Page 43 of Just A Little Joy
“Oh, that’s a classic.”
“It is, but you can have a bite of mine if I can have a bite of yours,” I said, doing my best to sound enticing.
“It’s a deal.”
With that settled, we set our menus aside and waited for the server. Once they came back, took our order, and left again, we turned toward each other with silly grins.
“Why are you staring at me, Daddy?” Casey whispered.
“Because I like staring at you.”
“Well, that’s kinda weird.”
“Nah, I just like what I see.”
“I am kinda pretty,” Casey preened with a guffaw and a shake of his head.
“If you want, I can catalog how pretty I think your eyes are, that I know which smiles make your dimples stand out themost, that your ass is fucking perfection in workout shorts, and that when you came in the sauna that day, I was praying to the universe that you’d have a wardrobe malfunction, but I guess my karma hadn’t been good enough for that happen. Fingers crossed for next time though.”
“Ha, a guy can dream, huh?”
“He certainly can, and I’ve had plenty of them,” I agreed.
“About me?” Casey asked incredulously.
“Hell yes about you,” I said with a definitive nod. “But I’ve had a few others too.”
“Dreams?”
“Yep.”
“About me”
“Right again.”
“Going to share them?”
“Or I could just show you later,” I said with a ridiculous waggle of my eyebrows and a lecherous grin. Casey laughed, but the deep blush that stained his cheeks was just as adorable.
“What errands did you need to run over here?” Casey asked absently as he watched the chefs work in the open kitchen below us. He was engrossed by them to the point that I wasn’t sure he was going to hear my answer.
“If it’s all right, I kinda want to keep it a surprise,” I hedged. I was close to certain that he’d enjoy my plan for a fun Christmas surprise, but I wanted the joy of seeing his face when it happened.
“Oh yeah, of course.”
When Casey gave his attention back to me after our drinks arrived, I took a deep breath and went for it. “Actually, there was something I was hoping to talk about,” I said once the server walked away. “I was hoping we could make the whole Daddy-boy thing a little more structured,” I said with mustered confidence.
For someone who’d made a living crashing into other men on the ice and was always ready to fight at a moment’s notice, I felt strangely nervous. I hadn’t been a virgin since I was fourteen, but I kind of felt like I was staring at my first crush and hoping they liked me back. It wasn’t the confident Daddy energy I wanted to project.
I might not have much experience as a Daddy, but I knew damn well I’d do everything I could to make him happy. Casey was special. Everyone who met him saw it. He radiated goodness, and I wanted to protect it and make sure no one ever dimmed that shine.
TEN
CASEY
“I’m sorry, what?”
Whatever I thought Travis was going to say, no part of me expected Daddy to say that. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to. I definitely did. But I’d gotten the impression he was still looking for something, and I was more of a side project. Different from a side piece, but not the main dish either. Oh Lord, I had to be hungry if I was mixing metaphors like that.