Page 12 of Daddy’s Fortitude

“Yes, it does. Otherwise, you would have just let me get hit.”

“No,” he said, barely holding onto his patience. “Because maybe I wanted to hurt you myself.”

“Wait, are you saying that you’re going to hurt me?” She stood and the chair scraped along the floor as she gave him an alarmed look.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m not here to hurt you.”

“I’m so confused.” She rubbed her forehead. “You’re mad at me for letting you in the house because you might hurt me, but you’re not going to hurt me. Can you make this make sense?”

He sighed. “I’m just saying that you obviously have a problem keeping yourself safe, and you should do a better job.”

“I don’t have a problem keeping myself safe. Today is just a bad day. That’s all. It’s not like I go around getting nearly run over every day.”

Lord, he hoped not or his blood pressure was going to go through the roof.

“So you’re not here to hurt me?” she questioned.

“No, but not everyone is like me.”

“Thank God for that,” she muttered.

He had a feeling he wasn’t supposed to hear that part. And he decided to ignore it. See? He could be an easygoing guy.

Sort of.

She sat back down, but gave him a wary look, as though she expected him to pounce on her at any moment.

He guessed he deserved that.

“So why are you here? How did you find me? Did you track me down?” she asked

“Yes. It wasn’t that hard.”

“Why? Do you want something for rescuing me earlier? Are you looking for some sort of payout?” She glanced around the kitchen. “Because I’m not exactly rolling in it.”

“No, I’m not here looking for payment,” he said grouchily.

What the fuck did she take him for? Did she think he went around saving people and then asking for money? Well, in a way, that was kind of his job, but that payment was upfront and known. He’d have to be a complete asshole to save her and then ask for money.

“Then why are you here?” she asked.

“I’m here to see you, Aimee. I’m an old friend of Charlie’s, and I saw that he died. We were in the Navy together.”

Aimee stared at him in surprise. That was the last thing she’d expected from him. A friend of Charlie’s? Those words didn’t even compute.

Charlie didn’t have any friends.

And to be honest, she couldn’t really imagine that this guy had that many either. He was kind of abrupt and grouchy.

“You weren’t friends with Charlie,” she said before she could think better of it.

He raised his eyebrows and sat across from her. She swallowed heavily. What the heck had she been thinking letting him into her house? This guy was right; she had a terrible sense of self-preservation.

He could be anybody. He could have hurt her. Was she going to give up on life so easily?

And now look at the mess she’d gotten herself into. She was sitting in her kitchen with a man who claimed to be friends with Charlie. She’d never heard anything so ridiculous.

“Why not?” he asked.