Page 71 of Miss Trust

Holy intensity. One word, yet my entire system went on notice. The way his gaze locked on mine didn’t help.

The sound of Daisy clearing her throat broke me from the trance. I turned towards her, needing the lifeline. “Um, you remember Daisy, my former neighbor?”

Chance glanced over, giving her a smile. “I do. Is this your soap stand?”

“It is.”

Penelope popped up. “Hi, Mr. Chance.”

His smile grew. “I’m sorry. You sound like Miss Penelope, but the Penny I know doesn’t have a dolphin and pig on her cheeks.”

She giggled. “It’s Peppa Pig. And I love dolphins.”

“Ah. Peppa. I won’t forget again. With the way you’ve been swimming lately, you could be a dolphin.”

Her grin was huge as she babbled on about her last swimming lesson.

My gaze flicked to see Daisy mouthing, “OMG. So adorable.”

Stop. I didn’t want to think of him being adorable with my daughter. Instead, I preferred to stay mad at him for butting in where I hadn’t asked him to go. For throwing money and his lawyers at a problem I hadn’t wanted to deal with. I’d prefer for him to stay the condescending dick he’d been when we’d first met.

“What are you doing here?” My tone was harsher than intended, but I felt off-balance from his unexpected appearance.

“Mona mentioned you were here today and I thought I’d check it out. You have a few minutes to give me the tour of the market?”

I was about to decline, not wanting to burden Daisy with both her booth and Penny, but she forestalled my coming rejection. “Go on. Penelope is fine, and I’ve got this. Be sure to check out the stand at the end. Best lemonade ever.”

Chance watched me as if waiting for me to find an excuse. I couldn’t.

“Okay. I’ll only be a few minutes.” I stepped around the booth and fell into step with him as we strolled down the row of merchants.

I didn’t miss the way people were glancing over at my companion. Women gave him looks of appreciation while men probably wondered if he was the owner of the market since no one else was wearing a suit on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Even when he wasn’t the official man in charge, Chance Maxwell was always the man in charge.

“Um, this tour is sort of self-guided. Fruits, veggies, baked goods, crafts. You want to go for lemonade?” I didn’t know what else to do with him.

“Yeah, it’s a hot day.”

I chuckled. “It’s warm, but then again, you’re in a three-piece suit.”

He grinned. “I came from the airport and only dropped by the house for a moment, long enough to find out you were here.”

I was tempted to ask why. Why did a man as busy as Chance come from the airport to a farmer’s market on a Sunday afternoon?

“Do you come to this market every weekend?” he asked.

“No. This is the first one. I wanted to help Daisy out for a change.”

“Is Penny having a good time?”

I tensed, immediately feeling defensive. “She’s staying in the back of the tent, so she’s not exposed. She needs to get out of the house every once in awhile, especially to see Daisy, who she adores.”

He stopped suddenly, turning towards me. “I never implied anything different.”

Jesus, what was wrong with me? “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overreact.”

“Did someone say something to you about bringing Penny here?”

“No, they don’t have to. I witness the whispers when people see her bald head, and I try to make decisions about whether to let her have some fun or keep her locked up in the house—and there’s no right answer. I have guilt either way. Then I spiral from there. Evidently into a raging bitch.”