Page 16 of My Boyfriend's Protective Daddy

“I said get the fuck out.”

Turning around, I head for the door. At least I tried. Before I open the door, Zane calls to me so I stop and turn back around.

“Why?” he asks.

“Why what?”

“Why were you willing to fuck him and not me?”

I shrug. The answer isn’t going to make him happy, but it’s the plain and simple truth. And right now, I think the truth will do a lot more for him than trying to sugarcoat a lie.

“It just felt right,” I tell him. “And it never did with you.”

9

CASH

“That was amazing,” Cassie says.

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite spots,” I tell her.

“Would it surprise you to know that was my first time having sushi?”

“Not a lot of sushi spots in Georgia?”

She shakes her head. “Not in the town I grew up in. The most ethnic food we have back home is Taco Bell.”

I laugh and drop onto the couch, full and satisfied. The bar is in full swing downstairs, but for the first time in a very long time, I don’t have the pressing need to run down and dive into the work. I’m content to let my employees handle things.

“This is nice,” I say. “I don’t remember the last time I took a night off.”

“You should do it more often. It’s good for you,” she replies. “You need to work on the whole work-life balance thing.”

“Until you, I never had a reason to.”

Cassie gives me a smile that sets my heart racing. “Looks like I’m a good influence on you.”

“Looks like you are.”

She sits down next to me and lays her head on my shoulder, curling up against me. Slipping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her close, I revel in the warmth and soft curves of her body pressed to mine. I place a kiss on the top of her head, having Cassie next to me nourishing my heart and soul.

“You’re awfully quiet,” she murmurs.

“Just thinking about how strange and incredible this whole situation is.”

“How so?”

“I just never thought I’d find somebody like you.”

She sits up and turns to me, taking my hand in hers with a glimmer in her eyes and a beatific smile stretching her lips. She’s just so beautiful that I can’t stop looking at her.

“That makes two of us.”

“I’ve never been as happy in my life as I’ve been with you these past couple of weeks,” I tell her. “It’s like you unlocked some door inside of me I’d never seen before. I’m not the kind of guy who gets real emotional about things, but you make me feel things I never knew I could, Cassie.”

Her eyes shimmer with tears, though her smile makes it clear they’re tears of joy. She raises my hand and puts it to her chest. Her heart is pounding like a jackhammer inside of her.

“That’s because of you,” she says. “You make my heart race every time you’re near me. And you make me just as happy. I never thought I would feel the things you make me feel.”

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