Page 3 of Daddy’s Little Duckling (Ivory Mountain Daddies #1)

CHAPTER THREE

RAELYN

B y the time Rae had made it back to Mrs. Jean’s room, Emmett had left. It was probably for the best that she didn’t see him again. His energy seemed to put her at ease enough that she found it hard not to slip into Littlespace around him.

The last thing she would want is to reveal that part of herself to one of the hottest, most drool-worthy men she had ever seen. She kept picturing those dark caramel colored eyes in her mind.

It was like he could see past all of her walls when he looked into her eyes. It was a scary thought considering there were parts of her she was trying to keep at bay.

The only man who she was ever brave enough to tell about this side of her was her ex-boyfriend. He just couldn’t understand why she wanted to behave like a child and was constantly telling her she needed to grow up.

He acted like her parents did when they found out one night. She had been slowly purchasing things for her Little. Nothing big, but small things that helped her fall into that mindset.

She had made the mistake of leaving her pacifier out one morning when she was running late for school. Rae’s mom came into her room and saw it on the bed.

Getting home from school that day was like walking into a war zone. Her parents yelled at her, called her all kinds of nasty things, and kicked her out a month before her eighteenth birthday.

Luckily, Raelyn was close to graduating, so she stayed with a friend who lived in Ivory Mountain, Arizona to finish. After that she had to figure out what to do next.

That friend and their family was sweet enough to let her stay there while she got her caregiver certificate, but eventually Rae dropped out of college and started working full time.

Ever since that night, she hasn’t spoken to her parents. She knew it was for the best, but she left behind her younger siblings. The twin girls, Jessa and Destiny, were her closest friends.

Only separated by five years of age, they were always inseparable. Knowing her parents, they acted just as she assumed they would and cut them off from her. She keeps hoping that one day they can reconnect.

She longed for the relationship that they once had. It took a little while to get her feet under her after everything happened, but she figured it out.

It made her stronger in the end, but it’s something she wishes had never happened. No child should feel that kind of hatred from their parents.

Raelyn got home that night later than she hoped. The night shift caregivers showed up to work almost forty-five minutes late, which meant that Rae had to stay until someone could relieve her .

She immediately crashed into bed with Bruce after she stripped out of the scrubs she wore that night and forgoing the shower she desperately wanted, but was too tired to take.

She knew that she should eat something since she didn’t get a break at work, but she couldn’t find the energy to get up and make another bowl of oatmeal.

Not that she felt like she could eat another bowl since she had been eating it for most of her meals over the last few days.

Setting her alarm for the next morning, Raelyn slipped her paci into her mouth and drifted off to sleep dreaming of one Mr. Emmett Benson being her Daddy.

Rae jolted awake when her alarm went off at five the next morning. Groggy, she dragged herself out of bed, hopped into the shower, and got ready for her shift.

She hated when she had to work back-to-back shifts like this, but she knew that beggars can’t be choosy and that the money would be good to have on her paycheck.

Carrying Bruce into the kitchen, she quickly ate another bowl of oatmeal and then dashed out the door after giving the well-loved stuffie a goodbye kiss.

Walking into the nursing home, Raelyn got her assignment and headed to gather her linen for the morning. She noted that she had Mrs. Benson again today and secretly hoped that she might see Emmett again.

She didn’t know how often he came in, but she doubted that he would be there today since he just visited his Nan last night.

Rae’s morning was spent daydreaming in between providing care to her residents. Around lunch time she had hit a wall and was struggling to stay awake.

This usually happened when she worked too hard. Hoping it would help, she went and grabbed an energy drink from the break room and continued to push on.

As Raelyn was headed back up the hallway, she spotted Emmett walking towards her. She blushed and smiled when they made eye contact and tried to continue on her way.

“Little girl!” She heard Emmett growl at her.

She shouldn’t be as turned on by that sound as she was. Stopping, she turned and looked back at him, “Mr. Benson! It’s lovely to see you again.”

She hoped to keep this conversation short. Not because she didn’t want to talk to him, but because her defenses were already low and she could feel her Little on the surface.

Emmett stared at her. His eyebrows frowned and he looked quite unhappy about something. Worried that Rae had done something wrong, she fidgeted with the drink can in her hands waiting for him to respond.

“Didn’t you just work last night?”

“Yes, sir, I did. Yesterday was supposed to be my day off, but I got called in because someone else called out. Today was already my scheduled shift, so here I am! I promise your Nan is in good hands. I’ll take great care of her.”

Before waiting for Emmett’s response, Raelyn quickly turned and continued back down the hall before she could say or do anything embarrassing.

Rae dashed down the hallway to the nurses' station to catch her breath. She didn’t know what it was about that man, but everything about him called to her. Made her want to curl up in his lap and let Daddy deal with all of her problems.

Rae needed to stop calling Emmett ‘Daddy’ in her mind. He most likely doesn’t even know what that is and if he did, she knows that he would never want to be her Daddy.

She already had settled in her mind that she would never find the Daddy for her. It was wishful thinking and she just needed to get over it.

Littles and Daddies or Mommies only exist in the books she devours in the little spare time she has. Even if they did exist, no Daddy would want her.

She was nothing special. Her blonde straight hair, dark green eyes, and curvy body wasn’t something men did a double take at.

Her ex spent quite a bit of their relationship dropping hints to her that she could do to lose a few pounds. That she was lucky someone like him even found her attractive.

All of the comments he made reminded her of what her parents used to say and do to her. There had been many times that her mom would put her on a new fad diet in hopes that Rae would drop a couple pounds.

Her mom never liked that Rae was a size sixteen compared to her size two. It really weighed on her self-esteem growing up.

Finally, when she caught her breath and stopped the daydream of Emmett she slipped out of the nurses’ station. Looking down the hall Rae was disappointed that Emmett wasn’t still in the hallway.

Shaking her head to clear it, Rae continued down the hallway and slipped into her next resident's room. She still had a full schedule ahead of her and if she wanted to make her lunch on time, she needed to get to work and stop messing around.