Page 30 of A Daddy for Christmas 3: Nova

I giggled into the kiss and clung to him until we were breathless.

“Oh yeah, this is already shaping up to be an amazing evening,” he said as he ran his fingers through my hair. “Let me get the extra drinks situated on the counter. We’ve got spiced cranberry lemon-lime, raspberry-cranberry ginger ale, blackberry ginger ale, and pomegranate-cherry 7-Up, and of course I brought the cake.”

“That’s an awesome collection,” I said. “There’s just one problem.”

“Shit? Seriously? What did we forget?”

“We didn’t forget anything,” I said as I shimmied out of my boxers and left them on the floor at the foot of the bed before I flung myself across it. “The problem is that you still have your clothes on.”

“That is a problem, isn’t it?”

“It really is.”

“Then I guess I’d better fix that,” he replied.

“Yes, please… Daddy.” I said it partially to test out how the word felt rolling off my tongue but also to gauge his reaction.

He appeared stunned for about a second, then grinned and shed his clothes, folding them neatly before leaving them on the edge of the dresser along with my boxers. He grabbed us each a soda and placed them on the end tables before he sat on the bed and held out his hand to me, still beaming over my calling him Daddy.

Since our conversation on the beach, I’d picked up more Daddy vibes from him and kicked myself for missing them at first. Megan was right. I’d been so conditioned to expect the swaggering, in-your-face, uber-stern wannabe daddies that I’d missed seeing the signs of a real one, even when he’d been right there beside me. The way Robbie not only listened but also asked pointed questions designed to get me to think about my wants and needs hadn’t registered as anything but chitchat at first. We were still getting to know one another; it made sense that he asked me those things, or at least, that’s what I told myself. Until I’d been lying in my hotel bed talking to Megan on the phone one night and she’d started giggling. It had taken almost a minute of gasping, snickering, and sputtered comments about how oblivious I was before she told me I’d found myself a Daddy, a real one.

Melting against him, it was easy to give in to the urge to kiss and touch, our fingers tangling in each other’s hair as we slowly made out. Unhurried. Slow. He never treated our moments of intimacy like there was an end goal. That was something else I’d never thought about until being with Robbie. Partners in the past had always made each heated brush of flesh against flesh be a direct pathway to fucking. Robbie just made me feel. As he tugged me on top of him, I realized that it wasn’t just because Iwas smaller than him; it was because he truly enjoyed looking up at me, feeling my weight against his body, and having me guide where our explorations went.

Oh my god.

In that moment, it fully hit me that I was truly the one in charge.

Gasping, I sat up and peered down at him, smooshed his cheeks between my hands, and peppered his face with kisses until he started chuckling.

“I take it you’re happy to have me here,” he said.

“It just dawned on me that in everything you’ve done to try to get to know me, you’ve also been making it easy for me to just relax and enjoy each day. You’ve been planning things and setting up activities and adventures this whole time, all based off our conversations. Is it because of how frazzled I was getting before I started tucking my phone away?

“That and simply because I enjoy seeing you smile when you come rushing out to the truck, excited to see what the day has in store for us.”

“Awe,” I murmured as I snuggled into his embrace, his arms locking around me, holding me in place as we lay sprawled across the bed. “Thank you for making every day together feel like Christmas.”

“And to think, we still have actual Christmas tomorrow,” he replied as he brushed a lock of hair back from my face when I sat up.

“Want to get cozy and pick the first movie?” I asked, feeling a little cool without clothes or anything covering me.

“And maybe get you warmed up,” he remarked, making me smile more.

No one had ever been so in tune with how I was feeling. He propped the pillows against the headboard as I grasped the remote, hit the power button, and crawled into bed with it asthe flat screen flickered, revealing the program guide I’d left on when I’d turned it off earlier. Robbie tugged me against his side the moment we were in bed together with the blankets pulled up to our chins, his body heat immediately warming me.

“This is nice,” I declared, snuggling against him.

“And we have hit the jackpot when it comes to movies,” he declared, as I scrolled slowly so we could take our time and ponder all the choices.

“Oh my god, Deck the Halls is about to start,” I squealed the moment I spotted it.

“Sounds like we’ve got our first pick,” he replied, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.

As we settled in, I thought about my last few Christmases and the way I’d stayed in the city, since my folks hadn’t been big on holiday celebrations, especially after my youngest sister had moved out, officially declaring them empty nesters.

“If you weren’t here with me, how would you have spent the day?” I asked Robbie, since I knew how I’d have spent it.

Takeout and movies with Megan unless she’d decided to hit a club and have a bit of pre-Christmas fun.