Page 260 of Santa Daddies
“Where the hell is Caldwell?” he said in a hard voice.
She felt so small in his arms. So delicate. He wanted to demand to know why she hadn’t contacted him earlier, but that wasn’t going to be helpful.
“On vacation.”
Okay. He had to have heard her wrong. She didn’t just say what he thought she had.
“Say that again?” He drew her back and she reached into her pocket and opened up a message thread with Caldwell.
What. The. Fuck.
“That fucking bastard,” he snarled. “I’ll kill him. He seriously thinks he can go on vacation and leave you here with a broken furnace and no hot water?”
“I threatened him with my lawyer. I’ve emailed her but she won’t be back at work until the new year. I didn’t know what else to do. I could go back into town, I guess.”
“You’re coming home with me.” It was a statement.
“I . . . I want to,” she confessed quietly. “But I don’t want you to feel like I’m using you because I don’t have anywhere else to stay.”
“Baby, fuck. I wouldn’t care if you were.” He held her tight again. “I don’t care why you’re coming to stay with me. I’m just glad that you are. Now, leave the bed. Have you got everything you need?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s get out of here.”
He’d deal with Caldwell later.
Relief flooded Alice as Anson parked his truck in the garage. He limped around and opened her door, holding out his handto help her down. She stumbled slightly, a wave of exhaustion hitting her hard.
“Sorry,” she said as she bumped into him.
“Baby, do we need to go over the rules again?” he growled.
She winced. Shoot. “No. I just . . . temporarily forgot because I’m tired.”
Exhausted, more like. But she tried to push her tiredness aside and concentrate. “I’ll get my suitcase.”
“No, you won’t.” Anson turned her toward the door and slapped her ass. “Go inside. Use the bathroom. Get ready for bed.”
“I need my stuff, though.”
“I’ll get it.”
“No, you . . .” Shoot, how to say something without insulting him? It must be extremely hard to suddenly have limitations after being so fit, an athlete. Especially for a man like him.
“There are no stairs and your bag has wheels. I’ll wheel it in. Now, get yourself into the house and get ready. I’ll grab you one of my T-shirts to sleep in.”
Lord. He was demanding. She opened her mouth to argue and then realized that she didn’t want to.
“Or would you rather hang out here and get your butt spanked?” he murmured to her.
A squeal left her. No, she would not prefer that.
Liar. Liar.
She rushed inside.
“No running!” he told her.
