Page 22 of Daddy’s Fortitude

Well, maybe not the wilds of Canada. She didn’t do well without a proper toilet and a coffee maker.

Maybe Prince Edward Island. It sounded cool.

Get up, move.

She scrambled off his lap and ended up falling onto the floor on her ass. He stared down at her in surprise. Well, she thought it was surprise. Again, maybe it was more like disbelief and astonishment.

And she couldn’t really blame him.

“Is it really too much to ask for an earthquake right now?” she muttered to herself.

Then she immediately felt bad. Earthquakes were terrible things. Maybe a sinkhole could just open up underneath her.

Yeah, that would work.

“You want an earthquake?” he asked. “Are you feeling all right?”

“I’m really, really not.” She managed to roll onto her hands and knees, but she didn’t think she could stand right now. She shuffled over to where a box of tissues sat on a small side table at the end of the sofa. Grabbing a few, she wiped up her face and blew her nose.

God, what had she been thinking? Why would he want to kiss her? She was pretty much the most unsexy she could be, dressed in an old ratty T-shirt, and a pair of jeans several sizes too big. Her hair was literally a rat’s nest, and she’d been crying so much that she had a snotty nose.

She was disgusting.

“Did you just call yourself disgusting?”

Crap. Had she said that out loud? Surely not.

Getting a few more fresh tissues, she buried her face in them. “No.”

“You sure about that? Because it sounded like you just called yourself disgusting.”

Large hands wrapped around her waist and dragged her up onto her feet.

Not cool. She’d been planning to stay on the floor for the rest of the day. It felt safer down here. Getting onto her feet meant she had to deal with life. To adult.

She really, really didn’t want to adult right now.

You wanted to when you thought he was going to kiss you.

Yes, well, look at how much of a disaster that had become.

“Thanks very much for coming to see me and checking in, but I don’t need any help. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine, and I guess I will see you at the funeral.”

Yeah, that sounded really mature and normal, right?

“Do not call yourself a disaster.”

“Um, what?” Did he not listen to a word that she’d just said?

“Do not call yourself a disaster again.”

“Okay. Sure.” She had no idea why that was so important to him, but she’d agree if it got him moving. “Now, I’ll walk you out.”

She headed toward the door, only to realize that he wasn’t following. God, it was like trying to move a mountain. The man just didn’t want to leave.

Aimee opened the front door and turned to him. “I really think it’s time you left.”

Suddenly, the alarm on her watch started blaring. She glanced down.