Page 49 of Iron Hearts

She laughed wildly at that one as our ordered drinks were set on the table. We took the time to order our food, and she gave a gusty sigh as the waitstaff left us again.

“Fun,” she said, and there was nothing fun about the tone in which she said the word. If anything, she sounded a cross between wistful and melancholy. “Can you use the word in a sentence?” she asked.

“We’re going down to the beach to have some fun,” I said, and she grinned.

“Well, that’s one thing wedoon the regular,” she said. “Mom is a sun worshipper, and we take the boys to the beach all the time. It’s free, lets them burn through their loads of energy, and let me tell you – we build some awesome sandcastles. Shells for windows and everything.”

“Okay.” I nodded slowly and asked, “What else?”

She scoffed and said, “Honestly, this is the most fun I’ve had in a minute.”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She took a sip of her soda through her straw.

“Not going to lie, that’s kind of pathetic,” I said, and she scoffed and threw her napkin at me. I jumped and laughed, handing it back, but I didn’t let go right away. She tugged on the cloth, and I leaned an elbow on the table and said, “Now you can have this back, but only if you promise to be a good girl.”

Her blue eyes widened, and her lips parted in surprise as she blushed a pretty pink and murmured, “Yes, Daddy,” in a way thatdid thingsto me.

Holy fuck, that was hot,I thought to myself as I relinquished the cloth.

She spread it in her lap demurely, and I had to fight down my stirring hard-on.

I leaned back in my seat mostly to give it more room as my jeans were getting uncomfortably tight, and said, “We’re going to work on that.”

“What?” she asked with a wry twist of lips. “Me having more fun?”

“Yeah,” I said, and her smirk bloomed into a smile.

“Not going to lie,” she said. “I like the sound of that. When do we start?”

I felt my smile grow larger and said, “I thought we already had.”

“Okay.” she nodded slowly. “I concede that one.”

I grinned and said, “Good.”

I took a drink of my soda and set it down with a satisfied‘ah!’and said, “And so you know, I like the way you called me Daddy just then. It may just so happen to be one of my things…”

She choked on her drink, and I reached for her, patting her on the back as she coughed into her napkin until her eyes watered.

Shit, I thought to myself.Wrong thing to say!

She caught her breath, looked at me, and said, “Sorry, I’m so sorry! You caught me off guard with that one – but duly noted.”

I grinned. “So, no problem with that one?” I asked.

“I mean, I’ve never done it, and it’s never beenmything – but I’ll try anything twice,” she said, swiping at her under eye with her middle finger to try and keep her makeup from blurring and smearing too much.

“Didn’t mean to make you choke, baby. You sure you’re alright?”

She laughed. “Only thing hurt is my pride,” she promised, grinning, and she winked at me.

Well, alright then…

CHAPTERTWENTY

Rarity…

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