Page 131 of Her Daddies' Everything

Grasping hold of the stair rail, she moved slowly downstairs. Why did everything keep going all blurry?

Shoot. Had she put the coffee on last night? She couldn’t remember. But the guys would be up soon and they’d need coffee.

She’d just check that before she went and found Abe.

Cold medicine.

That’s what she needed.

After rustling around in the medicine box, she realized that she hadn’t restocked it. Maybe there would be some in the top cupboard. That was her overflow area.

Normally, she got one of the guys to grab it for her. But she couldn’t be bothered going to find them. So instead, she grabbed one of the counter stools and climbed on it to reach up into the cupboard.

“Uh-huh!” She held up the cold medicine like it was a trophy she’d just won.

“Immy! What the fuck are you doing?” Jenner said from behind her.

She wobbled, taking a step back. Which, in hindsight, was a really dumb idea. Her foot met air and her backside would have met the tile floor if Jenner hadn’t leaped forward and caught her.

“Fuck, Immy!” he said, gaping down at her as he held her in his arms. “You could have fallen.”

“Pretty sure I did fly. Wee! Through the air!” She started to giggle. And she had no idea why.

“Immy, what’s wrong? Shit. Are you sick?”

“Ding-ding-ding! Jenner gets a prize. That’s why I had to get the cold medicine. Think I might have an incy-wincy cold. Nothing to be worried about.”

Jenner sat her on the counter.

Boo. The counter was cold on her bare legs and she’d much rather be in his arms.

“I’m sorry the counter is cold on your legs and I’ll carry you up to bed soon, okay?” he said in a quiet, soothing voice.

“Can you . . . are you magic? Can you read my mind?” she asked. “When did you get this power and why didn’t you tell me?”

“Baby, you’re broadcasting your every thought,” he told her as he moved away.

She was?

Where was he going? Was he leaving her? Oh no, he was leaving her. This was terrible.

“I’m not leaving you, Twinkles,” he told her.

“You can read minds. That’s a very scary power to have. What am I thinking right now?”

Get me some chocolate milk.

“You’re not having chocolate milk,” he told her firmly as he returned with the thermometer. “Open up.”

“Magic,” she whispered hoarsely. Then she cleared her throat. Why was her throat so sore?

“I’ll take a look at your throat soon, baby,” he replied. “Just open up so I can take your temperature, okay?”

“Okie-dokie-lemon-spokie. Then can I have chocolate milk?”

“We’ll see,” he replied. “Open.”

That sucked. ‘We’ll see’ always meant no. Why was Jenner being so mean to her?

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