Page 49 of Daddy's Arms

Grinning at her observations, he grabbed his laptop and stuffed it in his briefcase. “You’re a little too observant for your own good, sometimes.” He linked his fingers with hers and they walked out together. “Just making sure Jackson can’t give us any legal trouble.”

“Can he? The little asshole will, if he can.”

“According to Bryant, no. We’ll keep an eye on social media, since that’s where he’s most likely to make some noise. But I don’t think we have to worry about anything from a legal standpoint.”

“Good.” They stopped by the passenger door to his SUV and she turned to him. Her eyes, which never could hide anything from him, were filled with apology. “I’m really sorry I caused so much trouble.”

“Livvy. It’s done. No more apologizing, little one. Understood?”

“I know, it’s just—I’m sorry.”

“And you took your punishment and you’ve been forgiven. So now you can forgive yourself. In you go.” Opening the door, he nudged her inside. He put both of their bags in the backseat, and walked around to the driver side door. When he climbed in, she was staring out the side window, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. “Do you need another spanking?”

Her head whipped around, her eyes wide with shock. “What? No! Why?”

“If you’re having trouble letting it go, maybe you need another spanking to help you forgive yourself.”

“No. No, I’m good, Daddy.”

“That’s my girl. I’m not sure your bottom could handle another punishment so soon.”

Wrinkling her nose, she shook her head at the suggestion. “No spankings. Well. Maybe a little fun spanking when we get home? Just a little one, though.”

God, was it any wonder he adored her? Looking over, he sent her a wink that had her blushing prettily. “I think we can make that happen.”

Chapter17

Their good moods had evaporated by the time they parked behind the funeral home.

“Ready?” Reaching across the console, James gave his wife’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

Olivia blew out a breath before offering a small, forced smile. “Yeah. Guess we should go in.”

The smell of lilies hit him full force the second they walked through the door. God, he hated that smell, the scent of death and grief. Setting aside his own discomfort, he slipped an arm around Olivia’s waist and followed the sign in the foyer to a large, open room. The casket was placed at the front, past rows and rows of folding chairs.

Beside him, he heard Olivia’s breath hitch. Focusing on her, he pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to her hair. “You can do this, little one. Daddy’s right here.”

She nodded, her eyes never leaving the large wooden box at the end of the aisle. As one, they walked past the rows of chairs to the casket. They stopped in front of the open coffin, where the body of a woman he’d never met rested.

“I’m so sorry,” Olivia murmured. “You didn’t deserve this. I’m so sorry.”

For the hundredth time, it crossed his mind how easily it might have been her. How often did she go to a showing alone? If Angela had been targeted because of that article, it could have just as easily been his little Livvy.

Breathing through the fear and panic, he fought the urge to usher her outside and into the car. He wanted nothing more than to take her home and keep her there, where she would be safe forever. But they had lives to live, and he couldn’t keep her locked away, as much as he wanted to.

Olivia shifted, shaking him out of his fog, and he turned with her to where the family stood. The woman beside the box was almost an eerily similar copy of the woman in the casket. The same eyes, only more lined with age. The same sweep of dark hair, with a few glimmers of silver sprinkled through. Her mother, he had to assume. Swallowing an unexpected lump in his throat, James held out a hand to her. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

She nodded absently, but her shattered eyes gained some clarity when she focused on Olivia. “I know you.”

Stepping forward, Olivia clasped the other woman’s hands in her own, and her voice was tinged with grief when she spoke. “I met Angela during the magazine shoot. She was a lovely woman. I’m so very sorry for your loss.”

“She admired you.”

“What?”

Olivia’s voice pitched higher, confusion and panic clear in her voice. James squeezed her shoulder, reminding her he was right next to her.

Angela’s mother continued, oblivious to Olivia’s distress. “She called me that night, talking about this other woman she’d met and how you were so successful but still so kind. It was so nice for her, she said, to meet someone who hadn’t let the business harden them or make them mean. She called me the day the magazine came out and told me the girl on the cover was the woman she’d met at the shoot, and weren’t you just so beautiful?”

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