Daddy Next Door (COMPLETED)

chapter 7

Filthy Dirty Lies
by TheHarshLover©

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Cassie awoke to sunlight through the curtains. For a tumultuous moment, she panicked, worried that she was tardy to work. Pulling the cover back, she started to rise in a flurry of activity, only to be stopped by an iron arm and Daddy's will of steel.

"Where are you going, little one?" he growled drowsily. He tugged her on top of him so that they were nose-to-nose, her body's soft spots cushioning her against his hard-muscle-encased bones.

"Hi," she whispered shyly, her nose brushing his playfully.

Max tugged her down by the pigtails he insisted that she wear to bed. "Good morning," he grumbled against her lips. Nothing was said in the moments that followed as his lips rapaciously claimed hers, stealing her breath. Eventually, he broke away with a heartfelt groan. "Babygirl, what you do to me! You have me completely flustered. You never even answered my question. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to work; I'm late," she sighed against his mouth.

A grin was his response. "Today is a holiday, remember? No work for you. I thought we could go visit Zander today and explain that we are dating."

Cassie pulled away a bit, her eyes clouding with memories of yesterday. Sure, Max had explained that Lucinda meant less than nothing to him, but that did not mean that everything was sunshine and rainbows. His defense did not exonerate him or extinguish her hurt emotions from yesterday.

Yes, she had forgiven him his misstep, as both of them were apprehensive about Zander's reaction. But that did not dissolve the hurt or the worry that he might refuse to acknowledge her in the future as his.

"What's wrong, Cass?" Max posed the obvious question, but was certain he knew what brought the doubt and acute misgiving into the brown eyes that mutely challenged his.

She tried several times to speak, but she was unsure how to broach it. Her naturally submissive nature ran deeper than most. Cassie truly did not want to gainsay Max. In fact, she wanted to acquiesce in order to pretend that everything was just fine. She abhorred confrontation.

Finally, she summoned up enough courage to reply, "Just because I have forgiven you does not mean everything is all marshmallows and sprinkles. Things are not one hundred percent okay. I hurt." She inhaled slowly, deeply, knowing her next words would sting. "I don't know if I can completely trust you," Cassie rebuked him.

Max's brown eyes flared in reaction to her words, and she saw the struggle within him not to respond emotionally, to snap back at her. Incrementally, that flame of agony in his own brown eyes banked, smoldering slowly. "You're absolutely right; I have to earn that trust back." He pulled her to him, hugging her protectively close. The last time he had embraced her with such tenderness had been the night of the negative pregnancy test.

For a second, she hesitated. Was she wrong for not trusting him again completely? She had forgiven him, understood, even, why he did not apprise Zander and Cami of the truth of the situation yesterday. They had known each other all of her life. So, why could she not instantly trust him again?

But then she remembered how Daddy's refusal to push Lucinda away yesterday affected her, and her heart ached again anew.

Max eyed Cassie. A large part of him had hoped that Cassie and he could progress from yesterday's events. He realized he was completely in the wrong but had hoped that his history with Cassie would remind her that he was trustworthy. Scouring his brain for the magic words or phrases, he soon comprehended that all he could offer her would be mere platitudes.