Daddy's Sweet Girl (Montana Daddies 3)

“I’ll keep it down. I don’t even really need the sound if you think it will bother you.”

He sighed. “I’m not worried about me.”

Her? He was worried about her? He really was an amazing guy. “You don’t need to worry about me. I often wake up and can’t get back to sleep. Or can’t get to sleep in the first place. I’m used to watching T.V. and falling asleep on the couch. Or I was, until Max arrived. He took up residence on the couch even though there are two perfectly good bedrooms. I couldn’t watch any of my programs.”

“Terrible,” he replied.

She leaned back, staring up at him suspiciously. “Was that sarcasm?”

“No, baby. I think it really is terrible the way he just took over.”

“T.V. helps me sleep. Makes me feel less alone, I guess. I don’t stress or worry when I’m watching it.”

“Is there anything else you do that stops you from worrying or helps you sleep?”

“Oh...umm...” She couldn’t tell him about that, could she?

He already knows everything else. The man bought you onesie pajamas, the type with feet attached and a back flap. He gave you his stuffed childhood toy. He’s not going to be horrified.

“I like to build forts,” she blurted out.

“What?” He blinked.

“Blanket forts. I put a few blankets over the dining table then pull the cushions off the sofa and put them under the table and then climb in. I know it’s silly, but it makes me feel safe.”

And now she was wondering if she shouldn’t have told him.

“Hush, it’s not silly. It’s actually a great idea. Except I don’t have a dining table and I’m not really keen on either of us sleeping on sofa cushions. I do have an idea, though.” He stood and glanced down at the blanket still tucked around her. “Will you be cold if I take that?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Here. What are you doing?”

“You’ll see. Stay here. I’ll come back for you.”

She watched with curiosity as he left. What was he up to? What was this idea he had?

Fifteen minutes later, she was watching a rerun of Friends when he returned. He reached for the T.V. remote and switched it off. She sat up from where she’d been lying on the sofa and took the hand he offered.

“From now on,” he said as they climbed the stairs. “When you’re Little Abby and I’m Daddy you don’t take the stairs on your own at night, understand?”

“Umm, yes.”

He didn’t lead her to her bedroom as she’d thought he would. Instead, he steered her to his bedroom. And what she walked into was like some sort of magical dream.

“How...how did you do this?” She moved closer to the bed. Kent had actually put the mattress on the floor, rigged up some poles over it, then draped a couple of large blankets across the poles.

But he hadn’t stopped there. Around the entrance to the blanket fort, he’d put up some fairy lights.

“Camping supplies. The fairy lights are something Eden bought. She said you can never have enough fairy lights. You like it?”

He sounded almost unsure. Unlike the confident man she had come to know.

“I love it.” Abby walked to him then slipped her arms around his waist. For a moment he stood stiffly then he wrapped her up in his embrace and held her tight.

“Good,” he told her. “I didn’t want you to sleep on your own in case you had more nightmares, so I thought it was better to do it in my bedroom. You can sleep in here with me.”

YOU CAN SLEEP IN HERE with me.

Christ, thought this one through well, didn’t he?