Page 240 of Santa Daddies
Alice smiled. Then she took a deep breath. She shouldn’t agree to this. He had no right to ask it of her. But she was so tired of running. All she wanted was to feel safe. And she’d never felt more safe than she had with him. That’s why it had hurt so much when he’d ripped it all away. “All right. I can give you that.”
Relief flooded his face. “Thank you, baby.”
Chapter Thirteen
Anson had never been so relieved as when Alice agreed to stay at Caldwell’s place. It still wasn’t his house, but she’d be close by. And he could hopefully keep an eye on her. Make sure she was all right. That she was safe.
They drove up the mountain and he cleared his throat. What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he think of something to say?
Was he nervous?
He was never fucking nervous.
Why wasn’t she saying anything? He was the strong, silent type and she was the one who was chatty. Then he noticed that she had her fingers pressed tightly together. The skin of her knuckles was white.
Shit.
He wasn’t the only one who was nervous. He might not even be the most nervous person in this truck.
“Baby, why are you so quiet?”
“What?” she asked, jumping slightly as she turned to him.
“You’re nervous.”
“Sorry.”
“What did I say about saying sorry?” he growled. Shit. He didn’t mean to sound so grouchy.
Unfortunately, it had slipped out that way, though.
Fuck him. Change was hard.
“Sorry,” he said.
She started to giggle and he turned to her in shock before turning back to the road.
Precious cargo and he had to be careful. He would never risk her. He wasn’t like fucking Tommy, who had been all too happy to pick him while he was high on drugs.
Fucking Tommy who had walked away while Anson’s life was left in tatters.
But, then again, maybe not.
Tommy was in jail. And perhaps this was Anson’s second chance. A way to get his life back on track but for other reasons.
Maybe the universe had always had a different path for him . . . being this girl’s man, her protector, her lover, her champion.
Her Daddy.
“Why are you giggling?” he asked, even though he never wanted her to stop. Her giggle lit him up from the inside out.
“Because you made it a rule that I’m not allowed to apologize. And you just growled at me for apologizing and followed it up with an apology.”
He snorted. “Change is hard, okay? I’ve only been trying to be a better person for a day. I’m gonna fail lots so I will probably apologize a lot.”
“Well, I don’t think that you should be allowed to apologize for things that aren’t your fault when I’m not. And why are you trying to change?”
Well, he’d thought that would be obvious.
