Page 102 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“Why don’t you grab my phone from the holder there and figure out what you want. The code is one-one-zero-two-two-one.”

She tapped in the numbers, then paused. “Is that the last time the Braves won the World Series?”

“It is, yeah.” And it made him unreasonably happy that she not only knew but could recognize the date so easily.

“God, that was an amazing game. One of the few times I’ve called off work without beingsupersick, just so I could watch the game at a local bar. I was supposed to have tickets, but…”

“But, what?” he prodded when she fell silent.

“Nothing. It didn’t work out. What kind of ice cream do you want?”

He was getting really fucking tired of her so blatantly keeping her past from him. But it seemed like an asshole move to push her now, when she was so sick.

And when he had his own secrets he kept firmly tucked away.

Setting that aside for later, he glanced over at her, and he couldn’t help but grin at the adorable picture she made, staring so intently at his phone as she scrolled her options on the app.

“I’m a fan of anything chocolate.”

“A man after my own heart.”

Back at her apartment, he pointed her to the couch with explicit instructions to ask him if she needed anything. For once, she didn’t argue, which he took as a sign she was feeling even worse than she let on.

With her wrapped up and occupied with a movie, he ducked into her kitchen to check out her food situation. It wasn’t quite as dire as he’d been expecting, but enough for him to add several cans of soup, a few bottles of juice, and other essential items to her grocery order along with the ice cream.

“What were you doing in there?” she asked when he returned to the living room to join her on the couch.

He was damn well tempted to order her a new one of those, too, if he hadn’t been absolutely certain she’d lose her shit. The food was enough of a risk. “Just finishing up the grocery order.”

“I thought we were just getting ice cream.”

“And a few other things.”

Beside him, she tensed, and he mentally braced for the argument to come. “Let me know how much it was so I can pay you back.”

“We’ll talk about it when you’re feeling better.”

“No, we’re going to talk about it now, Beckett.”

Shifting to face her, he cupped her chin in his hand. “You may be too sick for me to spank you, but you aren’t too sick for me to put your butt in a chair facing the corner until you’re ready to be reasonable.”

“You can’t put me in timeout. I’m not a child.”

“No, but you are acting a bit like one at the moment.” Deliberately softening his tone, he leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. “Can you accept that I need to do this for you right now? I can’t just sit by and watch you suffer when I know I can help.”

He saw the moment his words landed. Most of the defiance faded from her expression, though she did roll her eyes. “You’re being dramatic. I’m notsuffering.”

“You’re sick. I have the means to make being sick a little less miserable. And as your sometimes Daddy, it would helpmeif you could accept my help, just this once. Please?”

“Well… since you said please.”

“Good girl.” Releasing her chin, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, what movie are we watching?”

Ruby

She wokethe next morning feeling marginally better. But she had a feeling Beckett would take one look at her and declare she was still unfit for work.

Which, staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she was forced to concede he’d probably be right.

---