Chapter 12
M erde!
Matthieu caught Maya as she dropped, her eyes fluttering shut.
She’d gone extremely pale. What had happened? Was it just that she’d stood up too fast? Was it low blood sugar?
He couldn’t recall any medical issues from her background information.
Matthieu carried her to the bed, then glanced over at Tank who was shaking slightly.
Best to give him his space and he likely needed to go outside, which he might not do with a stranger in the room. Instead, he walked out and along to the next bedroom. The door was open and inside was a double bed with a lavender-colored bedspread.
Maya’s room.
On the floor at the end of the bed were two dog beds. One was pale blue and the other green. There was one of those cat trees in the corner of the room with a scratching pad and a high bed.
For Princess Priss, he was guessing.
Definitely Maya’s room. He laid her down on the bed, surprise filling him as he saw the dolphin toy sitting there. But he shrugged it off. He knew that plenty of adults slept with stuffies or simply had them on the bed.
He sat on the bed facing her and placed his fingers over her pulse.
It was a little slow.
Should he get Hack out here to check on her? Ink had given him his number to call if he needed him at any time. As he searched for the other man’s number in his phone, she started to stir.
Her head rolled back and forth, a low moan leaving her lips.
He brushed her lavender-colored hair off her face. “It’s all right, Bébé. You’re safe. You’re all right.”
Merde. Matthieu knew that he had to stop calling her Bébé before she actually heard him.
Her eyes opened and she stared up at him in shock.
“You’re so pretty.”
Well. This was beginning to be a bit of a habit. Her waking up and calling him pretty.
“Handsome,” he told her firmly. “Not pretty.”
“Pretty. So pretty.” Her eyes shut again. “Tired. No school today, stepmonster, and you can’t make me or I’ll tell Dad you called me an elephant yesterday.”
Yep. It was official.
He was going to ruin that bitch. He wasn’t sure how, but as soon as he had the time, she was going down. And he wouldn’t mind making that father of hers pay too. He should have been taking care of his daughter. He should have known what his wife was doing.
Or maybe he had known and he just hadn’t cared.
Which was even worse.
“Maya, I need you to wake up.”
“Nooo,” she grumbled.
She was so cute it was almost too much.
“Yes. I think you need to eat.” He was concerned about her blood sugar levels and her blood pressure. Food and water. “You can sleep soon.”
“You’re so mean,” she complained.
“I know. I’m really mean.”
“Meanie-meanie-bo-beanie.”
“The insult hurts,” he told her dryly. “But I take your criticism on board and I will try to do better in the future.”
“See that you do.”
Yep. Totally cute. Which wasn’t going to bode well for his ability to tell her no. Although he would persevere. Especially when it was for her own good.
“All right, open your eyes.”
She let out a huge sigh and opened her eyes to glare at him. “Meanie-meanie-ohmygod!” Her last words ran together as she put her hands over her face. “Tell me I’m dreaming!”
“Um. I’m afraid not.”
“This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening.”
“Maya, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” he told her.
“It’s déjà vu. It just keeps happening, over and over and over again!”
“Hey, look at me.”
“I can’t!”
“Sorry. I forgot.”
“How could you forget that?” she asked, opening her fingers so she could peek up at him, then she closed them again. “I’m the idiot who can barely talk to you. Let alone look at you. And definitely not at the same time.”
“You’re talking to me now.”
“This can’t be happening. Wait. What happened?” She removed one hand but kept her gaze away from his as she glanced around. “I’m in my bedroom.”
“When you stood, you went really pale and then you fainted,” he informed her. “I still don’t like your color.”
“I don’t like your color either,” she grumbled. Then she sighed. “That’s a lie! I love your color. NotloveImean . . . oh . . . um . . .”
Merde.
“Calm, Maya. I know what you meant. Don’t get stuck in a loop.”
“My life is a loop. So I fainted?”
“Yeah. Is that something that happens often?” he asked.
“No. Never.”
“I’m going to call Hack.”
“What?”
“Hack is a doctor that Ink knows well. He patches the guys up if they need it.”
“Guys? Do you mean your friends?”
Hmm. “Something like that.”
“I don’t need a doctor,” she said quickly.
“Tough.”
“I’m not sick. I just didn’t sleep last night and I haven’t eaten. I’ll feel fine after those two things.”
He eyed her for a long moment. “You’ll eat. And drink water. And you’ll stay off your feet. If you’re still not looking or feeling great after that, I will call Hack.”
“All right.”
“Good. Now what do you feel like eating?”
“Um. Well. About that . . .”
Matthieu stared into the fridge with a sigh. He was a pretty good cook. He could make something with very few ingredients.
But even he couldn’t create something from nothing.
Well, not nothing.
So far he’d found coffee, creamer, a couple of potatoes and some instant rice.
Still, that wasn’t really enough to work with.
He’d noticed that had plenty of pet food, though.
Priorities.
“Yeah, I haven’t done the grocery shopping in a while,” she said from behind him.
He whirled with a frown. “What were the three conditions you agreed to if I didn’t call Hack?”
“Um.” She stared down at her feet. He had to admit that he really wanted her to start looking at him.
Give it time.
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
“Maya,” he said warningly. “You knew the rules. What were they?
“Uh. I had to eat.”
“And?” He took a step toward her.
“Drink water.”
“And?” Another step.
“I seem to be drawing a blank.”
Brat. She wasn’t drawing a blank. He grasped hold of her around the waist and lifted her into the air.
She gasped. “What are you doing?”
He sat her down on the kitchen countertop.
“Putting you off your feet. Remember the last rule?”
“Oh yeah, that was it.”
Little liar.
If she was his, her butt would be on fire right now.
But she’s not yours. She’s a client.
A client who had a bit of a listening problem.
“Yeah. That was it. We need to do a grocery run. But since you need to eat quick, we will order pizza.” He wrinkled his nose. Fast food was not his favorite. It was full of preservatives and chemicals.
It certainly wasn't something he wanted her eating.
“Pizza yum! Um . . .”
“What is it?” he asked as she hesitated.
“It’s just . . . the food . . . uh . . . do I . . . I mean, am I supposed to . . . feed . . .”
Ahh. He started to understand. Was she worried that she was meant to cook for him? Or was she concerned about paying for the food? He glanced around her house. It was obvious she didn’t have a lot.
And what she did have, she likely gave to her pets. It couldn’t be cheap to have all these animals.
Speaking of animals. Dougie ran in and nearly plowed straight into him.
“They’re hungry. I need to feed them. And check on the girls,” she said.
“Tell me what to do and I’ll do it,” he told her. “After I order the pizza.”
“I should order the pizza. I, um, I am meant to pay for the food, right? For you, I mean? Obviously, I pay for me.”
“Nope,” he told her. “I have an expense account.”
Which got charged back to the client, so he would gladly spend the maximum allowed if it meant her father got charged and she had some actual food in the cupboard.
The relief he saw on her face before she glanced away told him that had been what was worrying her.
Yeah. Her father was an asshole.
And he was going to suffer . . . along with the stepmonster.
Matthieu would make certain of that.