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Daddy's Here(27)

By:Lucy Wild


He pulled his phone out when it vibrated. Looking down at it, he muttered under his breath.

“I’m guessing that’s not good,” I said, nodding towards it.

“Tony wants to know what’s taking so long.”

“What are you going to tell him?”

“Nothing.”

“You’ve got to tell him something, haven’t you? What if he finds out you’re on a wild goose chase with me.”

“I’ll think of something.”

His phone vibrated three more times over the course of the journey but he didn’t look at it again. “It can wait,” was all he said when I asked him about it.

It was late in the evening when we reached Bicester. The bus pulled into the depot and we climbed off. I’d wanted to talk more about his past but hadn’t wanted to pester him, not after the way he’d looked in the guesthouse car park. He headed off to the ticket office, leaving me to stand looking at his back while wondering what the hell I was doing.

My life had become that of a snowball rolling down a mountainside, picking up momentum as I went. All I’d wanted to do was get away from a marriage to a man I had no interest in. Then I’d ended up at Gentle Falls, I’d been taken under the wing of Mr Mysterious, a man happy for me to call him Daddy which somehow felt more natural than calling him Jake.

Was it just because he was looking after me when no one else seemed interesting in doing it? I tried to square that with some of the thoughts I’d had about him, the way I’d touched myself while imagining him inside me, the dream I’d had about him. Was it fair to think about such things when I was supposed to be on the way to see Ben?

“I’ve good news and bad,” he said as he turned away from the ticket office. “Which do you want first?”

“The good.”

“We’ve two spaces on the coach to Gladwell.”

“Great. What’s the bad news?”

“It’s not until tomorrow morning.”

“Damn it. Do we just sit here and wait?”

“That’s an option but there is an alternative.”

“Which is?”

“We stay in a hotel for the night. I’ve enough cash for us both.”

“I can’t let you pay for me again.”

“Yes you can. Daddy looks after his little girl.”

My heart skipped a beat when he said that and it was impossible to keep the smile from my face.

“Come on,” he continued. Let’s go find somewhere.”

I was still smiling as I followed him. I’m sure he could have hired a car to get us there quicker. The only reason he hadn’t done that was the same reason why I was so glad he was coming with me. He wanted to spend time with me. It was a nice feeling, giving me a warmth deep inside me that was only affected by my self doubt over Ben. Was it right to think about Jake that way? As my Daddy?

Once we reached the hotel, he headed up to the reception desk and I followed him in time to hear him ask for a double room. “Not sleeping on the floor this time?” I asked him as we walked across to the lift.

“Not this time,” he replied.

When we reached the room, I headed into the bathroom. I came out to find him with his top off and there was his chest again. My insides tingled at the sight of all those muscles. “What are those?” I asked, walking over to him. I realised as I got closer that he was covered in scars. “How did you get these?”

“Doing my job,” he replied, looking down at my hand as we both realised I was sliding my finger along one of the scars on his chest.

I coughed loudly, leaping away from him, looking anywhere but at his body. “I…err…better get ready for bed,” I said, pulling back the covers and climbing in.

“Not going to undress?” he asked, moving over to his bed.

I shook my head. “What kind of girl do you think I am?”

“I think you’re Daddy’s little girl and you should get undressed before bed.”

“But I don’t want to.”

He took a single step towards me, folding his arms as he did so. “I told you to get undressed before bed. You’ve been in those things all day. They’ll be filthy.”

I thought about reminding him that he’d had them cleaned for me but decided against it, he looked angry enough without that. I knew I should buy more things but I also knew my father was monitoring my cards and I had no idea how to get round that. I wished I’d brought my suitcase with me but I also knew I’d left it behind to speed up my escape. What a great plan that had been. I was quite the genius.

I looked up at him, thinking he was joking but he was still standing there. “Well?” he asked.