Chapter One
Kyla and the other girls stopped abruptly when Faith dropped down behind them.
The other girls were confused for a moment until they saw the big man who walked into the door of Faith and Rylan’s new house.
“Don’t move. I don’t want him to see me,” Faith whispered.
“Who is it?” Kyla whispered back at her.
Faith pressed her finger to her lips and then mouthed, I’ll tell you later.
The man called out for Faith, and Kyla almost laughed at the sigh that came from her friend because she hadn’t fooled the man. Kyla stiffened when he threatened to spank Faith’s bottom when she continued to hide.
What would it be like to have someone care enough to want to discipline her? She’d never had that before and had always dreamed about it. After seeing some of her friends with their daddies, she now craved it with a passion.
Kyla felt her face turn red when the man kept staring at her. He was huge compared to Faith who now stood in front of him. Since she was about an inch taller than Kyla, she’d notice the difference even more when she stood next to him.
She swallowed when she heard Faith ask the man if he wanted to meet them. One part of her wanted to run, while the other part wanted to crawl into his lap. She braced herself when Faith pulled him over to them.
“Hey, guys, this is … a friend of mine, Duncan. He works with my Daddy. Duncan, I’d like you to meet my friends, Larkin and Ashton, and this is Kyla.”
Kyla felt her blush deepen when he stood in front of her and studied her for a moment before he cupped her chin in his hand.
“Hi, honey,” Duncan said. “I’m very interested to know if you have a daddy.”
She felt her heartbeat accelerate until it felt like it would burst from her chest, and then she shook her head.
“That’s good to know. I’ll come to find you later. We’ll see what happens.”
Faith cleared her throat. “We’ll be in the TV room, Duncan.”
He nodded. “Good. I’ll see you all soon.”
Kyla watched him walk away but turned when Larkin started singing.
“Kyla and Duncan, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.”
She didn’t think she could get any redder, but she was wrong. She felt like her face was going to combust at any moment.
“Larkin,” Aston said. “Don’t tease her.”
“I’m sorry,” Larkin said.
“Let’s go in the family room and watch a movie,” Faith said.
Kyla kept turning toward the doorway during the movie, hoping that he’d come. When Duncan didn’t show up, Kyla was disappointed, but she also had to be realistic. Why would a man like that be interested in someone like her?
She could never see that happening even if she prayed hard for it, and she stopped praying for things years ago.
“Let’s go up to my room and play with dolls,” Faith said.
Kyla followed the girls upstairs and into a playroom from her dreams. She’d never seen so many dolls, books, and games before except in a store, and she was usually on the outside looking into a window.
They each grabbed a doll and started playing with their hair as they talked.
“What did you dream of as a little girl?” Faith asked the other girls.
“I dreamed of a pink pony,” Larkin said, making them all laugh.