Page 29 of Daddy's Temptation
I strip out of my favorite dress, and instead of tossing it in the laundry basket, I shove it into the trash. I’ll never be able to wear it again. A rush of resentment floods my system, and instead of the overwhelming sadness, anger seeps in. Anger is better than sadness.
Yay for me rushing right along through the stages of grief.
I take a nice long shower, cleansing myself of the last hour of sadness while feeding the flames of anger. By the time I’m done showering, I feel ready to punch Andre’s face in. The imagery definitely makes me feel better. Anything is better than numbness.
My phone starts ringing while I’m brushing my hair. A quick look at the clock tells me it’s time for my regular check-in with Andre. The one where he sweetly asks me about my day, then tells me goodnight and to have sweet dreams. I snort with laughter. Just one more thing I can feel stupid about.
I never ever should’ve taken the playtime out of the club. It’s my most sacred rule. Keeping things nice and casual at the club has worked very well for me. Not to mention breaking the no sex rule.
Jesus, I broke every damn rule in my book with Andre.
No wonder things got so messy and I let my heart get involved.
I let the call ring off to voicemail. He can go straight to Hell. Of course, he’s stubborn, and my phone rings again. This time I send him straight to voicemail, hoping he will catch the hint. The third time it rings, I’m tempted to answer it just to tell the man off. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much I care by going all psycho on him. Fuck that. Instead, I shut it off and decide I’ll keep it off until Monday.
I fall into my bed, exhausted and slip into a restless sleep.
* * *
The restof the weekend drags on. When my alarm goes off Monday morning, I’m exhausted and tempted to call in and take my first ever sick day. Just the idea of another day with nothing to do but stew over Andre has me getting up and ready for the day.
My first cup of coffee is brewing when I decide to turn on my phone. Ready or not, it’s time to face reality. The second my phone is on, it dings a dozen times with texts and voicemails. I’m not at all surprised to see most of them are from Andre. My ignoring him probably drove him insane. The fact that I’m pleased with that makes me petty as fuck.
I scroll through the texts from Sugar. All of them are about her upcoming wedding. I feel guilty for being glad that I had my phone off. I’m definitely not in the frame of mind to be all cheery and happy for my bestie, which makes me a dick. I push down my own heartache and text her back. It’s not her fault that I’m the idiot who went and fell in love.
17
Andre
Candace has been avoidingme since Saturday. I’ve called and texted a dozen times to no avail. It took all of my willpower to keep myself from going to her apartment. I don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know why she’s avoiding me. It was a risk giving her the tenderness she so obviously needed instead of the punishing scene she expected.
Not knowing if she’s okay or not is killing me. It goes against everything I am as a dominant to not make sure that my submissive is well taken care of and happy. Her silence tells me way more than a million words. She’s not okay. Things between us aren’t emotionless, and she’s grasping that.
She’s running scared. Candace can run from me all she likes. I’ll follow her to the ends of the earth before I’ll let her get away. I know what I want, and I’ll never give up on getting it.
She’s in for one hell of a chase.
* * *
“Andre!”Sugar’s enthusiasm is entirely out of place for my current mood. “How are you? Gosh, I’ve missed you!”
“Hey, sweets.”
“Ut oh… something’s wrong.” I can picture her furrowed brow and downturned lips. My friend wears her feelings on display for all to see.
“Why do you assume something is wrong?”
Sugar lets out a long-suffering sigh. “Because I know you. You’ve got the “something-is-wrong-but-I’m-ignoring-it” tone.”
“I don’t have a tone.”
Her peal of laughter tells me exactly what she thinks about that one. I’m tempted to hang up, but Sugar isn’t wrong that something’s going on, and she’s the only person who might be able to help. “Have you talked to Candace?”
“Uh, yeah… we texted yesterday. Why?” She doesn’t even try to hide her suspicion.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, willing my headache away. It’s safe to assume that Candace hasn’t told Sugar about our relationship since she’s not screaming at me. Candace will probably be pissed at me for talking to Sugar about us, but she’s left me little choice. It’s been three days, and she refuses to so much as text me to let me know she’s okay.
“Is she okay?”