Page 27 of Damaged Protector
Bella’s bottom lip rolled out in the saddest little pout. “But Daddyyy!”
A low rumble rolled up from Hawk’s chest, and he growled, “No whining at Uncle Hawk’s house.”
My eyes rounded in shock. Cam is seriously going to punch this fool, I thought, but my cousin surprised me further by laughing.
Bella did grabby hands toward the big man, and Hawk took her with a gentleness belying his size. The toddler went nose to nose with him and growled right back.
“Rawwwwr! Youse a grump face.”
“Youse a nerd face,” he retorted before kissing her nose. “I made you bacon.”
“Yay!” she shrieked, doing a little wiggle move until he set her down. Bella grabbed his index finger, dragging him toward the dining room, and he followed along like a puppy.
“Wow. Okay,” I breathed, earning me a grin from Cam.
“Don’t worry about Hawk. He’s a growly bastard, but he’d rather peel his own eyeballs than hurt a kid.”
“Thanks for that visual,” I complained, scrunching my nose.
He wrapped one arm around me and the other around his wife before leading us toward the dining room.
“Bella adores Hawk. Last week, she told me he’s her brother.”
“We’re thinking of adopting him,” Shy said smartly, and Cam nodded.
“That’s not a bad idea. Maybe we could claim him on our tax returns.”
“Oh hell, Cam. I left the bags by the door,” Shiloh fretted. “I don’t want everything to melt.”
“On it,” he replied, kissing his wife’s temple and backtracking to get whatever they had brought with them.
Breakfast with my family had my heart swelling inside my chest. Cam was hilarious as ever, Shiloh was a sweetheart, and Bella… well, that kid was a charmer through and through. Precocious and intelligent, she kept us all entertained the entire meal. It was hard to believe she wasn’t quite two yet.
Hawk was quiet, speaking when spoken to, but mostly remaining silent. His dark eyes took in everything though. He seemed like the kind of guy who didn’t miss much.
Cam leaned back in his chair, toying with Shiloh’s caramel-brown hair as he patted his flat stomach. “We brought dessert,” he told us, wiggling his eyebrows. “We’re making ice cream sundaes.”
Bella almost fell out of her chair in excitement, and I couldn’t lie; I was pretty thrilled myself. “I’ve never had a sundae before,” I announced, rubbing my hands together.
Three pairs of stunned adult eyes fell on me, making me feel like a freak. Even Bella looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.
“What?” I asked with a shrug and a halfhearted laugh. “I wasn’t allowed to have sweets as a kid because of dance. Not exactly good for the figure, you know?”
Cam’s ears turned bright red, and his blue eyes narrowed. “That’s fu—”
Shiloh wrapped a firm hand around his bicep and interrupted him. “That’s okay, Mal. You don’t have to eat any if you don’t want to.”
“No, I want to,” I assured her, feeling my own face heat with embarrassment. “I’ve had sugar-free frozen yogurt a couple times, and it was really good.” That sounded lame even to my own ears.
I noticed Hawk’s hands clenched into fists on the table, but he relaxed them and exhaled a long breath. “You’re in for a treat then. The real thing is even better. And you know who is an expert on building the finest ice cream sundae you could ever imagine?”
Bella pressed her rosy little lips together and raised her hand. “It’s me!” she finally blurted, and we all laughed, the tension easing around the table. “I can hep you, Mallori. We gotta use lotsa sprinkles.”
The kid wasn’t exaggerating. My very first sundae was at least fifty percent sprinkles. Bella chose strawberry ice cream with strawberry syrup, and every inch of it was covered with a rainbow of nonpareils. I ate it greedily, savoring every delicious, creamy bite.
“That was so yummy, Bella. Thank you for helping me,” I said to the little girl on my lap.
She beamed up at me before rubbing her sticky face all over the front of my robe.