Page 70 of Papa's Bébé
He brushed her lavender-colored hair off her face. “It’s all right, Bébé. You’re safe. You’re all right.”
Merde.Matthieu knew that he had to stop calling her Bébé before she actually heard him.
Her eyes opened and she stared up at him in shock.
“You’re so pretty.”
Well. This was beginning to be a bit of a habit. Her waking up and calling him pretty.
“Handsome,” he told her firmly. “Not pretty.”
“Pretty. So pretty.” Her eyes shut again. “Tired. No school today, stepmonster, and you can’t make me or I’ll tell Dad you called me an elephant yesterday.”
Yep. It was official.
He was going to ruin that bitch. He wasn’t sure how, but as soon as he had the time, she was going down. And he wouldn’t mind making that father of hers pay too. He should have been taking care of his daughter. He should have known what his wife was doing.
Or maybe he had known and he just hadn’t cared.
Which was even worse.
“Maya, I need you to wake up.”
“Nooo,” she grumbled.
She was so cute it was almost too much.
“Yes. I think you need to eat.” He was concerned about her blood sugar levels and her blood pressure. Food and water. “You can sleep soon.”
“You’re so mean,” she complained.
“I know. I’m really mean.”
“Meanie-meanie-bo-beanie.”
“The insult hurts,” he told her dryly. “But I take your criticism on board and I will try to do better in the future.”
“See that you do.”
Yep. Totally cute. Which wasn’t going to bode well for his ability to tell her no. Although he would persevere. Especially when it was for her own good.
“All right, open your eyes.”
She let out a huge sigh and opened her eyes to glare at him. “Meanie-meanie-ohmygod!” Her last words ran together as she put her hands over her face. “Tell me I’m dreaming!”
“Um. I’m afraid not.”
“This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening.”
“Maya, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” he told her.
“It’s déjà vu. It just keeps happening, over and over and over again!”
“Hey, look at me.”
“I can’t!”
“Sorry. I forgot.”
