Page 17 of A Daddy to Love

The house was big and echoey. Nightlight sconces shed pale dim light.

My body thrummed with excitement. I still felt Truce’s arms around me and that first kiss on my lips. My heart pounded in my throat.

I ran upstairs and flopped on my bed. Pillows went flying. I rolled and moaned out loud. My emotions filled me up to overflowing. I had no way to contain them.

I lay back and pulled out my phone. There it was. Truce’s contact number. My finger hovered over the call icon. I wanted to hear his voice but he’d told me to text. I began to type.

I texted that I was home safe. He answered right away as if he’d been waiting. The thrill of realizing that made me squirm again.

When he asked me where I wanted to go for dinner, I closed my eyes and swooned against my pillow. I let him decide. We exchanged more little texts. I thanked him. Then nothing.

I held Pinkster tight and rolled on the bed some more trying to get rid of all my excess energy. After a few minutes, my phone dinged.

Are you in bed now? Ready for sleep?

I giggled to see another text. My hand shot up in the air and waved around as if I’d just won a prize.

I am in bed but still wearing clothes. I might not be able to sleep right away.

Daddy wants you to get into your jammies now. Get under the covers. Is Pinkster still with you?

I was breathless to read his words. He sounded like a real daddy. The kind I’d only fantasized about.

Yes, Daddy. I have to put down the phone for a minute.

Go do as I say. Now. I’ll wait.

I hurried as I went through my bedtime routine, using the toilet, brushing my teeth, getting into my Shrek pajamas. I had stuffies everywhere in the room and chose a red dinosaur named Jurassic to join me and Pinkster in bed. I pulled down the covers and turned out the lights before jumping between the sheets. Phone in hand, I sent a message.

I’m in bed with the lights out. But my eyes are wide open.

I grinned when a message immediately came back to me.

That’s perfect. Relax. Close your eyes. Think of your favorite things.

I’m thinking about tonight. Was it real?

It was very real for me, baby. Now close your eyes. It’s very late. Tomorrow is almost already here. Go to sleep for me like a good boy.

Yes, Daddy.

Now turn off your phone and put it aside. Tell me you’re doing that now.

I will. But I don’t want this to end.

It isn’t ending. Tomorrow will come fast and we’ll be at dinner before you know it.

Okay. Nighty-night, Daddy.

Good night. Sugarplum dreams.

I couldn’t resist sending a sleepy emoji. Then, reluctantly, I obeyed him and turned off my phone. The room plunged into darkness.

I tried hard to do what he told me. If he was the real deal, everything he did and said would be for my own good and not just to control me. I needed him. Someone to take care of me. To make sure I got what I needed.

Grandfather had been my mentor. He hired help for the things he couldn’t do. I had been well taken care of. After he died, everything went to me in a living trust to which I had all access when I turned twenty-one. Although the staff did their best to feed me and give me whatever I needed, technically I had become their boss. They were friendly. Nice. But not like best friends. Not like the daddy I longed for.

Grandfather had always warned me that people would take advantage of me for money and I should never allow it. It had been a running theme for me growing up. I learned the word for Grandfather was miser. From him, I learned to stay to myself. When he died and the entire estate became mine alone, my isolation had already begun long ago.