays?" Archer asked, quoting the specifics of the arrangement he'd had with her.

I shook my head. "Probably every day, or just about."

"What's every day?" I hadn't even noticed Bas and Nyla come up behind us.

"Oh, Lennon is just filling me in on his meeting with Zoe. Apparently it went quite well."

Bas raised his brows and smirked. "Oh, did it? It wasn't too awkward, what with the history of you being her student and all?"

I rolled my eyes. "College was a long time ago, my friend. I'm a new man these days, and Zoe sees that."

Bas scoffed. "Does she? That's interesting, bro, ‘cause I can't."

Annoyed at their ribbing in a way I usually wouldn't be, I rolled my eyes and stomped to my office, pulling the door closed behind me. Why had I decided it was a good idea to go into the office today?

Oh, yeah. To get away from Zoe. Not that I really wanted to; of course I didn"t. But learning that she was practically a virgin with her lack of experience had been a lot. I wanted time to read over the rest of her answers in private, and I'd feared that if I didn't have a good reason to make her go, she'd stay. I didn"t really think she would, since it seemed like she was wildly independent, but one never really knew. If she'd wanted to stay, though, I'd have let her, and if she wanted me to undress her and start knocking experiences off her list… well, I definitely would have done that, too.

I couldn't get the idea of being the one who would open up this whole new world to her—a world she'd only ever dreamed of—out of my head. I wanted it more than anything. But I couldn't rush it.

I had to take it slow so as not to scare her off. We'd made significant progress in just a few short hours, but with Zoe I wanted everything, including myself, to be perfect. And that meant taking time when we both needed it. Like now.