Tender Billionaire Daddy by Scott Wylder

CHAPTER TWO

Liam

I paced around the empty park, feeling a mixture of relief and anticipation. I had a housekeeper that came in twice a week to clean. The other day, she’d opened the door and Peppermint had run off, before she could stop her.

She was a rescue dog. I had only had her a month and she wasn’t completely comfortable in her new home yet, so I was worried she wouldn’t come back, even if she wanted to. Thank God someone had found her.

I saw them before they saw me. A woman on a bicycle was slowly making her way down the street. Peppermint's head was peaking out of the bicycle’s basket. I waved out to her and she smiled in response. But, just before she turned onto one of the park pathways, a car came swerving out of nowhere and headed straight towards them.

The woman tried to bike out of the way, but the car was coming too fast. At the last second, she grabbed Peppermint and threw her a few feet away just before the car collided with the bike. Fear sliced through me, both for Peppermint and for the woman, who was on the ground and not moving. Peppermint ran towards me, looking unharmed. The woman had probably saved her life by throwing her out of the way of the car.

I ran towards the woman as the driver got out of the car, his cell phone pressed to his ear. He was talking frantically into it. "I hit a woman in Knoxville Park," he said. "She was on a bike and she's not moving." He ran a hand through his hair, looking terrified. "I don't know who she is. I've never seen her before in my life."

I pulled the mangled bike off of the woman and looked at her. She was unconscious but breathing. I sighed with relief. At least she was alive.

"Hey, do you know her?" the man asked me.

I shook my head. "No, I was supposed to meet her here, today." I tried to remember back to the phone call. I knew she had told me her name. "I think her name is Lacy."

He sighed. "I can't believe this happened. My brakes just suddenly stopped working. I didn't mean to hit her. I'm not drunk or anything and I wasn't texting. It was an honest accident."

I didn't really care to hear his excuses, right now. He could sort that out with his insurance company later. "How long until the ambulance gets here?"

"One minute."

Thank God for that.

Peppermint ran towards us and sniffed at Lacy's hand, whining. "It's okay, girl," I said. "She'll be just fine."

Peppermint curled up in a ball next to her. She glared at me as if daring me to take her away from Lacy. I had never seen her so taken with a human, before. It had taken her at least a week before she would even let me go near her, but she looked ready to protect Lacy against the world.

I couldn't blame her. I barely knew Lacy and I liked her already. She had saved Peppermint twice already with her quick thinking.

The ambulance came and picked her up. I followed close behind in the car with Peppermint. I called my brother, Griffin, on the phone, on the way.

"I need you to meet me at the hospital," I said. I could practically taste the irony. Griffin was a firefighter so usually I was visiting the hospital on his behalf, not the other way around.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but it's a wild story." I told him everything, from the woman finding Peppermint to her getting hit by a car. "Anyway, I'm going to need you to come to the hospital to pick Peppermint up. I want to make sure she's okay."

"Yeah, of course. That's insane. And I thought I had crazy stories."

I grinned. “Yeah, for once I one-upped you.”

Griffin was already waiting for me at the hospital, when I arrived. He held up a bag of dog treats. "I can take her to the vet while you're in there. She'll probably need to get checked out."

I nodded. Peppermint looked a little thinner than when I had last seen her, but otherwise, she appeared fine. I preferred to get her checked out anyway.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Anything to spend time with this little pup." He held a treat out to Peppermint as she sat in the front seat of my car. Peppermint sniffed it curiously but then she shied away from his hand. He set the treat down, so she could eat it. "I'll win her over," he said. "Then I'll kick the crap out whoever made you this afraid, yes I will." He scratched her behind the ears as she ate the treat.

I grinned, watching them. To most people, Griffin looked absolutely terrifying. He was a gym rat, who liked to spend his free time lifting weights. As a result, he looked like a wrestler. That, combined with the various burn scars on his arms and torso, made him look as if he was ready to rip someone limb from limb. Really, he was a huge softie, especially when it came to animals. Peppermint was still a little shy around him, but that would change eventually, I did not doubt it.

Griffin gingerly lifted Peppermint and put her in the front seat of his car before giving her another treat.

"Don't let her get sick on those," I said.

"I won't. But, I have to spoil her some. Keep me updated about the mystery woman, okay? I'd like to thank her myself."

"Of course."

My brother drove away with my dog and I went into the hospital. The nurse immediately recognized me. "Mr. Gouldson. What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Abby. A woman was just brought here, after getting hit by a car. Her name is Lacy, I think. Is there any way I can see her?"

She started looking at the computer. "Are you family?"

"No. She saved my dog. Twice. I just want to make sure she's okay."

She looked at the information and nodded. "I'll let you know when she wakes up, okay?"

I nodded. "Thanks, Abby."

I sat down in the waiting room to pass the time. I hated this place. I had visited the hospital more times in the past few years than I cared to admit. I loved Griffin and admired his need to save lives, but I wished he didn't feel the need to throw himself into fires to do it.

After about a half-hour of waiting, Abby came back to get me. "She's awake," she said. "Although, she's pretty freaked out. You might want to come back tomorrow."

"Please, I have to see her." I know I was obsessing over a stranger, but I had to thank her for saving Peppermint.

She nodded hesitantly. "Room 411," she said.

I went down the hall to the room. I could hear anxious voices on the other side of the wall.

"You don't understand," she was saying. "I can't be here. I can't afford to spend the night here. I don't even know how I'm going to pay for the ambulance ride."

"Lacy, you have a pretty severe concussion. You need to spend the night for observation. You can't even stand up, without the room spinning."

"I need to go," she said, her voice breaking. "My boss will kill me if I'm late for my shift tomorrow."

I knocked on the open door and they both turned to look at me. I recognized the doctor as Ethan, who often took care of my brother, when he showed up here. "Hey," I said. "I know this is a bad time, but I wanted to see if I can help in any way." I looked at Lacy. "I'm Liam. You saved my dog, earlier."

"How is she?" she asked. Her brow furrowed in concern. "Did the car hit her?"

"No. She's fine, thanks to you." I looked at her and then at Ethan. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I'll pay for all of the medical bills. After all, you're here because of me. It's the least I can do."

Her eyes widened. "No, I can't let you do that. Thank you, but I can't. It's too much."

I smiled. "It's nothing at all, trust me." I turned to Ethan. "I'll pay for everything. Just send me all bills, and I'll take care of it."

Ethan nodded. "Of course."

"No!" Lacy shouted and then winced in pain. "I'm not going to let you bankrupt yourself on my account. I appreciate the thought, but it's not necessary."

"Believe me, you're not bankrupting me, and it is necessary."

Ethan looked at Lacy. "It's important you stay overnight for observation. That would be best for everyone."

Lacy clenched her jaw, but she didn't argue any further. Judging from her pallor and the dark circles under her eyes, she was exhausted and probably not just from today.

"I’ll go take care of everything," Ethan said. He gave Lacy a comforting smile. "After a few days of bed rest, you'll be feeling a lot better, trust me."

Lacy gave a strained smile in return but didn't say anything.

After Ethan left, I sat down in the chair next to her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a car." She laughed slightly and then she looked at me, her brow furrowed. "I don't know how I'm ever going to pay you back for this."

"This is nothing. I mean it. Consider it a reward for saving Peppermint."

She smiled but shook her head. "This is way more than a reward. This is... a lot."

"You've never heard of me, have you?"

She looked up at me as if trying to place my face. "What was your name again? I'm sorry."

"Liam Gouldson."

She shook her head slowly. "No, I don't think so. Did I wait on you recently, or something?"

I smiled. "Nope." I took out my phone and Googled myself before handing it to her. "I started a tech company that kind of took off."

Her eyes widened as she looked at the results. "This... this can't be accurate."

"That's my picture, isn't it? Right next to a net worth of 10 billion dollars. So please, let me be the rich entitled asshole, who pays your medical bills."

She handed me back my phone. "You're not an asshole. I'm going to pay you back for this, somehow. Otherwise, I'll feel like a gold digger."

"I might have a way you can pay me back, actually, if you don't mind."

She nodded vigorously. "Anything," she said.

"Stay with me while you recover. At my house."

She blushed slightly. "W—why would you want that?"

Shit. I should have worded that differently. Now she was scared. "Nothing . . . indecent. It's just that Peppermint seems quite taken with you. She didn't want to leave your side at the park, and I've never seen her so comfortable with a human, before. She's a rescue dog and her last owner abused her. If you stayed with me, maybe you could keep her company and help her feel more comfortable. That's all. I’ll take care of everything and you can just relax in peace. You don't even have to see me, if you don't want to. All you'd have to do is spend time with Peppermint."

It sounded so weird, and wasn't just for Peppermint's sake. I wanted to help her and to take care of her. She looked so vulnerable and fragile. I wanted to protect her from everything that was currently troubling her. Besides, what was the point of having money, if I couldn't help people now and then?

"It sounds a little too good to be true." She looked at me cautiously. "Besides, I don't see how your taking care of me until I recover will count as me paying you back."

“Believe me, taking care of you would be a privilege.”