Page 30 of Taking Adalisa

He grips my chin with his fingers. “You will not mumble in front of me. If you are going to say something, you are going to say it to me. Understand?”

“Yes,” I reply.

“Yes, Daddy.”

I stare at him, my eyes widening a little. Does he really expect me to call him Daddy? There is no way I am going to do that, not in a million years.

“Yes, Daddy,” he repeats.

“Yes, I understand,” I tell him instead.

I want to call him Daddy so badly, but I’m not going to give him the satisfaction. Not yet. Hopefully never. Never would I have thought of calling my significant other Daddy, but Matthias makes it seem so easy. Or so I think. I haven’t called him that, but the way I want to and the way I’ve almost, shows me how easily I want to.

His grip on my chin tightens a fraction. “You will one day. I can see it in your eyes. You want to call me Daddy so badly, but you are holding yourself back. You are holding yourself back from me.”

I am, and for good reason. But I don’t tell him that. It will only make him want to try harder and want me more. I don’t want him figuring out what I am trying to do and stopping me.

Nope.

“Did you need something?” I ask, arching one of my eyebrows. “Or are you just wasting my time?”

“Sassy,” he murmurs. “I wanted to take you out to lunch, but I can see you can’t leave the shop since no one else is here. That’s okay, I can go get food for us and we can eat in here.”

“Oh, too bad. I brought my own lunch, so we can’t eat lunch together.” I fake the sadness, but inside I’m so happy.

“That’s okay. I can get someone to grab me food and we can eat together.” He smiles innocently at me.

“I really can’t. I don’t have time to sit down to eat. I have stuff to do around the shop since Margery is gone,” I rush to say.

“Margery,” he mumbles.

“Do you know her?” I ask.

Please say no. Please say no.

“No,” he replies. “Her name is familiar. I know a guy who is in love with a girl named Margery.”

“There are a lot of people named Margery,” I nervously giggle. “Anyway, you should go. I’ve got work to do and will be walking around and eating while I work.”

“No.”

I clench my jaw, hating that he keeps telling me no.

“You are not going to eat while you work. You will sit down in a break room and eat your lunch with me. Then you can work. It’s not good for you to eat while you’re busy,” he tells me, finally letting go of my chin.

“You can’t tell me what to do,” I bark at me.

“I can and will. You are not going to eat while you work. It is not good for you,” he repeats, saying each word slower this time.

“I’m not a two-year-old you can order around. I can do what I want because I am an adult.” I take a step back. “Now, please go. I don’t need you here.”

He opens his mouth, but before he can get a word out, his phone rings. I smirk and he just stares at me.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” I ask. “Wouldn’t want you to miss something important because you are hanging out with me.”

“This is not over.” He looks into my eyes before lifting his phone and answering it.

I sit in the chair behind the counter, taking a deep breath and letting myself relax. I really need to get away from him. I need to figure out how I’m going to make him forget about me when he is so hell-bent on keeping me as his.

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