Warrior Daddy

by Roberts, Laylah

  Macca would be seeing to that as well. He couldn’t eliminate all stress, although it would be a lot easier if she let her Little out and let him take over.

  His phone rang through the car’s Bluetooth system.

  “Hello?”

  “Macca? It’s Kent.”

  “Hey, chief. How’s it going?”

  “Things here are good. How are you? How is your nan?”

  He swallowed past the lump in his throat, having to work hard to keep himself from breaking down. “Not good, man. They reckon she has a week or two left.”

  There was a beat of silence. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Is there anything we can do? I can fly over there if you need me.”

  That he’d offered meant everything. Kent was more than his boss. He was family. Same as everyone else on Sanctuary.

  “Thanks, man,” he said. “But I’m good for now.”

  “If you need us, call. We’ll be there.”

  “I know. I appreciate it.”

  The call ended and he took a deep breath. Most of his family might be across the other side of the world. But they’d drop everything if he needed them.

  5

  She glanced away from the TV as her door opened. She was expecting the nurse, so she was surprised when Macca walked in, a small duffel bag over one shoulder and a white plastic bag in his other hand.

  Even though he said he would be back, she guessed she hadn’t truly believed him. But here he was, doing as he’d promised he would.

  The only person who had ever followed through on their word to her was Penny.

  “Macca,” she greeted him with a smile.

  He stilled, a funny look on his face. What was wrong? Did she have something on her face? She reached up to feel around her mouth. She hadn’t eaten much hospital food; it was all bland and boring.

  “Is there something in my teeth?”

  “What? No, baby. It’s just. . .you should smile more often.”

  She blinked. She’d never really had much to smile about before meeting Penny.

  “Oh.”

  He moved forward and placed the duffel on the chair before setting the white bag on her tray. “Have you eaten dinner, baby?”

  “Uh, no. They haven’t come around yet.”

  “Good. I had some meals made up for us. Think they’ll taste better than hospital crap. And I brought you some of your stuff from home.” He waved down at the duffel bag. “Would you rather eat first or get changed out of that hospital gown?”

  The smells drifting from the white bag made her tummy grumble. “Food first.”

  Besides, she might need a full stomach in order to tackle getting changed. She had a feeling Macca was going to insist on helping her.

  That wasn’t happening.

  He frowned. “Your tummy is growling. Haven’t they been feeding you?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “The food is so tasteless and rubbery.”

  He gave her a disapproving look.

  “I ate the jelly.”

  “Jelly? As in jello? You’re supposed to steer clear of sugar and they fed you jelly?” He looked so affronted.

  “It was sugar-free jelly.”

  He grumbled to himself as he pulled out some containers and opened them. Steam billowed up and when she saw the stir-fried vegetables and chicken inside, she smiled.

  “Damn, there it is again,” he muttered.

  “What?” She grabbed a fork from the bag as she stared over at him.

  “Nothing, baby.” He turned the table so it was resting over her then picked up a napkin and stuffed it down the front of her shirt like a bib.

  She was blushing by the time he was finished. But he did it so matter-of-factly, as though he hadn’t even thought about it. By now her stomach was growling so much she didn’t care about anything except getting some food in her belly.

  He settled in the chair with his own food and studied the TV screen. “Jesus, what are you watching?”

  She glanced over. “Oh, it’s The Walking Dead. Have you seen it? There was nothing else on.”

  “I know what it is. I also know that you shouldn’t be watching it. It will give you nightmares.” He reached for the remote and turned it off.

  “I’ve already seen all the episodes.”

  “Baby.” That one word held a whole lot of meaning. Disapproval. Horror. Care.

  When you had grown up the way she had, a TV show about flesh-eating zombies couldn’t really add to your nightmares. However, she couldn’t tell him that.

  “Are you scared of zombies?” she found herself teasing.

  “No,” he answered. Right, no surprise there. “I’m terrified of them.”

  She let out a startled giggle. “You are not.”

  “I am so,” he protested back. He let out an exaggerated shudder and she snorted.

  “You can’t be scared of zombies!”

  “Why not?”

  “B-because look at you! You’re like the surfer version of GI Joe. And GI Joe wouldn’t have been scared of zombies.”

  “He would if he was smart,” he muttered. But he winked at her as he forked up some more stir-fry. He was so full of shit.

  “Where did you get this from?” she asked. Everything tasted so good. The vegetables were fresh. The chicken was poached but not dry. It wasn’t too salty.

  “I got my father’s cook to make it.”

  She half-choked on a piece of zucchini and he got up to pat her back. He put his hand out in front of her mouth. “Spit it out, baby. Spit it out.”

  She wasn’t spitting it out! Was he mad? Her eyes watered as she reached for a napkin.

  “Spit. Now.” The stern tone of his voice wasn’t to be ignored and she spat the chewed-up piece of zucchini into his hand.

  She wrinkled her nose. “Gross.”

  He quickly got rid of it then grabbed the napkin and wiped her face. Then he picked up her water and held the straw to her mouth. She took a few sips.

  “Drink more.”

  She leaned back with a shake of her head. “I don’t really like water.”

  “You heard what the doctor said, little one.”

  She sighed. “I know. Lots of fluids. Lots of rest.”

  “And plenty of healthy, good food. Did your blood results come back?”

  She nodded. “My red blood cells are low and my blood wasn’t clotting properly, which is why my leg kept bleeding. I’m rattling, I’m on so many pills. Keeping track of them isn’t going to be easy.”

  He held the straw to her lips. “Don’t worry, once we get you home that will be my problem to worry about.”

  She sucked in a breath. Trust him with her medicine? With her health? If the pills got mucked up. . .

  He laid his hand on hers. “Or how about we do it together?”

  “A-all right. I can deal with that.”

  “Come on, you need to eat some more.” He forked up some more veggies and she reached for the fork.

  He snatched it back. “Let me feed you. You’re tired.”

  Even though she figured it was a bad idea, he was right. She was exhausted and just sitting here, having him feed her, sounded like heaven.

  She knew she shouldn’t rely on him. He would be leaving soon.

  He’s here for his nan and you’re taking time from her. You don’t want to be a nuisance.

  “I can’t believe you had your dad’s chef make this,” she said after chewing the mouthful.

  He shrugged. “Wasn’t a big deal. Allan has been with the family a long time. I called him then picked it up and drove it over here.”

  It was a big deal to her.

  “I wanted something I knew would be healthy for you.”

  It was pretty much the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. She had to turn her face away to hide her tears. What was the matter with her lately? She seemed to always be on the verge of crying.

  You’re tired. Give yourself a break.

  “Hey. What’s wrong?” He placed his hand against
her cheek, turning her face back towards him.

  “Sorry. That was just really nice of you.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You always cry when people do something nice for you?”

  “I don’t know. It hasn’t happened very often.”

  His other eyebrow joined the first one.

  “I mean, your grandmother has been very kind. I’m not sure what I would have done without Penny.” She wasn’t sure if she’d even be here.

  “I need the story of how the two of you met one day,” he told her.

  She bit her lip at that. She wasn’t ready to tell him that. Not yet. Maybe not ever. At least, not the full version.

  “But not now,” he reassured her. He held up another forkful of food and she shook her head with a sigh.

  “I’m full, but thank you so much.”

  “You’re welcome, baby.” He grabbed a wet wipe from the duffel bag and then taking hold of her chin, he gently wiped her face. She froze with surprise. Then he drew away and grabbed another wipe. He proceeded to clean each of her hands.

  “Macca,” she said in a low voice.

  He threw the wipes in the bin and turned back to her. “Yes?”

  Nothing on his face indicated that he thought what had just happened was odd. To him, maybe it wasn’t. But to her. . .well, she couldn’t remember anyone ever wiping her hands and face for her. Although maybe her mum had before she’d taken off. But she didn’t have any memories of that time.

  “How is Penny?” she asked instead. Because truth was, she didn’t want him to stop. And right now, she just wanted to experience what it was like to have someone else take care of her.

  “She didn’t wake up at all. I don’t think she has much time left.” The sadness in his voice echoed what was in her heart. She reached over and took his hand in hers.

  “She’s an amazing lady. I feel so privileged to have known her.”

  “Me too,” he told her. “She’s the only person on this side of the family who I felt ever loved me.”

  Penny had told her once that Macca and his father didn’t get along. She could understand why. Mr. McKenzie was a difficult man. Arrogant and ruthless. Cold. He’d only visited once while she lived there. And he’d threatened her that if she even thought about taking advantage of his mother, he would ruin her life.

  As if she’d ever do that to the only person in her life to show her kindness. And his threat didn’t mean much considering her life before she’d come to live with his mother. Hard to ruin someone’s life when they didn’t even have one. Still, he’d scared her.

  “I wish I had visited her more often. We used to meet in Hawaii, but it was becoming harder for her. I should have insisted she let me come here.”

  She grabbed his hand, squeezing tight. “Look at me.”

  He stared at her in surprise. Even she was a little shocked by the firmness in her voice. Who knew she had that in her?

  “I’ve lived with Penny for eight months. I know you called her every week. She told me about you. She has nothing but admiration and respect for you. She loves you.”

  He sighed and closed his eyes. “I know she does. My father. . .” he looked down at his clenched hands, “he’s not just a cold asshole. He’s an abusive one too. He used to hit my mother. Not sure why she didn’t leave him earlier. But the first time he hit me, that’s when she packed us up and left.” He fingered his scar. “That’s when he did this. He broke a plate and then threw a piece at me.”

  Holy crap.

  “She blackmailed him, told him she had evidence of all the abuse she’d suffered at his hands and she’d go to the media with it if he didn’t let us go.”

  “Oh God, I’m so sorry.” She frowned slightly. “Why the media and not the cops?”

  “My father is very friendly with a lot of cops. No telling whether they’d actually do something. But if it got out in the media, it would ruin that pristine reputation of his. Business would be hit hard. And there is nothing that James McKenzie loves more than money.” He let out a slightly bitter laugh and ran his hand through his short hair. “Not sure why I’m telling you this.” He gave her a contemplative look. “You’re easy to talk to.”

  “You can tell me anything. I promise to never tell anyone.”

  “I wish Nan had told me she was ill. It seems she was keeping several secrets from me.” He glanced at her meaningfully.

  She wasn’t sure why Penny never told him about Gigi. Then again, they’d probably had better things to talk about.

  “She always seemed so strong to me. So invincible. She helped us leave him. Nobody knows that. My mother had nothing. He wouldn’t agree to a divorce and told her if she left, it would be without any of his money. She could have taken him to court, but she wanted to cut all ties from him. In the end, Nan gave us money to get away.”

  “She’s a good woman. An amazing one. She saved me.”

  He gave her a searching look. But just nodded.

  “If you left when you were seventeen how come you still have an Australian accent?”

  To her surprise, he blushed. Was he embarrassed?

  “How did you know I was seventeen when I left?” he asked curiously.

  It was her turn to blush. “Your nan was very proud of you. She has lots of photos of you in her house.”

  “So she talked about me.”

  “Um. Yeah. But I liked it.”

  You liked it? Dear Lord, Gigi.

  “And anyway, don’t change the subject,” she pressed, even though she was trying to do exactly that.

  “Oh, um. Well, when we left my whole life was kind of turned upside down. Even though I hated my dad, I’d always lived here. We’d never even visited the US before and I knew no one. It was a bit of a change. Christ I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”

  If anything, his face went redder. He really was embarrassed. She took pity on him. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “The truth is, I was a bit of a cocky ass back then. I was used to having whatever I wanted. Dad might be an asshole, but he was an asshole who liked to keep up appearances so I had the best of everything. Even with Nan’s help, we didn’t have a lot when we got to California. I had to start from scratch. No friends. Strange place.”

  “I’m still not getting it.”

  “Well, uh, the one thing I had going for me is that a lot of girls found my accent sexy.”

  She stared at him for a long moment. Then she burst into laughter. “Are you serious? That’s why you kept your accent? Because it got you girls?”

  He shrugged.

  “Even now?”

  “Well, not sure I know any other way to talk now.” He grinned.

  “That’s so weird.”

  He gave her an offended look, but his eyes were dancing with humor. “You think it’s weird that women find me sexy?”

  Not at all. Although she wasn’t adding to that giant ego he had. “I think it’s weird they found your accent sexy.”

  “I think I’m offended for all Australian males.”

  She rolled her eyes and lay back with a grin. That so wasn’t what she thought he was going to tell her. It was cute the way he grew embarrassed about it, though.

  “You don’t live in California now, right? You live in Montana?”

  “Yep, that’s right. I live on a ranch called Sanctuary. It’s owned by the Jensen family. Clint runs the ranch and Kent is my boss. He runs Jensen Security International.”

  “Right. You started working there after you left the Navy?”

  “Nan really did like to talk about me,” he said dryly. “I feel at a bit of a disadvantage, knowing very little about you.”

  “I’m boring,” she told him.

  “Somehow, I very much doubt that.” His gaze was warm, probing.

  She ducked her gaze from him, plucking at the blanket over her.

  “I wish I could see her. I feel bad, just lying here.”

  “Baby, you’re ill. Sh
e would understand. She’d be the first to insist you need to take care of yourself.”

  “You need to take care of yourself too,” she told him, worried by how exhausted he looked. “You need to sleep in an actual bed tonight.”

  He gave her a cheeky grin. “That an invitation?”

  “W-what? No!” she spluttered out.

  He threw his head back and laughed. She just stared at him, transfixed. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t heard him laugh before, but it was like his whole body went into it and she found herself smiling, wanting to hear more.

  He stopped laughing and reached out and ran a finger over her lips. “You’re beautiful, Gigi.”

  “Not as beautiful as you.”

  He grinned wickedly. “Not sure that being beautiful is all that manly.”

  “On you it is. Even with that beard.”

  “You don’t like my beard,” he said, with a gasp of mock-offence. He ran his hand over it. “Got to admit, it’s not feeling great in this heat.”

  “I’ve never liked beards before, but on you it looks good.”

  “Just good? We need to work on your compliments.”

  “Sorry, I’ll try to do better. Your beard is so gorgeous, if there was a worldwide contest, you would win the Best Hairy Beast award.”

  “Hairy Beast?”

  “Your beard is so gorgeous that even Chuck Norris is jealous.”

  “Now, you’re getting it.”

  “Hagrid cries himself to sleep every night in despair over never having a beard as good as yours.”

  He shook his head with a laugh. He ran his hand over his beard. “You may call it a beard; I call it magnificence escaping from my face.”

  He winked as she laughed. “I must touch this magnificence.” He leaned in and she ran a finger over his cheek then down and across his lips. A shiver of need raced through her and she snatched her hand away before she was tempted to do anything else.

  Macca cleared his throat, seemingly as affected as she was by her touch. “If you’re a good girl and do everything the doctor says to get out of here, I’ll take you to visit her once you’re discharged and up to it.”