Page 71 of Daddy's Wild Girl

Why did she keep pushing Hayes?

Hayes scowled at her . . . but was that . . . it was, wasn’t it? He was trying not to smile.

Corbin gaped at the older man. Perhaps Kent had been right. Maybe this was good for him.

“You’re such a brat,” Hayes muttered.

She smiled at Hayes widely.

Hayes pointed at her. “Two hours. You stay by one of our sides at all times. I mean it. No going more than an arm’s length away.”

“One of your arm lengths or mine?” she asked.

“Yours,” Hayes barked. “You need to go anywhere, then you tell one of us and we’ll take you. You don’t go anywhere that we don’t okay first. If you feel uncomfortable or you need to leave, you tell us. If there is a situation, Corbin will grab you, and I will find our way out of there. You will do exactly as we say. No arguments, no chit chat, no hesitation. Understood?”

She nodded.

Corbin hoped she was taking all of this to heart.

Biting down on her lower lip, she suddenly looked pensive and unsure. The swing between emotions seemed unexpected. But he was slowly beginning to understand that with Bebe, you couldn’t always take her smiles at face value. There was a lot more going on in the background. She’d been emotionally abused and neglected by her parents. Then publicly rejected. Shamed and harassed online. And he thought there was something more going on with her too.

So she could sometimes swing from teasing and laughing to being worried and unsure like right now.

He knew Hayes had noticed that too.

“If it’s too much work, we don’t have to go,” she told them. “I don’t want to put you guys in any danger.”

“You won’t be,” he reassured her, hating to see her upset. “We have this handled, right, Hayes?”

“Sure,” Hayes grumbled. “Guess it’s better than sitting on that monstrosity all night while trying to watch the game on my phone screen.”

Bebe winced. “If it helps, there are TVs in the pub.”

“Well, why didn’t you lead with that, girl,” Hayes grumbled.

18

Bebe headed down the dark alleyway.

Only to have a hand wrap around her arm and haul her back.

“Hey!” she cried. “What are you doing?”

“What are you doing?” Corbin shot back at her.

“I’m heading to Callahan’s,” she said. Was he losing his memory? What was wrong with him?

He glared down at her, then at the alley. “Are you trying to tell me that the bar is down there?”

“Yes. Why?”

“It’s down a dark alleyway?” he asked incredulously. “With no signage? On a street where there are barely any people?”

“Um, yes.”

“We’re not going down there,” Hayes stated, giving her a firm look. “It’s not safe.”

Jeez. Hayes thought brushing her teeth wasn’t safe for her! All right, slight exaggeration, but she wouldn’t be surprised if he suddenly started arguing that she could harm herself with the toothbrush.

---