by Taryn Quinn
“Haven’t you two had enough romance?” August swiped a finger through the mixture coating the plastic container on the food processor and licked it.
I didn’t whimper. I hoped.
“Hmm. Pretty good. Banana? You like those, princess?”
Rhiannon yanked her fist out of her mouth and started to cry.
“You’re eating her lunch, jerk. Here, sweetness. Let mama get you a bottle until we get this banana mess sorted.” Ivy grabbed a prepared one off the counter and handed it to her fussy daughter, who started sucking on the nipple like it was her job.
It basically was.
“I’ve got to run to the store. Do you have a few to watch her?” Ivy patted the pockets of her jeans as if she was trying to remember something. “I’d started a grocery list for the rest of the week, so if you can manage, I’ll stop by the Piggly too while I’m out. Shopping is so much easier when I don’t have to bring the baby in with me.”
“If your husband ever stayed home, he could watch his daughter.”
“He’s working.”
“Right. While gallivanting around LA. Wasn’t he on some magazine last week?”
“Meeting with rockstars is part of his actual work, Aug. Not sure why this concept is so difficult for you to grasp.” Ivy made a face. “So can you watch her or not? Actually, never mind. I know you’re on lunch, Kin, but maybe you can—”
“I’ve got her,” we said in unison.
Then we stared at each other.
“We’ll figure it out,” August said after a moment, his voice low and rough. “Go.”
“You’re sure?” Ivy grabbed her purse off the counter and stuffed her phone inside. “I’ll try to be quick.”
“Don’t forget the whipped cream,” I said over my shoulder.
August’s sour expression made me giggle even in the center of my own personal chaos. Which was not helped by the idea of alone time with Ivy’s brother with a rosy-cheeked baby between us.
Not in the slightest.
“You know it, sister.” Although the phrase was one Ivy had said a million times before, somehow it hit different. “Thank you both! Back soon. Bye, baby girl!” The door closed behind her as Rhiannon kept right on sucking in baby contentment.
“She’s pretty much the perfect child.” I reached out to stroke her cheek. “They’re so lucky.”
“Uh-oh,” August teased. “You’re not getting baby fever, are you?”
“Goddess, no.” I jerked back as if the baby had become radioactive.
She hadn’t, but August and his possibly too talented penis might as well have been.
“Happens to the best of us when confronted with an absolutely perfect kid. Right, Rhi-Rhi?”
The baby blinked up at him and kept right on drinking.
“Do you have baby fever?”
He didn’t laugh as I’d expected him to, just shrugged. “Kids are cool.”
“Oh, sure, you think they’re cool because you have the easy part.”
His eyes zeroed in on my face, and my nipples did a double-barrel salute through my raspberry-colored sweater. His gaze dropped and he licked his lips. “Not so easy from where I’m standing, Kin.”
I didn’t know what he meant, and I was too wiped out right now to analyze it. “Not a picnic on this side of the kitchen either.” All at once, my bladder reminded me I had other things to take care of. As did my racing heart. “Excuse me a second.”
“Sure. Is everything okay?”
“Fine. Perfect.” I hurried out of the kitchen before he could be sweet and make me cry. I wasn’t normally that sloppy, but right now, nothing was normal.
As soon as I closed myself in the bathroom, I checked my underwear. I already knew what I wouldn’t find.
Nope, no easy outs for me today.
Or hard ones, since I couldn’t decide what the hell I wanted.
Closing my eyes, I leaned my head against the wall beside the toilet. Tears hovered far too close. Except now I wasn’t even sure why I was about to cry.
I’d always wanted kids. The husband part had gone out of focus a few years ago, but the kids portion of the equation had never quite managed to fade no matter how often I shoved the idea into the background. Juggling business and motherhood wasn’t easy. I was practical enough to realize it would be hard to do both well alone.
And of course I would be alone, because when had I been anything but? Once or twice, I’d thought I might have met someone special who would stick around.
I’d been wrong. Ivy and her family were the only people I could count on besides myself.
August is part of her family. You can count on him too.
For normal stuff, sure. When a kid had kicked the bottom of my shop door and messed up the wood, August had brought over a new kickplate without me even asking—and he’d matched it perfectly to my wood. He never hesitated to help if I needed something special for the store that I couldn’t find. He’d even offered to build me a tall, narrow dresser to fit in a space I wanted to outfit with accessories to go with some of my vintage finds.
But this was different. How did you tell a guy a hookup at a wedding might end up in forever?
I didn’t know how long I sat there, swallowing over the lump in my throat. After a few minutes, August knocked on the door. “Kin?”
I forced myself to rise and wash my hands. “Sorry, did you need to use it? Just a sec.” I dried off my hands and opened the door.
August was leaning against the jamb, his hands tucked in his pockets. I stopped short, unprepared for him to be that close—and lifted a hand to his chest when he leaned in.
“Wait.” There was no keeping the panic from my voice.
“It feels like I’ve been doing is waiting.” His gaze lingered on my mouth as I flexed my fingers over the shirt warm from his body. “You make me crazy, you know that?”
“I do?”
“Oh, yeah. You can’t be that oblivious.”
When I dropped my hand and tucked my hair behind my ear, he let out a rough chuckle. “Or maybe you can be.” He lifted my chin with his thumb and forefinger. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“With or without clothes?”
The corner of his mouth twisted upward. “Both. But I’m not going to lie I can’t forget the wedding. And not because you caught the cat.”
The plush cat that currently lived in my closet, hidden under a pile of scrap material. I didn’t need any reminders—not of the amazing time I’d spent with August or of the ridiculous possibility I could ever get married, never mind any time soon.
“I can’t forget it either, but it’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is.” He drew a finger down the side of my face before moving back the same curl I’d just tucked behind my ear. It wouldn’t stay put. Just like my jumping belly as August’s bottle green eyes searched mine. “We don’t have any rules. We’ll just do what feels good.” He dipped his head, and this time, I fisted a hand in his shirt.
To hold him off or hold on, I wasn’t sure.
“I might be pregnant.”
Eight
My head kept moving toward hers, the white noise in my head fuzzing out her words.
We could talk later. Right now, I was focused on her pursed glossy pink lips and the way she was clutching my shirt—
Wait, she wasn’t tugging me closer. She was holding me off while still gripping me tight.
I forced myself to suck in oxygen as my all too active dick surged against my zipper without any concern for manners. I’d just had to wear my tightest pair of jeans today. They might as well have been a tourniquet, for fuck’s sake.
“Okay, try again.” I shut my eyes to get myself under control. “I’m listening. And I’m ignoring my cock.”
Her quick burst of laughter edged on maniacal. “If I’d ignored your cock, we wouldn’t be here. I’m not actually sure we are here yet, but if we are, your cock is to blame. How old was that condom anyway?”
“What a
re you talking about?”
She shook her head then pulled a box out of the purse she wore cross-body and slapped it against my chest.
I stared down at it. “Clear Blue—what the hell?”
“Yeah.” Kinleigh blew out a sigh. “I haven’t gotten my period.”
“What?”
She surprised me by smiling. “You know how babies are born, right?”
I almost said what again then decided I’d just sag against the wall and hope this dick-deflating conversation would help the blood flow reroute north again.
“Okay, catch me up. Slowly.”
Her lips twitched. “We had sex.”
“Amazing, life-changing sex, yes.”
Her smile grew, lighting up the fire behind her blue eyes. I was addicted to her expression. Intoxicated by it. So much so that I almost forgot what we were talking about.
Until she spoke again.
“Might really be life-changing.” She gripped the box. “I should probably take this.”
“It hasn’t been that long, right? So maybe you’re just late.”
“Maybe. Sometimes I am.” She frowned. “Where’s the baby?”
“I sold her for some extra wood. Figured Ivy wouldn’t mind, since she’s always on the hunt for romance.” Which I wasn’t thinking about, especially not now.
Kinleigh’s cheeks turned pink. “Seems like you have plenty right now.”
“Smart ass. And that’s even when you scared half a decade off my life.”
Her humor vanished as she turned away.
“Kin, c’mon. I’m just kidding.” I touched her shoulder. “Let’s take the test before we panic.”
“You think you’re scared? What about me? I’m the one who has to do this alone.”
I hated being repetitive, but in this case, it couldn’t be helped. “What? Why would you be alone?”
“August, be real. We had sex.”
“Yeah, I was there.”
“It was just—”
“Don’t.” I cupped her shoulder and shifted her toward me again, but she held her ground and stubbornly remained facing the other direction. “It wasn’t ‘just’ anything. I care about you. You care about me. Right?”
When she didn’t answer, I let my hand fall away. I’d been chasing this woman around both of our stores for weeks. I’d thought it was just because she was weirded out about Ivy and would get over it. “Hell of a way to tell me, Kin.”
“I’m not trying to tell you anything. We burned off some steam, and we’re friends.”
“Good friends. Friends who got naked once. I would love it if we got naked again, assuming you want the same thing.”
She didn’t respond.
I pushed a hand through my hair. Why did I keep trying to beat my head—and other parts of my anatomy—against the brick wall of this woman? She was sweet and creative and sexy as hell, but there were other women who rang those bells. Other ones who wouldn’t make me feel as clumsy as an outcast high school kid trying to win a date with the homecoming queen.
I wasn’t that guy. I had a great business. Supportive family and friends. A full life with, yes, women who would’ve been happy to go out with me. Or stay in.
I’d even come close to wondering what life would be like with someone more permanent. The only problem was none of them were Kinleigh Scott. And now there could be a baby.
Fuck, we might’ve made a baby.
Us. Her and me, together. The idea was scary as fuck, but somehow it was still…good.
Crazy but good.
Even if she didn’t think I needed to be a part of it. I was just the sperm donor, after all. We’d let off steam, so now I was supposed to get gone. That was the role she expected me to play.
Her plot was just about to twist.
“You can think of us being together as casually as if we’d met for lunch, but I’m not like that.” I struggled to keep my voice steady. “Just because I’m male doesn’t mean I treat sex as if it’s meaningless. If I go there, it’s important to me. You’re important to me.”
She pivoted to face me. “You’re important to me too. But what about Ivy?”
“What about her?”
“I don’t know. Isn’t this weird for her?” She lifted her hands and dropped them. “I mean, one time, she never has to know. But if there’s repeats…if there’s a—” She pressed her lips together and shook her head.
I clasped both of her hands in mine. “She loves you. I’m pretty sure she loves me. I’m going to guess she’d be okay with it. My sister only wants us to be happy.” I rubbed my thumbs over the backs of her hands, so pale and cool in mine. “Let’s take it one step at a time, okay?”
“Yeah. I suppose I should take this.” She stepped away from me and drew the test from her purse. “Before Ivy comes back. I mean, I could go home and take it.”
“No. Do it here. Now. I can’t wait to find out.”
A wrinkle formed between her brows. “I thought you weren’t freaking.”
“Of course I’m freaking. But until we know there’s something to worry about, let’s just…not.”
“Right. That’s logical.”
Rhiannon started to cry from her room just down the hall. “I’ll get her,” I said quickly. I’d known I probably wouldn’t be able to put her down for long, but I’d wanted to see what was going on with Kinleigh. “You take the test.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
She moved toward the bathroom, suddenly seeming so fragile although I know she wasn’t. She was anything but. Even so, everyone needed reassurance sometimes.
Including me.
“Kin?”
She glanced back.
“We’ll be okay, no matter what. I promise.”
Nodding, she stepped inside and shut the door.
After rolling out the tension in my neck, I went to check on my niece. Rhiannon had worked herself into a good head of mad. Cheeks red, big blue eyes streaming.
Probably a Ferguson family trait.
I scooped her up and rocked her gently, walking to the big window that looked out on the street. I sang a lullaby to her, one that usually worked, while Rhiannon sobbed.
Good God, did I really think I could do this? Being an uncle was one thing. I was still finding my way there, but I also got to give her back if she fussed or made too much of a mess. I’d changed a couple of diapers when I had no choice. Still, my sister was in charge.
What would it be like if I was in charge? Well, Kinleigh and I. We would be a team, no matter what she believed.
That concept didn’t bother me nearly as much as I would’ve thought, huge freaking surprise aside.
I smiled down at Rhiannon as she reached up to tug on my whiskers. I’d been involved in a special order project for a customer until the wee hours of the morning, and shaving had been the last item on my list today.
Ow. My niece had a grip on her.
As the minutes passed, my heart throbbed in my ears. What was going on in there? Was she all right? Maybe I should make sure she hadn’t passed out or something.
I turned with Rhiannon in my arms as the door opened.
Kinleigh’s eyes were shadowed and heavy, her mouth drawn tight. Neither diminished her beauty, but there was no missing her pervasive sadness.
Momentarily forgetting the baby in my arms, I crossed the room to her and wrapped my arm around her to draw her close. I brushed a kiss over her forehead. “It’s okay, Kin. We’ll figure it all out, I swear.” Even as I spoke softly, my mind was whirling and my pulse was racing. I couldn’t take in enough air.
This was really happening. We were having—
Kinleigh combed her fingers through Rhiannon’s baby fine curls and looked up at me, her chin trembling. “I’m not pregnant.”
Her words struck me mute. No delay in my brain this time. I understood exactly what she’d said, and I didn’t know how to compute it.
Rhiannon looked up between us and grabbed for one of
Kinleigh’s curls, tugging hard enough that she broke our eye contact and squeezed Rhi’s chubby little fist.
I didn’t know what to say. So many emotions were tangling inside me that I couldn’t verbalize them.
As if Kinleigh understood—or maybe she just needed to hold onto the baby right now—she eased Rhi out of my arms so I could walk to the window. I braced my palm against the glass and tried to come up with something rational.
This was a good thing. It was. We weren’t even in a relationship. Not from lack of trying on my part but still. We definitely weren’t in the space to have a baby.
“August?”
Kinleigh’s soft voice just about killed me. I forced myself to smile as I turned back toward her, noticing my niece had quieted in her arms and fallen asleep again. Soothed by her easy rocking and how she cuddled her against her just right.
“You have a way.” I nodded at the baby and she glanced down, smiling faintly before her chin trembled again.
She lifted it defiantly and met my gaze. “Glad I have my niece.”
So much was unsaid in that statement, and none of it made sense. A few minutes ago, she’d been worried about being pregnant. We both had been. So why did it feel like now we were…disappointed?
I tucked my hands in my pockets. “This is what you wanted,” I said carefully.
“What we wanted.”
“You’re sure?”
“About what?”
“The test…you did it right?”
“It’s not rocket science, Becks. You pee on a stick and it tells you your future.”
“Maybe it didn’t work? Isn’t that a thing? Like sometimes it says you aren’t and you are?”
She shifted the baby, seeming as if she couldn’t figure out how she wanted to hold her. Rhiannon was currently unconscious, so she didn’t mind. “Do you want me to be?”
“I didn’t say that. The timing isn’t good. We aren’t—hell, what are we?”
Kinleigh shifted her gaze somewhere over my shoulder. “We’re important to Ivy.”
“Right. We are. But as for us, you and me, what are we?”
“We’re friends.”
“Yeah. And? Because gotta say, Kin, I don’t usually fuck my friends.”
“August,” she gasped, tilting the baby precariously so she could cover her ears. Very belatedly.
