Page 8 of Willa’s Weddings

She flushed instantly and covered her eyes with her hands. "Oh god. I didn’t say anything embarrassing, did I?"

I briefly considered softening the blow and letting her off the hook, but that didn’t help either of us. If there was the possibility of something real between us, I owed it to both of us to pursue it.

"You said you wanted me to be your Daddy." My tone was soft but serious as I watched her face carefully.

Her hand dropped and her eyes locked with mine. For a second, I saw panic in her eyes but then it was there. The thing I’d been waiting to see for longer than I could admit.

"Are you mad?" Her voice was small but not full of shame or regret. Just genuine interest.

“Not at all, sweet girl. I’d never be mad about hearing you speak honestly.” I cleared my throat and conjured up my own courage to keep going. “Is that honestly how you feel?”

She took a drink of her orange juice through the bendy straw and nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

Fuck me. “You guess?”

She rolled her eyes and put down the glass. With her arms crossed over her chest she sighed. “Fine, yes. That’s how I feel. Do you want me to spell it out in Sharpie on my forehead?”

There she is. My tough brat.

I choke out a laugh. "No, little one. That won’t be necessary. Hearing your words is enough."

She relaxed slightly as she stared at me. “Enough for what?"

"Enough for me to be honest enough to tell you that I’ve been attracted to you for a long time. And hearing you say that you want me too fills me with a hope I can’t remember ever feeling before.”

Willa beamed at me and completely ignored the server as our plates were put in front of us. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I winked at her and pointed at her plate. “Now, eat up and then we’ll talk more.”

We both dug into our pancakes, and I was pleased to see Willa alternate with bites of her fruit bowl. She really was a good girl in all senses of the world. Even her sassy pants attitude was adorable. And since that meant I was gonna get to discipline her at some point, it was even cuter.

After a few minutes of quietly eating, she leaned back and crossed her hands over her chest. The sparks of shyness I saw earlier were gone and the confident and fully-in-control Willa I was used to came back in full force. “So what does this mean? Do you want to date or are you ready to just…be my Daddy?”

Wow. Way to just get right to it. She should have been a lawyer. “I know we weren’t actually dating before but I feel like we’ve spent enough time together in intimate situations that we can skip some of that. But it’s up to you. If you’d like to move slowly and see how things go before making things official, I’m okay with that too.”

“I don’t want to wait.” She shook her head but kept her gaze locked with me. “I meant what I said. I choose you.”

I’d never heard those words before, and they went straight to my heart. My eyes stung but I didn’t look away either. She needed to see my sincerity as much as she needed to hear it. And hopefully, she felt it too. “I choose you too, Willa. I’d be honored to be your Daddy.”

"Don’t tease me, Troy." Her voice was soft but her expression was just as fierce. "If you’re gonna be my Daddy, you have to mean it. I don’t take this lightly and breaking up in a few months will hurt me. A lot."

“I’ll tease you about a lot of things, little one. But not this. Never this.” My heart hurt when I looked at the situation from her perspective. She witnessed every day of my relationship with Kylie. We loved each other but just weren’t right for each other. Not in the long run. So it made sense that Willa would be afraid the same thing might happen again. “Kylie and I both knew what we were signing up for when we got together. I don’t think either of us thought we could be forever. But we cared deeply for each other, and I have no regrets about the time I spent with her. Especially since it brought me to you.”

She swallowed hard and nodded. “What do you think about our chances? What are we signing up for?”

Excellent question. I wanted to make promises of forever but it was too early for that. Too irresponsible, even if that’s what I felt in my heart. “I’ve been looking for a woman who is smart and strong and sassy and independent.” I kept my eyes locked on her face, looking for any hesitation or worries about my words. “And a Little who is sweet and trusting and vulnerable and in need of structure and discipline. And rules, Willa. You will have rules with me.”

She narrowed her eyes even as she smirked. “You can give me all the rules you want. Doesn’t mean I’ll follow them.”

Now it was my turn to grin and lean back. “Oh, I know that. And I can’t wait to take you over my knee when you don’t.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” She picked a grape off her plate and popped it into her mouth. “But there is one rule I have.”

“I expect you to have several rules, Willa Rose. But tell me the first one.” I knew her limits when we were playing in a group…and there weren’t many. When Poppy and Briana came around with their new Daddies, Willa only wanted me to help her with things until she got to know those guys better. I wasn’t sure if she ever got to the point of trusting the new guys, but that was the only limit I could think of. That, and no butt stuff. She made that clear the first time I diapered her.

"I know you’re kinda like everyone’s Daddy…but I don’t share." She tried to play it off as a joke, but her voice was soft and the truth was unmistakable in it.

"I’m only your Daddy, Willa." I reached across the table and waited for her to put her hand in mine. "For as long as you want me."