Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
I furrowed my brow. “I’m older than you, dude. And you’ve got your rings picked out already.”
He laughed. “Fuck you, we do not. We’ve only talked about it a little. Besides, it’s what Wyatt might think—why would he involve my age in that? You should drop a few more hints.”
Hmm. Maybe he was right.
About half an hour later, we arrived at a restaurant in Logan Circle, and Daddy was waiting outside. And he wasn’t alone. Noa must’ve handled introductions, ’cause Wyatt was chatting with two men I’d never met before, and Noa was standing next to them. One of the men was supporting himself on a cane, and it jogged a memory. Cam had told me KC had been in an accident or something like that.
After I’d paid the fare, we walked up on the curb and headed toward the restaurant.
“I swear he’s been working all morning,” Cam muttered.
“Huh?” I glanced at him.
“Lucian—he works way too much,” he clarified.
Oh. “I know the feeling—but Wyatt’s said he wants to work less now.”
“So has Lucian,” he sighed. “Keep an eye on your man, is all I’m saying. It’s tough to pull a workaholic away from just one more project.”
Maybe I couldn’t relate, after all. ’Cause Daddy had already eliminated some of his tasks. For instance, he’d delegated his shorter work trips. This year, rather than flying off to another meeting somewhere two hundred times and then coming back after two days, he’d opted for a few longer trips instead—and I had gone with him.
“You two are late!” I heard Noa call out.
I grinned and picked up the pace, and Cam and I jogged up the steps to the restaurant. “Why are you waiting out here? It’s freezing!”
The restaurant looked more like a residential building, to be honest.
“We didn’t think you’d take forever,” Noa huffed.
We bumped fists before he and Cam exchanged a quick kiss, and then Cam took over the introductions while I hopped up and smooched Daddy. He offered to take care of my shopping bags too.
“Sorry we weren’t here, Master.” Cam snuck close to Lucian, who smiled politely at me. “My cousin, Parker—Parker, meet Lucian and KC.”
Both men were hella handsome in different ways. Lucian seemed to be more like Daddy, as in, the whole businessman schtick, but KC wore nice threads too. He was just a tad more casual, even in his approach.
“Great to meet you, Parker.” KC shook my hand since he stood closest. “Cam tells me you’re another Noa, and that’s a good thing in my book.”
Noa and I exchanged a grin before I turned back to KC. “Great to meet you too, but I’m pretty sure Noa’s another Parker.” I mean, I was a few years older and all!
The Domly types chuckled, and I shook hands with Lucian also.
“Always wonderful to meet Cam’s family,” he murmured. “Shall we eat?”
I smiled and nodded, and I slipped my hand into Daddy’s.
Okay, the food here was amazing. I had a plate full of sliders and the best fries ever. And I liked that the restaurant had several smaller dining areas instead of one massive one, because it never got too loud. Additionally, major brownie points for the Christmas decorations. Whoever ran this place liked the holidays.
“…and you’ll see for yourself how awesome I am with Tank,” Noa was saying. Tank was a lizard, I’d learned. Noa was going to be a pet sitter for a friend.
“Will that matter, though?” Lucian asked, amusement flicking in his eyes. “Santa’s already collected your wish lists for this year.”
Noa offered a hard stare. “You’re doing that thing where you’re saying things I don’t want to hear, you know. You should stop that. Sir.”
Daddy, KC, and I cracked up.
“Why can’t you accept that we don’t want a freaking lizard in our house, Noa?” Cam asked.
“Because that’s offensive to my people!” Noa defended.
“Your people?” Lucian chuckled. “Would that be the brat race?”
“Lizard people,” Cam muttered under his breath.
I snickered around a mouthful of a delicious slider, and I glanced up at Daddy. We’d had the pet talk already. We both wanted a dog or two one day, but not yet. Funnily enough, it was what had sparked our love declaration last winter. A dreary day in January, we’d played hooky again to watch movies all day, and we’d ended up talking about the future—places we wanted to visit together, his niece’s upcoming birthday party where he wanted me to meet his family, whether or not we wanted pets…
I’d blurted it out first.
“Daddy, I gotta freaking say it! I love you, okay? I love you so damn much. This is it for me.”
The rest of the evening, he’d shown me how much he loved me too.
An insane amount, judging by how sore my butt had been the next day.
I dragged a few fries through the ketchup and watched Lucian and Cam say something to each other that I couldn’t hear. Lizard talk forgotten. Noa had moved on to other items on his wish list.