“Do they really let you eat candy at work, Little one?” Tate asks.
I nod. “Yep. Only the bulk candy. Not the packaged kind. But it’s not as glamorous as it sounds. It smells divine in the store, but in reality, I can only eat a few pieces. If I ate more, I’d feel sick.”
Tate nods. “I guess that’s probably true for anyone who works in the food industry. I doubt people flipping burgers want to eat a burger after staring at hundreds of them for hours.”
“Yeah.” I take another bite, this time from a tiny pig in a blanket. “I get to take some home, too, though.”
“Ah. What’s your favorite candy?”
“Gummy bears,” I declare. “They’re so good.” I let my eyes roll back.
Theo laughs a bit harder than necessary. “I think you should tell her what you do for work, Tate.”
I turn my attention to Tate.
He chuckles. “I’m a dentist.”
I gasp.
He laughs harder. “Do you know how bad gummy bears are for your teeth?”
I groan and wipe my lips with my napkin. “I should just go home now. There’s no way this could ever work out between us.” I’m half teasing.Half.
Tate cups the back of my neck. “Don’t you worry. I wouldn’t take away your favorite food group.”
I narrow my gaze at him, sensing a but.
He continues to laugh. “If you were mine, Iwouldmonitor your gummy bear intake and brush and floss your teeth every time you ate them.”
My eyes go wide. Did he say he would brush and flossforme? I glance at Layla and realize she probably hasn’t brushed her own teeth since she met her Daddy. Is that something Tate is interested in? Is he looking for a deeply regressed Little girl?
As Theo feeds Layla another bite and then holds her sippy cup up for her to take a drink, I wonder for the first time in my life if maybe I would like to live the way she does.
A full-body shudder shakes my entire frame, leaving me both hot and cold at the same time.
Who am I?
Chapter Four
After dinner—after Tate and Theo clean the kitchen—we all play a game around the kitchen table. It’s a hilarious memory game, and I find out I’m better at it than Tate. Either that or he let me beat him. That’s possible. I don’t know him well enough to be sure if he would let me win, but I get to know him better throughout the evening.
He seems genuinely interested and attentive. He smiles a lot, and every time I look at him, he’s looking at me. It makes me blush and squirm. I keep thinking about how it felt to have his hand on my thigh and wishing I were sitting close enough to him for him to do it again.
When the game is over, I glance at the time on the microwave. “I should get home. I have to work in the morning.” Really I just don’t want to stay so long that I’m keeping Theo and Layla from whatever their nighttime routine is. If I had a Daddy like Theo, I’d be bouncing in my seat, wondering when my guests were finally going to leave.
I look at Tate. If I had a Daddy like Tate…
Tate nods. “Did you drive here, Sophia?”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t have a car. I took an Uber.”
“I’d be happy to drive you home, if you don’t mind me knowing where you live. I’ll totally understand if you’d rather I don’t.”
Relief floods me. I have been hoping he would take me home. “I’d like that. Thank you.”
We all stand, and I help Layla put the game pieces back in the box while Theo and Tate wander toward the living room.
“So?” Layla whispers.
