Page 112 of Monster Daddies

And I was going to continue to blush.

Why body hair was a defining feature of being an adult male human I’d never understand. Attitude and making bad decisions we couldn’t explain seemed like much more accurate ones.

“So far we are.” He didn’t mind the way I looked and he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy and a Daddy… yep… I needed to start looking for his red flags. We were at the point where I was starting to worry that we were playing the dating version of Capture the Flag and I hadn’t started searching for his yet.

“Okay, my turn.” What would he like to know? “Um, I’m a young Little when I can get in that headspace. I’m a frustrating person to be around when I haven’t gotten to be Little on a regular basis. I really like binge-watching random reality shows like the cooking competitions when I’m just trying to turn offmy brain, but it’s cartoons when I’m trying to get into my Little side.”

What else?

“I like a variety of different types of food, so I’m not a Little that just lives on nuggets. It would be frustrating to have the same meals over and over.” The number of men who thought we should be able to live on steak and pasta was startling and I wasn’t willing to do that forever.

His chuckle said he understood at least part of my frustration but his relaxed head shake said I didn’t need to worry. “I like new foods and trying out recipes, so we’ll have to compare notes. At the very least we can come up with a plan together because I can cook and I enjoy doing it.”

Wonderful.

“I can do it, but I don’t like it. I know that sounds ridiculous since I like a variety of foods but I’m a worrier and obsessing over the steps gives me anxiety.” That never sounded reasonable no matter how many times I’d tried to explain it. “I’m a really good sous chef.”

I followed directions well and I could manage other people.

Those seemed to be a different skill set than actually doing the cooking, though.

“Then we’ll make a great team because a kitchen only needs one cook.” His Dom side seemed to peek out as he frowned. “That means no randomly adding salt to a dish or deciding to fix it behind my back.”

Oh.

“Um, no one should do that.” Friend or family? Someone had clearly been overstepping. “You know no one should do that, right?”

His frustrated expression shifted toward something more sheepish. “Family does not always respect boundaries or have common sense.”

Why were Doms so good at managing strangers but so bad at managing relatives?

“I can promise not to go behind your back and do anything like that.” It seemed obvious, but I kept going. “I want to actually help my partner not just claim I’m helping, and when I’m in a healthy relationship, I like making my Daddy happy. It’s just what makes me happy too.”

That got a knowing smile from him. “You’ve had some unhealthy relationships, I take it?”

Ugh.

“Maybe? But I don’t think I’m supposed to confess that until like the third date? I want you to think I’m functional and a good risk until you get to know me better.” First impressions should be positive.

Malik was trying not to laugh but doing a terrible job of it. “I’d heard third dates were for other things, but explaining bad decisions is understandable.”

And my blush was back.

Great.

“If we make it through date two without my having chased you off, I was kind of hoping to shift that timeline a bit.” It’d been a long time since I had other things besides a Daddy and his aura was off the charts.

His smile was sexy too.

And then there was the whole carrying me comment.

Yeah… date three seemed very far away at the moment.

Chapter Two

Malik

He was adorable… in looks, personality, and his honesty.