Page 199 of Tempted By her Daddies

And this beautiful, lovely man wouldn’t understand your world so don’t taint him with it.

She sighed. “I guess so. I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

“And I appreciate that.” He stood and held out his hand to her. “Come on, let’s go see what we can rustle up. Have you had lunch?”

She held his hand and honestly felt like she’d gone to heaven.

“Um, yes. Salem made me some lunch.”

“Where is Salem?” he asked as they made their way down the hallway and toward the stairs.

“He’s on the phone. Alexei is out for a run.”

“And they left you unattended?” He frowned.

She had to grin. He hovered close to her as they reached the stairs. “I can be on my own, you know. I promise I’m not going to steal all the china.”

“Just give me an excuse to replace it. Dusty old stuff.”

“That stuff is antique and beautiful.”

“Is it?” He sighed. “Well, if you like it, I’ll keep it.”

She shook her head at him. As if she had anything to do with that decision. But it was sweet of him to say so.

“Right, I want you to hold onto the banister going down the stairs, please.”

“You trip over one time . . .” she grumbled.

“Yes, it was one time too many. And now you need to hold onto the banister. Plus, you hurt your foot recently.”

“My foot feels fine now. It’s not even swollen or anything. I even went for a run in the night on the treadmill.”

He paused and tightened his hold on her. “You went for a run last night? On your own?”

“Well, for some of it. Uh, Alexei found me.”

“He found you?” he asked.

“Yeah, he’s such a stalker. He went into my room looking for me because he doesn’t like it when I’m not with one of you. He left me with Salem when he went for a run.”

“He’s probably obsessing over you as he runs,” he said. “I’ve never seen him as obsessed by someone as he is by you.”

That was sweet and scary all at the same time.

But Alexei was kind of a terrifying guy. Until you realized there was a softer side to him.

“Hold the banister please,” he said. Again, that please made it sound like he was asking.

He was not.

“But I’m holding onto you and you won’t let me fall.”

He eyed her. “Well, it’s hard to argue with that. But I still want you to hold both. And when you’re in Little headspace, you’re not to go up and down the stairs on your own.”

Was he serious?

She stared up at him.

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