“You don’t have to do that,” she argued even as she returned her wallet to her bag. “Why don’t you grab us a table and I’ll bring the food?”
After all, she was an independent woman who could pay for her own breakfast. She couldn’t remember the last time someone else had paid for anything for her.
Drake ignored her somewhat-feeble protest as he placed his own order and then arranged for the tab to be billed to his room.The fact that he seemed to want to have breakfast with her made Lacy stammer a soft, “Okay. Thank you.”
She swallowed back the Daddy honorific that pushed to be expressed. Just because he was on dozens of DDlg romances was no reason to think he was a Daddy Dom himself.
Lacy chose a small table in a back corner that was half hidden by a small yet bushy tree. She settled in the seat so her back was to the room. She knew from experience that most men preferred to sit with their backs to the wall so they could see the entire room without turning around.
Sitting sideways, she looked around before her attention focused on Drake as he crossed the room. His skintight black t-shirt and dark-gray sweatpants enhanced a well-toned body and had Lacy turning for fear he’d see her as she licked her lips and swallowed hard. He was so sexy even though she could tell he had just crawled out of bed.
She frowned when she saw he carried two bottles of water under one arm in addition to two breakfast sandwiches and a ceramic mug of coffee. Lacy was surprised when he placed one of the waters in front of her along with her sandwich.
“Drink that before you drink the soda,” he instructed.
Suddenly thirsty, Lacy opened the bottle and drank deep. Then she turned her attention to unwrapping her sandwich.
She was chewing her first bite when Drake asked, “So what do you do when you’re not acting as your cousin’s assistant?”
Lacy froze for a moment, not sure how to answer the unexpected question. After all, he was one of the convention’s main attractions. Why was he asking about her?
Taking a breath, she said, “I’m an office manager for a construction company.”
Drake nodded and followed up with, “But that’s not what you really want to do with your life, is it?”
Lacy stopped breathing as she considered the question that hit so close to home. “How did you know?”
Drake smiled as she stared at him with wide eyes. “Because if you loved your job, you’d look happier. My bet is that working at that job is just to pay the bills until you can make your dream job into a reality.”
Lacy nodded, looking surprised, obviously surprised that he read her so easily. “How did you know?” she whispered again.
“I was in the same place not so long ago. And while my modeling doesn’t pay enough to quit my day job yet, it has given me a nicely cushioned retirement account and opened a lot of opportunities for me.”
Drake did not go into detail about where he hoped the modeling would take him. He wanted to learn about Lacy and prove to himself that his assumption that she was a Little girl was accurate. If so, he might think about trying to take things further with her, though his weekend was already full. Maybe they could make plans to meet again in the future. In the meantime, he wanted to learn everything he could about Lacy Grey.
“You’re right. I’ve dreamt of being a photographer since I got my first camera for my twelfth birthday. I’ve learned a lot from Rebecca while working as her assistant, but I wish I could be the one behind the camera, not just setting up lights and holding reflectors.”
Drake nodded in understanding before he assured her, “You’ll do it.”
Lacy sighed as she shrugged. “Maybe. I’m just not sure how to get started. I’m afraid to ask Rebecca for help because she’s family and I don’t want her to see me as competition.”
Drake pulled out his phone and quickly sent a text. A few minutes later, his phone dinged with a response. After checking it, he smiled at Lacy. “If you don’t want to ask Rebecca how to get into the business side of things, I can give you the names and contact information of another photographer who I’ve worked with several times. He said he’ll be happy to mentor you, if you’re interested.”
Lacy’s eyes grew wide and glassy from unshed tears, making Drake wonder if maybe he’d done the wrong thing. But there was something about this woman—who he was almost 100% certain was a Little—that called to his Daddy side. He only wished he could spend the rest of his time in town with her, learning about her, Daddying her, instead of doing the job he was being paid to do.
“Really? You’d do that for me?” Lacy looked shocked that he would help her make a connection.
But wasn’t that what life was all about these days? Making connections, meeting new people, and expanding your social circle, even if it was through the screen of a phone, table or computer?
Deciding he needed to build a foundation for future relationship, he said, “Isn’t that what a Daddy does? Help his Little girl make her dreams come true?”
Drake sipped at his coffee while he waited for an answer.
She took a draw from her soda bottle before screwing the lid down. Then she looked into his eyes and he could not help smiling at the confusion he saw in her pretty blue eyes that were the color of old denim.
She took another breath before whispering, “But I thought you were gay. I mean…”
She looked so horrified, he rushed to put her out of her misery. He understood her confusion, but hoped that by outing himself, she might express an interest that matched his own. “Online, I like to keep my private life private, and because some people can’t leave well enough alone, that’s created some rumors and assumptions. The truth is, I’m bisexual. In the past, I’ve had relationships with both women and men. But none of them stirred up feelings that I’m having right now. For you.”
