Page 71 of Ruthless Protector

“My dad came to visit today,” Tilly said, looking lost, and God, afraid.

And just like that, it wasn’t hard anymore. Leaning on him, letting him prop us up when we felt like the world was being torn down around us, suddenly felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Jude looked to me as I went to her and pulled her into my side. “It was a rough day, huh, baby.” I glanced at Jude. “She hasn’t seen him since he went to prison a year ago.”

Tilly squeezed my hand tight. “Is he coming back?”

I crouched down and looked into her beautiful eyes. “Honestly, Tils, I don’t know.” Pulling her in tight, I breathed in her sweet-smelling hair. “But I’ll be here, no matter what. You believe that, don’t you? I’ll always be here.”

“Yes,” she whispered, nodding against my shoulder.

“Right,” Jude said, into the heavy silence. “It’s a good thing I’m here then, ’cause I’ve come to take you both to a party.”

Tilly and I looked up at him.

“A party?” she said, eyes wide, excited. “What kind of party?”

Jude smiled down at her. “A birthday party, and I have it on good authority that there will be cake.”

Jude wasn’t looking at me, and I could tell without even staring into his brown eyes, that he was doing his best to keep cool, to keep things light, for Tilly. That he wanted to know more, that he was pissed that he hadn’t been here for us.

Tilly looked at me. “Can we go?”

I looked at Jude and his intense gaze finally came to me. “There’ll be other kids there. Just a low-key kind of thing.”

How could I say no? When my niece was beaming up at Jude, like he was her own personal hero.

I stood and shoved my hands in my jeans pockets. “Are you sure it’s okay? Us crashing your friend’s party?”

His stare got even more intense, and my belly fluttered. “I told Zeke I was bringing my girls. He and his woman Sunny were looking forward to meeting you both.”

His girls.

My belly whooshed.

I quickly looked away. No way could I hold his gaze after that. Not only were those words presumptuous, they scared the shit out of me. They also thrilled me in a way I didn’t know how to deal with. My body tensed, a battle going on with my mind. The latter telling me to call him out on what he said, to tell him we weren’t his anything, while the former wanted to run to him, jump in his arms, and absorb every bit of the comfort, warmth, and strength he had to give us.

To be his girl.

I glanced down at Tilly and my heart melted. I wasn’t the only one affected by what Jude had said. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes bright, and her smile; God, it was blinding.

“I need to pick out party clothes!” she said, and tore out of the living room.

Jude was closing in on me as soon as Tilly’s bedroom door slammed shut. One of his hands curled around the back of my neck and he tugged me in gently, wrapping me in a warm hug.

“How you doing?” he said against my hair. “Sounds like a tough day.”

Goddammit. Tears sprang to my eyes. I stayed there, pressed against the heat of his chest, so he didn’t see that I was close to losing it. So he didn’t see how much his kindness affected me.

I cared for this man. More than I should. Somewhere along the way, I’d lost control of the situation. Taking a little bit of something good for myself had turned into something far more complicated, and I didn’t know how to stop it. If I could stop it.

“Yeah,” I said against his chest.

“He went away for drugs?”

I nodded. “I’d stupidly hoped he’d leave us alone when he came out. But no such luck.”

His hand started moving, sliding up and down my back. It felt good, really good, and I burrowed closer.