Page 43 of Daddy's Little Mama Bear

Mac cracked a smile and kissed her head. “No need to thank me. I just wanted to let you know up front.”

Janie put a couple fries in her mouth. She didn’t know what else to do.

“So,” Mac said. “How is work going? Do you have a hard time working with your daughter at home?”

Janie swallowed and took a deep breath.

“It’s definitely harder, but I love it. I’ve let my authors know that I work whenever I can on the book. Sometimes I wake up earlier than Eleanor, so I can have a couple hours of uninterrupted work time, and sometimes I sleep in with her and work later in the night,” Janie said. “It really depends on what and how I’m feeling. Eleanor loves to sit in my lap and snuggle.. I also take breaks and play with her. It’s a good way to let my stress go.”

“Do you ever go into Littlespace with her?”

She closed her eyes. “Sometimes. It’s hard not to. Right now, it’s okay since she’s two and she doesn’t understand a lot. I know when she gets older, that I’ll have to try and reign it in so she doesn’t get uncomfortable.”

Mac placed his hand on her back and she jumped. She wasn’t expecting him to touch her.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” he said.

“No, it’s okay. I had my eyes closed so I wasn’t expecting you to touch me.”

Janie was messing things up and maybe it was better that way. He would get tired of her if she kept messing things up and leave her alone. Then she wouldn’t get as heart broken later on.

“You’re okay,” Mac soothingly said. “Everything is okay.”

She grabbed a fry and popped it into her mouth. She only had a couple more left and she was trying to use them sparingly. They were a good way for her to excuse herself from speaking for a little bit.

“Can I do anything to help around the house?” Mac asked. “You know I have a couple days off from work and I would love to help. Maybe cook some meals for you.”

Janie shook her head. She couldn’t do that to him.

“Those are your days off,” she said. “You shouldn’t be asking to help me. Take those days and rest.”

“That’s not what I asked. I asked if I could help you in any way,” Mac gripped her chin with his finger. “I wouldn’t ask and offer to do anything unless I wanted to.”

“It’s okay. I don’t think there is anything that needs to be done around my house.”

That was a lie. There were several things around the house that needed to get done. The garbage disposal in her sink wasn’t working. Her house was a mess from all the toys and clothes that were scattered by her two year old.

Something she was trying to get done today, but it didn’t seem like it was going to happen. She hadn’t expected to eat lunch with Mac. She hadn’t expected for her car to break down like it did. Everything was going wrong today. Well, only two things had gone wrong today. Her car and Mac being with her when she was buying feminine products.

“Think about it,” Mac said. “I bet there are a couple things that you’ll think of. I’ll be happy to make you meals, freeze some of them, so that you can have homemade food.”

That sounded tempting. There was only so much processed food she could handle. She missed eating homemade food. Janie hadn’t had any since her parents died.

“Okay, I will,” she whispered.

And she really was going to. Maybe he could make her some homemade meals. Eleanor hadn’t really had a homemade meal. Unless she was at Joann’s house.

Janie wished she could cook so Eleanor could grow up on that, but she didn’t. No matter how much she tried to learn, it was nearly impossible for her to cook. Or even bake.

“What about the house?” he asked. “Is there anything that needs to be fixed in the house?”

She started to fidget in her seat. She didn’t like that Mac was asking so many questions. Why was he asking so many of them? This was unusual for him to do that.

“Nothing is wrong?” she said in more of a question.

Janie was so bad at lying. It was just hard for her to do it, especially when someone was paying close attention to her.

Mac was staring at her, almost like he knew that if he looked at her while asking questions she would answer them. It was a great tactic because she had answered most of his questions.

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