Because he was a decent guy and he knew how to take care of Ana. He’d be a good dad for her. But if he wasn’t really her father, then what? Bailey’s stomach twisted as she considered all she would have to do to make permanent room for a baby in her life. All the things she didn’t know, all the things she’d need to provide. She’d have to find a more stable profession, something with insurance. She’d wanted to go to nursing school, but how would she afford that with a kid? She’d need to work out childcare and think about good schools and paying for college someday—
Panic squeezed her throat, but she closed her eyes and forced herself to concentrate on her breathing. Within moments, her heart rate slowed again and the panic receded to the edges of her brain. When she opened her eyes, Alexei was still there. He was calmly sliding the parts of the gun back together, his gaze on her the entire time. He didn’t even need to look at what he was doing. That level of competence was terrifying in a way.
“You done freaking out now?”
She nodded, her heart in her throat. “Yeah,” she finally managed to croak. “How did you know?”
“Could be the pasty-white skin that gave it away. Or the throbbing pulse in your throat. Or maybe it’s the way your nostrils flared while you closed your eyes and counted methodically.”
Bailey gaped at him. “How in the hell did you know I was counting?” She knew she hadn’t done it out loud. Hadn’t moved her lips either.
He wiped down the gun and laid it on the pad before meeting her gaze again. “Because it’s my business to pay attention to signals. I’m good at it. Get dressed and I’ll take you to lunch. I fucking starved to death waiting for you to wake up.”
She couldn’t get over how he just knew what was going on in her head. It was kinda freaky. She shook herself mentally. “You could have woken me up earlier.”
“Nope, couldn’t. You needed the sleep.” He stood. “Now come on and get ready. We can head over to Walmart or Target after lunch and get that portable crib I was telling you about.”
All she could do was stare up at him. He was so freaking handsome, so rugged—and he made her insides melt just with the tone of his voice. She didn’t need that in her life right now, but she’d be damned if she wanted to let it go.
“Why are you so nice about this? About me being here and upsetting your routine? I showed up on your doorstep with a baby, screeching like a cat, and you’re just so fucking nice to me.”
He slid a loaded magazine into the weapon, racked the slide, and then calmly tucked the gun into his pants. Once it was there, she couldn’t even tell he had it. How did he do that? And how did he look bigger and more intense between one breath and the next?
“I’ve told you before, Bailey. I’m not nice. I’m not cuddly or soft or biddable. I’m not looking for love, and I don’t particularly want children. But I don’t turn people away when they need help. Goes against everything I stand for. You need help. Ana needs protecting.”
Her gaze slid over hard muscles and thick limbs. It occurred to her that overpowering her would be nothing for him. And yet he didn’t. He stood there waiting for her, and her heart melted more than she wanted it to. Don’t make this into something it’s not, Bailey. Men leave. Men fail. Men can’t be trusted.
“You’re helping us because we need it, not because I can pay you or anything, right?” She didn’t wait for his acknowledgment. “Yeah, Alexei, I call that nice. You call it what you want, but you’re just about the nicest person I’ve met lately.”
He shook his head like she was a few bricks short of a load. “Then wait until the asshole who threatened you turns up again. You won’t think I’m very nice after that.”
She couldn’t help but smile at him. “Pretty sure I still will.”
They went to lunch at a small diner where the waitresses fussed over Ana and the hamburgers were amazingly good. After lunch, they went to Target and picked up a thing called a Pack ’n Play. It was a playpen, a crib, and a bassinet in one. It also folded so it was portable. There were so many things Ana needed. Naturally, Alexei navigated it all with the cool confidence that Bailey had come to expect.
She was a couple of hundred dollars lighter when they left, but at least she had the right stuff now. When they got back to his place, he showed her how to set up the portable crib, and they put Ana in it so she could kick and play with her feet. Alexei explained tummy time to her, and they put Ana on her tummy for a few minutes before turning her again.
Bailey gazed into the crib at the tiny baby and felt overwhelmed by responsibility but also by tenderness. She reached out to touch a tiny hand. It immediately closed on her finger, and Ana squeezed with a surprisingly strong grip.
“Why don’t you want children?” she asked Alexei. She hadn’t forgotten what he’d said earlier—that he wasn’t looking for love and didn’t want children. The first part made perfect sense. The second, considering how much of a natural he was, didn’t.
He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. He looked broody and intense. She thought he wasn’t going to answer.
“My parents had six kids, and they were constantly overwhelmed. Add in being immigrants and trying to learn a new language and new customs, and I don’t think I ever saw them happy together. They were always fighting, always in over their heads. They tried to hide the fighting, but I knew. They divorced two years ago, as soon as the youngest twins hit high school. They were good parents, but I think having so many children broke them as a couple.”
Ana let go of her finger, and Bailey straightened. “But that’s six children, not one or two.”
He snorted. “Magic sperm, Bailey. I could father six kids before I knew what happened to me. Hell, my luck, it’d happen all at once.”
Bailey winced. “Ouch.”
“Yeah, ouch is right.”
She grinned at him. “Well, sure, ouch for you too—but I was thinking more about the poor woman who would have to carry six babies in her belly before popping them all out. What a nightmare.”
“And now you know why I wrap it tight.”
Unexpected heat flared beneath her skin. Holy shit, was that a blush? Really? But the thought of this man standing in front of her with a hard-on, his hand wrapped around it as he slid on a condom, was almost unbearably sexy.
He cocked his head. “Are you blushing?”
Hell. So much for being cool. “A little. Maybe.” Why deny what he could clearly see happening?
“Over birth control?”
Bailey rolled her eyes. “Not over birth control, you idiot. More or less the thought of you putting the condom on.”
His gaze went smoky—and then it dropped over her body, slowly, before rising again. Their eyes met. Held. Her heart pounded. No, no, no. Bad idea. So bad.
“I’d be happy to give you a personal demonstration.”
As if on cue, her nipples tightened. Her pussy grew wet.
She wanted to groan. She so did not have time for this. She had goals, plans. And a huge responsibility with baby Ana. There was no time to get involved with anyone. Especially not with a hunky Navy SEAL who did dangerous things for a living—and who might still be Ana’s father even though she didn’t really think so anymore.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Her voice was hoarse. Strained. “I can’t afford distractions right now.”
The fire in his gaze flickered but didn’t cool. “I don’t think either of us can. But it’s been a long time for me, and I’m about to lose my mind. Stripping you naked and tasting you doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to me at this moment.”
Her belly flipped. Butterflies swirled. She wanted to lean into him. Kiss him. See if it was as exciting as she imagined it would be. Stroking herself into orgasm was getting old, but maybe just one kiss would reignite the thrill of getting off by herself.
No.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
He pulled in a breath. Took a step back, the heat in his gaze banking. “Then don’t look at me li
ke you can, Bailey. Because no matter what you think, I’m not nice. I’ll make you feel good, but I will walk away when it’s over. Remember that.”
Chapter 10
Living with Bailey for the two days before she went back to work was more torture than he liked. She was sexy as fuck with her lavender hair and lithe body, and Alexei kept catching himself watching her, thinking of the way she’d looked at him when she’d confessed she’d been imagining him rolling on a condom.
He’d grown harder than fucking stone when she’d said that. If she’d dropped her pants then and there, he’d have lost his mind and fucked her before he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to do that.
At night when he lay in bed, it was worse. He pictured her in the makeup she’d worn when she’d dropped off Ana—and then he thought of her gyrating on a stage in a tiny G-string. He’d had some massive hard-ons at those thoughts—and he’d been massively pissed off too.
He understood the hard-ons. He didn’t know why he was pissed. She wasn’t his, he didn’t want her to be his, didn’t care that other men were ogling her—
Okay, that was a lie. He did care. What he didn’t know was why. She didn’t mean anything to him. Their only connection was the pip-squeak, and that wasn’t going to last much longer. Once the test came back and proved he wasn’t Ana’s dad, he was off the hook.
Not that he would kick them out or anything. Alexei wouldn’t leave Bailey on her own to deal with a man who’d threatened her and her sister. He’d take care of that motherfucker if—when—he reared his head again.
Still, even when Alexei tried not to—even when he opened his laptop and surfed over to some porn—he found himself thinking about Bailey and what she looked like in a G-string. Wanting to see her in it. Wanting to run his palms down her body and over her curves and mounds. He wanted to explore her. Wanted to hear her moan and call his name. Wanted to see her bite her lip when he made her come.
Jesus. These urges for one woman were nuts. As soon as he got Bailey settled at home again, he’d arrange a hookup with one of the women whose numbers he kept for just such a reason. Women who didn’t expect a relationship but enjoyed a good fuck.
He was on edge after two days alone with Bailey, looking at her but not touching her. They ate meals together, talked companionably, and took care of Ana. He taught her several things. Some of it he had to look up on YouTube because it had been a while. But most of it he remembered from his childhood and from visiting his very fertile sisters.
The Boppy pillow came, along with the rest of the crap he’d bought. Bailey’s eyes grew shiny as she insisted she couldn’t accept. But he’d told her she had to or he was dumping it all at the local thrift shop. So she’d relented, but she kept shooting him thoughtful glances when she figured he wasn’t looking.
Drove him fucking nuts.
Bailey grew more confident under his tutelage, changing diapers, feeding, and rocking Ana to sleep. She took the crib to her room the second night, and he never heard a peep all night long. She emerged from the bedroom the next morning with a triumphant smile. He gave her a high five.
The night she was supposed to return to work, he arranged for Miranda to watch Ana. Cowboy was horrified, but Miranda merely laughed and said she’d be delighted. She was between cases right now anyway.
“It’ll probably be overnight, unless you want us to pick her up at two a.m.”
Miranda waved a hand. “Honey, I got it. Don’t you worry. Pick your jaw up off the floor, Cody,” she said to her husband. “You might as well learn sometime.”
Apparently Miranda hadn’t warned Cowboy when they were headed over to Alexei’s place what they were doing. Alexei watched them go, silently laughing at his teammate. Dude was about to get a crash course in Baby 101. Alexei would pay to see that if he didn’t have other things to do.
Bailey was still getting ready. She’d said goodbye to Ana earlier. When she emerged from the bedroom, she was wearing her tracksuit and the heavy makeup she’d had on two nights ago. His groin started to ache.
She carried a gym bag, and she smiled tentatively at him. “You ready for this?”
“Baby, it’s beer and boobs. How can I not be ready?”
She frowned, but she didn’t say anything about him calling her baby. “Pretty sure you can’t be drinking beer if you’re supposed to be watching for that asshole tonight.”
“You’re right. Just testing you.” He grinned.
She was still frowning. “What are you going to do if he comes back?”
He didn’t tell her what he wanted to do, which was put a bullet between the guy’s eyes. Instead, he told her what he thought might be believable—and palatable. “I’m gonna have a little chat with him. Find out why he wants your sister—and what he knows.”
“Why do I get the impression none of this is going to happen without threats and coercion?”
“Because you’ve been here for two days. You know enough by now to realize I’m not planning to ask nicely. Wouldn’t work anyway.”
“Just don’t get arrested, okay? I don’t have a key to your house or your car or anything. I’ll have to go back to my place, and most of my clothes are here now.”
He went over to the kitchen and opened a drawer. Then he pulled out one of the spare keys he kept there. He liked to have them on hand, though Money had a key for emergencies. He handed it to Bailey.
“Just in case.”
She folded it in her palm and looked up at him with eyes rimmed in smoky charcoal. “This doesn’t inspire confidence, Alexei.”
“It’ll be fine, babe. Come on, you ready?”
“Yes.”
They went out and got into his truck. It was about a twenty-minute ride to the Pink Palace. Alexei parked near the building, his truck facing out, and turned to look at Bailey.
She seemed thoughtful. “Deke isn’t going to let you in the back. You’ll have to go through the front like the other customers.”
“Wanna bet?” This Deke was no match for him. He opened the door and put a booted foot on the ground. Then he went around and opened Bailey’s door. He shouldered her bag. She huffed a breath like she was going to say something, but then she shrugged and headed for the entrance.
The club was dark, even at the rear entrance. There was a man standing just inside. He was a big man, stocky, and shorter than Alexei. His gaze narrowed when it reached Alexei.
“No boyfriends, Honey. You know that.”
Honey?
“Not my boyfriend, Brian. This is Alexei. He’s my bodyguard.”
Brian looked up, meeting Alexei’s gaze. “What, you hired a Russian guy to protect you? Where’d you find him, the mafia?”
Alexei smiled his stone-cold-killer smile. “Brian, is it? Not mafia, man. Navy SEAL, and I’m coming in with the lady tonight. Anybody touches her, they gotta go through me.”
Brian puffed up like a rooster. He started to reach around to his back, but Alexei pulled his Glock before the man could even get his fingers on the grip of his own gun. He held it at his side. Casual. Cool. Nonthreatening.
Well, not really. Definitely threatening.
“Wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said.
Brian’s face reddened but his hand dropped to his side. “You know this isn’t the kind of shit we allow in here, Honey,” he ground out.
“I know. But he’s here to protect me. And he wouldn’t go in the front entrance when I told him to. So what am I supposed to do?”
“What the fuck is going on here?” a voice said. Another man came out from the hallway. He was tall, thin, and he wore gold chains around his neck and one wrist. His gray hair was spectacular because it was clearly a comb-over, but a puffy comb-over that was impressive in its height.
“Honey brought a bodyguard,” Brian said. “A Navy SEAL.”
The man came into the light. He looked curious rather than pissed. “Oh yeah? Prove it, fancy-pants.”
“I can’t prove it,” Alexei replied, sizing the man
up as he holstered the Glock. The man had a shrewd gaze and he was clearly waiting. “But I’ll tell you my name and the class I graduated in. If you have access, you can verify it. Or maybe you can tell me your class.”
“Yeah, I could. But let’s hear yours first.”
Alexei didn’t mind saying it. BUD/S classes weren’t secret. It was the work you did afterward that was. Your assignments, your missions. But every man who’d ever graduated from BUD/S was listed, just like in a high school yearbook. Though only those in the know could access the lists. It’d be interesting if this guy was a brother-in-arms. You never could tell where a former SEAL might end up. A strip club was a little odd maybe, but then again maybe not.
Alexei rattled off the class, year, and date. “Alexei Kamarov. I’ll wait,” he finished.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes. You can wait for Honey outside the dressing room—but if you’re lying, I want you the fuck out of here.”
“Fair enough.” Alexei followed Bailey to the dressing rooms. There were chairs outside and he took a seat. What he really wanted to do was go in and clear the dressing room, but he could hear feminine voices, so he was pretty sure there was no man waiting inside for Bailey to walk in.
“I told you it was better to go in the front,” Bailey said with a sigh as she stood outside the door. “Sorry about that, but Brian and Deke are protective.”
“I’m glad they’re careful. But leaving your side is not what bodyguards do, Bailey. I can’t protect you if I’m not nearby.”
She made a face. “I thought you were coming with me to watch for the man who threatened me, not shadow me everywhere I go.”
“If I’m shadowing you, then I’ll see him if he shows up. You’re the one he’s after.”
HOT SEAL Redemption Page 8
