Page 45 of The Prez’s Daughter

She shook her head. “I’m not judging. I know Charlotte had a hard time of it, and the way it took four of us to pull her off that kid who was apparently her bully, that is a lot of repressed rage. I am curious, though,” Maeve said.

“About what?”

“If not Savage, then who would you have in mind for Charlotte?”

“I ... someone good. Someone who will treat her right, who puts her first, and will love her.”

“So, someone exactly like Savage. You’ve said yourself he’s a good man. Loyal, hardworking, and you trust him with everything, or nearly everything, since you don’t trust him with your daughter. However, I would say that man showed that he is completely, one hundred percent committed to your daughter,” Maeve said, getting to her feet and rounding the desk. She put her hands on his shoulders, then leaned over and kissed his cheek. “And trust me on this, you are going to regret pushing them away. You love them both, we know this.”

She kissed him again.

And he knew his woman was right.

****

The following morning, Charlotte got up early, used the bathroom, and snuck into the kitchen, where she got the coffeepot fired up. She and Savage hadn’t said a lot last night. They had made love well into the night, but words hadn’t exactly been necessary. One brief look at him, and she saw he was covered in bruises from her father, and she couldn’t help but wince. No matter what was going on with her and Savage, her father shouldn’t have done that.

Opening the fridge, she grabbed breakfast sausage and eggs, as she had used the last of the bacon yesterday, and she needed to run to the store.

She was partway through cooking the sausage and beating the eggs, when Savage walked out of the bedroom, and she winced. He had a lot of bruises.

He’d pulled on a pair of sweatpants and ran a hand down his face. “Hey, beautiful,” he said, moving around the kitchen and wrapping his arms around her. “How are you feeling?”

“How am I feeling? Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that? You’re the one that got the life beat out of him.”

“Yeah, I know, and it fucking sucks, but I’m here now. The bruises will fade.”

“I don’t know how you can be so calm,” she said.

“It’s easy. I’ve got you in my arms, and that gives me the reason to remain calm.”

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “You say the lamest things.”

He laughed. Savage didn’t let her go, he kept hugging her, and she was not going to complain about that. She snuggled up against him and got to work pouring the beaten eggs into a pan and stirring them into the hot liquid. She let out a little hum because, even though everything had gotten messed up the previous night, she was actually really happy. Yes, everything else was messed up, but they were going to be able to handle it. They had each other and that was all that mattered.

“So, um, do you want to talk about what happened yesterday?” she asked.

“I love you,” he said.

“And I love you. So, that wasn’t a lie?”

“I don’t lie, Charlotte. Not to you, not ever.” He put his hands over hers, and together they stirred the eggs. “Your dad will come around.”

“I’m not so sure about that. Didn’t you see the look on his face?” she asked. “He wasn’t exactly happy. In fact, I would say he was pissed. Like, super pissed. Like, more pissed than I had ever seen him before.” This was exactly how she saw it.

“I know, but you’re also his little girl, and do you really think your mother is going to let him push you away?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s complicated.”

“Do you really not want to have a relationship with your dad?”

“Right now, I don’t know what I want, but I know I’m hungry.”

They finished cooking the eggs together, and once they were a deep golden brown, because that was the way she liked them, Savage stepped back and gave her some space to serve them up. She added a few pieces of breakfast sausage, and then the toast she had also buttered.

They made their way to the dining room table, and she looked over to Savage. “What are you going to do now?” she asked.

“I can get a job at the mechanic’s shop. There are a few places that will take me. It will all be good.”