Daddy in Cowboy Boots (Montana Daddies #9) - Laylah Roberts Page 0,26
that.” She dropped her head, feeling like she was being a nuisance.
He moved closer, setting his finger under her chin and raising her face up. “Hey, don’t be embarrassed. You do whatever you need to do to be healthy. That’s what is important.”
She bit her lip shyly but nodded. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me for being understanding about your health. I never want you to hide anything that might put your health at risk, understand me? No matter what we are doing or where we are, you stop and you tell me. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“I’m very serious about this, Mari-girl. I will not be happy if your health is put in jeopardy because you didn’t tell me about something.”
“Yes.” Wow. He made her feel so special and cared for. It nearly brought tears to her eyes.
“How long have you been diabetic?” he asked.
“Since I was thirteen. It was hard in the beginning, there was so much to learn and remember.”
“Was your aunt much help?”
Help? Rosalind?
“I’m going to take your answer as a no,” he said dryly.
She shrugged. “No, she wasn’t much interested in helping.” She reached for a sandwich and took a bite. “Thanks for waiting for me. You didn’t have to.”
His eyes widened. “My nana would have whipped me good if I’d started eating first.”
She swallowed a mouthful of egg salad sandwich. “She would have?”
“Absolutely.” He winked at her.
The food was all delicious. A man who could cook and bake. Now, he was a keeper.
“I wish I knew how to cook,” she told him.
“So you don’t know how to cook at all?” he asked.
“Not unless you consider heating up a frozen meal cooking.”
He grinned. “No. Can’t say that I do. I could teach you.”
Teach her?
An image of them kissing, of him touching her, of her wrapping her mouth around his cock filled her mind.
“Marisol?”
“What?” she asked absentmindedly.
“Do I want to know what you’re thinking about?” he inquired, lifting an eyebrow.
Oh. Nope. He really didn’t.
His eyes danced. “Would you like me to teach you? How to cook that is.”
“I’d like that,” she said shyly. “Only . . .”
“Only what?”
“I don’t know if I’d have the time.” Or if she was sticking around long enough. She felt so bad for not telling him that she might be leaving soon. She didn’t want him to feel like he had to help her. Plus, she knew better than to talk about Tiger and Saber with anyone. They were dangerous guys. You didn’t go around talking about them to people and live long.
No, she couldn’t put him at risk. And they were just friends. This wasn’t his problem. It was hers.
“You work a lot. I hope your aunt appreciates it.”
She shrugged, feeling uncomfortable talking about it. “She took me in when Mama died. I don’t know who my dad was, he left before I was born. If she hadn’t taken me then my only other options were going into a foster home or having to go to Venezuela to live with a grandmother I’d never met. A grandmother who, according to my aunt, is the devil in a floral dress. Rosalind never wanted a child. But she saved me from that so I do owe her.”
He frowned and shook his head. “Way I see it, you were just a child. You don’t owe her your life.”
“No, I don’t owe her that,” she said thinking of Tiger.
After finishing her lunch, she lay back with a groan. “I’m so full. That was so good.” She placed her hands over her stomach as she looked up at the branches of the willow tree above her.
“Do you need to test your blood sugars again?” he asked.
“Not for a couple of hours.”
“All right, I’ll set an alarm on my phone.”
That was sweet of him. As she lay there, her bladder protested, telling her that she really needed to pee. She sat up, pressing her thighs together.
“You okay, teeny?”
“Why do you call me that?”
“Because you’re teeny-tiny.”
Oh, because she was short? “I’m not that small.”
“You seem very little to me.” There was an emphasis on the word little and a strange sort of warmth filled her. Could he be . . . no . . .
She shook her head at her musings.
“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“What’s that?” she asked as she helped him pack everything away.
“I know we haven’t known each other long, Mari-girl, but I like you.”
“I like you too.” Guilt flooded her. As well as longing.