Her hands trembled and her face was pale. “He was going to hurt me, wasn’t he?”
“More or less,” Kendrick confirmed, not bothering to share the more lurid details, though. “He’s a gross guy. But if he’s hurtanyone since getting out of jail, my friends at the LAPD will stop it.”
She rushed to Kendrick and threw her arms around him.
It felt good to have a sweet Little clinging to him. Obviously, she wasn’t dressed in her Little outfit right out there on the street. But he’d seen her around Auntie Athena’s enough to know how she identified.
That’s why she’d called the Daddy Guard, after all.
Yet, he knew she wasn’thisLittle. She might very well be single. He had no idea about her relationship status. But she didn’t feel like his Little. Somehow, he just knew he’d know when he met her—whoevershewas.
Kendrick just knew it wasn’t Lucy.
Pulling away, he looked at her car. “Let’s get this off the road somewhere safe and then get you where you need to be.”
“Thank you! I’m going to work. I, uh, don’t have a lot of money. But I can give you some and then pay it out over time?—”
Holding up a hand, Kendrick shook his head. “Nah. This is what the Guard’s for. If you trust me with your keys, I’ll make sure you have new tires and your car returned.”
Clearly elated, Lucy squealed and hugged him again.
Kendrick was glad she was so happy. Deep down, though, he couldn’t help but wish it was his Little there with him.
Mmm. Just thinking of her made him close his eyes and nearly sigh. He couldn’t wait to hold her tight and breathe in the scent of her hair.
Whoever she might be…
Chapter Three
The diner wasn’t busy that night, which sucked for Samantha.
She needed the tips.
“One day…” she whispered to herself as she leaned on the counter looking out on the empty space.
Just on the other side of the countertop were swiveling stools that were bolted not the floor. Only these weren’t there to look “retro chic” or nostalgic like some of those chain places like Johnny Rockets. The diner looked retro because it had been built over sixty years ago. Nothing had really been replaced since, either.
The tops of the stools were pocked, with bits of foam occasionally poking out. The linoleum countertop was chipped and cracked, too, along with the silver metal lining that ran its length.
The booths that were along the walls had seen better days, too.
The walls had been painted a few years back, after the city banned smoking in restaurants. But the faint smell of cigarettes still lingered about from a bygone era—along with hundreds of thousands of burgers and eggs and strips of bacon cooked on the griddle.
Maybe millions, for all Samantha knew.
Over in the corner was a five-foot-tall Santa Claus that rested on a cracked plastic pedestal. He was supposed to sing and shake his hips in a little dance every time someone walked by, but the motion sensor had long ago given out. Now, he seemed as sad as the lonely strand of ancient tinsel that hung on the wall above him.
It sure didn’t feel like Christmas, Samantha thought.
Then again, she couldn’t remember many Decembers that had.
The bell over the door chimed and she snapped out of her pity and stood up straighter.
“Hi. Welcome in,” she said to the two men. “Just sit wherever?—”
She froze and nearly gasped. It was him! Kendrick! From the nursery.
Did he recognize her? She sure hoped not. He probably wouldn’t. They didn’t even know each other all that much. But she didn’t want him to see her tonight. Not like this.
