Page 57 of Keeping Katie

Thankfully, his phone rings, distracting him from his threat. When he pulls it from his pocket, he frowns. He’s been doing that a lot lately.

“What’s wrong?” I ask softly.

He shakes his head, his jaw flexing. “Nothing.”

My chest tightens. “I thought it was against the rules to lie. Or is that only a rule for me?”

His head snaps up, his gaze meeting mine. I shrink back slightly. Shoot. I crossed a line. I’m usually his good girl. Surely, a man like him won’t handle me talking back to him well.

Then he drops his shoulders and lowers himself onto the edge of the bed, facing me. “You’re right. Lying is against the rules for both of us.”

I don’t say anything, so he continues. “I went on a date with a woman before I met you. It was horrible. I told her I wasn’t interested in seeing her again, but she’s continued to call and text me, even though I’ve told her repeatedly to stop.”

Something like heartburn settles in my chest. A woman keeps calling him? My Daddy? Oh, hell no. Nope. I’ve given up a lot of things in my life, but I’m not giving up this man.

“Give me your phone.” I hold out my hand.

Without hesitation, he unlocks it and hands it over.

“I’ve only messaged her to tell her to stop contacting me. You can look at our text exchanges.”

God, I love this man. He’s trying to reassure me. He doesn’t need to, though. I trust him. What I don’t trust is the bitch who isn’t respecting his boundaries. And I’m going to put a stop to it right now.

I navigate to his call log and tap on the most recent. Sharleen.

“Hey, stranger. It’s about time you called me,” a sickeningly, sugary-sweet voice answers.

“Hello,” I reply with an edge. “If you were expecting Grady, I’m afraid he’s busy. I thought, since you keep calling, you must be super excited to meet me. His fiancée. I’m Katie! And you are?”

Grady rolls his lips in and brings his fist up to his mouth to keep from chuckling. He doesn’t try to take the phone from meor tell me to hang up. Nope. He’s going to let me handle this and stake my claim on him. I’m so turned on by it.

“Oh, um, his fiancée?” she squeaks.

I grin. “Yes. His future wife. You must be Sharleen?”

“He told you about me?” she asks, her tone full of hope.

“Yes. As a matter of fact, he did. Would you like to know what he told me?”

Grady stares at me, letting me handle the situation. I have no doubt if he thought I was getting upset, he’d step in to protect me.

“Sure. Although, you know you can’t always believe everything a man says.” Sharleen cackles, clearly thinking she’s hilarious.

“Maybeyoucan’t believe everything a man says, but I believe everythingmyman says.”

Sharleen scoffs so loud I can’t help but laugh and shake my head. This woman is something else.

“Stop calling and texting Grady because if I have to talk to you again, I’m not going to be so nice next time. He’s mine. Are we clear, or do I need to spell it out for you to understand?”

I’m not a mean girl. I don’t like mean girls. I think the world needs more kindness in it. But when it comes to my Daddy, I think I’d surprise even myself with how nasty I might become.

“Okay. Gosh. No need to be such a bitch,” she snaps.

“Actually, there is. He already asked you to leave him alone, and you didn’t. So now you get to deal with me.”

The line goes dead, and I roll my eyes as I hand the phone to Grady.

He takes it and moves closer. “Did you really just do that for me?”

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