Sinful Protector (Roughshod Rollers MC 2)

“Like you were the scum of the earth and you didn’t deserve to be in the same space as her?” Ethan suggests.

I’m about to snap at him; it’s exactly how she had looked at me, but I didn’t need to hear it said so bluntly. But then I look at the twisted expression on Ethan’s face, and I remember what he’s gone through and why he ended up a single father to a ten-year-old girl.

It’s easy to forget, sometimes, because it happened so long ago.

“Yeah, that was it,” I say with a sigh, deflating.

Ethan shoots me a quick smile, the darkness disappearing from his eyes as he claps me on the shoulder. I hear running footsteps coming from the bathroom, and I look up as Lily dashes into the room, beaming when she sees that I’m still here.

“Uncle Kyle, do you want to help me build a tower now?” she asks excitedly.

I glance at the girl. She’s almost the spitting image of her father, though she inherited her mother’s curly brown hair and big eyes. It’s been a long time since I thought about Fiona, and I’ve put her out of my mind now. She’s gone, and she left Ethan heartbroken and her kid without a mother. The two of them are much better with Georgia in their lives.

That’s if Ethan can ever figure out just how much she loves him, I think wryly.

“Sure,” I say, sliding down to the floor.

I don’t really want to make a tower of blocks, but I’ve got little else to do right now. I didn’t realize just how much time I’ve been putting into watching Allison these last few days until suddenly I had nothing to do.

“Let’s make the tallest tower in the world,” Ethan says cheerfully, sitting on the floor opposite me as Lily drags a box of blocks over.

“Yeah!” Lily says, tipping the entire box over.

I see Ethan wince and I grin; that’s going to be a chore to clean up later.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Ethan asks as he selects a yellow block.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Well, you were watching over her, right? What are you going to do about that?”

“I don’t know,” I say glumly. “She promised she’d call the police on me if she saw me again.”

Lily looks up at me sharply. “Uncle Kyle, did you do something bad?”

“No!” I protest as Ethan laughs.

“No, he didn’t,” Ethan reassures her. “He was just an idiot, that’s all.”

“Oh, okay,” Lily says, accepting that.

I glare at Ethan. Exactly what has he been telling her that she would so easily accept that I behaved stupidly? I did, of course, but I’m not a stupid man, usually.

Ethan just winks at me and I roll my eyes.

“Anyway,” I continue. “Maybe I just need to find a new hiding place.”

“I hate to say it, man, but you aren’t inconspicuous,” Ethan points out. “You’re the sort of guy that people are going to notice.”

“Well, what else am I f-” Ethan glares at me before the swear word leaves my mouth and I stutter, glancing at Lily, “… supposed to do?”

“I don’t know,” Ethan admits, giving me a last suspicious glare. “And watch your mouth.”

“Sorry,” I say.

“Was Uncle Kyle about to say ‘fucking’?” Lily asks innocently.

“It wasn’t me!” I deny instantly.