handle the strip club.
I drew my knees up to my chest and buried my face into my naked thighs. I didn’t mean to cry. I never meant to, but before I could stop them, the tears ran down my cheeks, and I choked back my sobs. I wanted Lawson to like me the same way I liked him. He was the first guy I’d even let in a little bit.
“Opie?”
I stiffened at the sound of Lawson’s voice. Shit. I inhaled sharply and scrubbed at my face to hide the evidence of what I’d been doing. The flimsy negligee was perfect for seducing; for drying tears, not so much. I used the back of my hands, but it wasn’t enough.
“Go back to bed, Daddy,” I cried in my most cheerful voice to keep him away. “I’ll be there in a few.”
Soft footsteps padded toward me. I groaned. This wasn’t going according to plan at all.
“What are you doing sitting in the dark?” The light came on, and I closed my eyes, tucking my face back into my lap.
“Opie.” Lawson approached, but I still didn’t look up, didn’t want him to see me ugly cry.
“Opie.” When I didn’t answer, his hand cupped my right ankle. His thumb massaged the soft spot just under the bone. “Beautiful, raise your head for Daddy.”
I couldn’t disobey him. I lifted my head from my thighs, just as he asked.
“Now open your eyes.”
I did but lowered my gaze. A traitorous tear ran down my left cheek. Another followed on my right, and before I knew it, I was crying again, and I flung myself forward at Lawson, needing to have his arms around me. He caught me, just as I knew he would, and tugged me tight against his chest.
“Opie, what’s wrong? Does something hurt?” The concern in his voice only made me cry harder. “For god’s sake, baby, can’t you tell Daddy’s upset that you’re crying and you won’t let me know how I can fix it?”
I pulled back, swallowing my sobs, and finally looked up, but his face was blurry from my wet eyelashes.
“Make love to me.”
Deafening silence was my answer. I yanked myself out of his embrace and curled up back into the corner of the sectional.
“It’s okay. I understand why you wouldn’t want to.”
He didn’t move from his position crouched on the floor. “And why’s that?”
“You don’t want a stripper who dances for other men.” I sighed. “Everything was fine, and then you saw me dancing with other men, and now you’re giving me the cold shoulder.”
“Oh, baby, you couldn’t be more wrong.”
I jerked my head. Every gullible inch of me felt hopeful at his words.
“I couldn’t be?”
“Exactly.” He sat down next to me. “I admit it was strange seeing you dance on other men’s laps, but it’s just work, right?”
“Yes, it’s just work.”
He nodded. “Good. I can’t say I wasn’t jealous tonight, but not that jealous to judge you because of your job.”
“Then why wouldn’t you have sex with me? Is it that you can’t? Because—”
“No!” He scowled, and I couldn’t help my giggle.
“Oh, thank god. I know not everyone is into anal, but I don’t think I could live without it.”
“Jesus, Opie.”
I shrugged. “I don’t see what Jesus has to do with what I said. It’s true.”
“I know, sweetheart, and I’m glad you’re this open with me.”
“But you won’t tell me why you don’t want to sleep with me?”
He sighed, and when he reached for me, I went willingly and sat on his lap, my head resting on his chest. His arms around me filled me with warmth.
“I promise I find you just as tempting and sexy as I did when I walked through these doors for the first time and finally got to see you.”
“I had the hots for you too, Daddy.”
He smiled. “I just felt that with me leaving tomorrow, maybe it would be good for us to wait a bit before I make love to you the way you want.”
“What?” I struggled to sit up and stared at him. “But how long will it take before I see you again?”
“I’m not sure, Opie.”
“But I’ll see you again, right? You’ll visit again, or I could come to you?”
Our eyes met, but only briefly. Then he glanced away, a blush coloring his cheeks.
“Sure, I’ll visit you.”
I noticed he said nothing about me visiting him, but I could work on that. Now that he was mine, I wouldn’t ever ever let him go.
“Well, I don’t want to wait till the next