Trained By Her Daddy by Shelly Douglas
Chapter 8
Peering through the slats of the blinds, Jake waited until his father’s car was out of sight before he pivoted to face me. “All right. We have approximately twenty minutes to chat, and I want the truth.”
“The truth about what? I’m not sure what you want to know,” I lied, nervously sweeping the bangs off my forehead.
After an awkward silence, his head tilted to the side. “You lived with my father for a week so he could demonstrate how a dominant and submissive live together. But now I hear you’re going to continue living here with an open-ended airline ticket. So, that’s telling me one of two things: Either you haven’t caught onto this lifestyle as quick as my father and I first imagined, or the business relationship you have with him has become personal. And in my estimation, the latter is true. So, tell me. Is my assumption correct?”
I bit the inside of my cheek and turned toward the window. Maybe if I stalled long enough, John would come home and save me from spilling intimate information. Information that could get my bottom into trouble. My new Daddy was a private man, and there was no doubt he wouldn’t want me discussing our new relationship with his son.
“Lori, am I going to have to conduct this like an interview, or could we just have a regular conversation about how things went this week between you and my father?”
Maybe an interview would be safer. That way, I’d only give him responses to his questions, instead of offering up details. I tended to have a big mouth sometimes.
Okay, most of the time.
As I carefully mused over his simple question, it probably became obvious my silence was merely a way to stall for time.
“Do you want to know what I think?”
My eyes darted to the vaulted ceiling. Oh God, he was going to start guessing. And guessing would be a bad idea. Especially if he was right.
Jake’s fingertips fluttered impatiently at his side. “I think you’re falling in love with my father. Am I correct?”
Though it wasn’t smart to answer his question with another question, the damn words rolled off my tongue as I slowly blinked. “Are you worried he’s falling in love with me?”
“He hasn’t been with a woman since my mom died five years ago, and I’m afraid someone in this house is going to get hurt.”
His sentiment sounded genuine, but how much did he really need to know about our relationship? “Besides the fact John and I are adults, would you like a reminder of whose suggestion it was that we spend a week together?” My voice was filled with an abundance of cocky satisfaction as I placed a firm hand on my hip.
His tone lowered in pitch as he towered over my small frame. “You and my dad were supposedly involved in a business relationship. But the body language I just saw between you two was clearly not business.”
After glancing at the round contemporary clock on the living room wall that hung above the black leather recliner, I closed my eyes. Jesus. It would be at least fifteen more minutes until John came home, which seemed like an awfully long time to tap dance around the large elephant in the room. “Okay, I’ll tell you what happened, but I will have to come clean with your dad after our conversation. We both know how he feels about lies, and since I’ve been living here—he’s demanded my total honesty.”
“Yes, my father is a stickler for telling the truth and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” he said quietly, making himself comfortable on the recliner before crossing one leg over the other. “So, how about if you start from the beginning?”
God, he reminded me so much of John, and it was difficult to keep the corners of my lips from rising in an uneven grin. “Be serious. There’s no way I can wrap up a week’s details before he gets home.”
“Just give me the highlights.”
Inhaling a deep breath, I blew it out and sat down on the floor in front of him. “In the first hour we were together, he removed a piece of paper from his pocket and read me a long list of disobedient acts I could be spanked for.”
Jake moved forward in the chair, indicating I had his undivided attention. “Don’t stop now, Lori. I’d love to hear what was on the list.”