Daddy's Sassy Sweetheart (Montana Daddies Book 13), page 1
DADDY’S SASSY SWEETHEART
LAYLAH ROBERTS
Laylah Roberts.
Daddy’s Sassy Sweetheart.
© 2022, Laylah Roberts.
Laylah.roberts@gmail.com
laylahroberts.com
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
Cover Design by: Allycat’s Creations.
Editing: Celeste Jones.
Photographer: Golden Czermak; Furious Fotog.
Cover Model: Kevin R Davis.
Created with Vellum
CONTENTS
Let’s keep in touch!
Books by Laylah Roberts
Trigger Warning
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Epilogue
LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH!
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BOOKS BY LAYLAH ROBERTS
Doms of Decadence
Just for You, Sir
Forever Yours, Sir
For the Love of Sir
Sinfully Yours, Sir
Make me, Sir
A Taste of Sir
To Save Sir
Sir’s Redemption
Reveal Me, Sir
Montana Daddies
Daddy Bear
Daddy’s Little Darling
Daddy’s Naughty Darling Novella
Daddy’s Sweet Girl
Daddy’s Lost Love
A Montana Daddies Christmas
Daring Daddy
Warrior Daddy
Daddy’s Angel
Heal Me, Daddy
Daddy in Cowboy Boots
A Little Christmas Cheer
Sheriff Daddy
Her Daddies’ Saving Grace
A Little Winter Wonderland
Daddy’s Sassy Sweetheart
MC Daddies
Motorcycle Daddy
Hero Daddy
Protector Daddy
Untamed Daddy
Her Daddy’s Jewel
Fierce Daddy
Savage Daddy
Harem of Daddies
Ruled by her Daddies
Claimed by her Daddies
Stolen by her Daddies
Haven, Texas Series
Lila’s Loves
Laken’s Surrender
Saving Savannah
Molly’s Man
Saxon’s Soul
Mastered by Malone
How West was Won
Cole’s Mistake
Jardin’s Gamble
Romanced by the Malones
Twice the Malone
Mending a Malone
Men of Orion
Worlds Apart
Cavan Gang
Rectify
Redemption
Redemption Valley
Audra’s Awakening
Old-Fashioned Series
An Old-Fashioned Man
Two Old-Fashioned Men
Her Old-Fashioned Husband
Her Old-Fashioned Boss
His Old-Fashioned Love
An Old-Fashioned Christmas
Bad Boys of Wildeside
Wilde
Sinclair
Luke
Standalones
Their Christmas Baby
A Cozy Little Christmas
Haley Chronicles
Ally and Jake
TRIGGER WARNING
Death of a partner, which happens in the past and off page.
1
Kiesha glided down the street.
The wind whipped at her cheeks, making her eyes water.
Shit.
She was late again.
Not that it was that big of a deal, but she couldn’t sit through another Ed lecture.
The man sure knew how to make talking boring. She loved talking, but she didn’t like listening to him go on and on about responsibility and punctuality.
So, she pushed herself faster. She was almost there. Almost there . . .
Slam!
The guy came out of nowhere. All right, he might have stepped out of the diner. But sheesh, didn’t he know to look left and right first?
That was just common sense.
Especially at this time of the morning, when she was racing to work.
She threw her weight forward, slamming onto her knees as he turned toward her.
Ouchie.
That was going to bruise later.
Ah, well. What was a few more bruises?
“Are you all right? Are you hurt?” He ran his hands over her.
She sucked in a breath, trying to still her nervous tummy. “Stranger danger! Stranger danger!”
“What?” He withdrew his hands immediately. “I apologize. I was just checking to see if you were all right. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
He had a slight accent that she couldn’t place. Australian? And to be honest, he hadn’t made her uncomfortable. At all.
“I’m all right, just a couple of scraped knees. I’m really good at falling. I was taught how to fall properly by a stuntman.”
“You were?”
“Yes. Why? Don’t you believe me?”
“Why wouldn’t I believe you?” he asked.
She huffed out a breath. “Us roller skaters know that you should always try to fall forward so that our knee pads cushion the fall.”
“But you’re not wearing knee pads.”
“Right, but if I had been, that would have been the perfect fall.”
She would have worn her knee pads if she could find them. She wondered where they were . . .
“Miss? Miss? Are you sure you’re all right?”
She looked up, studying him. Recognition tickled her brain.
Not a stranger.
“You’re Mari’s step-uncle, right?”
“Ah, something like that,” he replied. “I’m Harrison. Or Harry. I think of Mari as my daughter.”
“Oh yeah. That why you’re here in Wishingbone? You’re visiting Mari?”
“I am.”
“Where are you from?” she asked as he reached out his hands to her.
“Houston.”
Taking his hands, she was shocked by how strong he was as he lifted her to her feet. He kept hold of her to make sure she was steady.
His hands were warm, and she felt a zing of something rush through her as she took in his features. Hazel eyes studied her back. His dark hair and neatly trimmed beard were interspersed with gray. He was the type of guy who looked like he was only growing more attractive the older he got.
“Oh yeah, you’re like some big-shot lawyer dude, right?”
“That is my exact job title.” He grinned at her.
“Nailed it. I have an amazing memory. I really should go on a game show or something. I could probably win millions.”
“No doubt. We should get your knees looked at,” Harry told her, staring down at her legs. “Your tights are ripped. My car isn’t far from here. I can take you to the doctor.”
“Pfft. Over a couple of scrapes? Nah, I’m fine. I’ll clean them up at work.”
“You want to go to work with scraped knees?” He looked surprised.
“Wouldn’t be the first time. Are you all right? You’re older than me. Your bones are probably all brittle and stuff. Would you like me to take you to the doctor?” she asked with concern.
He blinked. “Just how old do you think I am?”
“Hey, no insult or anything. I mean, fifty is the new forty, right? And guys just get hotter as they get older. Well, most of them.” She scowled as a red truck drove past, slowing down. “You keep moving, Jonny Jacks! Nothing to see here.” She turned back to Harry, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “Sorry, that was just my arch-nemesis.”
He looked down at her for a long moment, then over to the red truck. “You have an ar
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“Um, no. I don’t believe so.”
“Huh.” When she thought about it, she was the only person she knew with an arch-nemesis. “You could be right. Well, I have one and his name is Jonny Jacks. There’s a man who is growing uglier with age. Let me tell you.”
Harry ran his hand over his face. “Right. Can I take you to work, at least?”
“Oh shit! I’ve got to get to work! No time to stand around and chit chat or Ed will actually beat my butt this time. Bye! Say hi to Mari for me.”
She sped off, heading toward the police station.
Shoot.
Now she was definitely going to have to sit through that scolding.
Fifteen minutes later, she sat in Ed’s office while he doctored her knees, thinking about how nice Harry’s hands had felt against hers. He’d made her feel small and delicate with the way he’d just picked her up, and she definitely wasn’t a lightweight.
“Kiesha? Are you listening to me?” Ed demanded.
“Of course, I’m listening to you. How could I not be listening to you? You’re right there. And I hate to tell you, Ed, but you aren’t exactly quiet.”
“Really?” he asked dryly. “You hate to tell me that?”
Well, maybe she enjoyed telling him that. But she wasn’t going to say that, was she?
“And I’m pretty sure that instead of listening to me, you were daydreaming.”
“I know exactly what you said, and you owe me a bag of suckers for doubting me.”
“Fine.” He stood, and she glanced down at her knees. One knee had a large pad on it. The tape he’d used to secure it had images of monsters all over it. The other knee had just one Band-Aid with an alien on it.
Perfect.
“Repeat what I said,” he commanded.
“You were telling me how I have to be more careful. That I can’t go speeding down the sidewalk. It’s not safe. For me or the citizens of Wishingbone. I need to wear more safety gear and go slower. And that I have to leave earlier so I don’t have to speed and I get here on time. I have responsibilities and I need to take them seriously. How am I doing?”
Ed just eyed her. Then he crossed his arms over his large chest and leaned against his desk. “So, if you are listening to me, then why do you never actually listen to me?”
“Um, you realize what you just said made no sense, right?”
“It made perfect sense. If you understood me.”
She scratched at her head. “After all these years, you’d think I’d understand Ed-speak.”
“Here’s something you can’t misunderstand. No. More. Speeding. Any more skating-related incidents, and I’m confiscating them.”
She jumped to her feet. Luckily, she’d put her shoes on. They were her favorite sneakers. One was blue and had the face of a one-eyed monster on the front. The other shoe was red and had a smiling, big-toothed monster on the top.
“You can’t do that!”
“I can and I will.”
“You’re not the boss of me, Ed Granger!”
“That’s exactly what I am.”
“At work. I wasn’t at work when I fell over.”
“You were late to work. And my job is to keep the citizens of Wishingbone safe. You knocked a man over today, Kiesha. What if you’d really hurt him?”
She did feel kind of bad about that. Especially with him being so old and all. She sighed. “Okay, I get it. I could have hurt him and it would have been partially my fault.”
“Partially? Kiesha, I just want you to be safe,” Ed told her quietly. “You could fall and hurt yourself or dash out on the road and get run over. Please, can you do this for me?”
“Did it hurt you to say please? You likely strained something, huh? Is that why that little tic is going beside your eye? Does it have a name? I’d call it Ticcy.”
“I call it Kiesha,” he grumbled.
“That’s stupid. That would get really confusing. When you call for me now, I’m going to think you’re talking to the tic by your eye.”
“Kiesha,” he said in a low voice.
“See, now who are you talking to? Wouldn’t it be better to call it Ticcy?”
“Fine, we’ll call it Ticcy.”
“Gosh, Ed, I’m not sure why you don’t listen to me all the time. I’m always right.” She turned to the door.
“I have a headache.”
“Probably because of Ticcy,” she called back. “You might want to check your blood pressure. Men your age shouldn’t get all stressed out. Oh, and you owe me a bag of suckers.”
She grinned at his grumbling. Grabbing her bag, she moved into the women’s bathroom. She needed to change out of her ripped tights. Luckily, she always brought spares. Her spare ones were lime green, which went perfectly with her black pleated skirt and white T-shirt. Today’s T-shirt was one of her favorites. It had a picture of a toucan dancing and said: In A World Full Of Pigeons, Be A Toucan.
Yes, she knew it was meant to be a flamingo. But she didn’t like to do what everyone else did.
She checked that she didn’t have helmet hair. Ed insisted she wear one. He was such a stickler for the rules. But at least her helmet was awesome. It had monster images all over it and googly eyes on the top.
Finally, she was ready for work. Gosh, Ed went on and on about being on time, then he delayed her for half an hour to lecture her.
He really had to get his priorities right.
What was he doing?
Harry knew he should just turn around and leave. That would be the smart thing. He shouldn’t be here. It wasn’t normal to buy a gift for the woman who mowed you down.
Trouble was, he’d spent all day thinking about her. And he’d been unable to settle until he’d done something about the fact that she was skating around without proper protection.
So here he was. Standing outside the police station holding a bag with knee pads, elbow pads, and a high-visibility vest.
As he walked up the stairs, his phone rang, and he drew it out of his pocket.
“Hello, Barbara.”
“Harrison,” Barbara replied. “How are you?”
“Good, thanks. Is there something you need?”
“I can’t just call a friend?” she asked.
“I apologize. Of course you can.” He guessed she was a friend. He had worked with her for years. They were both senior partners at a law firm in Houston.
“I wondered when you were coming home?”
“Well, I only just got here. I’m visiting my daughter.”
“She lives in Colorado, right?”
“Montana,” he replied evenly.
“Yes, yes. It must be so annoying for you to have to visit there. Can’t she come visit you? I mean, there’s nothing in Montana except ranches and cows, is there?”
“There’s a bit more to it. And no, it’s not annoying.” This place was strange, filled with unusual people, and he’d been a bit taken aback the first time he’d come here. But for all their quirks, the people here were warm and welcoming.
“Yes, well. I look forward to seeing you when you return. When do you think that will be?”
“I’ve taken a few weeks off.” He needed them. He was starting to burn out. At fifty-one, he never thought he’d feel so lost. So untethered. He had money, power, a successful career and yet at the same time, it felt like had nothing.
“Goodbye.”
He frowned down at his phone, then shook his head. Pushing Barbara from his mind, he headed up the stairs and into the main office of the police station. For a small town, it was a busy place. They seemed to have more than their fair share of criminal activity.
