ME AND MY DADDI - Season 4 Episode 7

Eve’s high-pitched cry woke her from a sound sleep. She sat up and looked around frantically for the source of her terror.

Patrick rushed in a second later. “Easy, baby. You’re okay.” He took the few steps to her bed slowly. He sat gingerly at the end of her bed and waited for her attention to zoom in on him. “You’re with me, Patrick. No one’s going to hurt you.”

She drew in one deep breath after another to calm her racing heart. She’d been dreaming that she was back in her old room and the whole day had been an illusion. It would be so much worse knowing there was something out in the world that was magical and not have it than never knowing it existed.

“Can I hold you?” he asked.

She flew into his arms, wrapped hers around his neck, and held onto him tightly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Patrick asked her.

“I had a nightmare.” She paused and took a shaky breath. “I dreamt that you weren’t real.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Oh, baby. I’m very real, and I’m not going anywhere.”

She tilted her head back to see his face. He was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. “You promise?”

He squeezed her to his chest. “I promise. You’re stuck with me.”

She nodded against his chest. The tickle from his chest hair and skin under her hand made her suddenly aware he was naked from the waist up. Oh, wow. He had thick muscles that made valleys and peaks out of his chest and stomach. She wanted so badly just to reach out and touch him, but she was afraid he’d get mad at her.

“You don’t have a shirt on.”

He chuckled. “I usually sleep naked, but I pulled on the sleep pants before bed just in case you had a nightmare. Now I’m glad I did. I wanted to be able to get to you as soon as I could if you needed me.”

The light from the hallway and the small nightlight sent a stream of muted light over them, leaving them in a shroud of darkness that brought an intimacy to the night.

“Do you think you can sleep now, baby?”

The thought of being alone sent a shiver of unease down her spine, but she didn’t want to burden him with her insecurities or make his life difficult. If she upset him, he might just take her back to her father.

“Ah, yeah, I can,” she stuttered. “I’m fine.”

He must have heard the strain in her tone.

“How about you sleep with me? That way, I’ll be right beside you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Eve said and started to pull away.

“You don’t understand. I won’t get any sleep worrying about you in here. Nothing will happen but me holding you. Unless that makes you feel uncomfortable, and then I’ll just lay on the other side of the bed.”

She leaned back to watch his expressions. He’d done so much for her, and she didn’t want to make his life harder. “Oh, no. I want you to get sleep. I can lay beside you,” she said earnestly.

He smiled at her and then chuckled when she squealed as he picked her up.

She circled his neck with her thin arms and held tight. She’d never been carried. Even when she was sick, she still had to take care of the house and meals. Her father told her often that she was lazy, and if she was ill, it was just an excuse to get out of doing her jobs.

Her nerves kicked in when he whipped back the covers and set her in the middle of the bed before he slid in beside her. Oh, Lord. She was going to sleep next to a man, one she was deeply attracted to and wanted to please. She didn’t know what to do or how to act.

The moonlight coming in through the windows was the only way she could see his features as he lay on his side, facing her.

He reached out and laid his hand on her stomach. “Are you doing okay?”

She nodded jerkily while looking up at the ceiling. She turned her head toward him when he chuckled.

“You look like you’re going to be tortured,” he said.

She relaxed and smiled. “I’m just not used to this. I’ve never slept with anyone before.”

“All you have to remember is I would never do anything to hurt you. Okay, baby?”

Eve nodded.

“Good, now go to sleep.”

She rolled over to her side away from him and closed her eyes.

It seemed like she’d just closed her eyes when flashes of her nightmare started coming back. They stopped immediately when a hard, warm arm curved around her waist and pulled her back against an equally solid chest.

A peace unlike anything she’d ever felt before in her life flowed through her. The rest of the night was calm, and she got the best sleep she’d ever had.

She had no fear that her father would wake her up and hit her. She was with Patrick, and he would keep the bad things away from her and keep her safe. She didn’t know why she trusted him already, but she was going to go with her gut that told her he was her future. The fact that Brylee and Larkin liked and trusted him played a huge part.