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He wondered if she knew how cute it was that she didn’t swear.
“And second, I’m not acting as the sheriff right now. I’m acting as your man.”
“My man?”
“Yep. Your man. Meaning, you’re my girl.”
He set her down gently on the kitchen counter. But he left his hands on her thighs so she couldn’t jump down.
“Now, let me have a look at your foot, make sure it hasn’t started bleeding again.”
“It’s fine.”
“Georgina, I’m tired of hearing you say something is fine when it’s not.” She stiffened and he gazed up at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Are you tired of me?”
He frowned. How had she jumped to that conclusion? It seemed her self-esteem had taken a nosedive.
“No, Georgie-girl, it doesn’t mean that at all. It means that I want you to tell me the truth.”
“The truth is that I’m fine to walk.”
“Yeah?” he asked as he pulled off the bandage. “Then how come you’re bleeding again?”
She huffed out a breath. “It’s nothing.”
“It is to me. Your health and safety are important to me.”
Her gaze hit his and then her shoulders slumped as she let out a breath. “Drat. I’m sorry. Talking to my mother, it makes me feel,” she paused for a moment, thinking, “inadequate, inept.”
He frowned. “I’m sorry talking to her makes you feel that way. But when I see you, I don’t see someone who is either of those things. I see someone who is strong and smart and caring. And I plan on making you see that too.”
Ed had left her on one of the stools at the kitchen counter with her thoughts while he made them some lunch. She hoped it was something light. She’d managed two segments of orange before her mother had picked up that she was eating while talking to her. A major faux pas.
She’d had to tell her mother that she’d taken some time off to visit a friend to get her off her back. She just hoped like hell that she didn’t try bothering her boss with questions about what was going on. At least her current boss didn’t have ties to her mother like her former one had.
He’d promised that he wouldn’t divulge anything that had happened. She felt embarrassed having to ask him to keep it all to himself and the pitying look he’d given her had almost killed her.
“Here you are.” Ed set a large plate of mac and cheese in front of her.
He seriously didn’t expect her to eat all of this, right?
“Is it enough? Do you need more?”
Enough? How could she possibly fit any more on the plate? It was already bulging. She glanced over at his plate, to find it in a similar state.
Then again, he was more than twice her size. Of course he ate that much.
“Umm, no, I definitely don’t need more. How come you don’t have a dog? You look like you should have a dog. A German shepherd or maybe a lab. Yeah, a lab would be good.”
He gave her a confused look. “There a reason why you want me to have a dog?”
“Oh, no, you just look the dog type.” And then she’d be able to sneak it some food under the table.
“The dog type?”
“Uh-huh. The dog type.”
