Page 203 of Santa Daddies

She jumped and turned with a whirl. “I, um, well . . . sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

Alice winced, glancing away. She had no freaking idea. Apologizing was just second nature to her now. George had beaten it into her. Not physically. He’d never touched her that way. That’s why he’d never view what he did to her as abuse.

To him, abuse was hitting someone. He’d always told her that he was just trying to help her. To make her a better person.

Instead, she’d become a shell of herself.

A serial apologizer and worrier.

Then she noticed the marks on the floor. Oh god! She glanced down at her boots in horror.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I’ll clean all of this up, I promise.” She hastily attempted to take off her boots. Only they wouldn’t budge and she ended up hopping around on one foot.

“Be careful!” he barked. “You’re going to end up in the fire.”

Oh heck. She froze and glanced over at the fire. Yeah, she should probably sit down to take off her boots. At least his floors were wood and not carpet. It should be easy to clean up the water and mud she’d trekked into the room.

What kind of person didn’t take their shoes off at the door?

She’d been taught better than this. She hastily sat on an armchair and undid her laces, slipping her feet free. Her cold feet sang with relief, tingling as the heat hit them.

Shoot. She hadn’t realized that they’d gotten so cold.

She rubbed them briefly before standing. That was when she’d noticed that he’d gotten a lot closer. He no longer had acane, but there was something about the way he stood that told her that he was in pain.

Alice had no idea how she knew that when his face was blank, but she just did.

“I, um, sorry,” she squeaked out.

“Why do you keep saying that?” he asked irritably.

“I don’t know.” She winced. That was a lie and he’d told her that was a house rule. Alice was a rule follower. “I guess I’m apologizing in the hope you don’t get mad at me.”

“Well, stop. Saying you’re sorry all the time is likely to make me mad. Only apologize when it’s something big. This is literally nothing.” He waved his hand over the floor.

It was?

It wouldn’t have been to George. It would have resulted in him getting mad at her. And then giving her the silent treatment. Which didn’t sound bad, but it was something she absolutely hated.

It made her feel all squirmy inside. Sick and upset.

And she’d end up groveling to him until he forgave her.

“I’ll, um, try not to.”

He grunted. “You do that.” He stared down at her for a long moment. She wiped at her cheek. Then under her nose. Did she have something on her face?

But he didn’t say anything as he studied her with those hazel eyes. She was too scared to study him for long, but she took in his thick dark beard and short hair. He wore a button-up flannel shirt and dark jeans. He looked like a sexy mountain man.

“Is there, um, a mop or something?”

He nodded and turned. He limped into the hallway. Alice had to bite her lip to stop herself from asking him if he was all right.

He did not seem like the sort of man that would take that well. In fact, he didn’t seem like the sort of man who would takeanything she said to him well. He seemed to be the strong, silent type.

And, wow, he was tall. Thick with muscle. She wondered what he did for a job. Did he live here all the time? It seemed awfully isolated. Then again, he didn’t seem the type of person who liked to surround himself with people.