Page 21 of Jay Bird

That might have been the strangest part of all. Her daughter had spent most of her short life being wary of people she didn’t know, especially men. Yet here she was, happily sharing French fries with a man who looked like he could bench-press the hospital bed with both of them still in it.

Willow wasn’t ready to trust him. She wasn’t sure she remembered how to trust anyone anymore.

But watching Lily grin up at him, Willow found herself wanting to know who he was.

Someone behind her coughed to cover a laugh.

Willow glanced up, and that was when she remembered there were two other very large men in the room with them.

Riley seemed to catch the sudden uncertainty on her face. She stepped closer to the first man and slipped her hand into his. “Willow, this is Nails. My fiancé.”

Nails gave her an easy smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“And this is Stitch,” Mia added, moving beside the other man. “My husband.”

“Husband?”

Willow looked at Mia, who smiled and lifted her left hand, wiggling her fingers. Sure enough, there was a wedding ring.

“And the French fry thief,” Riley continued, nodding toward the man who’d carried Lily into the room, “is Jay Bird.”

“Jay,” Lily corrected.

Jay Bird’s mouth twitched.

Apparently, her daughter had already decided they were on a first-name basis.

Riley’s expression softened. “Lily wasn’t too sure about any of us last night. Jay Bird was the only one she really seemed comfortable with and apparently decided she was done accepting applications from anybody else. He stayed here all night so she could stay with you.”

Lily looked toward him. “Jay.”

His expression softened almost imperceptibly. “I’m right here, peanut.”

Willow caught it.

It was only there for a second, but she saw it—the intimidating man looked completely different when he spoke to Lily. There was a softness in his tone.

Willow felt a pang of guilt for causing him to take care of her daughter.

Her gaze moved back to Jay Bird. There was nothing overtly threatening about his gaze, but it was intense. He seemed like the sort of man who noticed everything and commented on almost nothing.

But Lily wasn’t afraid of him, and that alone meant more to Willow than he could possibly know.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

Jay Bird gave her a small nod. “She wasn’t any trouble.”

Riley made a suspicious choking noise, like she was trying not to laugh.

Jay Bird glanced at her. “What?”

“Nothing.”

Jay Bird looked back at Willow. “She ate. She slept. She watched some cartoon with a pig that I’m pretty sure has no adult supervision.”

Willow laughed before she could stop herself. “Peppa Pig?”

“That sounds right.”