Daddy’s Little Surprise (Missouri Daddies #6)

6. Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

RAINEY

N erves ran through her body as they walked toward his car. Was she really going to do this? She was going home with a man she didn’t know. Several people had told her about him, but she hadn’t been around him much. Everybody said he was an amazing person, even her employee, Grace.

Rainey trusted Grace and she also trusted the sheriff. Both of them talked highly of Marco. She felt safe around him; there was no doubt about that. He made her feel calm, safe, and secure.

Daddy opened the car door, and she just stood there. It was like her brain was malfunctioning, and she didn’t know what to do. She knew she had to get into the car, but her body wasn’t cooperating.

“Everything okay, Little girl?” Daddy asked.

She looked at him and nodded. It wasn’t exactly a lie. Everything was okay.

“Do you need help? ”

She nodded once again, not trusting her voice. Daddy gently picked her up bridal style and carefully put her in the car. He grabbed the seatbelt and buckled her in. As he pulled out, his arm barely grazed her breasts, making her shiver.

Rainey hadn’t had a man touch her in what felt like forever. It was forever; the last time had been when she got pregnant. That had been over six months ago. It felt like an eternity.

“Such a good girl.” He kissed her forehead before closing the door.

She watched as he walked over to his side and got in. He was so graceful with his movements but looked so powerful and determined as he walked and got in.

Daddy turned on the car before turning to her. After placing his hand on her thigh, he gave it a gentle squeeze. “Do you need anything from home?”

She shook her head. “The coffee shop.”

Rainey needed her stuffed animal and pacifier. She would have gone without it if he didn’t know, not wanting to out herself. But he did know, and she wouldn’t sleep without them. They helped calm her down and sleep better every night.

Daddy pulled out of the parking lot and started the short drive to her shop.

“Was I taken in an ambulance?” she asked.

Rainey needed to know how much she was going to be in the hole. She knew hospital stays, no matter how short, would be a lot of money. Add an ambulance ride, and she would be in debt her whole life.

“No, I took you there. I knew I could get you to the hospital by the time the ambulance got to your shop. I didn’t want to take a chance waiting for them.”

She let out a sigh. Maybe now she wouldn’t be in debt for her whole life.

“My car is at the coffee shop. I’ll need to drive it,” she stated.

“What for?” he asked.

“To go to work tomorrow? I also need to go to the hospital and get my bill all sorted out.”

She had to work to make sure everything ran smoothly, but she also needed money. She would need to talk to the hospital billing people and see if she could go on a payment plan of some sort. It was going to be hard, but it had to be done.

“You aren’t going to work. The doctor said you need food, liquids, and rest. Working is not rest. I also forgot to tell you that the doctor wants to see you in a week and a half. He said if you haven’t gotten any better, he’s going to put you on bed rest.”

Rainey’s mouth hung open. “He did not.”

“The nurse also mentioned it.”

“She did not!”

“Were you paying attention?”

She looked away and shook her head. “I wasn’t because I knew you were.”

It was a bad excuse, but she knew Daddy was paying attention to everything the nurse said. He seemed to care and want what was best for her.

“I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to check out because you knew I was paying attention and have your best interests at heart. Good thing I asked the nurse to print it out so you could read over your notes,” Daddy gently said as he pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop.

Her car was behind the building. It was getting darker, and she knew she had to be quick, grabbing her things and walking to her car. It felt a little sketchy at the back of the building, but she couldn’t complain too much. Rainey didn’t go to a lot of places, so she didn’t have to use her car much.

“Once we get home, I’ll let you look over them for a couple of minutes. If you want to look more, you can tomorrow.”

“I still need to work tomorrow.”

“You will not be working tomorrow. The doctor said you needed rest and sleeping tonight isn’t enough. Text Grace and let her know you won’t be coming in. She has it handled. You wouldn’t have made her manager if you didn’t trust her.”

Rainey clenched her jaw. He was right. If she didn’t trust Grace, she wouldn’t have promoted her to manager.

“I know it’s hard. I know you don’t want to do it, but think about your baby and yourself. Do you want to be on bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy?”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. While she didn’t want him to be right, he did have a point. She didn’t want to be in the hospital where she knew she wasn’t going to get good rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. She also knew she wouldn’t eat much at the hospital because the food was nasty.

“No, I don’t want that,” she whispered.

It sounded truly awful. She still had three months left until her due date. That was a long time to be in the hospital on bed rest and doing nothing.

“I know it’s hard, and we’ll have fun things to do, but it’s okay for you to take a day off. You don’t have to work so much and put your health at risk.”

“But I need the money,” she mumbled, hoping he wouldn’t hear it.

Most of the money her dad left her was used for rent, equipment, food, drinks, cups, and to pay the employees. She was in a lot better situation than a lot of people who opened a coffee shop. She didn’t have loans and was making a profit, which wasn’t normal this fast.

Either Daddy didn’t hear, or he heard and wasn’t going to say anything.

“I’ll quickly grab my stuff and be right back out.” Rainey unbuckled herself and got out of the car.

Her sole focus was to open the door and get to her office so she could grab a set of clothes, her stuffed animal, and her binkie. And that’s exactly what she did.

Rainey bent down to the couch and grabbed her stuffed animal, a leopard named Tootsie. When she realized she was Little, it was one of her first purchases. It was still soft like the day she’d bought it. Granted, it did stay locked up for more than a year, but she still brought it out every once in a while to hug when Pete wasn’t home.

“Oh, Little girl, you sleep here?”

She yelled out in shock, quickly turning around and seeing Daddy standing in the doorway. When had he gotten here? She hadn’t heard him close his car door or walk behind her .

“I’m sorry for scaring you. Do you sleep in your office?” Daddy asked once again.

Rainey looked down at her feet and nervously rocked back and forth on them. “I’m still trying to get money for a place.”

No one knew she lived in her office, and she didn’t want anybody to. She didn’t want to have the pity that came soon after.

Daddy wrapped his arms around her and held her. She felt herself slowly relaxing into his embrace. He would keep her safe from everything in the world; she just knew it.

“It’s going to be okay. Everybody goes through a rough patch in their life. I did, and now I’m here. Daddy is here to take care of you. You no longer have to live in your office.”

She pulled back slightly. “You can’t take care of me.”

“Watch me.”

“You don’t know me well. For all you know, I could be running from the police because I’m a serial killer.”

“A pregnant serial killer?”

“Yes, a pregnant serial killer! It’s probably happened before. You don’t know anything about me. I could be a member of a cartel, opening this coffee shop so they can launder money. I could be part of a gang or sell drugs through my coffee shop. You don’t know anything about me. You only know my name and that I’m pregnant.”

“I know you moved here a coupleof months ago. I know you have a soft spot for elderly people who come into your shop. I know every time a baby comes into the shop, you look at it with longing, and then you rub your belly. ”

Her eyes went wide, and her mouth hung open. “Have you been stalking me?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I wouldn’t call it stalking, but I have walked down the street several times and may or may not have watched you for a few minutes.”

“You’ve totally been stalking me.”

“I have not. My dog likes this route, and it just so happens to go in front of your shop. It’s not my fault my dog likes to pee and poop right on the grass in front of your shop. Don’t worry, I pick it up. But still, I know for sure you won’t be blaming my dog because I feel like you like animals.”

She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to come up with something. Right now, her brain was a little frazzled, and she couldn’t remember if she saw him walking in front of her coffee shop. Daddy was spot on in her not being able to blame his dog. She loved animals, especially dogs.

“I also have to say I wanted to make sure you were okay. Moving to a new town while being pregnant can be hard.”

Rainey took a step back and nodded. He was right; it was hard moving to a new town and not knowing anyone, but she had done it. Did she spend several nights crying herself to sleep? Absolutely. She had gone back and forth on whether she should move back to her hometown or not. She didn’t want to, but she didn’t know anybody here and was struggling.

“You can leave me here. I’m perfectly fine sleeping here, and I’ll be working in the morning around other people. They can make sure I’m okay.”

Daddy shook his head. “Not happening. I told the doctor you were coming with me so I could take care of you if you didn’t have anybody. You don’t have anybody, so the responsibility is on me. I want to take care of you. My Daddy side is screaming at me to take care of you, and if I let you sleep here again, I’m going to be kicking myself the whole time until I fix it.”

She opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it. She didn’t want to be disrespectful, but at the same time, he needed to know she wasn’t just a project he could start and half help.

“You can’t do that!” She raised her voice for the first time.

“Why not?”

“Because you don’t know me. We don’t know each other, and it would be weird.”

How did he not see that? They may have seen each other a couple of times but they had only really been talking for less than a day.

Daddy gently grabbed her face with his hands. “It might be a little weird in the beginning, but no matter what, it’s happening. I know you feel this connection we have, and I’m not about to let it go.”

She couldn’t deny she felt the connection. It was there, and she wanted to see where it could go, but it was all moving really fast.

“Are you allergic to dogs?”

Rainey looked at Daddy in confusion. Why was he asking that?

“Are you allergic to dogs?”

“No, why? ”

“I have a dog. I wanted to check beforehand that you weren’t allergic.”

She stared at him for several seconds. He’d told her he had a dog a coupleof minutes ago. She just didn’t register it in her mind. Her brain was fried, and it was hard for her to remember the small little details.

“What’s his name?” she softly asked.

“Dane. He is a big dog, but he’s a sweet boy. He loves to be petted, but he really loves cuddles.”

Her heart melted. She loved dogs who liked to cuddle. They had a special place in her heart because she loved to sit and cuddle, too.

“Pack whatever you need, and we’ll head to my house.”

“I have to work tomorrow, so I’ll drive to your house,” she suggested.

Rainey knew he said she wasn’t going to work but maybe he forgot. Maybe he’d let her work.

Daddy let go of her face and tapped her nose with his finger. “Nice try. Why don’t you text Grace and let her know she needs to open tomorrow? I bet she’ll understand this late since she saw you pass out in my arms. Tomorrow, you’ll be sleeping in and eating food to nourish your body while drinking lots of liquids.”

“And what if I don’t want to?”

Rainey didn’t know where that came from, but she wasn’t going to back down now. While it sounded appealing to be able to sleep in, eating food that would only make her puke a coupleof minutes later sure didn’t.

“You can find out if you want, but you won’ t like the consequences.”

She grumbled under her breath as she turned around, getting ready to pack the things she needed. Before she could take a step, Daddy patted her bottom.

“Be a good girl, and don’t grumble while you pack.”

Everything in her wanted to turn around and stick her tongue out at him, but she held herself back. They hadn’t talked about consequences and what her punishments would be. They didn’t even talk about being in a dynamic yet, so she needed to be respectful and not push an invisible boundary.

“Good girl.”