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Emma and Bailey had just got back from dropping Giselle off at the airport. " I have to finish some work, then, we'll go mail this off to the publisher, then we'll go out to the zoo if you want." Bailey said opening the car door for her daughter.
Emma hopped out of the Tahoe and looked up at her mother. "I want to go see Scott."
Bailey smiled, she was being dumped for Scott. "I'll walk you down and you can ask, if he's busy, no pouting."
"Okay." the little girl said skipping along side of her mother. Bailey stayed at the bottom of the stairs, her feelings were still too raw to deal with him.
Emma climbed the stairs and knocked on his door. Scott smile down at Emma as he opened the door. "Hey Niblet." he said and bent to pick her up.
"Hey Scott." She said hugging his neck. "Can I spend time with you?"
"Sure, how about we take a walk down the beach, to the boardwalk and get a ice cream, ride a few rides." He suggested.
"Okay, let me ask Mama?"
Scott saw her at the bottom of the steps avoiding looking at him, he sighed, he hated this awkward shit.
"Mama, can I go to the boardwalk with Scott?" Emma asked.
"How long are you going to be gone?" She asked.
Emma ran back over to Scott. "How long we gonna be gone?" She asked hopping around wanting to go.
"Ask her if a couple of hours is fine?" Scott said.
Emma sighed and grabbed Scott's hand tugging him behind her. "It'll be faster if you just talk to her."
Scott walked down the stairs and watched as Bailey looked away from him. "I'll have her back in a couple of hours, I'll bring her back if she wants you, or anything."
Bailey nodded but refused to look at him. "Emma be a good girl." She said hugging her daughter.
"I will Mama, I promise, I'll miss you." The little girl said clinging to her mother for a minute.
Bailey smiled. "I always miss you Baby."
She let go of Emma and headed back to her home, she couldn't even look at him, without wanting to slap him, which was unfair since he had been upfront, she decided she needed to go to the gym and work out some of her anger.
Bailey ran on the treadmill, sweating up a storm, she figure she would make herself so tired she wouldn't feel like being mad.
Donny watched her, she looked angry, he wondered if Scott had pissed her off, he waited till she was done and walked over. "Hey Bailey."
"Hey Donny, how are you." She asked wiping her face with a towel.
"Good, quite a workout this morning." he commented.
"Well I haven't been in for a few days." She explained.
"Well look, I was wondering, I have a friend, real nice guy, he lost his wife last year ,anyway, he's just starting to date and well, you seem real nice, you know nothing serious, just someone to get his feet wet." Donny said.
Bailey opened her mouth to say no, but stopped, why not, she hadn't had a real date in a long time, maybe just someone to hang with. "Give me his number, I'll call him tonight."
Donny smiled, Robert was a nice guy and it would get her out from under Scott's radar hopefully,he rattled off the number and she put it in her cellphone. "Thanks Donny."
He nodded and grinned, maybe just maybe Robert and her would hit it off.
Bailey was just getting back from the Post Office when Scott and Emma drove up. Emma jumped from his truck, giving him a big hug and then ran over to her mother. Bailey grinned, she had three stuffed animals clutched in her arms. "Look Mama. Scott won them for me."
Thats great, did you thank him?" She asked.
"Yes Mama." She said and ran up the stairs to their house, Bailey followed her and opened the door for her.
She sighed and sat down. She really needed to get that man off her mind.
Scott left as soon as he dropped Emma off. He went to the gym and tried to get Bailey off his mind, hands down it was the best sex he ever had, but it was just sex, no more seconds for him, that would seem to much like a bad habit.
Donny walked over and sat down watching him. "I want you to back off Bailey, I hooked her up with a nice guy, a guy that is looking for something more than sex." He said.
Scott stopped lifting weights and laid them back on the weight bar. "Look , fine, I'll leave her alone, happy?" He asked.
"Thrilled, you know Robert right? Hes a really nice guy."
Scott rolled his eyes. "Boring as a box of mud, but if Bailey likes him, great." He said standing up.
"Good, Bailey needs a dependable man, and Emma needs someone who will make a good father." He stated.
Scott got pissed and quick, he might not be husband material, but Emma seemed to think he was great, hell he would make a good father, he felt insulted. "You know, Emma likes me, I'm good with her, she don't need some boring jackass to play daddy to her." he snapped and walked off.
Donny watched him leave, what the hell was that all about?
Bailey got her daughter ready, she put her Pink Kitten dress on and did her hair in pigtails. "Mama, I'm glad I get to go with you."
Bailey kissed her daughter's nose. "Of course you do."
She had called Robert and agreed to meet him for dinner and he told her to bring Emma along, she herself was dressed in a light blue sun dress with her curls pinned on top of her head. "Okay ready."
"Yep." She said and the two headed out of the house. "Mama is Robert nice?"
"Yes honey, I'm sure you'll like him." She said smiling.
Emma was still shy of men, but she wasn't wasn't about to get serious, a dinner date to meet him, was just that, she needed to expose Emma to more people, since she would be starting pre-school in the fall.
Bailey smiled at Robert, he was very nice and he was handsome in a banker sort of way. He had dark brown hair and clear blue eyes, a nice toned body, he looked good in his dress slacks and polo shirt. Emma seemed to like him too, and he helped her order and told her stories about the the animals he treated, he was a veterinarian, and Emma thought that was cool.
"Bailey I'm glad you brought Emma, she's very sweet." He said giving her a easy going smile.
Bailey grinned at him. "Well she seems to like you too."
The two discussed their jobs and included Emma in the conversations, when dinner was over, Robert walked them to the car and he he shook Emma's hand and Bailey's. "I had a nice time, maybe we can get together next week, for dinner and a movie?"
"I would love too." She said.
They said their good nights and Bailey and Emma left to go home. "I like him mommy, he was nice." She said.
"Me too, honey." Bailey said, but in her mind, she was thinking of Scott and the way he made her feel, Robert would never make her feel like that.
Scott sat on deck watching them pull in, Bailey sure wasn't wasting no time, hell was he that forgettable, he must be losing his touch.
It was dark, but he shrugged and walked over waving to Emma. "Hey Scott, guess what me and Mama went on a date, and he was nice and he let me order crab legs, I love crab legs and he's a pet doctor, I had fun." She finished out of breath.
Scott forced a smile on his face. "Thats great Niblet."
He looked at Bailey who looked happy, well great, she deserved a nice guy. "Emma say good night to Scott and go on up."
Emma hugged the big man. "Night."
"Good night Niblet." he said returning the hug.
Bailey watched her run up the stairs. " You know, if you want to date, I'll watch her."
Bailey looked at him. "Maybe, but she wanted to come tonight, it was fine." She said.
Scott shrugged. "Well she don't need to meet a bunch of different guys it might confuse her, beside she has me, I mean she don't need a bunch of random guys trying to play daddy."
Bailey almost lost her temper and then she realized he wasn't jealous of her, he was jealous of Emma, it was cute, he loved Emma. "I'll try to keep the random guys down to a minimum, I'm not a slut Scott regardless of what you think."
Scott got angry, had he said that? "Bailey I don't give a damn how many men you sleep with, I'm just concerned with Emma, I love her, I don't want to see her confused."
His words cut her to the quick. "Fine, next time I need a babysitter, I'll call you."
"Fine." he said and turned and walked off.
Scott stopped, he was being a jackass, being cocky was one thing, but she didn't deserve what he had said. He turned around. "Bailey, I'm sorry."
Bailey stopped and turned around , Scott walked back over. "Its not you, I know you're not a slut, its just, I really care about Emma, she's a great kid, and I like hanging out with her, I never had any kids, probably never will, I know it's stupid, but I sorta feel like she's my kid,I was just being a prick, I am sorry."
Bailey smiled in spite of herself, the man was a enigma, he could be such a pig, but with Emma he was different. "Okay, apology accepted, look you've brought Emma out of her shell, she is getting better thanks to you, you can see her whenever you want, she loves you."
Scott smiled and took her hand kissing it. "You're a nice woman Bailey, thanks."
She nodded and watched him leave, why couldn't he just be a jerk all the time, it would be easy to hate him if he was, but his softer side, was getting to her, and the problem was he had no real interest in her, they had sex, he was done with her.
Scott sat up late drinking beer, thinking about Bailey, she was dangerous, with her hot curves and cute hair, she was a good person, he needed to stay away form her, the more he was around her the more he liked her. That was danger for him, he would just see Emma when he wanted and avoid her, he sighed and got up, life was never simple.
Bailey had planned on a date for Saturday night, she asked Emma if she wanted to come, but the child shook her head. "I wanna stay with Scott, please?"
"Well let's see if he's available." She said dialing his cell. "Hello."
"Hey Scott its Bailey, I'm going out tonight, Emma wants to stay with you."
"Sure, I'll pick her up in a few minutes." Scott said.
"You have my number, is she has one of her panic attacks, right?" Bailey asked worried about the girl.
"Yea, and I will call you if she needs you, I promise." He said.
"Okay, bye." she said and hung up. She just hoped Emma would be okay, she was doing so good, but she always worried about a setback.
Scott had taken Emma to the video store and rented her movies, they were watching Aladdin , one of her favorites, Scott smiled as she sang along to the songs.
Scott handed her the bowl of popcorn and she smiled. "Thank you." She took a few bites and looked at Scott. "Thank you for letting me stay with you tonight."
"I'm glad you came over, didn't you want to go with your Mama?" He asked.
Emma shook her head. "Robert is nice, but I'd rather be with you." She said and climbed on his lap.
Scott's heart melted, how had he come to love the little girl so fast? Scott held her as she watched the movie and soon the girl was asleep. He took her to his room and laid her in the bed, the house had three bedrooms, one room was full of his wrestling memorabilia, the other room was set up as a guest room, but it was upstairs and he wanted to be able to hear her if she woke up, he left the door open and got in his recliner and laid back.
He didn't even want to think about Bailey's date and whether boring boy was trying to get in Brianna's pants.
Bailey smiled as Robert offered her some popcorn, she was having a nice time, he took her to dinner and then on to a romantic comedy movie, but that was the problem, it was nice, she felt like Robert was the big brother she never had, he was nice, she liked talking to him hanging out with him, but there was no spark there.
She had called before they went to the movie to check on Emma, she sounded happy and told Bailey she was having fun, she tried to put the worry from her mind and concentrate on the movie.
Scott jumped and sat up, he heard crying coming from his bedroom, he jumped up and rushed down the hall and into his bedroom, he found Emma sitting up crying.
"Hey Niblet, whats wrong?" He asked sitting down and pulling her in his lap.
The little girl snuggled in his lap, tears still falling from her eyes. "The bad man, he came to get me."
Scott rubbed her back. "Emma, he's in jail, no one is going to hurt you, I promise, I'll never let anyone, take you from your mama."
Emma wiped her eyes. "Will Mama be home soon?"
"Do you want to call her Niblet?" He asked grabbing a tissue to wipe her wet cheeks. "Well do you think she's okay?"
Scott frowned. "Of course she is Niblet, why wouldn't she be?" He asked.
Emma hugged him tight. "Cause when the bad man took me, he said mama was dead, and I wouldn't see her no more."
Scott wished he could have five minutes with that asshole, no wonder Emma was afraid to leave her mother's site, she went three months thinking her mother was dead. "Niblet, he lied, your mama is fine, we can call her if you want." He said kissing her forehead.
Emma nodded and Scott got up and carried her down the hall to his living room and grabbed his cell phone, he dialed Bailey's number. "Hello."
"Hey Bailey, Emma had a bad dream and she wants to talk to you." Scott said and handed the phone to Emma.
Bailey panicked till she heard her daughters voice. "Mama, I had a bad dream, I jus wanted to talk to you, you okay?"
"Yes Baby, I'm okay, I'll be home in a little while, I'm headed that way now." She said.
"Okay Mama, Scott made me feel better." Emma said.
"Good, I'm glad, I love you." She said.
"Love you too Mama." Emma said and handed the phone back to Scott. "Is she really okay?"
Scott nodded. "Yeah, she's fine, we'll see you in a bit."
Scott hung up and sat down and flipped on the TV. He sat down and settled Emma on his lap. Emma put her head on Scott's chest. Scott wrapped his arms around her, he had a strong protective instinct for the child, he didn't know why, and didn't really care why , but he vowed he would hurt anyone that ever brought any pain to the little girl.