Sweet Tooth (Little Cakes, #11)(25)

Why? Couldn’t he see how mortified she was?

Heart racing, she slid behind the wheel, slammed the door, buckled up, and started the engine.

Tom reached her side, but she ignored him as she backed out of the driveway and drove away.

“Oh, God,” she muttered again. “Did I really just call him Daddy in front of his entire family?” Tears started to fall. She’d just ruined the most perfect relationship she’d ever been in with one word. How could she be so stupid?

Not to mention the fact that she’d left Tom there to field his family’s questions on his own. Surely they were all wondering why the hell his new girlfriend just called him Daddy. He must be equally embarrassed.

As she passed his house, she sobbed harder. She was supposed to be inside that house right now, preferably naked with her Daddy or perhaps curled up on the couch with Hortense and their matching nightgowns with a binky in her mouth.

Her chest felt tight as she continued to drive. She pulled onto the main road that led to the farm and drove in a straight line without paying attention to the fact that she should have turned a long time ago.

Her mind was elsewhere, and she didn’t care where she was or how far she drove as long as she put distance between herself and the Delaneys. How much distance would be enough?

She had a business to run. She needed to be at work in the morning. How could she even show her face in town? Nine people had just witnessed her total humiliation. Would they talk? Tell their friends about the weird lady who owned Nibbles & Bites who called their son and brother Daddy?

When tears started to fall again, she took the next turn onto a dirt road and stopped. She put the car in park and just sat there crying. It got dark. She still didn’t move. She was paralyzed. This was the worst thing that ever could have happened to her.

And what about Tom? She’d left him alone, she reminded herself. She’d embarrassed him and then run away. That hadn’t been kind. She owed him an apology, but she couldn’t imagine facing him even to tell him she was sorry.

As it grew darker outside, she still couldn’t move. Her purse sat on the passenger seat next to her. So did her backpack. Her phone was sticking out the front pocket of her purse, noticeably silent.

That made her sad all over again. Tom might have chased her to the driveway, but he hadn’t tried to call or text since then. He was probably furious with her for exposing their secret and didn’t want to talk to her.

She couldn’t blame him.

God. Could she even stay in town? When she arrived at work tomorrow, she’d be constantly looking over her shoulder, wondering if people were looking at her funny, wondering if Tom or his family would spread rumors about her.

“Shit,” she muttered. “Way to fuck things up royally.” She crossed her arms and shivered. It was getting chilly out, and she was wearing nothing more than a sundress. Goosebumps rose on her legs.

The sun was totally gone now, leaving her in the dark. She was lonely and sad and tired and drained. What should I do?

Just because Tom wasn’t calling her didn’t mean she didn’t owe him an apology. He might be furious with her, but she needed to be a grownup, face him, and tell him how sorry she was. After that she could wallow in her loss and self-pity and figure out how to move forward.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting there, but she was exhausted when she finally put the car in reverse and pulled back out onto the road, headed back to the farm.

She gave herself a peptalk. “Be brave. You can do this. Just apologize. Accept that you fucked up and face your Daddy.”

He wasn’t really her Daddy anymore though, was he? Not after her fuckup. There was no way he’d want to bring her around his family ever again. She couldn’t imagine what he must have told them all to explain her weird behavior.

She was extra careful in the dark not to miss the turn to the farm and then even more cautious not to miss his driveway this time. If she hadn’t gotten lost the first time, none of this would have happened.

But wouldn’t it eventually? She obviously wasn’t very good at separating her adult self from her Little. Tom was the first Daddy she’d ever had, the first man she’d used that endearment with. She didn’t have any previous experience to know how hard it would be to keep her Little separate and talk to him differently in public.

Obviously she was a terrible Little and needed to reevaluate her kink entirely. She knew there were a lot of Littles and Daddies living in this town. Somehow they all managed to exist in vanilla society without making fools of themselves. How did they do it? Why couldn’t she?

She was surprised to find the house dark and Tom’s truck gone. Maybe he was still at his parents’ house trying to explain himself. Making excuses for Elizabeth. Or maybe he was over there pretending he had no idea why she’d called him Daddy.

Elizabeth liked that story line better. Maybe he’d feigned ignorance and laughed it off to save face. He could tell them he hadn’t really known Elizabeth that well and she was apparently not who he’d thought she was. Perhaps they were all sitting around laughing about it.

That made Elizabeth sad, but it also would save Tom from humiliation. Now what? He wasn’t home. She should wait for him. But it was cold outside.

After chewing on her lip and pondering her options for a few minutes, she decided to go inside. She knew he didn’t lock the back door. She would go inside, wait for him, apologize when he arrived, and then go home and figure out what to do next in her life.