Page 122 of Rescued by the Single Dad

Nobody really said anything.

The boys at her feet murmured a few things, but they knew this was serious and didn’t goof off.

They really were all tremendous kids.

Brooke shut her eyes and leaned it against the top of Aya’s head, allowing the children to soothe her rapid pulse and calm the nerves going bonkers inside her.

It was probably no more than ten or fifteen minutes before the door opened, bringing in the warm scent of evening and Clint’s familiar manly smell.

“Well, I explained things, and they apologized, but there’s not much to be done at this point. The information is out there, whether Dumb and Dumber down there pull their content or not.” He lobbed a weary sigh that spurred an unfamiliar ache in Brooke’s chest.

“So now we’re on damage control,” Rocco said, still flicking through his phone.

Brooke had watched him periodically since they sat down. She’d open her eyes briefly, and they’d land on her brother, only for her to shut them again—shut out the world—when she’d see the terrified look on his face.

None of this was good.

“We should expect the worst,” Clint said with a nod. “Reporters will definitely be on the ferry tomorrow.”

“I need to hide,” Brooke said. “Leave here. You don’t need this on your doorstep.” Her gaze swept the children. “They don’t need it.”

“We’ll be fine,” he said. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

His blue eyes were endlessly warm, while everything about the way he was looking at her was possessive, and sent her heart into a happy little wiggle. Heat flooded her abdomen and swarmed into her cheeks. Her face was probably pinking up enough that the children would notice soon.

Rocco’s expression grew soft, though. Loving. And she read his mind, like she always could. He was happy, but also slightly envious that she finally had someone in her life that cared about her as much as he did. She wanted to say, “You’ll find someone, too.” But stopped herself.

Yes, Clint cared about her, but it had really only been a week and although they discussed making this something more than temporary, her brain refused to let her sincerely consider it. Her heart was already on board. She’d already been daydreaming of packing up her house in Monterey and figuring out how she’d balance work and home life here on the island.

But her brain was less of an idealistic idiot. It knew that there was a lot more that needed to be sorted, and more likely than not, when she said goodbye to Clint, it would be for good. Because even though Clint was one of the good guys, he was still a man, and eventually, all men lost interest in her.

“So what do we do?” Talia asked. “How do we hide Brooke?”

“Leave that to the grownups, sweetie,” Clint said, though Brooke could tell he hadn’t quite come up with a plan yet. Unease and worry clouded that possessive heat that’d been in his eyes a moment ago.

“Why don’t we finish the cookies, then finish the movie?” Rocco offered.

The kids groaned, uninterested in cookie decorating anymore, but they got up from their spots on the floor and couch and trudged back to the kitchen behind him.

Brooke got up from the couch and went to Clint. His arms around her felt good.

They felt like home and safety. Cool nights in front of a warm fire, and a lifetime of laughter and love.

They stayed like that for a long time. Wrapped up in each other’s arms.

She breathed in his goodness, never wanting to let any part of him go.

But it was already getting late, and there wasn’t much she could do at this point, except wait for the sunrise and the aftermath of the news.

“I’m going to call Sergeant Fox,” Clint murmured, his lips against the crown of her head.

“And I should reach out to my PR team ... and my assistant, I guess.”

He nodded and exhaled, but neither of them moved.

Tomorrow would come, whether she was ready for it or not.

At least she had Clint there to protect her.

---