Page 4 of Daddy's Little Patient
“I’m not that easy to get rid of, sweetheart. Tell me what happened.”
Her temper flared—what the fuck? He knew exactly what’d happened—but all her tears and his gentleness quickly snuffed it out.
“I g-got fired. I’ve been doing a b-bad job, and I keep falling asleep, and I can’t even be mad at them. But it’s terrible and everything is ruined.”
Doctor Pierce was silent for a minute but didn’t stop rocking her, and Cricket leaned her head into his chest. He kind of smelled like a doctor’s office and that wasn’t awesome, but underneath that disinfectant odor, his shirt smelled good. Too bad she was getting leaky-faced grossness all over it.
* * *
The diagnostician part of his mind was trying to puzzle out what medical reason there could be for Evelyn falling asleep at work. She didn’t seem like the type to go to ragers or sing karaoke into the wee hours, so he didn’t think it was purely a matter of too many nights of unwise choices. Although he supposed it was possible. There were a lot of things about him people wouldn’t guess either.
He’d need a lot more information before he could even begin to make an educated guess but that could wait. Still, possible diagnoses ran through his mind like they were scrolling on a chyron through his consciousness: narcolepsy, anemia, sleep apnea, diabetes, idiopathic or secondary hypersomnia…
Meanwhile the Daddy Dom part of him wanted to grab her box of things and her hand, and take her home with him. Wrap her up in a blanket and cuddle her and tell her everything was going to be okay. Evelyn would probably call that “being abducted” though, and he wasn’t in a hurry to lose his license for kidnapping.
Taj and his gang wouldn’t take kindly to that either. They were all protective of Enclave’s resident Littles in general, and their own Little girls in particular. It was one of the things he liked about them. He could do the next best thing, though.
“Evelyn, sweetheart. I’m not leaving you alone while you’re this upset but I also think the stairwell is not a great place to be. It’s uncomfortable, and people might start using it to exit the building.”
Owen heard her mutter a curse into his chest, and he wanted to chastise her for language. But just as he wasn’t going to drag her away from this place, he wasn’t going to scold her for swearing. Even though if she were his, he’d warm her bottom for that.
Evelyn pulled away, and swiped at her face with the backs of her hands.
“You’re right. I’ll go out to my car.”
“Don’t you dare,” he told her. “Do you have anyone to go home to? Besides, you’re in no shape to drive.”
She sniffled again, her shoulders shuddering. “I live alone. And I’ll wait until I stop crying to leave.”
“No you won’t. I can’t bear the thought of you being alone in an empty house, or sitting in a car in a parking lot until you’ve cried out all your tears. You’re coming home with me, and you’re not leaving until we can figure out how to make everything not terrible.”
And hopefully not after that, he thought, because the more he pictured Evelyn in his home, the more he wanted her there. Owen couldn’t say why, but the suspicion that Evelyn was a Little had taken root in his brain and was growing like a weed. Maybe not a weed, though, because the last thing he wanted to do was rip it out. No, he wanted to tend to and nurture that thought, just as he wanted to tend to and nurture her.
“I can’t stay with you,” Evelyn said, her brow creasing. “All my things are at my apartment.”
That wasn’t a “Fuck no, you creepy-ass psycho. I barely know you, why would I go home with you?” This he could work with.
“We’ll go pick them up. I’ve got my truck today, and if you’ve been falling asleep at work, I don’t want to risk you falling asleep behind the wheel. It’s unsafe and that’s not acceptable.”
Evelyn opened her mouth, probably to argue more, and he wished more than anything that he could take her over his knee and spank the contrary right out of her. He also wanted to spank her for driving when she could’ve fallen asleep and hurt herself or someone else. Plus the cussing. Good lord this woman was going to test his restraint.
Fuck, restraint. He’d fucking love to tie her up or use some medical restraints on her. She’d be so fucking gorgeous with only bondage criss-crossing her pale skin.
He couldn’t discipline or restrain her at the moment, but he could address some of her practical concerns. “Don’t worry about leaving your car here if that’s what you’re thinking about. A friend of mine’s in town and he’s always looking for odd jobs. He’ll take care of it.”
Linc would be happy to. Easy money and helping a damsel in distress were two of Lincoln Donall’s favorite things.
“You’re upset and overwhelmed,” he said, gentling his voice and rubbing her arm. “I want to help. Please let me. You can give a friend or family member a heads up about where you’re going and who you’re with. If I make you feel uncomfortable for even a second, I’ll call you a car to take you back to your place. But if you go home alone right now, I’ll be worried sick. Come home with me, Evelyn, and let me take care of you.”
Chapter Four
Despite having made so many wishes on so many stars, never had any of them come true. Cricket never would’ve dared to wish for Doctor Pierce to return her her affections and yet here he was, insisting she come home with him.
Of course he could mean that in a platonic way. Maybe he thought of her as a pathetic little sister type, or maybe it was some sort of pathological need to take care of anyone that had led him to become a doctor in the first place. That would be depressing as dark winter. But even if he were to care for her in a compassionate and entirely celibate way, that could still be nice.
She’d been on her own for so long, and even when she hadn’t been, her family hadn’t been the warm and fuzzy type. Her mom had been the warmest of her parents and grandparents, and she hadn’t had much time to indulge Cricket. There was always too much to do so Cricket had often been left to fend for herself in so many ways, and that was when she wasn’t doing farm or house chores herself.
“Um, okay. That would be nice. But only if you really mean it.”