Page 184 of Daddy's Naughty List

She froze at the sight of the two men squared off in the hall. Automatically, she took the pizza box with a couple of bags on top from Rocky.

“You’re going to leave her alone,” Rocky repeated.

“I’m just being friendly. You know, a good neighbor,” the next-door resident explained. His voice was noticeably less confident than it usually was now that Rocky’s hands were free.

“Leave her alone,” Rocky repeated.

“Or what?” The jerk regained his bravado.

“I’ll forget what my boxing titles say about my fists being lethal weapons.”

The slimy man scanned Rocky’s bulky, muscular frame. “Got it.” He turned and walked back to his apartment.

“Sorry you’ve had to deal with him, Melissa. Let me know if he causes you any problems,” Rocky said, turning back to her now that the threat was gone.

“Lethal weapons?” she repeated shakily.

“I was a professional boxer for a while. You can probably tell that from my nose,” he joked, pointing to that out-of-line feature.

She had to laugh. It had definitely been broken a few times at least. Melissa scanned his face. The scary look in his eyes had evaporated as soon as that jerk had vanished. She remembered it. No one would want to be on the wrong side of this powerful man.

The pizza suddenly felt like it weighed twenty pounds. Melissa’s arm pounded under the layers of bandages they’d wrapped around her. As the box sagged downward, Rocky reached forward to reclaim it.

By the time their gazes met again, his expression had turned serious. “I won’t hurt you, Melissa.”

“Oh. I didn’t think about that,” she rushed to assure him. “Come in. I’m afraid my apartment isn’t too fancy.”

He followed her into the kitchen and set the box on the counter. “I don’t care where we are. I’m happy to spend time with you. Learning everything about you suddenly seems very important.”

“Hi!” she said, feeling like they’d skipped over a lot.

“Hi, Melissa. I’ve been walking on air since the app notified me we’re a match. I’ve looked for my Little girl for a long time.”

Her stomach growled loudly, and Melissa clapped a hand over her abdomen. Unfortunately, it was her right hand, jarring her injury. A groan burst from her lips.

“Food and meds,” Rocky announced. “Do you have plates?”

“No.” Melissa never stored anything in the cabinets. Who knew what would walk on them?

“Let’s just take the box into the other room. This bag has napkins, a couple bottles of soda, and all those cheese and hot pepper packets. The other is your meds.” Setting the pharmacy bag to the side, he lifted the pizza, balancing the other sacks on top.

“I’ll pay you back,” Melissa rushed to tell him even as she tried to prevent herself from looking dismayed.

“Not happening. The pharmacist recommended some bandages and other things as well. He cautioned for you to be alert to infection even with the antibiotics the urgent care called in.” Rocky looked over the chairs and settled on the floor.

Melissa sank to the cheap laminate fake wood as well. Her mind whirled slowly. Her arm distracted her, making it hard to think. “Antibiotics? I’m sorry. You spent so much on me. What a first date,” she lamented, shaking her head in disbelief.

“The worst part was you wouldn’t have gotten the meds. That could have been dangerous,” Rocky said.

“I just heard them say pain medicine and stopped listening. That’s why Archer overruled me when I told them not to call in the prescription.”

“Who’s Archer?” Rocky asked as he opened the other bag. He pulled out a couple bottles and silently offered her a choice of an orange soda or a cola.

Melissa pointed to the orange one. She’d loved that when she was a kid. Twisting the top off, she took a big taste. It was fuzzy and sweet. So good. Having completely lost track of their conversation, Melissa asked, “I’m sorry. I must be loopy. Can you repeat that?”

“Who’s Archer?” he asked, opening the pizza box.

Freshly baked crust and tangy cheese aromas wafted her way. She looked at the fully loaded pizza and grinned. “Did you have them put everything on top?”

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