by Lexi Wilson
I wasn’t sure I felt about it, but I couldn’t deny that kissing him made me want to go home with him and do a lot more than kiss, especially after what we’d shared last night.
I sucked in a little breath as heat pooled at my center.
Hunter laughed. “I never have understood why women have to go to the bathroom in packs.”
Daniel chuckled, “Hurry back.”
In thirty seconds, we were in the ladies’ room, and Jacy was staring at me. My heart was still thumping from the kiss and my thoughts about other dirty things we could do together.
“You have something you need to tell me?” my friend said, raising an eyebrow.
Signing, I leaned against the cool wall of the restroom. “Remember how I was telling you about the big Friday dinner?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“It went really well, and while I was there, I figured I’d make a big decision and just do what you were encouraging me to do anyway.”
Jacy’s eyes widened. “Go for the billionaire?”
I sighed, “I don’t care that he’s a billionaire.”
“But it’s not like it hurts.”
“No, it doesn’t hurt. I suggested I might be too tipsy to drive home, so he gave me a ride, and then, well, we slept together.”
Jacy nodded, a huge grin on her face. Then her grin turned into a frown. “Now, this sounds totally ridiculous coming from me, given what I said before, but before when I was pushing you at him, it was because he was a hot and single billionaire, not a ready-made family.”
“So? What are you getting at?”
“I’m just saying that adding a kid to the mix changes everything.” She shrugged, “It kind of makes everything more serious, and not just naughty fun on the side. You have to take all that into account.”
“So, what, I shouldn’t be with him because he has a kid? That makes no sense at all. If anything, the way he’s handling it shows he’s a responsible guy.”
Jacy put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “All I’m saying is that you’ve finally managed to push past your pain. And that’s a really good thing, but it doesn’t mean you’re totally free.” She let out a long, labored sigh. “Not just you, but him. He only has this baby because his little sister just died. It’s not like he’s free from issues at the moment either.”
“What are you saying, Jacy?”
“I’m saying that neither of you can know how you’ll feel about all of this in a few months, and maybe since there’s a baby involved, you might want to consider being a little more careful than usual.”
I sighed. “How is this different from any other relationship?”
Jacy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “And that’s just it, you work together, and you’ve slept together once. That’s not a relationship. That’s just some fun.”
I frowned. “It’s not like it’s nothing.”
She waved a hand. “I’m worried you might be jumping into something serious too quickly, rather than just keeping it fun. Just saying you might want to slow things down, assuming that’s what you’re really interested in. But the more I think about it, I’m not sure it is, especially given what I just saw.”
I stared at her, totally lost. I was still reeling from the fact that the same woman who had strongly encouraged me to go after Daniel now seemed to be counseling the opposite. It seemed especially ironic given how quickly she’d attached herself to Hunter.
Yes, the situation had changed, but not in a way that would make him flightier. Men with children were far less likely to go from woman to woman.
After wrestling with my friend’s words for a few seconds, I gave up trying to figure out what she was saying. “What do you mean? I’m lost. What do you think I’m really interested in if not Daniel?”
“It’s simple.”
“It is? Then enlighten me!”
“Okay. Let me ask you something. If you had to choose between having Daniel and helping that baby, which would you choose?”
I shook my head. “That doesn’t make sense. Helping the baby is helping Daniel. Why would I have to choose?”
“Because at the end of the day, romance and crying little babies aren’t the same thing. Come on. Be real. Is this about some sex on the side, being a part-time nanny, or trying to move into a new serious relationship?”
“I am being real, Jacy!”
She narrowed her eyes. “And you probably still haven’t gone through with your divorce, yet.”
“That’s just paperwork.” I waved a hand. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Paperwork that’s blocking your future, and maybe proving that you aren’t really willing to move on.”
I frowned, my heart kicking up a bit. Jacy was really starting to piss me off, and that was pretty rare.
“I am trying to move on,” I said, “and now you’re telling me not to.”
Jacy crossed her arms and shook her head. “No one wants you to move on more than I do, but I also want to make sure you actually aren’t setting yourself up for more disappointment.” She sighed and dropped her arms to her side. “Right now, you’re getting to coo over a sleeping baby, not dealing with staying up all night with a crying baby, a baby that’s not even yours.” She pointed at me. “You need to figure out what this is about and what is the most important, because otherwise you’re going to get all mixed up, and again, when I was encouraging you to go after him, he was single and free. So who do you choose? The baby or the man?” She narrowed her eyes and stared me. “If you can’t choose, you should probably stay away from both.”
My fingers curled into fists, and I wanted to yell at Jacy and wipe that smug frown off her face, but I couldn’t manage anything other than slumping against the wall and uncurling my hands. Just because she was saying things that upset me didn’t mean she was wrong.
I’d spent last night focused only on my heart in a situation where the most vulnerable person in the situation, Sasha, wasn’t even around. I needed to be on much firmer ground emotionally before I went and seriously tried to enter a relationship.
The more I thought about it, the more I also realized I could learn what kind of man Daniel actually was. We both needed to put Sasha first, and if he had a problem with us cooling things off, then it would be even less of a reason to be with him.
“I—” I sighed. “I guess I choose the baby. Sasha needs me more than Daniel.”
“Yeah, I thought that’s what you’d say.” A thoughtful look appeared on Jacy’s face. “I think you know what you need to do, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have more in the future. I really think it would be a good idea to keep everything else on the backburner until you both have all your emotions worked out.”
I opened my mouth to reply again, feeling like I should argue back, but then shut it and nodded. Jacy wasn’t crazy. A lot of things had changed in recent weeks, and it was hard to know how much of my seduction attempt was about acting on my own impulses versus getting too caught up in all the intense emotion swirling around Daniel and me.
“We better head back out,” I said, “before they figure out what we’re talking about.”
Jacy laughed, “They probably figured that out the minute we left.”
We headed back and sat down at the table.
“I was getting ready to send in the SWAT team,” Hunter said with a grin.
We both chuckled lightly.
I glanced down at Sasha in her infant seat, still sleeping peacefully, the earlier conversation settling in my heart. No, this little girl needed me more than I needed a new boyfriend.
Daniel smiled at me, and I averted my gaze. There was no point in bringing it up now, and it was going to be hard for him to hear, but I was determined not to sleep with him again anytime soon.
Chapter 23
Daniel
Yawning, I waited for my coffee to finish brewing. My eyelids were heavy. I needed the coffee, or I was going to fall asleep.
I spared a gl
ance over at Sasha who was sleeping in her infant seat on the floor next to the island in my kitchen. The night before, she’d been even fussier than normal, so I didn’t get a lot in the way of decent sleep.
Yawning again, I wondered if she actually was fussier than normal, or if I’d just gotten used to Sandy handling everything. From what I’d read, in most situations, a couple chooses someone for nighttime duty with the understanding that the baby probably won’t sleep through the night for a while.
My coffee finally finished, I poured myself a cup and gulped it down without waiting for it to cool. I needed caffeine immediately. At that point, I was close to collapsing next to Sasha.
The doorbell sounded, and my heart kicked up. Adrenaline flooded me, and I almost dropped my cup.
My panicked gaze jerked to Sasha, but she still slept soundly. I put my cup down and ran toward the front door as the doorbell sounded again.
Murder most foul. That’s the idea that crossed my mind concerning whoever was out there risking waking the baby up.
The doorbell sounded a third time. I threw open the front door, preparing to deliver a rather vicious tirade against the idiot who thought they could come to my front door and wake up my baby.
Morgan stood on the other side. Okay, so I didn’t want to murder her. My heart still racing, I blinked several times. I’d spent so much time focused on being angry, I couldn’t wrap my mind around why she was even standing in front of me.
“Hello,” Morgan said, with a soft smile.
I stared at her for a long moment before responding. “It’s Sunday morning.”
“Last time I checked.”
“You don’t understand.”
She tilted her head, her blue eyes filled with confusion. “Um, I guess that’s true enough.”
“You don’t work Sunday mornings, or Sunday at all for that matter. So what are you doing here?”
“I promised to help with the baby, so I’m here to help with the baby.” Morgan blinked several times. “Or did I just imagine that entire conversation yesterday? I thought we had an understanding.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Sorry, I’m a bit out of it. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I—well, thank you. When you agreed to help, I thought you meant just when you were working. I didn’t expect you to help on the weekend, too.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I did then, so here I am.” She offered me a smile and a shrug.
I nodded and motioned inside. Once Morgan had entered, I closed the door.
“Where’s Sasha?” Morgan asked.
“Sleeping in the kitchen,” I rushed toward the kitchen, my heart picking up again.
She had been sleeping in the kitchen, anyway. But that was before three doorbells. Even if I appreciated Morgan’s help, she might have made the day harder for both of us by showing up unannounced and surprising me and the baby with noise.
After a few steps into the kitchen, I let out a huge sigh of relief. Sasha still slept in her basket as soundly as she had before.
I almost wanted to laugh. I couldn’t so much as sneeze from several rooms away without that baby crying, but Morgan could show up ringing the doorbell, and it somehow didn’t faze Sasha one bit. Not that I was about to complain, but it was almost like Sasha knew.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked. “Not that I’m going to turn down the help, but I had no expectations about the weekends. You still have a chance to run.”
“She’s a baby, not a bear,” Morgan nodded once. “And yes, I’m sure.” She pursed her lips and then looked me up and down, her brow furrowed.
“What?”
“You look terrible,” she chuckled quietly, her gaze flicking to the baby and back to me. “And it’s been, what, one real day without help? You’re pretty hopeless for a billionaire.”
I let out a quiet grunt, still mindful of the baby. “We all have our skillsets. I should obviously not run a daycare.”
“Go take a shower. You smell.”
“What?”
“I thought it was pretty straight-forward,” Morgan shrugged. “You smell like you could use a shower. So go!”
“What about Sasha?”
She shook her head. “That’s the reason I’m here, remember?”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I realized she did have a point. I was obviously going to need a lot more coffee given how easy I was to confuse at that moment.
After a quick glance at Sasha, I headed out of the kitchen and upstairs toward my bedroom. Now that Morgan had mentioned it, my stink was pretty damn noticeable, not that Sasha seemed to mind. She smelled worse than this half the time.
Once I reached my bedroom, I started up the shower. A minute later, I was lathering up in the steam of my multi-head shower. I hadn’t had near enough caffeine to wake me up, but the water hitting my body was as effective as ten cups of coffee.
I shampooed my hair, then finally toweled off. My pajama pants and T-shirt reeked of sweat, and God knew what else, so I tossed them into the laundry basket and switched into a fresh pair of sweats and a new T-shirt.
The whole process seemed like a relaxing hour, but in truth was closer to fifteen minutes. I made my way back downstairs to the kitchen, fully expecting a squealing baby.
Silence greeted me, along with Morgan’s smile once I entered the kitchen. She sat in a chair at the island, a few pieces of paper laying out in front of her and a pen in hand.
“What’s all that?” I asked.
“Lists,” she said. “I need to figure out what you have, what you know, that sort of thing. Then we can make this whole process a lot more efficient. Raising a child is a lot like running a company; you have to eliminate the time sinks and focus on the best way to anticipate problems.”
“That makes sense.” I sat down next to her, scanning her various lists: BASIC CHILDCARE, SUPPLIES, FOOD, DIAPERING, HEALTHCARE.
I nodded to myself. I wasn’t surprised. Her attention to detail at work was outstanding, so I didn’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be the same thing in a more domestic setting. I felt a little dumb because it had never occurred to me to approach baby care this way.
Morgan looked over at me and sighed. “So, now I’m going to have to go through and ask you a bunch of different questions, that way I can check off everything and be sure. The last thing you want, or I want for that matter, is for the baby to need something and then find out we don’t have it, then have to rush to the store in the middle of the night.”
“That makes sense.” I chuckled. Broken-record time, apparently.
Seconds flew into minutes as Morgan questioned me about my knowledge and the current supplies. Despite Sandy’s abrupt departure, she did make sure I was well-prepared, so the process wasn’t all that confusing, and I didn’t feel nearly as clueless as I had when Sasha first came home from the hospital.
Every once in a while, Morgan did ask me something I wasn’t sure about, but it didn’t seem that critical. I didn’t know, for example, where the infant thermometer was.
Morgan had been pretty thorough when the question of taking care of the baby first came up, so there wasn’t an issue of missing baby furniture and that sort of thing. The main point of the whole thing was focusing more on consumables, like formula, bottle liners, diapers, diaper powder, and that sort of thing.
We discussed things for a good twenty minutes, and I ended up surprised by how well-stocked and prepared I seemed to be. I’d changed plenty of diapers, fed the baby, burped the baby, and all that, so other than needing someone to help me divide up the care, especially at night, I was feeling pretty good.
Just as we finished, Sasha woke up and started crying. Guess she wanted to put my new helper to the test.
Morgan leaned down and made a face. “Someone needs to be changed.” She smiled up at me and then pointed to a kitchen cabinet where I kept a few diapers, as we’d discussed just minutes before. “Hand me a diaper, and I’ll change her.”
I walked over to the cabinet an
d grabbed the wipes and a diaper. I handed them to Morgan, and with quick, deft hands, she changed Morgan. Fast. Faster than me, even faster than Sandy.
Sasha stared at Morgan, her tears gone.
I stared at the pair, a sudden thought striking me like a bolt from the sky. There was something so cozy, so domestic about the little scene. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was what married life had been like for Morgan and her husband, and what it might be like for us.
It wasn’t that I wanted to marry her. We’d just started a relationship after all, but the presence of a small baby changed the whole dynamic and made it a lot harder to only think about dates and sex.
After Morgan had thrown the diaper in the trash, I walked over to her and leaned in for a kiss. She tilted her head and stepped back with a sigh.
I stared at her for a second, confused. After what we’d done after the party, I couldn’t imagine she was bashful about the idea of kissing. She hadn’t even minded when I kissed her in front of Hunter and Jacy.
“What? You don’t want to kiss me in front of the baby? Is that it?” I laughed at the thought. “Kissing’s not bad.”
Morgan shook her head. “No, it’s not that.”
She wouldn’t look at me. My stomach tightened, and I was sure that whatever followed wouldn’t be something I liked.
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“Who is the most important person in this room right now?”
“Huh? What are you getting at?”
“Who is the most important person in this room right now?” she repeated.
I opened my mouth to say her, but slowly closed it instead. My gaze shifted from Morgan down to Sasha who stared up at Morgan, wide-eyed.
“Sasha,” I said.
Morgan nodded. “Exactly.” She nodded toward the baby. “I’m more than willing to help with her. More than that, I want to help with her, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to pursue a relationship right now because of that. We both need to be focused on the baby.”
