Page 40 of Just A Little Love

“We should have dinner tonight and discuss it. When the work talk is finished, I'm happy to provide the entertainment. I can make the fun last all night long.”

Why this man thought this qualified as flirty, or acceptable to a colleague, was beyond me. And in front of Daddy? Unacceptable.

“Charles, let me introduce my…” Shit. What do I call Daddy? Obviously, Daddy was my friend, but he was so much more than just that. We hadn't discussed how to introduce each other. We had lunch with Anders, but that didn’t count since he was aware of the agreement. There was no awkward labeling discussion there. Safe choices were safest. “...friend, Gabriel.”

Charles’s dismissive look in Gabriel’s direction wasn't funny, but I couldn’t completely suppress the quick chuckle at his expense. Charles had already established himself as someone who usedhis facial expressions to put others down, and he prided himself on being a player. Daddy looked completely unimpressed, but he’d always been polite to everyone I'd seen him interact with, so it didn’t surprise me when he offered out his hand.

“Charles. We’d chat more, but our lunch is getting cold.”

Ha! Maybe Daddy wasn’t so polite all the time. Charles, who’d grasped his proffered hand, dropped it like a hot potato. At his words, Daddy turned his back to Charles and effectively put himself between us. A not-so-small part of my heart warmed at his protectiveness because that was romance novel hot.

“Gabriel, I’m not speaking to you.” Charles straightened himself up to his full height, shifted so he was close to me again, and ran a hand through his slicked back hair. The effect was ruined when he had to immediately wipe his greasy hand on his pants. “Rory, let’s get a drink tonight and we can get some work done at the same time. Or we could skip the work part and head straight to the good part.” Charles was working hard to pretend that he didn’t notice Daddy right there, but couldn’t resist the urge to give Daddy side-eye glances. My glance confirmed Daddy was quickly losing patience with him.

“Charles, everything we need to do can be done in committee meetings with the rest of the department. I’m not interested in having dinner with you tonight since we are having dinner with my folks and I won’t be interested in having it in the future either. I’ve let you know that I’m not interested in a personal relationship with you. Don’t you remember dumping me when you finally figured I had no power to help you get tenure? As I recall, you told me that a person in your position required betterarm candy. Please allow us to finish our lunch in peace.” I wasn't big on monologues, but it felt good to unload on him. While I spoke, Charles’s face turned an interesting shade of purple, but he didn’t say another word. With a curt nod to me and a death glare to Daddy, he turned on his heel and stalked away.

“Ugh. Is he always like that with you?” Daddy’s mouth was a tight line, but his annoyance wasn’t directed at me.

“He's like that with everyone. I’m not special. The lucky few get ignored, which I’ve been in that category since he dumped me. He was a lot nicer when he first joined the faculty. I guess pretending to be a nice guy was wearing on him.” With a shrug, I added, “Maybe Charles is one of those guys who only wants what he can't have, and then when he gets it, he doesn’t want it anymore?” With agreement type noises, Daddy returned his focus to our lunch.

“What time is dinner with your parents tonight, or was that a ploy to distract him?” At his words, I choked a little on my chicken and tried to hide my coughing fit behind my hands. Daddy, being the nice man he was, quickly reached over and patted my back to help me catch my breath again. His face had an expectant, curious but not panicked expression. He’d already grabbed his phone, opened his daily calendar app on it. Even though I’d stopped coughing, I hadn’t answered his question. “Bunny,” he continued, “I need an answer so I can figure out if I need to rearrange my schedule. I’ve got a few phone calls this afternoon. Nico can handle most things, but some of this stuff needs my signature to process.”

I was truly trapped. “Um, yeah, I really am having dinner with my folks and I usually go over around four-thirty, and they eat around five-thirty. I know I told Charles we were going, but I don’t expect you to go with me.” The spot over Daddy’s left shoulder was suddenly the most interesting place to look at in the world. Absolutely fascinating.

“Bunny, I’ll be at your house by four to pick you up.”

We finished the rest of our lunch without further interference. Daddy returned to his office to finish doing whatever architects did in their office. One of those things was handling the zoning person from the city. Before he left, I nearly swooned when he added Nico’s number to my phone. He’d said that if I couldn’t reach him, then his assistant could always figure out a way to get a message to him in an emergency. I had no idea what urgent matters he thought we’d encounter, but I loved his thoughtfulness. He was damn near perfect.

I headed back to finish my office hours and daydream about what it would be like if Daddy was my permanent daddy. We had a discussion about figuring out where our relationship was going. But even with hearts in my eyes, I knew it was headed to a quick end on the day after Valentine’s Day. When we’d started, it was for one date now I’d committed him to another at the Valentine’s party. He’d said he didn’t want another man to be my daddy, but that didn’t mean he wanted the job permanently. He’d never hid his lack of desire for a long-term relationship, and I respected the hell out of him for being upfront and refusing to play emotional games to get what he wanted.

None of this mattered because I was going to end up heartbroken. And it was going to be for real this time. The difference in this go around was I wanted to run headfirst into the coming heartbreak, but I was still going to stick around for it with my eyes wide open. It was already too late to protect my heart, and it would be worth every crack that shattered it. All those other times I thought I was heartbroken before, I wasn’t even close. This was the real deal.

I loved Daddy.

And it didn’t matter that he didn’t feel the same. He’d never lied to me, and I couldn’t’t fault him for not wanting what I wanted.

The sound of my phone's notification interrupted my melancholy thoughts.

BFF: Hey, what change of plans for Saturday? Are you ditching me for a boy? Not cool, man.

Rory: I’m not ditching you. I’m asking if we can do it at someone’s house that I need to plan a VD party with.

BFF: Do I have to wear a diaper like you guys?

Rory: I can neither confirm nor deny their little status. Also no.

BFF: Why would I care if they were? It would be weird to care what other people did in their house. You sure? I don’t want to interfere with your people.

BFF: We can do it another time.

Rory: You are my people. You’re gonna love Jakob. He’s genius smart. If he *happened* to be in little brain, would you be freaked?

BFF: I don’t yuck people’s yum. It’s all good. And if you’re sure I won’t be in the way, let’s goooooo!

Rory: I heart you. Like a lot, a lot.

BFF: Samesies

Rory: Okay, gotta go. Dinner with the ‘rents tonight.

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