Page 20 of Daddy's Little Liar
“How you feeling about last night?” he specified.
That one was harder to answer.
“Humbled,” she eventually managed. “Really grateful, too. You didn’t have to do any of that.”
She wasn’t talking about the spanking part, which he seemed to understand.
“You’re welcome,” he said again. Slipping past her, he went into his office to got her cellphone off the charger and a piece of paper tucked into an unsealed envelope. He handed it to her, and when she looked inside, she covered first her eyes, then her mouth.
“Don’t even try to give that back to me,” he warned before she summoned a response.
Inside the envelope was a receipt for the part, a bill for his work, a business card with an address, so she could mail her payments back as they’d agreed, and about two hundred dollars in cash. “You can mail me that back when you can afford it,” he said simply. “Something tells me, tight as your budget is right now, you won’t have a lot left in the bank when you get back from this trip. I don’t know when you get paid next, but you still need to eat, pay bills, and get to and from work. I also expect that prescription to be filled and taken when you need it. Understand?”
She stared at the money. It was too much, yet when she looked back at him, although still smiling, he had last night’s Daddy sternness on his face.
“I mean it, don’t even think about it. You still have sixty miles to go, and you don’t know what unexpected obstacles might yet cross your path. Just take it, say thank you, and as I said, you can pay me back later.”
There was no way she could take this, but his generosity was enough to reduce her to tears. “Thank you.”
He went straight into caring Daddy mode, and it was the sweetest thing to have him ask, “Do you have everything?”
Wiping at her eyes, she nodded.
“Go potty one more time before the road. There aren’t a lot of places to stop between here and Santa Fe, and you’ll need to get a hoof on.”
“Right,” she hiccupped. Leaning heavily on the crutches, she limped back into the house to the bathroom and washed her face. She stood there, looking at herself in the mirror and holding the envelope of money.
That’s when the ugly thought crept in. Would taking what he’d given her make her manipulative, greedy, or just a prostitute? They hadn’t had sex, but that was kind of the gist of the scenario she’d suggested, and now, here he was, paying her. For emergencies, he’d said, but it was still money. The scenario wasn’t anywhere near as erotic in the cold light of morning, with her own reflection staring accusingly back at her.
Holding the envelope made her feel bad, despite the reasons he’d given. She didn’t have a lot, but she had enough gas money to get there. She didn’t need to make herself feel worse by taking even more from him.
As she limped carefully back outside again, she put the envelope on his kitchen table and left it there.
“Thank you again,” she said honestly as he walked her to the car and opened the door for her.
“Drive safely.” He held the door for her while she got in, wrangling the crutches into the passenger seat before buckling her seatbelt. “Text me, so I know when you get there, okay?”
That made her smile again.
“Yes, Daddy,” she teased. He really was the most decent man she knew. Her heart gave a little squeeze as he shut the door.
It was hard not to look at him in the rearview mirror as she drove away.
