Page 106 of Daddy's Little Mama Bear

Janie’s phone went off again and she went still. Donald was starting to send her threatening messages as the hours went by. Threatening to drag her out by her hair and leaving Eleanor on the side of the road. He was threatening to lock her up in a room and have his way with her until she said yes to being with him. She didn't know what to do.

Mac looked at her, giving her a worried glance. It made Janie realize that with her ex-husband threatening her, she was never going to be able to be with any man. And that broke her.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

MAC

The whole time they were out eating lunch, he knew something was going on. She had gotten a text and she looked scared, distraught over it. This wasn't the first time it had happened. Mac had tried asking about it, but Janie said it was an author.

But he knew better. It didn't just seem like an author was texting her about a sad story or anything. It was almost like somebody was bothering her.

Mac wanted to ask again but he didn't know how to get her to answer truthfully. He wanted to push her, to figure it out, but he didn't want to break the trust they had. Though, Mac hoped that if anything was bothering her that she would come to him for help.

Now they were currently walking into his office. They had just gotten back from lunch and were going to go back to work. But before that, he wanted to talk to Janie and let her know that he's there for her.

He had told her countless times but he knew that he was going to tell her many more times. Even if she knew it and came to him for things, he would still remind her. Just to let her know that it was okay and he was there for her.

Janie sat Eleanor down on the floor before she sat on the couch. He made his way over and sat right next to her. Her eyes went wide as he pulled her towards him. Mac didn't want any space between them, not like they had at the diner.

Part of him wanted to command that she sit right next to him at the diner but he knew she wouldn't like that. There were several people at the diner and he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. He was trying to get on her good graces, not on her bad side.

“Yes?” She asked. “Why did you pull me so close to you?”

“Is there anything that is bothering you or you want to talk about?” He asked. Maybe if he asked her this instead of who was texting her, she would answer him.

Janie’s face went pale and she quickly looked away from him. Hmm. That was interesting.

“N-no,” she whispered.

That was definitely a lie. Her heart rate had picked up and she was stuttering. He just didn't know why she was lying. Was she trying to protect somebody? Or did she not know who the person was? He didn't like it either way.

“I just want you to know that I'm always here for you. Even if something's wrong and you're afraid that I might judge you for it, I won't. I want to help you,” he said. “I want to be part of yours and Eleanor's life. It's not just a week that I want to be part of, I want to be part of your whole life.”

She slowly nodded her head but she still wouldn't look at him. He had struck a nerve. He just wanted her to be safe, happy, and not worry about anything. He wanted to help her in times of need, but he couldn't do that when she didn't talk to him.

“I want to be your safe place. A place that you can come to and talk about anything. I want to help you through situations, be your rock,” he said. Maybe one day she would do that. Heknew it wasn't going to be today, but maybe if he told her enough times she would actually do it sometime soon.

Her phone went off again, that annoying ringtone that made Janie jump all the time. She flinched against him and he looked at her with concern.

“Are you okay?” He asked. “Who keeps texting you?”

She took a shaky breath in and continued to look at Eleanor. Whenever she didn't look in his eyes, he knew that she was probably lying.

With how much lying she was doing, Mac knew that he shouldn’t trust her, but deep down he knew that there was something more to this. Was she trying to protect him? Did he know this person? Had he threatened Eleanor if Janie told anybody?

There were so many possibilities and he didn't want to jump the gun. What if he had and she was trying to protect him?

“It was just an author,” she whispered. “I was just lost in thought and wasn't expecting it.”

Mac knew that was a lie, but he wasn't going to bring it up right now. She was obviously rattled and scared and he didn't want to push her too far. But he was going to find out who was texting her.

“I want to be honest with you,” he said. “I want you. I want Eleanor. I want to grow old with you and I want to be your Daddy. I want to protect you and love you both. I want to have other kids with you if you want them.”

Her eyes went wide as she stared at him. Maybe this wasn't the right time to tell her all of this, but he needed to get it out of his chest.

“I'm going to treat Eleanor as my own. I already see her as my own. All you have to do is say yes,” he said.

She blinked several times as she looked at him. Maybe that was a little bit too soon to say that. But it was the truth and hedidn't want to hold back anymore. He had held back for a while and now it was time to show her.

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