Page 9 of Daddy’s Little Camping Trip (Found by Daddy #14)

Quill

I was having so much more fun camping than I thought possible.

There was something nice about being away from the distractions of work and computers and cell phones constantly pinging.

Not having to worry about deadlines or someone with a delivery or whether the housework was done—just being completely and utterly away from everything.

I still didn’t love the bugs, the wild animals, and sleeping on the ground, but the rest of the day made up for that.

The way we ate breakfast together and I got to see him smile and look at me like I was something to be treasured.

The way we had a scavenger hunt and worked together as a team—no daddy taking over like was the case with a lot of daddies when they were having big time.

They thought they were in charge, and that was fine if that was what you liked, but it wasn’t what I enjoyed.

Then there was G going into town to buy things to help take care of me and my problems with the bugs and the general wildlife part of things—he even bought enough that I could share with my little friends. It was nice to feel taken care of.

And now it was time for the lake.

I wasn’t the world’s best swimmer. I was mediocre at best. As a teen, I could pass the swim test at the local pool so that I could go on the diving board, but every time I had to take that test, I was like, Am I gonna make it there and back without my feet touching? It was definitely not a confident swim.

The lake wasn’t huge. And from everything that Ms. Lily said in her presentation about lake and boating safety, it wasn’t an extremely deep one, either. But it was water, and where there was water, I needed to be careful.

I left my tent wearing my board shorts and carrying my UV top.

I still wasn’t sure if I was going to wear it or not.

It was fitted and looked good—real good.

You could see the planes of my body quite nicely in it.

There was the added bonus of protecting me from the sun, but also, once I got wet, it kind of stuck to me and got me cold, so I wasn’t sure which way I was going to go.

I figured I’d see what everybody else was doing and go from there.

It was ridiculous—the amount of time it took me to decide which swimsuit to bring.

I had a sexy smaller suit that I used in a pool, but a pool and a lake were different.

I wasn’t going to be sitting on a lounge chair here drinking pina coladas.

I was going to be sitting on grass or sand or rocks.

For sure, it felt like the right choice.

There were already a lot of people at the lake when I got there, and I looked around and found G quickly. He waved, and I bounded up, flopping down beside him crisscross-applesauce.

“Do you think I should wear this?” I held my rash guard in front of him.

“Do you want to wear it?”

“I don’t know. It protects me from the sun, but then I get cold.”

“Put your sunblock on, then you don’t miss any spots—and I’ll check back in with you every hour to make sure you reapply.”

I thought about that for a second and quickly decided that was by far the best option ever—mostly because his hands were going to be on me.

I’d never been so grateful for someone not buying the spray sunscreen. It didn’t work as well for me, but also, it was a hands-off application. His fingers along my shoulder blades—yeah, I was there for that.

He came behind me, sat down, and slowly, methodically, covered my skin with the sunscreen. There was nothing inappropriate about it. It was all very much part of the application process. It still felt amazing.

“When you go play with your friends, I’ll get your attention in an hour.”

“Sounds good,” I nearly said Good, Daddy, but I had to stop myself.

I got up, waved to him, and then raced over to where a bunch of the littles—including my tentmate—had gathered.

They were digging a hole, and I was fascinated by it, trying to figure out what exactly they were doing.

I had guessed everything from trying to make a little lake to needing the sand they were in to pull rocks out to build something to looking for treasure.

I was wrong on all of it.

They were building a moat for Dog and Duck and Doug. And then, in the center, we built what we called the castle. It was really a big ol’ mountain of rocks and sand and mud. This wasn’t what you’d call a sandy beach, but it sure was fun.

When we were done, we smashed it, making sure that the ground was safe for people to walk on. That was the best part. Building was cool, but knocking it down was always for the win.

And then we ran into the water.

It was warm. Much warmer than I had expected when I heard we were going to the lake. We jumped in, splashed, laughed, even did some handstands—and time flew by.

The next time I looked over to see if G was still talking, he held up the bottle of sunscreen.

I got it.

Don’t wanna burn.

Daddy is calling me.

I wanted to suck the words back in. Calling him Daddy to other people—that was not the way to go. Especially not when we hadn’t talked about that at all.

But none of them seemed to notice and just waved at me as I went back to him.

He helped me and reapplied sunscreen. “What do you want to do now?”

“I’m kind of scared…but also, I kinda really wanna do it.”

“Do it?” He tilted his head to the side. God, did he think I was asking for sex?

“I wanna try… I’ve never done one before.”

“Oh! We can do that.” He smiled.

Were we gonna tip over? Probably. “I’ll be safe—’cause you’re with me.”

“Absolutely.”

He stood up, offered me a hand, and we walked to the water together for our kayak ride.

We didn’t tip back.

We didn’t roll. But there were a few wobbles, just wild enough to get us both laughing.

It was fun. And not once did I ever worry that something was gonna happen to me.

All too soon, it was time for us to part ways and get ready for dinner.

That was the worst part of the day—having to say goodbye before I was ready. Even if I was going to be seeing him again in an hour.

I was falling head over heels for this guy. And fast.