Page 22 of Her Hero Daddy

Her face fell before she quickly leaned forward and started drinking the medicine, making a disgusted face until it was gone.

“So gross,” she whined.

Kane grabbed a glass from a cupboard and filled it with water, setting it in front of her. She quickly drank it.

“Thank you for taking it. It’s getting late, and you need to crawl into bed and try to sleep.”

She looked disappointed, and he didn’t know if it was because he was leaving or because he’d told her to go to bed. If he were honest with himself, he really didn’t want to leave her either. But she needed her sleep, and he couldn’t exactly crawl into bed with her, as much as he would have liked to.

“Okay,” she answered quietly.

Reaching his hand out, he used his finger to lift her chin so her eyes met his.

“You are welcome to come into the house at any time if you decide you don’t want to be out here alone. I’ll leave a bedroom door open for you that you can use if you feel like it.”

She nodded. “I’m fine out here.”

Well, he wasn’t really fine with her being so far away from him. But he couldn’t force her. Not yet anyway.

“Okay. Sweet dreams, Haylee. See ya later, baby alligator.”

The purest, sweet smile crossed her lips, and it took every ounce of strength not to kiss her.

“In a while, crocodile,” she said before closing the door.

11

HAYLEE

Her night of supposed sleep was shit. She tossed and turned, got up to pee, and then tossed and turned some more before she ended up getting out of bed to watch TV on the couch. It didn’t help that she’d kept nearly every light on in the apartment because for some reason, unease over Tim filled her stomach. She had also never been a fan of the dark, but he had always told her to suck it up and quit being a crybaby about it.

Tim knew where she was from and had probably guessed that she was going to come home. She told herself repeatedly that she was safe where she was, and even if he did come all the way to Pinebrook, he wouldn’t know where to find her. It would just make her feel better once he was arrested. She finally dozed off to sleep while lying on the couch in the wee hours of the morning, only to wake up from a nightmare. She was covered in sweat and had to really focus in order to catch her breath.

You look disgusting! No wonder I never want to fuck you.

You are so fucking embarrassing, Haylee. I can’t take you anywhere without you humiliating me!

His words replayed in her head as her breathing calmed, tears falling down her face. She hated him. She hated herself for staying with him for so long. Maybe she was as stupid as he said. No smart person would stay with someone for that long and believe all their excuses and apologies. But she had left. Finally. She had just needed to get the courage and strength to do it. So maybe she wasn’t completely stupid.

She’d spent a good part of the night, while she was lying awake, thinking about Kane. There was something about him that she couldn’t put her finger on. One minute, he was hard as stone, and the next minute, he was making her triangle-cut sandwiches, giving her medicine, and calling her sweet pet names. Even though his offer to put medicine in her bottom had shocked her into drinking the icky grape stuff, the thought of his finger touching her in such a delicate, intimate spot made her tingle. She wondered if she was a freak because she found the thought of that arousing.

His words about obeying him and calling her good girl, little girl, and sweetheart all made her feel funny inside, but in a good way that she also couldn’t put her finger on. One thing she knew for sure was that she was beginning to feel like she could trust him completely. She’d never felt so safe around someone. Not even around Tim when they’d first met and he was pretending not to be a monster. It was probably dumb to trust a man she’d only met the day before, but for some reason, she did.

After her nightmare, she got up, showered, and dressed. This time, she caught a glance of herself in the mirror. The sight made her body tremble, and if she hadn’t been holding on to the bathroom counter, her knees probably would have buckled under her. Most of the bruises were on her body from the neck down. Her lip was still slightly swollen from the cut that looked to be healing well, but the bruise on her cheek was still an angry shade of purple.

Her phone vibrating on the counter startled her, and then she smiled when she saw it was a message from Kane.

Breakfast will be ready in five minutes. If you don’t show, I’m bringing it to you.

Rolling her eyes, she quickly sent a response.

I’ll be there. I thought you couldn’t cook.

He really seemed to have a thing with her eating. It wasn’t something she was used to, and she wished she felt as excited about eating as he wanted her to be. Unfortunately, whenever she thought about food, Tim’s words always played in the back of her mind, about how she needed to lose weight.

She dressed in a long-sleeve sweatshirt that came up to her neck, with a pair of black leggings. It covered most of her bruises except for the ones on her face. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders and was nearly dry. She wished she had some makeup to put on to cover her bruised face. She would need to get some before she went to work at the diner. It was unlikely that breakfast customers would want to eat their breakfast while staring at a beat-up waitress.

As soon as she stepped into the house, she smelled burnt toast and bacon. She smiled at his back as he cursed at the toaster.