Page 214 of Daddy's Naughty List

“Of course.”

The minute Rocky moved, the jerk jumped to his feet and took off. Immediately, the police gave chase.

Rocky focused on Melissa. “Open the door, Lissy. I need to hold you.”

She pressed the button a million times on the remote to open the doors and flew out when Rocky opened the one closest to her. “Daddy! Why’s he doing this? How did he find me?”

Rocky hugged her close and kissed her lightly. “You’re okay. That’s all that matters.”

At the sound of loud complaints about being permanently injured from Rocky’s action and then the police apprehension, Rocky moved Melissa behind him. The cops didn’t seem inclined to investigate his allegations. They hauled him to the squad car, checked his pockets, and locked him in the backseat before walking to Rocky to ask a million questions.

“He’ll be at the police station while we figure out what’s going on. If he hadn’t run and resisted arrest…” one police officer reported, letting them fill in the blank that they might have been limited in what they could do.

“Thank you for coming, officer. He’s a problem,” Rocky told him, shaking his head.

“You’re Rocky Harrison. I go to your gym. That bout for the middle-weight title was epic,” one said to Rocky. “He’s yelling about assault, and you could have taken his head off.”

An “eep” escaped from Melissa’s mouth at that visual image.

“Sorry, ma’am. Go inside and have a good dinner. If he’s released today, it won’t be for several hours,” he suggested.

“Thank you. Stop by the office the next time you’re at the gym. I’ll give you some pointers if you’d like,” Rocky offered.

“That would be incredible. Thank you. I’m going to take you up on that.”

“Stay safe, officers,” Rocky said as he guided Melissa away.

“You were right. Making that report was important,” Melissa said as they approached the building. Her body started to shake.

Rocky tugged her close and squeezed her against his hard body. “You’re okay, little girl.”

“He’s going to come back. Not before we leave. It’s just a coincidence that he was here. This is the safest time to eat here if you’d still like to go in.”

When she didn’t answer immediately, Rocky added, “Or I can take you home, wrap you in a soft blanket, and I can rock you.”

“Can we do both?” she blurted. She didn’t want him to have the power to keep her from going and doing what she wanted with her Daddy. Or alone.

“Of course. Hungry?”

Her stomach growled ferociously.

“I’ll take that for a yes. Come on, Lissy. Let’s order something decadent.” Shifting to her side with his arm wrapped around her, Rocky guided Melissa inside.

“Hi!” the hostess at the desk welcomed them. “I’m so glad you came in. We were watching from the window. I’m glad you’re okay. The chef is poised to make you something incredible.”

“Oh! Thank you. I’m good. That was scary,” Melissa admitted.

“I bet. Come with me. I’ve got a splendid table by the fire. The best seats in the house,” she said, leading them to a beautiful spot.

“Thank you, miss,” Rocky said when Melissa was in her chair.

“My pleasure. The server will be with you in a minute. You can make some tough decisions on the menu. My favorite is three-cheese macaroni with veggies and bacon.”

“That sounds amazing,” Melissa said, looking over the menu.

“Everything is delicious. Just choose your favorite combination,” the server said before returning to her station.

“She was so nice. I think they were worried about us,” Melissa said.

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