Page 63 of Daddy’s Fortitude

And why was he moving in? She was confused. What was going on here?

So someone else had left her flowers. It was hardly a big deal. At least it wasn’t another threatening message from a debt collector. She could only imagine how upset he’d be by that, given his reaction to the extra charges that Ed placed on his bill.

She took the flowers from him and checked the card. Oh, they were from Elias. He’d been by a couple of times now.

But maybe it was better she didn’t tell Ammo that, as he was looking increasingly angry.

“I am moving in. It’s my job to protect you, and I can’t do that if I’m staying somewhere else.”

“What? That’s crazy,” she said.

“It’s not crazy. It makes perfect sense. I should’ve done it earlier.”

“You can’t just move in with me. I didn’t agree to that.”

“I can’t protect you if I’m not here. It’s not enough to just be here part of the time. You’re like a magnet for trouble.”

She gasped. “I am not a magnet for trouble. And you promised Charlie to look out for me. That doesn’t mean that you have to protect me every moment of every day.”

“I disagree. I’m going to go get my stuff, then come back. Go get ready for bed. Have you got a spare key? Then I can let myself back in without waking you up.”

She knew she should argue, but the truth was, she was completely done and there was nothing left in her tank. She just didn’t have the energy to argue with him any longer.

So she unlocked the door then handed him the key. “Take this one. I have another key in the house. The spare bedroom has the bed made up. But I still think we need to talk about this in the morning.”

“Nothing to discuss.”

She shook her head. The man was completely insane. But she was still glad to have him around.

So what did that say about her?

Aimee woke up the next morning with every muscle in her body aching. Oh God, she felt terrible. She had really enjoyed the Rage Ranch. In fact, it was the best she’d felt in years as she was smashing things up. But she might have gone a bit too hard. Because this morning, her body was telling her that she needed to ease up.

Thank God she wasn’t working until tonight at the grocery store. Glancing over at the clock she saw it was already mid-morning. With a groan, she rolled over and sat up.

Maybe after a shower she’d feel more alive. She’d planned on tackling some of the jobs around the house and the yard today. But perhaps she’d just veg out on the sofa instead and watch some terrible TV.

She shuffled her way into the bathroom, yawning and rubbing at her eyes. She felt like she could still use another few hours of sleep, so maybe she should spend the day on the sofa.

Getting into the shower, she just stood there, letting the warm water beat down on her. It soothed her aching muscles and helped her feel more awake.

As it started to go cold, she turned toward the wall to turn it off, but the tap came off in her hand.

Oh, shit.

The water was now freezing cold and really beating down on her. She tried to push the tap back on, but it wouldn’t go. Suddenly, the head of the shower off and banged her on the shoulder. She let out a cry as even more water gushed down on her.

Time to get out of the shower. And then she’d have to run outside and turn off the water at the mains. She hoped she remembered where it was.

But as she turned, her feet slipped out from under her, and she fell with a crash into the bottom of the tub.

She yelled out in pain and shock.

Damn it. She’d have to haul herself up out of the bath as soon as she gathered herself. But before she could manage that, two muscular arms reached down and picked her up, and she stared straight into Ammo’s face.

Oh my God, Ammo! How had she completely forgotten that he was staying here?

How was that possible? She shouldn’t even have been able to sleep knowing that he was in a bedroom across the hall. And when she’d woken up, surely that should have been her first thought? But no, she’d just stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom to have the world’s longest shower, using up all the hot water, before it had gone freezing cold and the shower had attacked her.