“Oh, honey.” Aliza wheezed. “That man probably hasn’t known peace since.” Dani groaned miserably because the worst part was that Aliza was probably right. Looking back now, that had definitely been the moment everything shifted between them that night. She remembered it suddenly with painful clarity—the way Jonnas had gone completely still above her, and the dangerous look in his eyes afterward. She remembered the way his voice dropped lower when he asked her to repeat it. Thank God she’d been too drunk to fully process what was happening, otherwise she might’ve died on the spot.
“He remembers,” Dani whispered in horror.
“Oh, absolutely,” Aliza confirmed.
“That explains so much,” Dani said.
“Yep.” Dani stared blankly into space as realization slowly crashed into her. That was why he kept calling her “baby girl,” and why he reacted so strongly every time she admitted she liked being cared for. It was why his entire demeanor changed when she responded to his authority.
This was bad because she didn’t just want Jonnas physically anymore. She wanted something deeper from him—comfort, guidance, and even safety. They were things she’d never trusted anyone enough to ask for before, and the terrifying part was that a piece of her thought he might actually give them to her.
“What am I supposed to do?” she whispered.
Aliza’s teasing expression softened completely. “You stop fighting the fact that he makes you feel safe.” Emotion tightenedDani’s throat unexpectedly. Safe. That word again. Jonnas made her feel safe in a way that was becoming addictive, and Dani wasn’t sure whether she should run from that feeling—or fall completely into it.
Dani spent the rest of her shift actively avoiding Jonnas Black, which was difficult, mostly because the man apparently had a sixth sense when it came to finding her. She’d barely escaped the break room conversation with Aliza before Jonnas somehow appeared outside the nurses’ station holding another cup of ginger tea like some terrifyingly attractive pregnancy-support ninja.
“You disappeared,” he said the second she walked up. Dani almost tripped over absolutely nothing.
“I was working,” she said weakly.
His eyes narrowed slightly. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
“No, I haven’t,” she lied.
“Baby girl.” The warning tone in his voice made her stomach flip violently. God. Now that Aliza had pointed it out, Dani couldn’t stop noticing it—the daddy energy, and his calm authority. She didn’t miss the way he looked at her like he expected honesty and obedience in equal measure. It was making her completely dysfunctional.
“I’ve been busy,” she insisted.
“You’re a bad liar,” he said. That shouldn’t have sounded hot, it really shouldn’t, but it did.
Dani grabbed a random patient chart off the desk just to have something to hold. “Why are you here?”
“You forgot your soup for lunch,” he said, holding up a paper bag. Warmth spread through her chest instantly.
“You came all the way down here to give me soup?” she asked.
“You didn’t take a lunch break,” he said. Her pulse stumbled, because there it was again—that attentiveness, like he noticed every tiny thing that involved her now. Dani reached for the bag, but Jonnas didn’t let go immediately. Her breath caught as his eyes locked onto hers.
“You okay?” he asked quietly. No—she wasn’t all right, because every time he looked at her like that, she felt herself slipping a little more over the edge.
“I’m fine,” she lied.
“You’re flushed,” he assessed. She wanted to point out that she was probably flushed because she’d spent the last hour replaying the fact that she accidentally called him Daddy during sex. And now every interaction between them felt loaded with meaning.
“You’re staring again,” she whispered.
“You’re nervous again,” he pointed out. That deep voice rolled over her like heat, and his expression changed instantly. Not dramatically, but enough that Dani saw the exact moment he realized how her body had just responded to him.
“Dani,” he breathed, leaning closer to her. Her entire spine straightened.
“I need to get back to work,” she squeaked.
“You’ve been acting skittish around me since yesterday,” he said.
“I have not,” she demanded.
“Baby girl.” Her breathing stopped. Jonnas stepped closer slowly, shielding her partially from the busy hallway traffic moving behind him. No one could really hear them now unless they tried, which somehow made everything feel more intimate and more dangerous.