Page 15 of Manny's Surprise Baby

“Ahhh. Got it.”

Walking over to a blue-and-pink plaid comforter, she said, “This one is nice. It still has pink, but it would be good for a grown-up too.”

I nodded and grabbed the package. “Don’t grow up too quickly, Emily. Enjoy being young while you can.”

“Oh, no. I want to grow up as fast as possible so I can go out on my own. Like you did.”

I frowned. “I was seventeen. You’re eight.”

“I’m a very mature eight. Mrs. Smith told me so.” She jutted her chin out stubbornly.

“Trust me, being on my own was really hard. I met some bad people, and I got into a lot of trouble.” I grimaced. “Stay with your dad as long as possible and appreciate that he wants what’s best for you. Don’t take that for granted, Emily. I’d give anything to have had a dad who gave a darn about me.”

Her mouth drooped. “You met bad people?”

“Yeah.” I kept my voice even. “One horrible alpha in particular who pretended to be super nice until I was trapped.”

“Did he kidnap you?”

“No. I went with him on purpose. But he wasn’t who I thought he was, and then… then I ended up trapped.” I didn’t want to go into too much detail with her. She was way too young to hear about how Baxter had become my alpha and then farmed me out for money to other alphas.

“Why didn’t you run away from him?”

“I was too scared.” My voice was soft. I didn’t need to mention I’d been hooked on drugs and incapable of making rational decisions. The haze of drugs had made my torturous life more bearable.

“But why?”

“Because I didn’t believe anyone else would ever want me.” I met her sympathetic gaze. “I didn’t have anyone around me telling me I was worth something. You have your dad to do that for you. And he will, Emily. He’s there beside you, and hewantsto be there.”

She nodded, her face pale. “And I have you.”

I winced inwardly. “For now. But I’m only here for a week.”

She practically gasped. “What?”

She looked so shocked I felt bad. “Well, I’m just here until your dad can find someone permanent.”

“Why can’t you be permanent?” She dropped the pillow she was holding and stared at me anxiously.

I didn’t want to tell her that her dad and I butted heads. Not after I just spent the last five minutes telling her how awesome he was. “Oh, um… I already have another job lined up,” I lied. “But I’m sure whoever your dad hires will be great.”

“But I want you.”

“Well…” I wasn’t sure what to say. “Let’s talk about this at home. We need to finish shopping.”

She hung her head. “Okay.”

I squeezed her bony shoulder. “Cheer up. You get to buy all the cool stuff you want.”

“Stuff around you isn’t as good as nice people around you.”

I was surprised at her insight, considering she was only eight. But I didn’t know what else to say to comfort her, so I just grabbed some cute things and threw them in the cart. “Anything you don’t like, just tell me and I’ll pull it out of the pile.”

She gave the cart a disinterested glance. “Anything is fine.” She sounded demoralized now, and her earlier enthusiasm was gone.

I sighed. “Don’t be sad. Let’s see how things are at the end of the week.”

Her eyes brightened. “You mean maybe you’ll stay longer?”