Dear Daddy, Please Love Me - Gianni Holmes Page 0,3

carefully placed them in my jewelry chest. Sprawled on my bed, I grabbed my phone and returned to adding the finishing touches to my profile. I double-checked the kinky list and clicked two more ticks beside what I liked.

I was about to exit the app when a bobbing Santa head caught my attention. I didn’t remember this being here. Hmm, must be something new. And since I absolutely adored Christmas—the season of giving, which meant me getting—I tapped the head.

An automatic message filled the screen.

Wishing for a Dominant of your own this Christmas?

Fucking yes.

Send a letter to Santa with a wishlist describing your perfect Dominant, and we’ll share it with our Santa Doms and Dommes here at Cuffd. If one of them fits your list, they’ll message you back with a simple question: Have you been naughty or nice this year?

It’s up to you how you want to answer.

Pleasantly surprised by the message, I reread it just to ensure I understood perfectly. This sounded like fun. Oh, what to ask for in a Daddy. Handsome, rich—

I frowned, Maddy’s words coming back to me. Hmm, was he right? Should I go for something else rather than the usual?

2

Lawson

After a hellish day working at the Bristle M Ranch, which ended with the birth of a stillborn calf, the last thing I needed was to sit across from the man who’d taken in my ex and grovel. But the thing was that sometimes you just didn’t have any choice.

At some time between four and six in the afternoon, it had come to that point.

"I'm just asking for a week's extension."

It took everything out of me not to snap the words at the bank manager across from me. My loan officer had already given me the bad news that he couldn’t grant me any more extension on my mortgage payment. I’d fallen behind on our agreement after months of being unable to pay.

I’d hoped it wouldn’t get to this level, but I should have known. My gut was clenched so tight if I didn't wrap up this meeting soon and exit, I was going to hurl all over his fancy mustard color necktie. Every month I walked into the bank caused me stress, and today was no different.

They’d already stripped me of my pride. The only thing I had left was my sanity, and sometimes I even wondered at that.

"You've already had several extensions, Lawson," Grant grunted. "If you don't pay by Friday, I'm afraid we'll have to count that as a strike against our agreement, and penalties will be applied."

"I can't afford to pay more than what I already owe,” I gritted out. “And you know damn well why."

At least, he had the decency to turn a bright cherry red. Dropping his gaze, he shuffled some papers on his desk.

"It's not my fault what happened. He—"

"I don't give a damn about him. I just need to catch up on my mortgage payments, but I can't do that if I'm being slapped with more fees. At this rate, I'll never finish."

"Do you want to go over your assets and make a decision on how to become current on your payment?"

I was on my feet at once, glaring at him. We'd had this conversation before, and I wasn't interested in the least. I wasn't selling my legacy. Grandfather would turn in his grave.

"I'm not selling.”

He took up the pen on his desk and clicked the head rapidly. "Since you don't like my suggestion, I'll leave you to decide what you want to do. You still have until Friday."

I rose to my feet, desperate enough to sink lower. “If you don’t want that dirty dealing husband of yours passed around in a cell block, you’d better see to it that I have more time than Friday to get you your money.” I settled my Stetson on my head and gave him a firm nod. “It was nice doing business with you, Grant. Give my best regards to Anders, will you?”

“Goddamn you, Lawson. You have no right to threaten me.”

It was more like a promise of what my ex, now his current partner, deserved after what he’d done. I didn’t look back. Didn’t acknowledge him at all. Just kept walking with my head held high, although my chest hurt. Although all the debt, all the responsibility was suffocating me.

I barely had enough money to refuel the truck I’d taken to town, much less find close to five thousand dollars for this month’s mortgage payment. I stepped outside