Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
“Does it? Well, maybe your tongue needs something to keep it occupied.”
Hmm. That sounded enjoyable.
He stood and walked out of the small living room into the bedroom. At least they had a bit of space here. A very tidy space. At least, it had been before she moved in. She tried to clean up after herself. But sometimes it felt like for every one thing she put away, three more things got dropped in its place.
It was quite bizarre.
When he returned, he had her pacifier in his hand.
Drat. That wasn’t what she’d been wanting.
He raised his eyebrows at her. “You’re pouting, little girl.”
“Daddy, I never pout. But I was hoping for something else to occupy my mouth.”
“Poor baby. Open.” She opened her mouth and he put the pacifier in. “Now,
show me this doggy day spa. This guy here looks like he needs a good makeover.”
He picked up one of the scruffy that had come with her doggy day spa set.
Maeve couldn’t hide the big, genuine smile as one of the gruffest, toughest men she knew settled down to play with her.
Maeve stared out the window. “It’s stopped raining, Daddy!”
“So it has.”
They’d already had lunch and he’d put her down for a nap. But now she was awake and full of energy. She really wanted to get outside and do something.
“Can we go jump in puddles?”
He frowned. “I’d rather you stay inside.”
“I’ve been inside most of the time since I got here. I want to go exploring and jump in some puddles, please.”
Gray’s phone started ringing. “Yeah?” he answered the call, stepping away. “What? Fuck, how did that happen. No, no, I’m coming.” He ended the call and looked over at her.
“What is it?” Was it her stalker? No one had any leads on him and he’d been quiet. Likely because he didn’t know where she was. She guessed it was too much to hope he’d given up and gone away.
There had been no sign of Andy either. She had a feeling that meant only one thing.
That he was dead.
“Hey, it’s nothing for you to worry about,” Gray said gently. He walked over and lightly grasped her shoulders. “Someone broke into one of Markovich’s businesses and wrecked the place. I need to go investigate. Markovich will probably want to come.” He frowned. “I hate leaving you here.”
“But you have to work,” she said softly. “You can’t put your life on hold because of me. And I’m safe here, right?”
“Yeah, you’re safe here.”
“Can I go find Dahlia and go for a walk outside?”
“I’d rather you stayed inside.”
“Please,” she begged.
He sighed. “I’m going soft. All right, but Dahlia takes Robert with her and I’m going to assign you a personal guard.”
“All right.”
He gave her a surprised look. He’d obviously expected her to argue. But she could be reasonable. And if it helped him feel better about going, then she could put up with a guard.
Gray climbed into the backseat of the car. Markovich turned to him with a scowl. “Who would dare break into Suck ‘n Blow?”
“I don’t know. Fucker has balls, though.”
“I just talked to Jesse. Apparently someone hacked into the cameras and turned them off. He’s trying to see if he can salvage anything.” Markovich eyed him. “You okay with leaving Maeve?”
“No. I don’t like it.”
“You could have stayed.”
Gray shot him a look. “I have a job. But I don’t like leaving her. She had a nightmare night before last while we were working downstairs and didn’t tell me. She had a panic attack and hid in the closet.”
“Fuck,” Markovich muttered.
“Yeah. I should have been there.” Guilt rode him hard.
“You need to lighten your workload.”
He grunted. “Be easier once this fucker is found.”
“If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that life is short. You can’t think about how things will get better in the future, because sometimes there isn’t always a future. Take the time now to be with your girl, Gray.”
“I’ve got to find this fucker.”
“We will. But you need to let go of some control and delegate more.”
“You can talk.”
“I’m learning. I’m trying. I want to be with Dahlia as much as possible, which is why when I’m with her I switch off as much as I can.”
Gray tapped his fingers. “I don’t know if she likes living in the house. Not that what you provided isn’t good enough. It’s just . . .”
“Privacy,” Markovich said knowingly. “I get it. There’re a few cottages on the property, you’re welcome to look at them. Move into one.”
Gray nodded. Maybe that would work. “After I’ve found this asshole.”
“We’ll get him.”
They better. Because living with this threat to his girl was giving him a fucking ulcer.
Maeve answered her ringing phone. “Immy! How are you! How is California?”
“Ah, you know. Same as always.”
Maeve frowned. Gray had just left and she was getting ready to track Dahlia down and see if she wanted to go puddle jumping. It had rained all morning and Maeve needed to get out of the house.