Papa’s Bébé (MC Daddies #14)

Chapter 1

W ow, that was one large, lazy dog.

Maya couldn’t help but stare in shock as a woman with wavy dark hair attempted to carry an enormous dog into her yoga studio.

Considering the dog looked like it weighed as much as she did, she wasn’t having much luck.

The dark-haired woman straightened from where she’d been trying to pick the huge dog off the floor and blew out a deep breath, brushing back strands of her hair before stretching out her back.

“Darn it, Mr. Fluffy. You cannot just lie in the doorway. You’re a fire hazard.” The woman moved her hands to her curvy hips as she glared down at the dog. “I’m gonna count to three and you gotta get out of the way. Other people want to come inside. One.”

The dog flopped his head onto the floor.

Oh man.

That dog did not look like he was going to move.

The woman let out another deep sigh. “Do I have to go get Spike? He will not be happy if he has to come down here to move you.”

Who was Spike? Her boyfriend? And who was she? She must be a new member of Maya’s class since she hadn’t seen her before.

“Millie? What’s going on?” Livvy moved through the doorway, stepping over the enormous dog. “What’s Mr. Fluffy doing here?”

“He’s here for yoga, of course,” Millie said.

As Maya looked closer, she saw that the other woman’s yoga pants actually had images of dinosaurs on them. Oh, those were cute. She was also wearing a white sleeveless top with more dinosaurs in different exercise poses.

Oh, that was cute.

“What is going on here? Why is there a big dog in the way?” a nasally voice asked.

Great. They were here.

Every time she taught this class; she prayed they wouldn’t turn up. Maya really didn’t know why Emily, Regan, and Jenni kept signing up for this class.

They didn’t like Maya and Maya certainly didn’t like them. But they kept coming back. Maybe it was just so they could complain about everything in those obnoxious voices.

Whatever.

The main reason she’d taken this job was because of the puppy yoga class. She’d heard that the puppies being used were way too young to be separated from their mamas. And that there no were regulations, no proper care for the animals.

When you couldn’t make a difference from the outside, sometimes you had to infiltrate from the inside.

Unfortunately, she had yet to make any headway into her investigation because her boss always taught the puppy yoga class. And he didn’t care about exploiting sweet, innocent puppies.

It was a shame that her boss sucked because Maya actually liked teaching yoga. As long as she didn’t have to teach it to jerks.

Like Emily and her friends.

Now, if her class was filled with people like Livvy, then she’d be happy.

She’d met Livvy when she was attacked by an asshole. Maya had seen her fighting him off as she’d been walking past.

And there was no way she could ignore a woman being hurt. Maya hated people who preyed on those smaller and weaker than them.

She’d helped Livvy and in the process she’d actually made a friend. Maya didn’t have many friends.

They’d gone to a few self-defense classes together and Livvy tried to get to one of Maya’s yoga classes at least once a week. It wasn’t always that easy for her, though. She had three boys she was raising, owned a business, and had one sexy as heck man to keep happy.

Livvy and Sav had recently gotten engaged and Maya was so happy for her friend, even though she’d felt a weird pang of sadness.

Maybe because she’d never really had a proper relationship. Men only seemed to want to use her or hurt her.

“I’m so sorry,” Millie said. “When he decides he wants to lie down, well, there’s not much that can move him. Unless someone has any sausage?”

“Ew,” Jenni ‘with an i’ said. “Why would we have any sausage?”

“And why would you bring him if he’s like this? So disgusting,” Regan sneered. She was the third part of the bitchy besties.

Now that was uncalled for.

Her anger surged.

Do not turn your feelings into felonies.

Do not.

Lord, it was hard, though.

“I don’t know, you girls look as though you like a bit of sausage. Might even put you in a better mood,” Millie told them, her hands on her hips.

Oh, Maya liked her.

Livvy put her hand over her mouth, but everyone heard her giggle. And several of the other women who were already in the room laughed as well.

The bitchy besties weren’t well liked.

“What did you just say to us?” Regan gasped.

“All right, we have to start class now. Can everyone get inside?” Maya asked, deciding to interrupt before things kicked off.

“We will,” Emily sneered. “As soon as this mutt gets out of the way.” She drew back her leg as though she was going to kick Mr. Fluffy.

Oh, hell no!

That wasn’t happening on Maya’s watch. She started to run toward Emily, but Millie got there first. She stepped between Mr. Fluffy and Emily, taking Emily’s kick to her shin.

A cry of pain escaped her as Livvy knocked into Regan who reached for Millie, looking like she was going to push her.

Mr. Fluffy took that moment to lumber onto his feet, barking at Emily angrily.

Emily took several steps back into the hallway, looking alarmed.

Jenni gasped and stumbled back.

“Get out,” Maya said, pushing her way between Emily and Millie.

Emily had more than half a foot on Maya and probably a good twenty pounds, but Maya was determined and angry. And she could be like a Pitbull when someone she cared about was threatened.

She didn’t know Millie, but it was obvious she was friends with Livvy. And even if she hadn’t been, there was a dog involved. Nobody hurt an animal on her watch.

“I cannot believe you were going to kick an animal!” Maya spat out. “And then you kicked Millie!”

“I wouldn’t have kicked her if she hadn’t gotten in the way,” Emily whined. “Keep that dog away from me! He’s going to bite me!”

“You were going to kick my dog, you witch!” Millie cried, stepping up beside Maya. “What the hell were you thinking? I could have you arrested for animal cruelty. And he’s only upset because you kicked me.”

Emily grew pale.

Of course, that was the moment that her boss appeared. David was muscular and handsome. And a total asshole.

“What is going on here?” he demanded. “Maya, why haven’t you started the class?”

“Because this woman brought her dog,” Regan whined.

“He’s going to bite me!” Emily cried. “He’s dangerous.”

Jenni turned to David, placing a hand on his chest. David liked to wear workout gear all day, every day. Which wouldn’t be a problem, but he always wore sleeveless, tight tops. And David was a very, very hairy man.

But Maya could deal with that if he also didn’t wear extremely tight yoga pants that no man should ever wear.

It left absolutely nothing to the imagination. So Maya knew the guy wasn’t packing much.

“Davy, make her take her fat dog and leave,” Jenni whined.

Millie sucked in a huge breath. “Did you just call my dog F-A-T?”

Maya wasn’t sure why she was spelling the word out rather than saying it. But maybe it was due to Mr. Fluffy’s reaction. Because he was now snarling at Jenni.

And Jenni had ducked behind David.

A David who stumbled back several feet, away from Mr. Fluffy. Jenni slipped onto her ass with a cry. Then, to add insult to injury, David stepped right onto her hand.

“David! Oww! You’ve broken my hand!” Jenni cried. “My poor hand!”

Wow.

What a drama queen.

It was hardly likely to be broken. Maybe a bit bruised and sore.

“Get that dog away from me!” David yelled.

“Oh, it’s not you he’s growling at,” Millie told him.

“It’s her, because she called him F-A-T.

” She pointed at Jenni. “Mr. Fluffy is very sensitive about his weight. And her.” She pointed at Emily.

“Because she kicked me and Mr. Fluffy loves me. He doesn’t like people kicking me.

I’d like to add that if you hadn’t tried to kick him, then this wouldn’t have been an issue. ”

“Well, it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t brought a damn mutt to yoga class. Dogs aren’t allowed in yoga class,” Emily whined.

“Mr. Fluffy is my service dog and it clearly states on the front door of this building that service dogs are allowed in here.”

“A service dog?” Jenni screeched. She was still sitting on the floor, holding her hand.

Total drama queen.

“That mutt can’t possibly be a service dog!” Emily said.

“Are you calling my friend a liar?” Livvy asked. “Because she’s not. Mr. Fluffy is her service dog, he has every right to be here, and you tried to kick him. Then you kicked his owner, who he is trained to protect. So if anyone is in the wrong, it’s you three.”

“Plus, you’re delaying my class,” Maya added.

She had no idea if Millie and Livvy were telling the truth, but Livvy was her friend and you always backed your friends.

No matter what.

“This is all bullshit!” Regan yelled. “You cannot blame us because she brought a dangerous dog onto the premises. We have the right to be safe. Davy, who are you going to side with? Us or them?”

David turned to Millie. “They’re right. You can’t bring a dangerous dog here and interrupt this class. Even if he is a service dog, our clients have the right to feel safe.”

“They would’ve been fine if Emily hadn’t tried to kick the dog,” Tegan said.

Tegan was one of her regulars. And she didn’t like the bitchy besties either.

It was surprisingly full for a Tuesday morning class. But her classes were getting more and more popular.

“Yeah, they’re the ones delaying the class,” Cameryn added from where she was stretching. “All they had to do was step over the dog. Who kicks a dog just because it’s in their way? A psychopath, that’s who!”

“I am not a psychopath!” Emily cried.

Everyone gave her a look that said they disagreed. Maya had to hide her smile.

David looked like he was wishing that he’d never left his office. Unsurprising. He liked to be the big man making all the decisions. But he had no idea how to deal with conflict.

“Well, Davy!” Regan whined. “What are you going to do?”