Daddy's Sweet Girl (Montana Daddies 3)

Warmth filled her at the endearment, even though she told herself he probably called lots of women that.

Kent moved his gaze to Ed, and she was able to breathe once more. “Eden told me what happened. I’m telling you right now, you better find these assholes before I do.”

Ed sighed. “You can’t say things like that in front of an officer of the law, Kent.”

“Just stating a fact. Two assholes beat on a woman who couldn’t even fight back. You think that sort of thing is gonna go down well? Fact that she’s my sister, belongs to Sanctuary, you can bet you’re gonna have a whole lot of angry people breathing down your neck.”

Ed rubbed the back of his neck as though he could feel it already. Then he stood. He looked down at Abby once more.

“Abby, let Rye check you over.”

“Promise it won’t hurt a bit, darlin’,” Rye told her with a wink.

Abby blushed and turned her gaze away, feeling uncomfortable.

“Back off, you’re crowding her,” Kent told the paramedic with a scowl. He came and crouched in front of her. “Where are you hurt, sweetheart? You can tell me.”

His soft voice brought tears to her eyes. She couldn’t help it. She knew he was just being nice. Across the room, the other big guy was crouched in front of Eden in a similar position. Was he her boyfriend? If he was, then what was she doing in the parking lot of Suck ‘n Blow? That guy didn’t seem like the sort of man who would let someone he cared about come here.

Two fingers were placed under her chin and her head was turned so she was staring up at Kent once more.

“Abby, sweetheart, I know you’ve had a fright. But I need you to stay here with me, okay? I’m here now. I’ll look after you.”

She stared into his deep brown eyes and heard the sincerity in his voice. How amazing would it be to have this man protect and take care of her all the time? It was a dream that would never come true. But right now, she just wanted to sink herself into the safety he represented.

“O-okay.”

“Where are you hurt? Eden said those guys shoved you against a car. Is your back sore? Did they hurt you anywhere else?

“N-no. That...that’s all that happened. Eden is the one they hurt.”

“What about the scratches on your hands?”

“I fell over earlier. I’m a bit clumsy sometimes,” she whispered in an ashamed voice. She wished she was tall and elegant and graceful.

Not short and clumsy with too much boob and ass.

“Hey, come back to me.” His voice was still soft but there was a core of steel that had her obeying him immediately.

She met his gaze and that whoosh of arousal ran through her body. Jesus, he was potent.

He gave her a warm smile. “There she is. Good girl. You’re doing well, Abby.”

She was? She thought she was one step away from losing it.

But he had called her a good girl.

“Huh, like that is it?” Ed asked.

“You got a problem, Ed?” Kent asked, without glancing back at the other man.

“No problem.” The sheriff stared down at her, studying her. What was it? Was there something on her face? She reached up to rub at her cheek and Kent took the opportunity to grab her hand. He gently turned it over to study the scraped palm. The blood had dried and gone all crusty but there were still bits of gravel and dirt stuck in the cut.

She winced. That was gonna be hell to clean.

“This didn’t happen recently,” Kent said. “And it hasn’t been cleaned.”

“It happened a few hours ago. Wasn’t looking where I was going and tripped over something in the car park.” She didn’t mention the threatening man. She knew better than to talk to cops about Max’s shit.