Damaged Billionaire Daddy Bear - Leela Ash Page 0,12

disliked him, and that was putting it mildly.

Chapter 5

“Daddy!”

Theodore sank to his knees, opening up his arms as the tiny pink bundle catapulted into his arms. He kissed both his daughter’s cheeks, wrenching happy giggles from her as she plastered wet, sloppy kisses on his own cheeks in return.

“Well, look who it is. And what new mischief have you been up to today?” he breathed, his eyes lighting with pride and joy as he studied the center of his universe. At just ten years of age, Carla Cooper was his only child and the very light of his world. She had a heavy mass of dark auburn hair that hung down past her waist. Her brown eyes were huge in her small face, and her slender frame hinted at her love for athletics.

She shook her head, sending her hair flying in every direction, “I didn’t get into any mischief today, Daddy. Cross my heart and —”

He pressed his forefinger against her small mouth, halting the rest of the words. He couldn’t bear to hear her ‘hope to die’, not even as a harmless statement.

“Come on, Carla. What got you looking so happy today?” he coaxed, studying the bright gleam of her brown eyes.

“I made a new friend,” she confided. “Two new friends, actually,” she corrected.

He grinned. Yeah, that would do it. Carla was the outgoing sort, and she positively adored meeting new people or seeing new places. Her curiosity put Christopher Columbus to shame. Was it any wonder he took her on foreign trips whenever he could? As he looked around at the playroom, he observed that it was already rapidly emptying, with just about five other kids left in the room. He saw one little bully slap a pack of crayons out of little Kathleen Jensen’s hands and he hid a grimace. If Kat was anything like her father, Darryl, that little bully was about to get his wings clipped.

He looked over at his daughter, hoping to hell she wasn’t about to tell him she’d become fast friends with the little bully in training. “Care to introduce me?” he asked easily, careful to sound nonchalant.

Being the father of a little girl had him constantly on his toes. Even when he didn’t let on, he was very cautious about whom her friends were.

“Okay!. Arizona, Kal, come meet my dad,” she shouted across the room.

A little girl in pigtails with white ribbons at both tips and a pink Spiderman t-shirt turned around, a smile spreading across her face as she raced across the room and skid to a halt beside him and Carla. He thought he had seen her around as he grinned at her, helpless in the face of her infectious smile; she was dressed in pink from head to toe, apart from her dark blue jeans.

“Hello. I’m Arizona,” she said with that openness only kids had.

“Hi, Arizona. What a beautiful name that is. I haven’t seen you here before? You must be new here,” he said.

“We got here the day before yesterday, I think,” she confirmed happily, grinning at him. “There’s Kal,” she said pointing. “He’s my brother,” she supplied.

He followed her gaze to where a rather crestfallen-looking nine-year-old boy was in a corner by himself, trying to get his airplane to work.

“I think Kal broke his plane again. When Mom sees, he’s gonna get it,” Arizona confided in a hushed reverent tone as though her mother were already standing over them, ready to reprimand Kal.

Theodore quirked an eyebrow, wondering why a mere broken toy would earn the boy a scolding. He thought he almost recognized the kids but wasn’t sure from where. Obviously, a few of the exchange personnel had come in with their kids; which was pretty much expected. Plus, there were some kids already in residence. He had probably seen them scurrying about the lobby.

Unbidden, his thoughts drifted to one exchange personnel in particular: Jessica Harris. He hadn’t seen her since the day she first arrived at the meeting, wearing a suit, and in the two days since then, it had been blissfully quiet as far as he was concerned. Something about her bothered him immensely…

He let the thought trail off as he refocused his gaze on Kal. Heedless of their scrutiny, Kal lifted the plane and jiggled it roughly, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout as he pressed the power button to no avail. Frustration warred with anger on his face, and he seemed as though he were fighting tears.

Uh-oh, Theodore thought. He