Be My Hero by Nell Dixon Read Free Book Online Page B

make her take,” Nathalie explained.
    â€œMmm, I bet she didn’t use the word ‘lovely.’ Last time she had to take some, I ended up wearing more than the amount she swallowed.” Evan ruffled Polly’s hair. “So, what do you two beautiful ladies want for dinner?”
    Nathalie slipped her tablets into her mouth and swallowed them with a sip of juice while Evan helped his daughter study the menu.
    Polly didn’t hesitate. “I want chicken nuggets, please.”
    â€œAre you sure you wouldn’t like a proper dinner, Poll?” Evan frowned.
    Looking at Polly’s face, Nathalie guessed that the discussion had taken place more than once. As someone who’d been a skinny child herself, she had some sympathy for Polly, but she could also emphasize with Evan. The child’s fragile health had to be a constant source of worry to him.
    â€œI’ll have a jacket potato with cheese and beans, please. I’ve got to leave room for a pudding.” Nathalie snapped her menu shut and winked at Polly, who giggled. “Well, we do get pudding if we eat all of our dinner, don’t we?” She looked hard at Evan.
    â€œI suppose so. But I want to see it all gone.” He caught on and directed his answer at Nathalie, causing Polly to giggle even harder until she broke off into a small cough. Evan waited until Polly had recovered before he returned to the bar to order the food.
    â€œDo you wear princess dresses?” Polly regarded Nathalie with solemn eyes over the rim of her glass.
    â€œI wore one on Saturday”
    Polly obviously liked to ask questions. “Cool! Did you go to a ball and dance with a prince?”
    Nathalie laughed. “It was my brother’s wedding, and I danced with your daddy.”
    Polly took a long slurp of juice, appearing to consider Nathalie’s answer. “Daddy’s not a prince.”
    â€œWho says I’m not a prince?” Evan rejoined them. “I might be a prince in disguise. Then you, being my daughter, would be Princess Polly.”
    Nathalie joined in with Polly’s laughter. The next hour flew past as the two of them teased Evan over dinner. To Nathalie’s relief, Polly ate all of her dinner and even managed some ice cream for her pudding.
    Evan finished the last of his daughter’s dessert while Polly yawned and snuggled her doll. “I think we’d better go home.”
    â€œI’m not tired, Daddy,” she said, blinking heavily.
    â€œI am, though, and my cat will wonder where I am.” Nathalie stood up, ready to collect her coat from the wooden stand behind Evan’s seat.
    â€œIs it a girl cat or a boy cat?” Polly asked as her father helped Nathalie with her jacket.
    â€œA girl, of course.” She was conscious of Evan’s fingers brushing against the nape of her neck as he straightened her collar for her. At least her fitted jacket flattered her figure a little better than her marshmallow coat. Not that it mattered what she wore, since she wasn’t out to impress him at all, she told herself.
    Polly picked up her doll and her backpack. “When we find a new house, I’m going to have a pony.”
    Nathalie relaxed when Evan went to help Polly with her coat. Having him so close had felt too intimate and disturbed her senses. When he was around, she found herself slipping into teenage mode. The evening had been fun, but she worried that she might have let her guard down a little too much where Evan and his daughter were concerned. Polly was a sweet little girl, and her daddy was much too handsome for Nathalie’s peace of mind.

 
Chapter Five
    Â 
    Polly fell asleep in her car seat before they were even five minutes into the journey to Nathalie’s house.
    â€œI’ll drop you off at home, Tali,” Evan said, his voice low.
    â€œThank you. She’s very tired, isn’t she?” Nathalie peeked in the rear-view mirror at the sleeping