Chapter Four
Carl
I took her to the bar first, where I got a Bourbon and offered her a drink. She asked for a glass of white wine. We sat down. There was no question in my mind that Rollie would really benefit from a relationship with a Daddy, given all that had happened so far. Naturally, that made her a whole hell of a lot more attractive to me, and since I found her devastatingly attractive from the beginning, it seemed almost impossible how she seemed to me now. Of course, whether or not she was a perfect little girl didn’t matter, when I just couldn’t be that Daddy for her.
She looked at me, afraid to ask what I knew she wanted to ask.
“The show was remarkable,” I said. “Absolutely beautiful. I know you were singing and probably in the moment, but did you get a chance to think over the offer?”
She nodded and said tentatively, “I’ll do it. I’ll do my best for you.”
“Good girl,” I said. I was about to kick myself for speaking to her like a Little, but her eyes lit up and she smiled when I said that. God, I wanted to kiss her!
“Well, let me show you a few things,” I said.
I walked her to the back of the club and when we got to the door marked ENTERTAINMENT, I said, “Here we are.”
“I’ll have a dressing room?” she asked. She had the most adorable look of disbelief on her face. I couldn’t wait to see how much more disbelief there’d be in a few minutes.
“Sort of,” I said. “Go on in.” She nodded and took hold of the doorknob in an almost tentative way. She stepped in and I kept my eyes on her very shapely rear end in her blue jeans as she walked in.
She stopped and asked, “Where’s the light switch?”
I stepped forward so I was right behind her, and God, it was torture! It had been so long since I’d felt this way. I reached to the side and flipped the switch. Light flooded the room and she looked around. This room was spacious for a dressing room, about the size of a small bedroom. She said, “I’ve never had a dressing room to myself.”
“You’re the star,” I said. “But there’s more.”
She turned and looked at me with wonder in her eyes, “More?”
I smiled and pointed to the door in the corner of the room. “Open that door.”
“A closet?” she asked?
“Open it,” I said.
She stopped with her hand on the door. She turned around and said, “Why didn’t you show me this before I played?”
I didn’t want to appear like an idiot, but I didn’t want to lie to her either.
“Well, you made it clear you were dealing with a lot of stress,” I said. “I want you here because you like playing here. If you really didn’t like playing here, I didn’t want this to make you do it anyway.”
“The dressing room?”
“Open the door,” I said with a smile.
She opened the door and again. Like a jerk, I stared at her very, very shapely rear end again. The light was already on, so this time, she gasped. “An … an apartment?”
“This is your place for as long as you’re at the club.”
She turned around, and the look on her face was radiant. She threw her arms around me suddenly, and it was all I could do to keep from kissing her. Instead, I just held her tightly until she started to pull away.
“Sorry about that,” she said nervously. “Um… it’s been… really…” Suddenly, she broke down crying. I took her back into my arms and, propriety be damned, I lifted her up. I carried her into the apartment and sat down gently on the couch with her on my lap. She was still holding onto my neck and crying like a baby.
I stroked her hair and said, “It’s okay. You’re home now. You’re okay.”
“I thought I was going to be in fleabag motel,” she said. “I… I thought I was never going… I… I…”
“Shhhh,” I said, hoping I had a soothing voice. “You’re going to be okay now. You were a good girl up there on stage.” Damn it! I had to figure out a way to talk to her without taking liberties. I wasn’t her Daddy and she and I didn’t have a Daddy/Little girl relationship.