CHAPTER ONE
Tabitha
I hand the check to my uncle, who’s also my lawyer, and he smiles proudly at me. “I know this is hard, Sweetie,” he says. “But you’re doing it anyway and I’m very proud of you.”
I smile and say, “Only twenty-three more payments and it’s finally over.”
He nods. “Not only over but then the judge dismisses the case with prejudice and since you were never booked, you won’t even have an arrest record.”
“All because I have the best lawyer in the world,” I say with a bittersweet smile.
“Will you reconsider?” he asks. “Will you let me pay this off for you?”
“Not a chance,” I reply. I walk around his desk and give him a big hug. “But thank you, Uncle Rick. I love you.”
“But if you did, you could quit your second job. You could pay me back slowly.”
“Still not a chance and I still love you, Uncle Rick.”
He sighs and says, “Okay but there are fifty-six more weeks when you drop this off and I try to convince you. How about you just let me take the next two payments so you have Christmas money?”
“Goodbye, wonderful and lovable Uncle Rick,” I say.
I step out of his office and see Serafina, my best friend. She’s Uncle Rick’s secretary and studying to be a paralegal. “Ready for your big date?” she asks.
I almost let out a stream of giggles. “God, Fi, I don’t even know his name! Sara Jean didn’t tell me and I’m too embarrassed to ask.”
Fi smiles and says, “That’s okay. You can just call him Daddy.” This time, I can’t hold the giggles back. She says, “I’m glad you’re trying the Daddy thing. That way I don’t have to.”
“You told me you thought it was sexy,” I say with a giggle.
“Yeah, I mean you try it and then I’ll know whether or not I want to try it.”
“I’m so happy I get to be your little experiment.”
“Don’t you mean little girl?” she asks and then she points at me and says with a laugh, “You’re blushing!”
“Bitch,” I giggle.
She laughs and says, “I’ll walk you to your car.”
As we walk, I say, “You know, you’re the only one in my life who knows about all this stuff.”
“What are you talking about? Sara Jean didn’t set you up with a Daddy on accident.”
“Not that,” I say as we step out of the office and head to the elevator. “I mean all these payments. Most of my friends don’t even know I have a second job.”
“All of that stuff happened a long time ago, Tabby. You should stop feeling ashamed of it. You’re totally making it right and anyone who would think badly about you doesn’t deserve to be your friend in the first place.”
“You’re a pretty good best friend,” I say as we step into the elevator. The conversation stops for a moment because there are two other people in the elevator. It resumes when we step out of the building.
“And you’re the best best friend,” she replies. “Do you need to practice moaning while calling him Daddy? I can listen and give pointers.”
“Jesus!” I say. “Is sex all you ever think about?”
“Yep,” she replies. “So?”
I give her a kiss goodbye and drive away. I giggle about her comments most of the way. When I get home, I lay out clothes and take a shower. Maybe it’s because of all her comments but the water jetting over my body feels a lot like a million caresses. Before I know it, my hands are doing some actual caressing. They run over my breasts and even in the heat of the shower with steam rising everywhere, my nipples are hard as hell.