Page 39 of Protector Daddy

I retreatedto my apartment after I met with Chief Brooks, which had been embarrassing on a scale I still hadn’t recovered from. I’d blushed the entire time, I was sure.

Here, the guy was supposed to be my new boss—maybe—and our first lengthy conversation had been about if I’d felt “pressured” in any way to do something inappropriate while on public property.

The only pressure I’d felt was the one between my legs, and Christian hadn’t unduly influenced me there either. He couldn’t help that he was so big and brawny and fucked like a stallion who’d been out to pasture for far too long, so he had a lot of urgency built up. I’d reaped the benefits there.

And how.

I thanked all my lucky stars I had the next three days off from the bakery—Tabitha had tacked on an extra one so I could “let the heat cool down”—and I intended to just sit in my new apartment with the shades drawn while binging whatever struck my fancy on HBO Max and eating all the junk food I could manage.

I didn’t check my phone. I knew people were calling or texting. I was just taking a mini vacay from life to regroup. To try to stop feeling so sensitive about Mav and Van’s elopement and the entire town chatting about my business. And Christian’s business. And speculating things I didn’t want to imagine.

God, why hadn’t I worked on de-escalating the situation instead of what I’d done? Granted, I was still riding an emotional rollercoaster after being left out of Mav’s wedding and true, I wasn’t used to anyone caring who I slept with, but still, the fail whale on my part was epic.

Meeting with Jared to talk about “town scuttlebutt” had made me seriously rethink everything. Not the sex—I had no regrets there, although the timing could’ve used some work. But I wasn’t used to rushing into things and maybe this enforced timeout—or hideout—was for the best.

I didn’t want to dive into anything too fast. Or any faster than I already had.

I really wanted that Dispatcher job. I’d told myself maybe it wasn’t meant to be, but why? So Christian and I had slept together. So what? We were mature adults. There was absolutely no reason we couldn’t be mature about this and part as friends if more wasn’t meant to be.

Christian was such a serious, stern guy. I was a bottle of champagne with too many bubbles half the time. Too excitable, too fickle, too changeable. Why I’d ditched my major then dropped out of school entirely. What I wanted today I might be over by next week. It was just who I was.

Better not to screw up a good job for a man who wouldn’t last in any case.

I’d give it a few more days before I called Chief Brooks and told him I would take the job. Unless I changed my mind again.

But one thing was clear. Christian and I were total opposites. Compatibility while naked wasn’t enough to change that.

Resolute in my decision, I curled up on my sofa and binged every rom com I could find. Ordered pizza from Robbie T’s for dinner and made myself a towering hot fudge sundae for dessert. Stayed up too late and slept in past noon for the next three days.

It was gloriously decadent. At least until Stacey Hardwick texted me—and I made the mistake of reading it—that Christian Masterson said he had no interest in wifing me, so she hoped I hadn’t “gotten my hopes up.”

Wifing me? What was that all about?

I wasn’t going to engage with the town gossip machine again. I’d already made enough of a mess of things at The Spinning Wheel. Another day or so and talk would begin to die down.

It had to.

The text I’d read had been from Tuesday. Now it was Thursday. Tomorrow I had my usual morning shift at the bakery. I would walk in with my head held high and refuse to entertain chitchat about my personal life.

In the meantime, I slept half the day away, made myself a dinner of chicken stirfry with double cashews, and continued to watch whatever struck my fancy.

Maybe I didn’t need another job. Tabitha loved me. She’d give me more hours as needed and then I could avoid working with my brothers and Christian. Not a bad plan.

Sure, for a coward.

“Ugh.” I grabbed one of my couch pillows and pulled it over my face. I needed to talk to Mickey. She could guide me. As much as I wanted to hide out here forever, I had to face reality eventually. I couldn’t just hit the pause button until I figured out how to handle what I’d done.

What I wanted to do again.

And again.

I grabbed my phone and winced as I finally faced the full list of texts I’d been ignoring.

Every member of my immediate family had texted, including spouses. Mickey. A few casual acquaintances like Stacey from college and Michelle from the bakery. Other friends from through the years. Random neighbors.

Christian had texted a couple times Tuesday around lunchtime then not again. Probably around when The Spinning Wheel crapola had hit the fan.

While I was staring at my phone under the guise of checking to see if my latest pizza was on the way, my last hiding out hurrah, Mickey called.

---