Page 99 of Santa Daddies

“Me too,” Tilda agreed, then turned to Leo. “Well, how about you? Anything useful stirring in your lizard brain?”

“Yep, pancake batter.” He grinned and shrugged. “What can I say? I can’t think when I’m hungry and since this is a business meeting, we can take the cost of breakfast off taxes, right?”

We both turned to look at Tilda because she was the one earning her Master’s in Accounting as well as having suggested we start keeping receipts and mileage logs, and time spent touring and interviewing club owners just in case they came in handy.

“That depends,” she said as she bumped into me when the club door opened and a guy stumbled out and into her.

I steadied her and shot the guy a nasty look, which he totally ignored.

“Forget it, Austin. He’s as lost a cause as this dump. Let’s take this somewhere less chaotic.”

“That’s exactly what I just said. IHOP it is!” Leo declared. “To the car!”

At the restaurant, I asked, “How long ago did you decide?” as I gestured for Tilda to slip into the booth before sliding in beside her.

“After the third club you two dragged me to,” she said as Leo completed our trio, sitting across from us. “I was just waiting for both of you to catch up.”

“So, you’re saying we’ve wasted a whole lot of time in the interim? Not to mention sampled a lot of god-awful drinks. Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to be streamlining the process?” Leo grouched from behind the menu he was already perusing.

“Not at all,” Tilda countered. “If you are truly interested in the outcome, you’ve got to collect a lot of data. Every single club, even those wannabe clubs, had something to share. And not all of it was negative. Sure, there were a lot of questionable aspects, and I can say I would be suspicious if any of them claimed any kind of commitment to their members’ safety, though a couple did seem to be trying. But since not a single one had me itching to get naked and play”—she held up a finger as if to hold her place—"coffee with cream for me, please”—she turned back to look at us—“and without people who feel safe and anxious to play, we might as well just all stay home and invest in batteries, right?”

A soft laugh had both Leo and I shifting our stare from Tilda to see a young woman had appeared at our table.

I wasn’t sure what impressed me more. The fact that Tilda didn’t look the least bit embarrassed at being overheard, or the fact the waitress wasn’t blushing or fidgeting, but was smiling.

“I’m afraid we’re fresh out of batteries but would you gentlemen also like coffee?” she asked, her pen poised above her pad.

“Better make it a carafe,” I said. “I have a feeling this might take a while.”

“I’ll take my coffee with a double stack of blueberry pancakes with a side of eggs scrambled soft, bacon and sausage, and a double order of hashbrowns,” Leo said, snapping his menu shut.

“A side?” I asked, my eyebrow quirking.

“Creative thinking takes a lot of calories,” he said, then glanced at the waitress again. “Oh, and if you don’t mind, could you ask the chef to make those hashbrowns extra crispy, please, Dawn.”

The waitress’ smile widened as she nodded. “Certainly, Sir.”

As she walked away, Tilda reached across the table and patted Leo’s hand. “And that, right there, is why despite the fact you drive me bonkers, I’m in this with you.”

“Because I ordered a lot of food which I’m sure you’ll be sharing?” Leo asked.

“No, because you addressed Dawn by name which is something I should have done.”

My best friend grinned. “Especially because unless I’m totally off my game, Dawn has eyes for only one of us and it sure wasn’t my handsome self.”

It was amusing to see his words had Tilda’s mouth opening and closing like a little fish. It wasn’t often anyone or anything knocked her off balance.

Leo chuckled. “As some very wise person said, we learn something from every encounter.”

I grinned and sat back in the booth. “So, we’re agreed that instead of buying into an existing club, we will begin our own?”

“Absolutely. Not only will that give us the freedom to design it to include everything we want to offer members, we will make sure it is a place Tilda actually wants to run about nakey and play to her little heart’sdesire,” Leo said, ducking when Tilda shot the paper off her straw at him.

“It will allow us to include all the safety measures that we found severely lacking in the places we’ve seen,” she added firmly.

Things they’d both mentioned had me leaning forward and speaking in a serious tone. “Most importantly, no matter how we design our place or which apparatus we set up in stations, our commitment is to make it a place where all members can enjoy all sorts of different kinks. I don’t want anyone feeling as if others are yucking their yum. Inclusion is probably the most verbalized complaint I’ve heard ever since I stepped into the first club back when we were freshmen. I want our club to be different, where Doms, Dommes, and their submissives feel welcome and comfortable and where–”

“Littles can play without fearing they’ll be exposed as weirdos and freaks.”