Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
“Done your stretches?”
“Yes.”
“Got Slowly with you?”
“Yep, he’s in my bag.” Hopefully, Slowly the Sloth brought her some good luck. Joe had given him to her years ago, and the stuffed toy was her most prized possession.
“Celebratory jelly beans?”
“Yep.”
“Just pretend you’re acting a part. You used to love acting and dancing.”
She had.
She wished she could find that joy again. She used to always be happy, smiling, seeing the good in life.
That had become harder the more life beat her down.
“If it makes you feel better, I’m off to do something I don’t want to do either,” April told her suddenly.
“What’s that?”
“Corner time. It’s the pits. Way worse than having to take your clothes off for money.”
Effie had to grin. “I’m sure it is. What did you do this time?”
“I might have gone out on the ATV. On my own.”
“April.” Effie shook her head, dancing around to warm herself up. Even though her feet protested. The only shoes she’d been able to find at the thrift store were a size too small, and they were killing her. “You know you’re not allowed to do that.”
“I know. Now I’m in trouble. It’s corner time and a spanking for me.”
“I’m surprised you were allowed to call me.”
“Hmm, I might have lied and told Trent that I needed to make an urgent work call.”
“Did you just?” a deep voice said.
April squealed. “Daddy! I didn’t see you there.”
“I bet you didn’t. Work call, huh? Little one, you just added on ten with my belt for lying.”
Ouch.
Effie couldn’t imagine anyone taking their belt to her backside. That seemed like it would really hurt. She’d never even been spanked before. Joe had threatened to several times when she did something he thought was dangerous. But that was all it was.
Joe had been a Daddy Dom. And while he’d sometimes taken care of her while she was in Little headspace, it had all been very platonic. One friend looking out for another.
Even though one of those friends had wanted more.
Had he ever known that she’d wanted more than friendship?
Maybe you should have told him.
Maybe. And perhaps she would have lost him. She’d never know now. What she did know was that he had trusted her to take care of his son. Which meant that she needed money so she could give Brooks the best life possible.
“I better let you go,” Effie said quickly.
“Get in there and kill it, babe,” April said quickly. “Don’t worry about anything else but dancing, yeah?”
“Effie’s going dancing?” Trent asked. “On her own? Where is she going?”
She could feel tears fill her eyes at the concern in his voice. Lord, she missed that. Having someone who cared.
“I’ll explain later, Daddy,” April said. “Get inside before you freeze, Droopy Bum. I’ll call to see how it goes. If I’m not grounded. Daddy’s got his grumpy mountain Daddy face on, so I might not be able to call for the rest of the year.”
Effie ended the call with a grin, before she looked back at the building and grew serious.
I have this.
I can do this.
After wiping her nose with a tissue, she walked up to the door, pressing the buzzer. The club wouldn’t open for another hour, but the door opened quickly and a gorgeous, tall woman with long dark hair stood there. She wore tight, black faux leather pants and a red shirt that was partially unbuttoned so you could see the black bra underneath.
She might have been beautiful if the look on her face wasn’t so mean.
“Yes?” she asked snootily.
“Um, hi, I’m Effie.”
The other woman continued to stare at her.
“Effie Stephenson. I have an audition at eight-fifteen.”
“You’re late.”
Effie spotted a piece of spinach between the other woman’s two front teeth. She should really tell her about that.
Except . . . she wasn’t late.
Effie glanced at her watch. She had two minutes to spare. She usually liked to be early. But she didn’t think this woman would want to hear how she had spent the last fifteen minutes freaking out in the parking lot.
The urge to turn tail and run was strong. She’d been looking for an excuse and now she had one.
But . . . what other choices did she have?
So she forced herself to push her fears aside and smile brightly. “Who are you?”
The other woman just sniffed and looked down her nose at her.
Right.
“It’s not eight-fifteen yet,” Effie pointed out.
“Everyone else was here early.”
Effie smiled cheerfully. Kill them with kindness. “That’s awesome! I’m here now, though. And I’m not actually late.”
The woman’s face tightened, then she looked her up and down. “Interviewing you would be a waste of time. You’re too old and fat.”
Ouch.
Just fucking ouch.
Yeah, okay, she was carrying more weight than she probably should be. Stress made her eat. And what she chose to eat was crap. But if she got this, then she’d be moving more, right? And she could finally afford to buy better food.