Page 176 of The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The Second Collection
But I don’t. And she’s right.
“I was kind of thinking the same thing,” I admit. “Which is stupid because he’s one of the most sought-after Masters here. Your stupid is rubbing off on me.”
“What the fuck did you say?” A man growls from behind me, even as Emily breaks into giggles again.
I glance over my shoulder. Logan’s standing just behind me, holding a plate of food, and scowling at me so hard it looks like his face is going to break.
Shee-it.
“It’s an expression, Daddy,” Emily says, still giggling. “DirtyGurl wasn’t saying I’m stupid.”
“Better not be,” Logan says heavily as he sits down next to his submissive. She immediately leans into him. He slides his arm around her shoulders and kisses her forehead.
My heart squeezes.
“I, um, really liked your scene last night,” I say to patch over my own stupid.
Master Logan isn’t my biggest fan. Before he met Emily, he never did scenes with me except for training. I always figured my dreads and ink put him off, since all his subs before Emily were clean-cut, classic lookers. He broke that mold with Emily, who is totally adorable, but doesn’t rate much higher than really pretty on the zero to supermodel scale. Not that I put any stock in appearances, but Logan seemed to. He also seemed to attract the biggest psycho-bitches on the planet; a type he’s finally broken away from with Emily, who is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. Given how sweet she is, and how little he seemed to think of me, I’m surprised he’s let Emily be friends with me.
But Logan puts his subbie’s needs first. Emily needs friends who understand her littleness. It makes some of the other house subs uncomfortable, but I’ve always liked how uninhibited she is. I encouraged her to be little around me from the start. That seemed to win Logan over.
Which pretty much makes him Dom of the Year in my book.
Realization hits me like an uppercut to the jaw.
Ten doesn’t give a shit about my needs. I didn’t need the extra flogging last night. He could tell I wasn’t in the right place, but instead of ending the scene, he kept going to prove he could continue to control me. Because that’s whatheneeded after my attention wandered.
He doesn’t give a shit about what I need because he doesn’t give a shit about me.
I put my hand over my eyes, to hide the fact they’ve suddenly filled. I hear the scrape of a chair and then Emily’s arm slips around my shoulders.
“Come home with us. Spend the weekend. Whatever’s going on with you, you shouldn’t be alone.”
“I’m not alone when I’m working,” I say thickly.
“Please? I’ll ask Daddy to tie you up and kidnap you if you don’t. You know he will if I ask.”
Logan probably would if Emily asked.
“I really don’t like you,” I tell her.
“I know.” She pushes my dreads back over my shoulder so she can kiss my cheek. “You can dislike me all you want while we make green tea cupcakes and watch theAvengers.”
“I hate your green tea cupcakes,” I sniffle.
I don’t, of course. They’re excellent. Sweet and creamy and tangy. With the green tea in them, I can even pretend they’re healthy.
“I know.” Emily kisses my cheek again.
I head in to my shop late in the afternoon after getting a text from my main tattooist, Nicky, saying two repeat clients have called for appointments.
I’m trailed by my chirpy shadow. My employees, and everyone else who walks into my shop over the next three hours, are entranced by her, even before she breaks out the two dozen cupcakes she’s brought. I swear, she has some weird Little power.
While I work, she entertains herself. If my head wasn’t fucked sideways, what a perfect guest she is would annoy the hell out of me. Instead, I just feel pathetically grateful when I finishup my second client and find her curled up on the reception-area couch with my sample design book in her lap.
I stage a token resistance anyway, because that’s just the way I roll.
“I’m going home,” I tell her. “You should head out.”
