Page 13 of Finding Redemption

“That precious little girl woke up this morning on what should have been an exciting day for her, alone.There was no one there to soothe her nervousness over a party with kids who already made her feel like she didn’t belong.”

Paxton’s face closed up.“Her nanny—”

“Is not her parent,” I finished for him, cutting off whatever pathetic excuse he might have.“And that doesn’t even matter.She feels lost and alone in there right now.But you’re out here, with me, someone you only just met.There are these things called priorities.I’m not yours.Bella is.So get back in there and make sure she understands that.”

“How do you know how she feels?”He seemed to vibrate with anger.“You walked in here all prim and proper an hour ago.You don’t know shit about my kid or me.”

“Maybe ask yourself how I, the one who met your daughter a mere hour ago, seem to know more about her than you, her father, do.”I turned back to the gate.Finding the guard was back in his shack, I pushed through the door.

“Stubborn-ass woman!”Paxton grumbled to himself, but I heard his shoes crunch on the gravel as I walked down the street.“Fine.Take your fucking Uber.”

“I feel so much better now that you have given me your permission.”Rolling my eyes, I stopped several yards from the entrance to his estate.

He stopped beside me.Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him cross his arms over his chest.If he weren’t so massive, he would have looked like a petulant boy.I had to press my lips together to stifle the urge to laugh.

Apparently he was going to be waiting with me until the Uber arrived.A charged silence descended on us.I checked my phone again to see how close my driver was.It was easier to look at the screen than to try to focus on anything other than the giant beside me.Beautiful giant that he was.

Ugh.I’d never noticed men before.At least, not to do more than determine if they were a threat or not.Once I was satisfied that they weren’t a perv, I pushed them from my mind.Anyone with a penis was a waste of oxygen.Every man I’d ever met had repeatedly proven that to me.

Yet, for whatever reason, Paxton Foster was firmly on my radar.Which was annoying, but not nearly as bad as how my heart kept giving little leaps every time I met those hazel eyes.

“Sariah asked me to fire Kayla, by the way,” he announced after a tense minute passed.

“Kayla, the nanny?”I was sure that was what Bella called her, although I hadn’t met the woman.

“Yeah.”He rubbed a hand over his jaw, and I tried not to notice the dark stubble that was starting to darken it.Maybe he was a two-shave-a-day kind of man.My mouth went dry as I watched, my tongue sneaking out to dampen my bottom lip.“Kayla is—was—nanny number three in nine months.I think we’re on number eight since Bella was born.Kayla managed to hold on to the position the longest.But none of them ever works out.”

“Riah is just looking out for Bella.”I defended my friend and roommate.“Bella said a few things that made me think Kayla wasn’t the right fit.”

Grimacing, he nodded.“They never are, it seems.I love Bella, and I want the best for her.But I’m a single dad who works odd hours.There are times I have to travel.Having a nanny ensures that Bella’s needs are met.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

“I never explain myself, but I find myself wanting to with you.”

I was not going to get all warm and fuzzy over that, I mentally scolded myself.

He grunted when I didn’t respond, and once again, I had to fight back a smile.Silence fell between us once more, but this time, it wasn’t nearly as strained.

“What makes you think Bella is lonely?”

Glancing at my phone, I saw my driver was less than a minute away, and I looked up at Paxton.“Because she told me.”

Some of the color drained from his face.“She did?”When I nodded, he groaned.“Fuck.She’s never said anything to me.”

There was nothing I could say to that.I didn’t know and didn’t want to assume why Bella hadn’t confided in her father that she was lonely.Hearing a car slowing behind me, I stepped back.“You know now,” I told him as a white Honda Civic stopped on the road in front of us.“What you do with that information is all that matters.”

“Looking for Brooke,” the driver, a skinny guy who looked like he was barely out of high school, called out.

Jaw clenched, Paxton extracted his phone from his pocket.Before I could reach the car, he blocked me from getting in and bent to snap a picture of the guy through the open passenger window.“If she doesn’t text me when she gets to her destination, I’m calling the cops and giving them your picture and license plate information,” he growled.

“I… Um… Y-yes, sir, Mr.Deathstroke, sir,” the poor kid finally wheezed out.

With a grin that seemed mostly feral, Paxton finally straightened and opened the back door.But not before snatching my phone from my hand.“Hey!”

“Making sure you have my number, kitten.”

Revulsion churned in my stomach.Even coming from him, my skin still crawled from having a cute endearment aimed at me.“Do not call me ‘kitten.’”

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