Page 48 of Her Protector Daddies

“He would have heard about Matt over the radio too,” Tyler mused quietly, getting onto the same thought track as me.

“You don’t think…?”

“That we’ve got a rat?” I swiftly kicked the vending machine, shaking free a pulse of frustration as the water bottle Tyler was after dislodged and clattered into the tray. “Yeah. I think we do.”

18

SELENA

“That smells amazing.”

The combination of spices I could never name, combined with Jay’s incredible cooking talent, had my stomach growling for the past twenty minutes and I was more than ready to try whatever it was he was making.

I hadn’t been able to keep much down in the way of food. The stress of the entire situation was insane, and knowing I had little choice but to attend the party of someone who had actively tried to kill me, was fraying my nerves.

I’d agreed immediately but that didn’t dampen the fear.

My only solace was with the men who had brought me into their lives, into their family and provided more affection and protection than I’d ever had in my entire life.

I almost couldn’t believe it. Maybe I had died that day in my father’s apartment, and this was one long, stressful yet wonderful dream.

“I try,” Jay smiled over his shoulder at me, sprinkling something bright orange into the pan.

“What’s the occasion?”

“I wanted to do something nice for you.” Jay added another handful of colorful spice.

“Other than saving my life?” Darting up to him, I pressed against his back, gripping his waist and leaned up onto my tiptoes to peer around his shoulder. Chicken simmered in a dark sauce, with the colorful powders slowly being absorbed into the mixture.

“Well,” Jay chuckled softly. “As gestures go, that one was pretty grand but with the party and everything that’s happening, I wanted to cook you a good meal. Plus, it’s therapeutic for me to cook so really, I’m doing both of us a favor.”

“Ahh, make sense.” Amidst the tantalizing smell of the food, the woody vanilla of Jay’s aftershave caused a comforting bubble to rise in my chest so I gripped a little tighter at his waist.

“Where’s Dae?”

“He’s out with Tyler at a birthday party for one of his classmates, so the house is extra quiet for a couple of hours.” Jay slowly turned in my arms, holding chopsticks aloft in one hand. Face to face, he pressed a gentle kiss to my nose. “But dinner isn’t ready and sadly requires my full attention so I’m afraid, darling, you will have to entertain yourself.”

“Oh?” I lifted a brow. “You want me to entertain myself right here on the table?”

Jay snorted. “As much as I would love that, the dinner would definitely burn. Go. Relax.”

“Fine.” It was difficult to keep the grumbling disappointment out of my tone, but I knew dinner would be worth it and I wasn’t going to get in the way of Jay trying to do a sweet thing. “I’ll come back later.”

“Good girl,” Jay replied.

My heart punched up into my throat immediately. “Dude.”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Mhmm.” Regretfully, I let my arms drop away from Jay and he returned to his cooking as I slowly wandered out of the kitchen.

The stress and waiting was making me restless. I couldn’t sit still. Sleeping was hard enough but when I was awake, I was constantly plagued by a yearning to do something, anything to keep the prickling anxiety at bay. Caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t notice Bailey until I walked right into his broad chest as he removed his leather jacket.

“Hey, hello,” Bailey smiled down at me, then his brow dipped. “What’s wrong?”

“Hi. Nothing. Jay is cooking and told me to go entertain myself until it’s ready.” I stared up at him, gently mapping out the handsome edges of his features, from his bright, sparkling eyes right down to the well-kept goatee.

“And that’s a problem?”

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