Page 121 of Papa's Bébé
She stared up at him sleepily, swaying from side to side. It was clear that she was still half-asleep. A grunt escaped her as she rubbed at her eyes with her free hand.
“Oh, Bébé, I didn’t realize you were so tired.”
Fuck.
What was he doing? She wasn’t his Bébé. She wasn’t his spitfire.
A client. She’s a client.
It was getting more and more difficult to remember that. And he’d only been here for five nights. How would he survive two weeks? Four? More?
Merde. He was definitely in trouble here.
But what he did know was that she was stirring his protective instincts. He didn’t like to see her like this. Clearly tired and in need of more sleep.
Had it taken her a while to go to sleep last night? He hadn’t heard anything through the thin walls between them. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t been lying awake and worrying about Ryan.
“Go back to bed, Maya,” he told her in a gentle voice.
“Huh?”
“You’re clearly exhausted. Go back to bed, Bébé. I will call in sick for you.”
“Why’re you calling me that?”
“I . . . just am.” Shit. He had no good explanation for her. He waited for her to tell him how lame that answer was. But she just grunted again. And stood there.
Right. Maybe he was going to have to guide her back to bed. Gently, he turned her and prodded her back toward the bed with his hand on the small of her back.
When they got to the bed, she just stood there, looking at it like she couldn’t quite work out what to do.
“Climb in.”
There was no reply.
Zombie Maya was cute. Zombie, sleepy Maya was even more adorable.
Not yours.
You do not have room in your life for this woman. She is not a short fling, a one-night stand. She is a forever woman. And you cannot do forever.
But it really burned that he didn’t have the right to scoop her up and lay her down. To gently pat her ass and rub her back until she fell back asleep.
Yep. That was what he wanted to do more than anything.
To take over and fully take care of her.
But he did lift her up, then place her in the bed before pulling the covers over her again. “Sleep. We’ll talk later.”
She snuggled into her toy with a sigh as Dougie jumped up on the bed and lay down with his face toward the door.
Like he was guarding her.
Matthieu wasn’t sure how a mostly blind, small dog could be much of a guard. But the sentiment was there. Princess Priss followed him out. He was reaching for his phone to find the number for her work when he heard a screech.
He rushed back into the bedroom to find her standing next to the bed and gaping at the time. “I slept in! I’m going to be late! How did this happen?”
“Did you forget to set your alarm?”
