Page 12 of Off-Limits Daddy
It wasn’t the words that got me—it was the weight of them. Steady. Certain. Like everything in the last ten minutes had been sideways, and Daddy was the only thing standing upright.
My heart gave one of those annoying, traitorous kicks, the kind I’d been fighting off since I was sixteen.
“Yeah,” I said. “Okay.”
I followed him out onto the landing.
Daddy didn’t say anything at first, just let the door ease shut behind us with a soft click. The streetlight cast his face in shadow, angled at the edges, soft at the mouth.
“I’m fine, by the way,” I said lightly. “Thanks for asking.”
“You will be.”
Oh.
That shouldn’t have gone straight to my knees, and my cock. But here we were.
Daddy hooked his thumb toward the door. “That was reckless.”
“Technically, it was Jon’s recklessness. I was just an innocent bystander.”
His mouth twitched—just a little. “Innocent, huh?”
“I can be.”
Daddy’s gaze held steady on mine. “Open the windows, wipe down the stove, and you’ll be fine.”
“Look at you,” I said, letting it come out light, teasing. “Full of domestic wisdom.”
Something flickered at the corner of his mouth again. Not quite a smile, but close enough that I felt it like static just under my skin.
“I cook,” he said. “Without setting things on fire.”
“That’s a special skill around here.”
His brow lifted just a fraction. “Learn it.”
Simple. Direct. A challenge, almost. My chest did that stupid tightening thing again, like my whole body was paying attention now.
Before I could say something I’d regret—or worse, something embarrassing—he gave a nod toward the door. “Go check on your friends.”
“Giving orders now?” I asked, light and teasing, but something in my chest tightened in a way I didn’t want to think about yet.
“Giving more advice,” he corrected. “You can take it or not.”
“Are you gonna make me?”
Another twitch of those kissable lips. “Don’t tempt me.”
I knew I should’ve stopped. But I never had much self-control around him.
“Yeah?” I murmured. “What if I want to?”
That made him go still. Just for a second. Not angry—not even annoyed. Just... steady again. Same way he was when he walked into the fire like it was nothing.
His voice went lower. “Careful, Ari.”
I smiled, because that? That sounded a lot like a promise. But something tugged at the back of my mind, nagging a little louder now that the adrenaline had worn off.
