From Duty to Daddy by Sue MacKay Read Free Book Online

woman in question asked in a strained voice as she kept her back to him and supervised the little girl drinking juice. Most of the liquid made it into the child’s mouth but the pink tee shirt had a yellow streak down the front.
    The pranged cars. Of course. Focus, man. ‘He seemed okay with it all.’ Marshall tried for a nonchalant shrug to hide these oddball emotions charging around his head. He needn’t have worried because Charlie continued focusing her attention elsewhere. He told her, ‘I’ve phoned the rental company and they’ll sort it out, including supplying me with another car.’ His eyes were stuck on the child. She was so cute. Except for the eyes, she had her mother’s colouring right down to the freckles on her button nose.
    ‘Bet they loved that,’ Charlie sniffed, and he knew she was crying.
    Three long strides and he stood in front of her, reaching his fingers to trace the wet lines on her face. ‘Hey, babe, don’t cry. Sorry if I’ve upset you by turning up out of the blue. If you want me to disappear, I’ll go. Pronto.’
    Panic flared, widened those damp eyes that flicked from him to the child and back again. ‘You can’t go. Not yet.’ She hiccupped through her tears and swiped at her face again.
    Why the panic? Then he was holding her, wrapping his arms around those thin shoulders and tucking her up close to his big, warm body. Protecting her. From what? Himself? Hell, he hadn’t even thought about taking her in his arms. It had just happened. And Charlie hadn’t slapped him across the face and pulled away. He liked holding her. Liked feeling her small frame against his larger one, even if there was a frailty to her that hadn’t been there before.
    ‘Charlie?’
    ‘Yes?’ came the muffled reply against his chest.
    ‘Why are you shaking?’ Tremors had begun rocking through her. ‘Why the tears?’
    She said nothing.
    Placing his hands on her waist, he tipped back a little to put some space between them. Hell, she was thin, bony even. Was she all right? ‘Talk to me. Please. Tell me about you. About your daughter.’
    Charlie’s face whitened, and again panic flared in those haunting eyes. She nodded. ‘Yes. Of course.’
    What was going on here? Didn’t she want him asking about her family? That seemed odd. What about her partner? Only one way to find out. ‘You married now?’
    Her head swung from side to side, that distinct unease still all over her demeanour. ‘No. What about you?’
    She wasn’t going to change the subject that easily. ‘Is this your house?’
    ‘We share it with Dad. I grew up here. I do have a house in town, which I bought a couple of years ago, but it’s rented out at the moment. Dad helps with looking after Aimee.’ She drew a long breath and opened her mouth, and another torrent of words spilled out. ‘We both work at a medical centre—’
    Marshall placed a finger on her lips, felt an electric sizzle up his arm. ‘Slow down, Charlie.’ Under his hands the trembling continued. Because of him? Did his touch disturb her? Or was she afraid of something? He dropped his arms to his sides and stepped back, putting space between them. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked again. She’d better be. He couldn’t bear it if something bad had happened to her.
    Her chin ducked abruptly. ‘I’m fine.’ Then, ‘I’m still getting over the shock of seeing you outside our house. Why were you driving away?’
    Because I’m a prize idiot. ‘Don’t get the wrong idea here.’ I’m not a stalker. ‘I’d been parked outside for a few minutes, watching you and wondering if you’d welcome me or not. Then I saw your father walking around to the back of the house and got the wrong idea.’
    ‘So you drove away.’
    ‘I didn’t want to give you any problems. We had an agreement back in Honolulu and obviously I’ve broken that.’ Had to. Had needed to get over her by seeing her again. But already doubts were creeping in under his skin. Would he ever