Skin Deep

by Daniels, A. J.

  “Bell, something happened to Anne. She . . .” He takes another deep breath and starts again. “She was in an accident, princess.”

  “What kind of accident? Is she at the doctor’s?”

  “No, honey,” Danielle says, placing a hand over the one he has holding Bella’s.

  “Bell, remember the story Anne told me about your parents when you were in the hospital?”

  Bella nods. “She said that my mommy and daddy went to be with Jesus but they loved me very much.”

  “That’s right, she did. Well, last night Anne went to be with your mommy and daddy, and Jesus.”

  Danielle squeezes his hand and when he glances at her, tears are streaming down her face, but she’s trying to hide them. She’s trying to be strong for Bella.

  “My sister went to heaven?” Bella asks in a small voice.

  “Yes, Bell.”

  Bella throws her arms tightly around his neck and cries

  …

  .

  That night when he puts her to bed, Bella refuses to sleep with the light off.

  “Is she asleep?” Danielle closes her book when he enters their bedroom.

  “She finally fell asleep. She fought it.” He pulls on a pair of pajama pants before crawling into bed beside her.

  “I can’t imagine what she’s feeling right now. Losing her parents to a car accident two years ago and now her sister.” She places the book back on the nightstand before switching off the lamp and moving closer to him.

  “I just hope they let me adopt her. Bell’s already been through a lot. I don’t want to see her getting thrown into the system on top of everything else.”

  “Well, it’s what Anne would’ve wanted.” She snuggles up to him when she feels his arm settle around her shoulders. “She’s tough though. No matter what happens, I think she’ll be okay.”

  “I hope you’re right, Dani.”

  A loud, ear-piercing screams erupts from the room next to theirs, and both Danielle and Parker rush out to Bella’s room.

  “Bell!” Parker gets to her room first but he’s not prepared for the sight that greets him.

  Bella’s sitting up in her bed with her knees bent and she’s breathing hard. Tears stain her cheeks and she’s rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped around herself. Danielle rushes to her side and wraps her arms around her.

  “Bell, did you have a nightmare?”

  Bella unwraps her arms and clings to Danielle’s shirt sleeve and nods her head yes.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” she inquires, rubbing Bella’s back, but Bella just shakes her head no.

  “Do you want Danielle or I to stay in here with you?” Parker asks kneeling in front of her.

  Bella shakes her head. “Can I sleep in your bed with you and Dani?”

  He looks from Bella to Danielle and back again before standing and lifting Bella into his arms. “Come on, princess.”

  Danielle follows them back to their bedroom. Parker lays Bella down in the middle of the bed, covering her with the duvet. Dani climbs in, and Bella immediately snuggles up to her side and closes her eyes.

  “Goodnight, princess.” He leans over and kisses Bell’s forehead before laying back down on his side of the king-sized bed.

  Bella doesn’t speak another word for the next couple days but she screams and cries every time Danielle or Parker leave her sight, even for a second.

  Two days after the funeral Danielle and Parker get a call from the ministry letting them know they’ll be sending someone out the next day to interview them and assess their ability to care for Bella.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  “MR. COLLINS?” THE WOMAN dressed in a black pantsuit, standing on the other side of their front door asks as soon as he opens the door.

  “Yes.”

  “My name’s Rebekah. I’m from the ministry. May I come in?” She holds her hand out for him to shake.

  “Please.” He takes a step back, opening the door wider, allowing her to come in. “Bella’s playing outside with Danielle right now,” he mentions over his shoulder as he leads her into the dining room.

  “That’s okay. I’d actually like to speak to you first.” She lays her briefcase on the table and pulls out a folder.

  “What would you like to know?”

  “How long have you known Anne and Gabriella?”

  “Anne and I grew up together, but we lost touch in high school. We reconnected again when she moved back here and took over guardianship of Bella.”

  “You’re RCMP?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “In your file it says that you’re a part of the ERT?”

  “I am,” he confirms,

  “So, how will a six-year-old fit in with your busy schedule, Mr. Collins?”

  “Our ERT only gets called in when we’re needed on a case. Bella will be attending school full-time in September, and it won’t be just me. Danielle will be taking care of Bella too.”

  “Danielle? Your girlfriend?”

  A smile tugs at a corner of his mouth. “I’m hoping to make it more permanent than that soon.”

  Rebekah smiles knowingly then goes back to asking him more questions about how he intends to take care of Bella. She doesn’t get a couple more questions in before the back door flies open with Bella running through it directly to Parker. Scrambling up his knees she puts her arms around his neck and cries, “Don’t send me away, Parker.”

  He looks questionably at Danielle but she shrugs her shoulders. “We were going to go for a walk to the park, but she saw the strange car in the driveway.”

  Hearing her beg him not to send her away in that small voice breaks him, and the dam holding back his tears cracks until they’re flowing down his cheeks.

  “We’re not sending you away, Bell,” he says reassuringly, hopefully.

  Bella peeks her face out from his neck and looks up at him. “You’re not?”

  “No, monkey. Danielle and I want you to live here now.”

  “If you’d like to,” Danielle adds.

  Bella lifts her head and nods enthusiastically while wiping at her tears. Her small hand moves to wipe away some of his tears too.

  He knows in that instant this little girl will always hold a special place in his heart, no matter what the ministry decides.

  Rebekah clears her throat and stands up, stuffing the folder back into her briefcase. “You should have an official decision in the mail in a few weeks, but I’m confident you have nothing to worry about. My visit today was just a technicality that has to be done for any case we receive to make sure it will be in the best interest of the child. But obviously Gabriella wants to stay here and I can tell that she’ll be very much loved.”

  “I can stay?” Bella looks hopefully at Rebekah.

  “Yes, you can stay.”

  Bella’s mouth tips up into the biggest smile he’s ever seen. After days of hearing her cry at night and watching her struggle with separation anxiety it’s a relief to know she might finally be on the road to grieving and recovering from her sister’s sudden death.

  “Can I call you dad?”

  Her question throws him off for a second, and he struggles with what to say. A part of him wants to say she can call him whatever she wants—a very big part of him, like ninety-nine percent of him. But that other one percent doesn’t want to make promises he may not be able to keep. He doesn’t want to say yes and get her hopes up only to have to crush them later on if the ministry decides against letting him adopt her.

  Rebekah assures Danielle and Parker multiple times they’ll be approved for the adoption of Bella, but a part of him doesn’t want to believe it until they have the documentation in writing and in front of them.

  He looks to Dani for a little direction, but she’s just smiling at him through her tears and not really giving him much to help him decide how to answer Bella’s question.

  When he looks back at Bella there’s a spark of hope in her eyes and he’ll be damned if he’ll
be the one to crush that spark.

  “You want me to be your dad?”

  Bella doesn’t say anything; she just nods her head.

  He can’t do it. He can’t tell her no. Danielle was right about Bella having him wrapped around her finger. This little girl has been through too damn much in her six years. It will be his mission every day to make sure that spark stays in her eyes, and heaven help the fucker that ever tries to dull it.

  “Bell, I want to be your dad too.”

  EPILOGUE

  SHE COULD SPEND HOURS out here just sitting in the soft sand with her feet close enough the water hits her toes every time the waves crash on the shore, and the salty smell of the ocean with the cries of seagulls overhead. It’s all so calming.

  She’s finally found her happy place, and as she glances over at Parker and Bella building the biggest sand castle they can, her heart warms. Here, with her man and her girl, is what life is all about.

  It’s the people you love and who love you back. It’s not about the material things. It could all disappear tomorrow, but as long as she has the two of them and their friends she’ll be okay.

  The adoption papers went through last month and yesterday she and Parker got the documentation saying he was the official parent of Gabriella, or Bella. But neither of them needed documentation to tell them what they already knew.

  She believes Bella claimed him as hers the first day they met. And Bella, well, Bella was always his. The two of them are like two peas in a pod. One never far away from the other. These two beautiful humans were her lobsters. She blames Kat and years of Friends reruns for that term.

  Bella runs over to Danielle, giggling, and grabs a hold of both of her hands trying to pull her up.

  “Come on, Mama.”

  “What are we doing?”

  “Catching hermit crabs!” Bella calls over her shoulder as she runs back to join Parker.

  The three of them are looking under various rocks along the beach and Bella has started chasing the crabs around in the sand when she stops suddenly next to Parker and peeks inside his hands.

  “Dad caught one!” Bella yells to her.

  Parker’s on his knees in the sand with his hands clasped together, a wide grin on his face when she catches up to them. Bella’s giggling and bouncing up and down on her toes next to him.

  “Let’s see it,” Danielle tells him, trying to see in between the cracks of his fingers.

  When he opens his hands there isn’t a hermit crab inside of them. Instead, in its place is a small, black, velvet ring box.

  He grabs her left hand as she gasps in shock, her right hand shooting up to cover her mouth.

  “Yesterday we got the news we were parents to a beautiful six-year-old girl and now the only thing left is to make our little family official. Danielle Gilbert, would you do us the honor of marrying us?”

  Looking from Parker to Bella and back again, she has no idea what to say. Her entire life she’s felt liked she was worthless, like nobody in their right mind would ever love her. She can’t believe that this past June was two years since she, Kat, and Alice moved to BC to get away from Adam and start new lives. And it’s been six months since she met Parker and Bella in May. These two have proven her wrong, she wasn’t worthless and there were people who loved her. Now, she finally feels like she’s where she belongs. She feels like she’s home.

  “Say yes!” Bella tugs on the hem of her sweater.

  “Yes!” Danielle laughs.

  He slips the ring on her finger, then scoops her up and swings her around while Bella giggles next to them. “I love you.”

  “I love you both,” she says, smiling down at Bella

  THE END

  PLAYLIST

  “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi

  “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town

  “Dirty Laundry” by Carrie Underwood

  “Scars” by Papa Roach

  “In Too Deep” by Seventh Day Slumber

  “Fucking Perfect” by P!nk

  “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey” by Cole Swindell

  “Canadian Girls” by Dean Brody

  “Drink A Beer” by Luke Bryan

  “Bottoms up” by Brantley Gilbert

  “Church Bells” by Carrie Underwood

  “Over and Over” by Madeline Merlo

  “Best Beers of Our Lives” by Chase Rice

  “Just As I Am” by Brantley Gilbert

  “Scars to Your Beautiful” by Alessia Cara

  “Make me move” by Britney Spears

  “I won’t let you go” by Switchfoot

  “Your Love is a Song” by Switchfoot

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  YOU CAN TAKE THE girl out of the ocean but you cannot take the ocean out of the girl. A.J. believes that describes her to a T. She practically grew up on a beach in Cape Town, South Africa until her family immigrated to Canada. However, the ocean still has a way of relaxing her. If she can’t get to the water then a long drive with the music blaring will work just fine.

  She wears her heart on her sleeve and is a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic who believes that everyone deserves their happily ever after. A.J. lives in BC, Canada with her husband. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. She loves the NFL and drinks way too much coffee.

  If you enjoyed reading Skin Deep please leave a review on retailers and/or Goodreads. Also, be sure to check out the sneak peek of Piece of Me, the second book in the stand alone series at the back of the book.

  CONTACT HER:

  EMAIL: a.daniels.author@gmail.com

  FACEBOOK: A.J. Daniels Author

  INSTAGRAM: A.J_daniels_author

  TWITTER: AJDanielsAuthor

  PIECE OF ME

  PROLOGUE

  Katherine

  THE THING ABOUT LOVE is that you don’t get to choose who you fall in love with or when you fall in love. Most of the time you never see it coming.

  Just like I never saw David coming. He was my boss. The CEO of a multi-million dollar advertising company. He wooed me and swept me off my feet, and I loved it. I loved the way he made me feel. I loved that he understood my need to still stay in control of certain situations. The more we got to know each other, the more I trusted him and the less I didn’t need to be in control anymore. But the higher I soared, the harder I fell from the high.

  But then there are those times when you see it coming, and even though you try everything in your power to keep it from happening it still smacks into you like a semitruck. Just like the way I fell in love with Jason. He was my best friend. My protector. I was perfectly happy with our relationship the way it was, as friends. Until I wasn’t.

  But I was about to learn that sometimes the person you don’t want to love is the one you end up falling for the most.

  And I fell. Hard.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Katherine

  A LOUD, ANNOYINGLY OBNOXIOUS beeping rouses me from a very enticing dream. Hugh Jackman is doing really, really delicous things with his tongue and I don’t want him to stop.

  Damn, that man is talented.

  When he lifts his head, I’m expecting that sexy Australian accent to do me in, but all that comes out when his lips move is the annoying beeping.

  Frustrated, I throw my arm out in the general direction of my nightstand but instead of hitting solid wood, my arm connects with solid muscle and a huff sounds from my right.

  The events of last night flash in my mind’s eye like a stop motion movie. The six of us at the bar. Shots of tequila. Lots of tequila. Dancing by myself. Jay dancing with me. There was kissing. Lots of kissing, and lots of . . . touching.

  I sit bolt upright suddenly realizing that I’m naked and the solid wall of muscle my arm just hit belongs to Jay.

  Oh, fuck my life!

  I run a hand down my face in horror. I can’t believe I just slept with Jason. Sure, we’ve been flirting back and forth for over a year now but it was never meant to go beyond that. It was never meant to actually ge
t physical. This is why I’m not allowed around tequila. It makes me do horribly stupid things that I’d never do when I’m sober.

  I peek out of my right eye and am met by a set of very drool worthy abs.

  Holy shit, the guy has the body of a Greek god.

  A trail of golden hair leads down to that V muscle I love so much on guys. I’m slightly disappointed when the lower half of his body is covered by my navy blue duvet cover.

  A slight chuckle snaps my attention away from that muscle and to his face. God, this man is sexy. Square jaw with light stubble, straight nose, and amazing, emerald eyes that are staring back at me. A smirk pulls at his lips. A lock of dark blond hair hangs down his forehead.

  “Like what you see?” Jay teases.

  I roll my eyes, “Don’t look so pleased with yourself. Tequila was involved.”

  I gather the sheet closer around my body and move towards the bathroom.

  Jay laughs. “You can keep denying it but this was bound to happen. And I wouldn’t say no to another round . . . or two.” He shoots me a wink when I poke my head out from the bathroom.

  “Were you always this cocky?”

  Jay grins. “Not cocky, babe. Confident.”

  I snort and roll my eyes turning back to start the shower, “Yeah, well, I’m confident this will never happen again,” I call from the bathroom.

  “You sure about that?” Jay says, startling me when he suddenly appears in the doorway.

  “Seriously? Why do you have to sneak up on me like that.” I grip the sheet tighter.

  This man has the power to undo me and I’m not totally sure I’m okay with it. I like being in control, in all aspects. It was the reason for almost every one of my break ups and why I’m currently single. Men just don’t like a woman who loves being in control.

  But it was the one thing I didn’t think I’d be able to give up. Being in control kept my anxiety at bay and I didn’t like the way I felt when I was anxious.

  I flake out of a lot of things when my anxiety runs rampant. I somehow manage to talk myself out of leaving my house and just staying curled up under my duvet watching Netflix. Even something as simple as going to the grocery store becomes a nightmare. I’ve quit many a job because of anxiety.