Page 180 of Her Daddies' Everything

“I don’t think a bodyguard is supposed to scold their charge.”

“Well, don’t know about other bodyguards, but your bodyguard is gonna scold you if you need it. You lying to me, Cherry?”

“I’ll be all right soon.”

“You still need some painkillers since you brought those ones back up. And I need to clean that arm.”

“My arm is fine. It’s barely a scratch.”

“Want me to send for some liquid painkillers?” he asked, ignoring her claim about her arm.

“Um, I think I have some in my toiletry bag,” she told him, relieved that he wasn’t trying to force her to swallow some pills.

“Good. Although you’re gonna have to try swallowing pills again sometime, though.”

“Yeah. Not tonight, though.”

“Not tonight,” he agreed. “We need to have a talk, though.”

Immy groaned. “Do we really have to? Why does everything involve talking? Why can’t you just go, ‘here, Immy, here’s some Twizzlers and a six-pack of diet soda. Knock yourself out’?”

“Twizzlers and a six pack of soda, huh? Doesn’t take much to make you happy, does it?”

“Well, and a Harry Potter marathon movie session would really top it off.”

“Let’s see what we can do,” he said.

“You like Harry Potter?” she asked.

“Never watched it.”

She gasped for so long that she actually started coughing.

“Right. You need to stop nearly damn well killing yourself,” he ordered as he patted her back. “You’re gonna give me gray fucking hairs.”

“That’s two dollars for the swear jar,” she told him.

“Gonna be broke because of that swear jar.” He was smiling as he said that.

“I think Jenner’s been putting extra money into it.” She shook her head. “I wanted to pay for something for him for once. He never lets me pay for anything. Not rent or utilities or groceries. Poor guy is gonna go broke.” She knew that wasn’t true. Still, he should charge them something. “Jenner’s always been like that. When we left the cult, he was the first one of us to find a part-time job. He did lots of landscaping jobs so he could buy a guitar and then he would go out and perform on the street. He would always try to give us money to help us out with whatever we needed.”

Tobias stood and carried her into the bathroom. Then he set her down so she could get her medicine bag and take the liquid painkiller.

“It’s sweet of you to want to take everyone on vacation, Cherry.” He lightly kissed the top of her head.

Her breath caught. Had that really just happened? She didn’t know what to do or how to react.

Had it been a friendly kiss?

“I, um, thanks,” she said lamely. “I might get in that bath.”

“In a minute.” He lifted her onto the countertop, stepping between her legs.

This wasn’t really appropriate. And yet, she liked it.

Too much.

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