Page 14 of Keeping Katie

He raises an eyebrow, and I gulp, suddenly unsure about being so sassy. Grady’s been nothing but kind to me, but he’s still a bit…scary.

“I’ll bring your pastry,” I say hurriedly with a sweeter-than-usual smile as I slide his coffee to him.

To my relief, he nods and goes to his usual seat.

“Did you go to bed at a reasonable hour last night?”

The plate clatters to the table. Heat rushes right down to my core. Why am I turned on? And why does part of me want to say no just to see how he responds? The good girl side of me wants to make him proud even more, though.

“Yes. I went to sleep around eight-thirty. It was weird. I’m usually up until after midnight.”

5

GRADY

That’s going to change. Once she’s with me, she’ll have a strict bedtime. She’ll also have breakfast every morning and not work at the ass-crack of dawn each fucking day.

I was pleased when I watched her leave her parents’ house at eight last night. Much better than eleven like the night before.

“You need more sleep, Little one.”

She huffs out a quiet laugh. “Okay, well, when I can actually find some time on my schedule, I’ll make that happen.”

Another thing that’s going to change. Her schedule. From what I can tell, she goes non-stop all day. It’s clear she isn’t taking care of herself. The dark marks under her eyes give away her exhaustion. I don’t know what is going on in her life. I’ve been forcing myself not to ask Chloe a bunch of questions because I want to get to know my girl on my own. It’s getting harder and harder to resist, though. Especially since I only gain a tiny bit more information about her each morning I’m here.

“Why are you up so early?” she asks, eyeing me with a raised brow.

I shrug. “I’m an early riser.”

What I’m not going to tell her is that I don’t usually go to bed until past midnight most nights as well, and I’m lucky if I sleep a few hours. I’m the Daddy, though, and I can handle less sleep. She cannot.

A customer interrupts us, and, like every morning, I want to murder them for taking her attention away from me. I’m left watching her for an hour or so until my phone starts going off with calls and messages that need to be taken care of.

I pull out a new card from my jacket and scribble another note.

Eat. Bed by nine. Drink your water. And be good.

Then I drop a hundred on top of it and hide it with the plate.

When Friday morning rolls around, a sense of relief washes over me as I follow Katie to Twisted Bean. She doesn’t know I’m trailing her, of course. I park across the lot and wait until she opens the shop to show my presence. I don’t like that she drives to work by herself so early. Or that she drives home late in the evening from her parents' house. Although she headed home around eight again last night. Whether she’s doing that because of the notes I’ve left her, I’m not sure, but it pleases me.

As soon as the open sign flickers on, I get out of my SUV and go inside.

“Morning, Little one.”

She turns, and her eyes light up. She’s happy to see me. The feeling is so fucking mutual. I count down the hours each night until I can get up and get dressed to come see her.

“Morning. Do you sit out there and wait until I open or something?”

Caught red-handed. “Aye. Need my morning fix.”

“Of…coffee?” she asks slowly.

I shrug and lean against the counter as she starts making my drink.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were stalking me,” she says with a smirk.

She says it like it’s a bad thing. It’s not as if I’m some creep. I’m her future man. Her Daddy.

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