This is what she got for starting a CJ Bennett book last night. She hadn’t been able to put it down. The eReader Penny gave her for Christmas was the best present she’d ever received. Actually, the only present she’d ever received. She’d gotten lost in Ms. Bennett’s latest Daddy Dom romance and hadn’t fallen asleep until she’d finished it about two this morning.
“Are you listening to me?” the large man asked. His forehead was scrunched into a frown. She noticed the scar running through his right eyebrow. She wondered how he’d gotten it.
“You want to know how I got my scar?” He stared down at her incredulously.
Whoops. She had this horrible habit of blurting things out loud without meaning to. Penny thought it was hilarious. Obviously, her grandson did not.
No doubt he thought she was a complete moron.
“Um, sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“You’re not one of the nurses, right?” It was clear he hoped she wasn’t.
“Oh, no, I—”
“I want to speak to whoever is in charge of her care, that’s not you, right?”
“Oh, no, I—”
“Can you find them for me?” He was growing increasingly impatient with her. She wished she’d known he was coming. Not that she was family and entitled to know, but she would have stayed away today. Last thing she wanted was to get in the way, even though she wanted to be here for Penny, who meant everything to her.
She wished Penny knew he was here. Penny adored her only grandson, talked about him constantly and his photos were in pretty much every room of her house.
Alexander Martin James McKenzie.
It had a nice ring to it, right? Very Scottish sounding. You’d almost expect him to be red-haired and wearing a kilt not tanned with blond hair and hazel-green eyes.
She thought he’d be able to pull off a kilt though.
“You want to see me in a kilt?”
Oh shit. Crap. She started to hyperventilate. Why was she such a dork?
“I. . .umm. . .” Why couldn’t she manage to string more than a couple of words together?
Get it together, Gigi. You’re stronger than this.
He ran his hand over his face tiredly. “Look, can we start again?” His voice was surprisingly gentle now. “I’m exhausted. As soon as I got the call that my grandmother was so ill, I jumped on a plane and I’ve been travelling for over twenty-four hours. I just want to talk to whoever is looking after her care. Can you help me?”
Her heart melted. He did look tired. There were dark marks under his eyes and his clothing was wrinkled. Sympathy flooded her. How hard would it be to live on the opposite side of the world when a loved one needed you?
“Of c-course,” she stuttered.
He smiled at her. Her body flushed with heat. Holy shit.
“Thank you.”
Okay, so her initial assessment of him might have been a bit harsh. His grandmother was dying, and he’d flown halfway around the world, he was obviously exhausted and worried. She wasn’t used to a man who apologized when he was wrong. Her father certainly never had.
“I’ll just go find them.” She looked over at Penny. She’d intended to stay for the day, but she didn’t want to get in the way. She should probably explain who she was, but he had enough on his plate right now. And she wanted to give him some time with his grandma.
“Thank you. . .” There was a question in his voice and it took her a moment to realize he wanted her name. He thrust out his hand.
“Oh, um, I’m Gigi.” She stared down at the hand he had outstretched towards her like it was a snake. Had Penny ever told him about her? She knew they spoke a lot but wasn’t sure if she’d mentioned that Gigi lived with her.
His lips twitched. “Gigi. Cute. I’m Alexander, but everyone calls me Macca because of my last name. It’s okay, little girl. I don’t bite. Promise.”
“N-nice to meet you, M-Macca.” She reached out and briefly shook his hand.