The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The First Collection by Frost, J (great novels .txt) 📕

big dining table, with Daddy seated at one end and Miranda and me to either side. Without much subtlety, I’ve put Miranda on Logan’s left, so that he can hold my hand while we eat, if he’s so inclined.

Happily, he is. He not only holds my hand but leans over and kisses me on the forehead again after saying grace, giving me permission to eat, and looking over the spread. “This looks amazing, sweetheart.”

“Thank you.” I try to tamp down my grin, given that Miranda is glaring at me again.

Miranda bends her head over her salad, flicking it at with her fork. “What are these, exactly?”

“Chia seeds,” Logan says, shooting me a grin as he takes my salad and cuts the leaves into bite-sized pieces.

“Chia seeds,” Miranda repeats, with much less humor.

“Logan’s cholesterol was a little high—” I begin.

“What do you call me, little girl?”

I glance at him. His eyes are dark, but warm and amused.

Melting. Melting. Melting. He wants me to call him Daddy in front of the Mir-beast. And he’s cutting up my food for me. My wonderful daddy.

“Sorry, Daddy.”

Miranda takes a bite of salad, chews, and gives me a fake smile. “Well, it’s not lobster.” She reaches out and puts her hand on Logan’s arm. “Lo, do you remember that wonderful lobster the weekend we spent in Maine? What was the name of the restaurant?”

She really needs to keep her paws off my daddy.

Logan slides his arm out from under Miranda’s hand and keeps cutting. “No idea. Mexican lobster was surprisingly good, wasn’t it, baby doll?”

Oh, wow, that was not subtle.

I beam at him. “Really good.”

“Oh, you must not have had Maine lobster,” Miranda says, waving her fork over the salad. “It’s the best.”

“My ex-in-laws have a place in Maine,” I tell her. “I remember the taste pretty well. In Mexico we had it raw, marinated in lime. Very different, but really, really good. Have you been to Mexico?”

Miranda’s smile falters. “No.”

Ha. Stick your condescension in your ear, Mir-Beast.

“It was my first time,” I say. “I’ve always wanted to go, so that’s one I can tick off my bucket list.”

She dials the condescension to eleven. “You can’t have seen much of it if you were only there for a few days before Logan was injured.”

“Nope,” I agree. “Just Cabo and a lot of ocean. It was super-hot, and super-sunny, and super-pretty. Beautiful beaches and the water’s so blue. It was great.”

“Maybe we should go back and finish the cruise,” Daddy says as he sets my salad back in front of me.

“Ta very much. I’d love that.” I resist the urge to bounce in my chair. “As long as it won’t bring back any bad memories?”

“Nope,” Daddy says. “I’d really enjoy it. We could combine it with a visit to Niall, Shaan, and Vashi. Maybe after Thanksgiving?”

I nod eagerly. “When it’s getting cold and wet here.”

“Sounds like a plan, little girl.” Daddy gives me a huge smile before he digs into his own salad.

He’s happy, my daddy. Maybe not stupid happy, but that’s probably asking for too much with the Mir-monster sitting just a few inches away, frowning at us. Still, I’ve made him happy. I smile into my salad before I take a bite.

* * *

Not even Sable liked Miranda. My kitty hid until she left. Now, he emerges from under the couch, runs over to me where I’m stacking the dinner dishes in the dishwasher, and winds himself around my feet, meowing. I wipe my hands and kneel to pet my kitty. His purring fills me with happy.

“You have such good taste in people,” I tell him as I scratch behind his ears. “After I finish the dishes, should we play chase the feather until Daddy gets back?”

Sable agrees with a slow blink of his golden eye.

I’m still playing with Sable when Logan returns from walking Miranda back to her hotel. He comes straight into the kitchen and leans against the island, watching as I trail the feather toy between the legs of the breakfast table while Sable dives at it, batting madly with his white-tipped paws. The vein that’s throbbing in Logan’s temple slowly fades as he watches us play, and after several minutes he gives me a lopsided smile.

“Hey, baby doll.”

“Hi, Daddy. Everything okay?”

“Uh-huh. Better now that she’s out of my hair for the night. I’m going to meet her tomorrow at the testing center at ten thirty. She can find her own breakfast.”

“Okay, Daddy.” I’m not going to argue with him. Dinner was uncomfortable enough. I don’t need any more meals with the Mir-beast, although I suspect I’m going to have to endure at least one more.

“I’m going to make a call, little love.” He glances up at the clock on the double-oven. “Finish playing with Sable, then make sure he’s got food and water for the night. I want you down in the playroom at eight thirty. No clothes, cuffs on. Are you still wearing Stanley?”

“Yes, Daddy.” No chance would I take out the plug without permission.

“Good girl. Take out the plug, clean up, and lube yourself. Daddy wants your ass tonight, little girl.”

I shiver all over before I nod.

Chapter Twelve Logan

What is it with my fucking exes?

Miranda’s worse than Rachel. Did she think I didn’t notice her jabs at Emily? Or that I wasn’t fucking offended?

Were Mir and Rach both this catty when we were dating and I just didn’t see it? Or does the idea that I’ve finally found real happiness gall them so much?

Fuck them both.

I push thoughts of my exes away, a task that requires almost as much effort as not throttling them. Time to focus. Max has found, or, more likely, hacked, contact numbers for Laurel Radford. Time to find out if she’s behind Rick’s stalking. Then I’m going to take out my considerable frustrations on Emily’s ass. I haven’t given her a flogging in several days.

We’re overdue.

Hopefully, a long flogging will keep me calm through tomorrow, which is going to be another