Sadie stirred, her lips puckered, and she scrunched her nose as if agitated.
Zander cracked an eye. “Shh. Peanut is sleeping.” He pressed his lips to her forehead and rubbed her back. She settled right back down.
Stunned. There was no other word to describe my utter shock. I was stunned. This man had been cocky and ornery from the moment I met him, yet he held my daughter protectively and soothed her as a parent would. Who was he?
Here I was in an unfamiliar place after my daughter and I were kidnapped, and he seemed calm, like the scariest thing to ever happen to me hadn’t actually happened. What the frick?
“How’s your head?” he asked again.
The only light in the room came from the window next to Zander. It had to be morning the way the warm glow hit his stupidly handsome face. He watched me as I did him.
I’d win the staring contest. He’d blink before me.
“It’s fine. How did I get in this bed?” I honestly wanted to know. My legs didn’t feel scratched up from being dragged on the ground.
“I put you in it.”
“How?”
He furrowed his brow, seemingly annoyed. “How? How do you think? I laid you in it after carrying you to my room.”
His room? I took in the masculine space: gray walls, dark furniture, a hint of cologne in the air. The fuzzy blanket and goose-down pillow were in his bed? A tremble worked through me for some strange reason.
Stay focused, Jay.
“Oh please, you carried me? Now who’s the liar?” I slowly reclined onto the pillow to avoid hurting my head. “You and what army of men?”
Anger crossed his face. “Just me.”
“I don’t believe you. I weigh—” I stopped before humiliating myself. “A lot.”
“Believe what you want, but I carried you and didn’t break my back doing it.” His flirty, playful side was gone. He had no right to be pissed at me for speaking the truth.
Believe what I want? I knew what the scale said and how my body looked in the mirror. Not to mention my mother had made me try every diet known to man. She might not have told me I was fat or overweight, but I could read between the lines.
When I shopped for clothes, words like full-figured and plus-sized had reinforced my mother’s silent thoughts—I wasn’t thin. I spent most of my childhood and teen years lamenting my size and wishing I was like the other girls. It was an awful place to be.
Eventually, I grew to love myself. Dancing at Dirty Dick’s had given me confidence. My wide hips, full ass, and thick thighs hadn’t turned off the men who drooled over me. I had worked hard to keep my tummy somewhat flat, especially after Sadie was born. My efforts had been rewarded with hordes of fans. I was the number one topless dancer at Richard’s bar, all because of my enticing tits.
There was so much more to me, though…
“Fine. You carried me all by yourself. You must have superhuman strength.” I reverted to sarcasm as always. Joking and laughing were part of the shield I held to protect myself from the cruel world. Nobody had earned the privilege of seeing my vulnerable side.
Zander growled.
“I don’t really care.” I waved my hand at him to let it go. “What happened last night? How did Sadie and I end up in your bedroom?”
He sat upright in the chair, adjusting Sadie in his arms. Surprisingly, she didn’t wake with all the tension and, dare I say, rage coming off him.
To say I was intimidated was an understatement.
He stared at my baby girl, his features softening as he gently brushed a lock of hair off her cheek. “She called me last night, scared and begging me to come for her.”
My stomach churned. “I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t. You were dancing with the pole.” The venom in his tone made my heart stop. “Why were you in Viper’s Den? And with her?” He kissed Sadie’s head, then flicked his angry gaze at me, pinning me in place.
“I’m a dancer,” I blurted, feeling attacked. “I told you I got a job.”