Page 30 of Daddy's Little Mama Bear

Because they were.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Feeling alright?" She nodded her head against his chest, but didn't let go of him. He wasn't going to let go until she was ready. Who knows when the last time was that she got a hug like this?

"Anytime you need a hug, let me know," he said. "I love hugs."

She stilled in his arms and he started to rub her back.

"It's okay. Any time you want a hug because you need it or just want it, you let me know. I'll give you a hug any time," he said.

"Okay," she whispered.

He figured she probably wouldn't but he would remind her again and again until it stuck.

"Ready to go to the store and then get lunch?" he asked. She nodded her head and let go of him.

CHAPTER TEN

JANIE

She didn’t know how she felt about it earlier. She had almost called Mac Daddy when they were on the side of the road. Did he catch it? He hadn’t said anything about it if he did.

No inclination at all. There wasn’t a twitch of the lips, eyes, or anything. Maybe he hadn’t caught it, but she didn’t think that was possible. Mac caught everything she did. There was no getting away with anything.

Now Janie felt nervous as they sat in front of the supermarket. She knew what she had to get in there, but she didn't want to. Mac was with her and he was a man. Janie wasn't used to buying things with a man. It was weird, awkward, and felt wrong. She didn't know how to feel about it. But she knew she had to go in there and buy her things. She couldn't go without them.

"Are you ready to go in?" Mac asked.

"You can just drop me off at the front," Janie said. "I won't take but a couple of minutes. Just need to grab a couple of things."

She hoped he would let her go in by herself. But what if he asked what she had gotten? There was no way she would be able to tell him.

"I'm coming in with you," he said.

"No, you really don't need to do that," she replied. "It's just a couple of things. It won't take long at all. I know where everything is."

"Pinky."

She turned her body to look at him. "Mac," she said. "I really don't need you to come in with me. It's only a couple of things." She didn't understand why he would want to come with her. She had never met a guy that liked going into a store. So why was he insisting that he go in with her?

"Pinky," he said.

"What?" she asked. "I just want to go in and get the couple of things that I need." Janie knew she wasn't giving him any time to really speak. She was hoping that he would drop it if she continued to talk and insist that she go in alone.

"Janie, it's not going to work," he said.

"What's not going to work?" she asked.

"You trying to insist that you go in alone. I'm coming in with you."

She crossed her arms. "I don't see why you need to come in with me."

There was no reason for him to come in with her. Well, maybe she did know why. Springfield wasn't known for being super duper safe. There were some druggies and kidnapping but that was later at night. It was in the middle of the day, no one was going to kidnap her.

"I'm coming with you. End of story," he said. "There's always a danger out there and I want you to be safe."

She let out a sigh. "You're not going to let this go?"

"Nope. I'm coming with you." Janie nodded her head before she leaned it up against the headrest.

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