Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
She never really felt truly safe.
“Hey, Tankie,” she said quietly, walking over slowly and softly to the big dog.
There was no wagging of his tail, but he didn’t flinch away.
Still, he was pretty shut down.
Big Berry made a noise and Tank looked over at her. Without Big B she wasn’t certain that she’d get Tank to do anything.
Maya put her hand out in front of the opening of the cage but Tank just continued to stare at her. Then at Matthieu who crouched next to her.
“Poor boy,” he said to the dog. “It’s all right. We’re not going to let anyone hurt you again.”
For a moment she could almost swear that Tank understood him, but then the dog moved his head to the side and she let out a disappointed sigh.
Still, at least he hadn’t been terrified at the sight of Matthieu. Big Berry made another noise.
“Come on, we’ll let Big B get him out and I’ll feed them all.” She stood and then realized her mistake.
The world around her went hazy.
And then it went dark.
12
Merde!
Matthieu caught Maya as she dropped, her eyes fluttering shut.
She’d gone extremely pale. What had happened? Was it just that she’d stood up too fast? Was it low blood sugar?
He couldn’t recall any medical issues from her background information.
Matthieu carried her to the bed, then glanced over at Tank who was shaking slightly.
Best to give him his space and he likely needed to go outside, which he might not do with a stranger in the room. Instead, he walked out and along to the next bedroom. The door was open and inside was a double bed with a lavender-colored bedspread.
Maya’s room.
On the floor at the end of the bed were two dog beds. One was pale blue and the other green. There was one of those cat trees in the corner of the room with a scratching pad and a high bed.
For Princess Priss, he was guessing.
Definitely Maya’s room. He laid her down on the bed, surprise filling him as he saw the dolphin toy sitting there. But he shrugged it off. He knew that plenty of adults slept with stuffies or simply had them on the bed.
He sat on the bed facing her and placed his fingers over her pulse.
It was a little slow.
Should he get Hack out here to check on her? Ink had given him his number to call if he needed him at any time. As he searched for the other man’s number in his phone, she started to stir.
Her head rolled back and forth, a low moan leaving her lips.
He brushed her lavender-colored hair off her face. “It’s all right, Bébé. You’re safe. You’re all right.”
Merde. Matthieu knew that he had to stop calling her Bébé before she actually heard him.
Her eyes opened and she stared up at him in shock.
“You’re so pretty.”
Well. This was beginning to be a bit of a habit. Her waking up and calling him pretty.
“Handsome,” he told her firmly. “Not pretty.”
“Pretty. So pretty.” Her eyes shut again. “Tired. No school today, stepmonster, and you can’t make me or I’ll tell Dad you called me an elephant yesterday.”
Yep. It was official.
He was going to ruin that bitch. He wasn’t sure how, but as soon as he had the time, she was going down. And he wouldn’t mind making that father of hers pay too. He should have been taking care of his daughter. He should have known what his wife was doing.
Or maybe he had known and he just hadn’t cared.
Which was even worse.
“Maya, I need you to wake up.”
“Nooo,” she grumbled.
She was so cute it was almost too much.
“Yes. I think you need to eat.” He was concerned about her blood sugar levels and her blood pressure. Food and water. “You can sleep soon.”
“You’re so mean,” she complained.
“I know. I’m really mean.”
“Meanie-meanie-bo-beanie.”
“The insult hurts,” he told her dryly. “But I take your criticism on board and I will try to do better in the future.”
“See that you do.”
Yep. Totally cute. Which wasn’t going to bode well for his ability to tell her no. Although he would persevere. Especially when it was for her own good.
“All right, open your eyes.”
She let out a huge sigh and opened her eyes to glare at him. “Meanie-meanie-ohmygod!” Her last words ran together as she put her hands over her face. “Tell me I’m dreaming!”
“Um. I’m afraid not.”
“This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening.”
“Maya, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” he told her.
“It’s déjà vu. It just keeps happening, over and over and over again!”
“Hey, look at me.”
“I can’t!”
“Sorry. I forgot.”
“How could you forget that?” she asked, opening her fingers so she could peek up at him, then she closed them again. “I’m the idiot who can barely talk to you. Let alone look at you. And definitely not at the same time.”