Daddy’s Wild Girl (Montana Daddies #16)

Chapter 13

13

C orbin heard a floorboard creek and instantly woke up.

He hadn’t really been sleeping, anyway. Most of the night, he’d dozed, ready to be there for Bebe if she needed him.

He hadn’t liked leaving her last night when she was ill. He’d nearly insisted that she let him into her bedroom so he could see her in person. However, he’d forced himself to step away.

She was an adult who could take care of herself.

But now it sounded like someone was awake and moving around. And Hayes was unlikely to make any noise.

Getting out of bed, he drew some clothes on and headed downstairs. Maybe she’d woken up hungry since she hadn’t eaten dinner. He could offer to make her scrambled eggs. She’d told them that she couldn’t cook and lived on takeaway, toast, and crackers most of the time.

Oh, and beer.

It wasn’t really good enough.

But also, not really his business.

As he walked downstairs, he received an alert that the alarm had been deactivated.

Was she going somewhere?

Heart racing, he moved faster. He looked around the first floor for her and was just about to call for Hayes when he noticed the door off the kitchen that led to the back porch was slightly ajar.

Had she gone onto the back porch? The contractor she’d gotten had said they could safely walk on it, but it would need replacing in a year or two.

Heading out onto the porch, he looked around worriedly.

“Bebe?” he called out into the dark. Sunrise was around six-thirty here so it was starting to grow lighter, but he still couldn’t see her. “Are you out here?”

No reply.

Shit.

Why the hell would she have left the house without telling them?

Wait. The air changed. He could feel it. She was here. Then he heard a rustle. A creak of the roof.

“I’m up here.”

Up here?

Stepping farther out onto the porch, he turned and looked up.

To where she sat.

On. The. Freaking. Roof.

Corbin adjusted his glasses, certain he must be seeing things.

What the heck did she think she was doing? Had she even had that roof checked? Was it safe to sit on?

“Don’t move,” he barked.

Fuck. He hadn’t meant to sound that harsh, but his heart was racing in fear.

She seemed to freeze. “What is it? Do I have a spider on me? I have a spider on me, don’t I? Or is there something behind me? Oh God. What is it? A pigeon? Is it a pigeon? I hate those things. They’re so darn evil.”

“Bebe, just hush,” he said firmly. “There’s no spider or pigeon.”

Well, he hoped there wasn’t. He couldn’t actually see if there was or not.

“Then what’s wrong?” she asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“What’s wrong is that you’re sitting on a roof that you don’t know can support your weight.”

“Oh, I know it can.”

“You do?” he asked in surprise. “How?”

“I’m sitting on it, aren’t I?”

He didn’t . . . he couldn’t . . . what did he even say to that?

“Bebe, that doesn’t mean that the roof can support you! It just means that it hasn’t collapsed yet!”

“Oh, and I’ve also come up here a lot and there haven’t been any problems. Also, I had a roofing contractor check it when I bought the place. He said it’s good for another couple of years.”

Relief flooded him. “You couldn’t have led with that?”

“Well, I could have,” she teased. “But that wouldn’t have been as much fun, would it?”

“Bebe,” he said warningly. “Not nice.”

She let out a deep sigh. “Sorry. You’re right. That wasn’t very nice. But maybe I’m not a nice person. That’s what people think of me, right? That I’m a spoiled brat who was given every opportunity and squandered them. I never finish anything I start. My dad bails me out of everything. Not worthy of being loved. Poor little rich girl.”

He sucked in a breath at everything she had just bombarded him with. His mind filtered through it all, trying to sort out where to begin.

Poor little rich girl.

He was at war with himself, part of him wanting to snatch her off that roof and smack her ass for putting herself at risk . . . and the other part wanted to hug her tight. To reassure her that she was none of those things.

And that she was definitely worthy of being loved.

God. That part might hurt most of all. How could she believe she wasn’t worthy of being loved?

“Do you think that about yourself?” he finally asked. “That you’re spoiled? That you’re not worthy of being loved?”

“Well, I guess you’ve got to look at the evidence, huh? No one has ever truly loved me. Is that because I’m not worth the hassle?”

“Your parents—” he began.

“Don’t be fooled by the supposed concern they’re showing, Corbin,” she interrupted in a voice devoid of any emotion.

Which told him that she probably felt a lot, she was just keeping it pushed down.

“They aren’t actually worried about me,” she added. “They’re concerned about the headlines. Well, I suppose my father might be somewhat worried about me. It’s hard to believe when he barely knows me.”

“I’m sure he’s more than somewhat worried. And he must know you at least a little considering he’s your father.”

She stared down at him for a long moment. “Do you have a good relationship with your family?”

“I . . . yes, I do.”

“Your parents?”

“Uh, I lost my dad five years ago. A heart attack. But I’m close with my mom and two older sisters.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said in a soft voice. “That must have been hard.”

He swallowed heavily. “It was. He was a good man. A good dad.”

“I’m so glad you had that. But not everyone does. Some people have parents they never see. They’re raised by a series of nannies and their parents don’t even know them. Until suddenly, they start demanding to know them and then can’t understand why their kids treat them like strangers . . . or so I’ve heard.”

“Bebe,” he whispered.

Lord, he was hurting for her.

“I don’t need your pity,” she said brightly. “I’m fine. Better than fine. Look at me. Got my health. Got this house. Got my friends.”

Friends?

What friends? The homeless guy and that skater asshole? Surely, she must mean someone else, but he hadn’t seen or heard about them in the last week.

“It’s not pity I feel, Bebe,” he told her. “It’s anger. Close to rage.”

She visibly flinched. Fuck. He either needed to get her down from there or get himself up there.

“I need you to come down.”

“I like to watch the sunrise from up here. It calms me.”

Corbin sighed. “Fine, then.” He glanced around, wondering. “How did you get up there?”

“Easy, I just stood on the bannister, grabbed the edge of the roof, and pulled myself up.”

Fuck.

She did not.

“You did not.”

“Uh, yes, I did.”

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Moving to the bannister, he gave it a firm shake.

It wobbled.

Holy crap.

This girl was gonna kill him. She really was.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Just trying to remind myself of the rules.”

“What rules?” she asked.

Oh, rules like you cannot spank your client just because she keeps putting her safety at risk.

That sort of rule.

“Nothing you’d be interested in,” he told her.

He lifted himself onto the bannister, then carefully stood while holding onto a supporting roof beam.

Then he pulled himself onto the roof and sat down beside her. He noticed that she had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

“Wow. You made that look easy.”

“Be easier not to do it at all,” he grumbled.

Christ, he was starting to sound like Hayes.

“But not nearly so much fun.”

Fun?

“We have different definitions of fun.”

“I guess we do. Glad to know the bannister was able to hold your weight. I was thinking of replacing it, but I guess it will last a while longer.”

“You’re replacing it,” he growled. He didn’t seem to have the patience to temper his response.

A morning wake-up like this would do that to a man.

There were so many ways she could have hurt herself. She could be lying on the ground right now . . . broken . . . bleeding.

Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

“You okay? You seem tense. And your breathing is funny.”

“Do I? Is it?” It could be because she was raising his blood pressure through the roof.

“Must be due to your anger issues.”

“Anger issues?” What anger issues?

“You just said before that you were really angry and I’m not sure why. What do you have to be angry about?”

“How about the way your parents treated you as a child? Don’t you think that’s reason enough for me to be mad?”

More than mad.

Upset. Heartbroken. Murderous.

And then her mother went and aired her break-up with her idiot boyfriend on TV for everyone to see.

They never protected her.

They exploited her.

She turned to look at him, but he kept his gaze ahead, feeling the anger rising again. He didn’t want to frighten her with his fury.

“You’re angry on my behalf?” There was a hint of wonder in her voice.

As though she couldn’t imagine anyone feeling that way. For her.

Fuck. That was making him feel angry all over again.

“Yeah. On your behalf. No child should ever feel like their parents are strangers to them. No child or adult should ever feel unworthy of love.”

She sucked in a breath. “No, you’re right. They shouldn’t.”

“You have every right to be angry at them,” he told her. “But try not to let it consume you. Anger can become toxic. It can eat you alive. And turn you into someone you don’t want to be.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“You’re a smart guy. Anyone ever tell you that?”

He let out a small huff of laughter.

“I’m trying not to hate them. I’ve even considered forgiving them. Or forgiving my father. It’s just . . . it’s hard to trust them.”

“No one says you have to trust them. In fact, I wouldn’t if I were you.”

She let out a sigh just as the sun started to rise on the horizon.

“This is why you come up here,” he murmured.

“It’s so nice and quiet. The city is starting to wake up and the sun is rising. And she’s beautiful. Reliable. Always there.”

Corbin thought he was starting to understand her a bit better. They sat for a while and watched the sun rise.

“Are you cold? Do you need to share my blanket?” she asked.

“Yeah, that would be good.”

He wasn’t actually cold. But he couldn’t resist the opportunity to be closer to her. She helped him wrap the blanket around his shoulders, and as soon as they were close, he breathed in her scent.

Lord.

Was this some kind of trial? A test?

If it was, then he was failing miserably.

“My dad . . . he’s trying to make up for it now. To get to know me . . . it’s just that it feels like is . . .”

“Too little too late?” he guessed.

“I feel bad about that too. About the fact that every time he asks me to come around to dinner, I say no. But that’s less about him and more about . . .”

“Your mom?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry. We should get down. Go get ready for the day.”

“Not yet.” He reached out, putting his hand on her knee before he quickly drew it away.

No touching.

“Why are you sorry?” he asked, instead of pulling her into his lap and holding her tight like he wanted to.

“Uh, because I’m sure you have better things to do than sit here and listen to a poor little rich girl complain about her life. I mean, what right do I have to moan? I wasn’t abused. My parents didn’t starve me. I had a roof over my head and food to eat. Clothes and the best school money can buy.”

“You think that’s all a child needs to thrive? To grow? To be happy?”

“No,” she said quietly.

“And abuse can come in many different forms. It’s not just physical.”

Bebe sucked in an audible breath. “I wasn’t abused.”

Yeah. They had differing opinions on that.

“My biggest regret is doing the show. The Benner Life . Mother put a lot of pressure on me. She wouldn’t have been pleased if I had said no. But my dad took me aside and told me I could refuse to do it and he’d back me. It’s the one time I could remember him putting me first. It felt like he actually cared about my well-being. It felt good. But I was sixteen and thought it was my ticket to fame and fortune. Plus, I think a part of me wanted to please my mother. I just wanted her to like me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” he told her quietly.

“No, but it led to me doing things I now deeply regret. I don’t want to be rich and famous.” She huffed out a bitter-sounding laugh. “All I want is for everyone to forget about that stupid show. Strange how people think they know you when they see you on the television. They all seem to think that what they saw is the truth. That it wasn’t manipulated and guided and a huge fucking setup.” Another huff. “Sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry for things that aren’t your fault.”

“You’re employed to be my bodyguard, not my therapist.”

“Do you have one?” he asked.

“A therapist? With all of these issues I have? You bet your butt I do. Only problem is I can’t afford him.”

Corbin opened his mouth to ask her why, but then he shut it again. Why did he think she had money? Just because her parents did? The same parents that she barely had a relationship with.

“Have you watched it?”

“ The Benner Life ?” he asked, not really wanting to answer but knowing he had to.

“Yep.”

“Ahh, yeah, I watched some episodes before I came here.”

“Wanted to see what you were getting yourself into, huh?” she said dryly.

“I’ve learned not to believe everything I read or see on a screen,” he told her.

“Well, I’m glad some people think that way. Most don’t. They believe what they want to believe. And I was too young to see the damage it was doing to me until it was too late. I wanted out. I was about to go to my father when I overheard Ericc telling his friend that he was only dating me for the fame. That he’d never wanted me. I was a means to an end and that he had an actual girlfriend he’d hidden from me.”

“Fucking asshole.”

She snorted. “Yeah, he was a total dropkick. The thing is, I thought I loved him, I really did. And I would have done anything for him. My heart was utterly broken and I thought I wouldn’t get over it. I went to my mother and I told her I wasn’t doing any more episodes. My contract was up and she’d been pressuring me to re-sign.”

She shook her head and let out a deep breath. “She tried to convince me to stay, but I told her no. I was done. So to punish me, she aired the footage of me hearing Ericc say he was using me.”

“Wait. You’re saying your mother chose to air that footage? To punish you?”

Bebe smiled sadly. “Yeah, that’s what she does when she doesn’t get her way. She’ll find some way to punish me. It’s a talent, really. Finding a way to punish someone without being completely obvious about it. Still, I don’t know how my father doesn’t see through her after all these years. Guess love is blind, huh?”

“I don’t believe it’s that blind. How can you not know what your wife is doing? Especially to your daughter.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever forgive her for that. It was the most-watched episode of the series. There were memes made with my shocked, upset face. It . . . it was so bad and I don’t think she even understood why I was so upset. Can you believe that shit?”

No, he couldn’t.

“Anyway, I later realized that what I felt for Ericc was just . . . the stuff of first crushes. It had no depth to it. No layers. And sadly for him, his relationship with me did nothing to help his career. I heard that he’s working at a gas station in Ohio, has packed on forty pounds, and has two kids with another on the way. All to different women.”

Still. He didn’t sound miserable enough to Corbin.

He’d have to see if he could change that. Perhaps Ericc needed a visit from the IRS or to suddenly receive hundreds of parking tickets.

Corbin could make that happen. And more.

It would be his pleasure.

Bebe yawned. “Sorry.”

“Did you sleep at all? Did your headache keep you awake?” he asked in concern.

“I think I got a few hours. I don’t sleep that well on a good day.”

“You’ll need to take a nap later,” he told her firmly.

The words were out of his mouth before he could pull them back. Christ. What was wrong with him?

“Yes, Daddy.” She knocked herself into him.

She’s just teasing.

She doesn’t mean anything by it.

But damn if his Dominant side didn’t sit up and pay attention.

Turning his head, he looked down at her.

At the same time that she glanced up at him.

His gaze was drawn to those full, plump lips. She was the most intriguing, mesmerizing creature he’d ever encountered, and without thought, he found himself leaning in.

Just one touch.

Just one kiss.

And she leaned in close to him. Until a bird’s squawk filled the air and broke the moment. They pulled away from each other so fast that it might have been comical under different circumstances.

“I . . . I . . .B-bebe . . .” Fuck. He stumbled over his words, unsure of what to say under the circumstances.

‘Sorry I nearly kissed you’ didn’t sound quite right.

Because he wasn’t exactly sorry.

“Do you think the same as Hayes?” she suddenly asked.

“What?” What did she mean by that? What did Hayes think? The change of topic had him struggling to keep up.

“That I’m a spoiled little rich girl with mommy issues,” she told him. “It’s all right if you do. I understand why people think that. I just . . . well, I don’t know why I asked you that. I think I’m going to go back to my bedroom and not come out for another three weeks.”

He hated the embarrassment in her voice.

Almost as much as he detested the note of sadness.

Reaching out, he placed his arm over her to stop her from moving. “Stay right there. We need to talk about this.”

“We really don’t,” she said hastily.

“Bebe,” he warned.

She sighed. “What was I thinking? I should have just pretended I didn’t hear what you were saying.”

“Were you eavesdropping on purpose?” he asked.

Bebe stiffened.

Oh, she had been.

And he was pretty confident she was about to lie about it.

“No, I just happened to overhear.”

“Really?” he asked.

She let out a noise with frustration. “Fine. I accidentally overheard my name and decided to listen in to see what was happening. And that’s when I heard Hayes say that he thought I was a spoiled little rich girl with mommy issues.”

“And did you hear what came after that?”