“You recognized the situation and got her here. I’d say she was in pretty good hands. Maybe better than her daddy’s or grandma’s.”
She took just a peek up at him. “Well, thanks for that.”
“I figure I owe you for the whole ‘bitch kidnapper’ thing.” She smiled a bit and he liked that better. “I’d had a couple. I’m Wesley.”
“Felicity. You just got into port. I think ‘a couple’ is the usual way of celebrating, isn’t it?”
“It’s not unheard of.”
Her smile was a little less shaky this time.
“You did okay, Felicity. Reinen is a good judge of people, and neither he nor Andy would have left the little Nip with you if you weren’t good for it.”
“Does anyone object to you calling her the little Nip?”
He gave her a smile, though not the whole deal. She was in kind of rocky shape and a thing like that could cause a collapse. “No one in the Navy.”
That earned him a laugh, though it was a small one. Maybe he was getting a clearer picture of what had happened between her and Reinen. He liked this woman.
“The nurse I talked to said it could be another hour for the results of the tap.” He’d hung around Ri long enough now that he could say stuff like that without shuddering. Plus, he’d already talked with his mother. She was a midwife and knew about this kind of shit, too. She’d told him rugrats were tougher than you’d think. “Then, all we have to do is wait for her fever to break and take her home.”
“That’s if it’s not meningitis.”
“Yeah. And I’m counting on that.”
“They have her immunization records. She’s up to date. But that doesn’t protect her from everything.”
“Nope. She’s a tough little thing, though. She’s gonna be okay, Red.”
She gave him a look like she objected to that nickname, too, but surely it couldn’t be the first time she’d heard it. The color of her hair wasn’t exactly a secret. It was spectacular.
There was other business to deal with, though. He could see when she remembered. “I haven’t been able to reach Andy, so I contacted the Red Cross. Is there anything you can do to get a hold of him?”
“Yeah,” Wesley said. “Communications are shit down there. Last I heard, they had the helo crews going out around the clock, dropping water and rations. Probably the best way to reach him is going to be word of mouth. I can get a message to one of the ships in the area, and we’ll get him found.” He pulled his smart phone off his belt. “I’ll start work on it right now. Maybe by the time we reach him we’ll have nothing but good news.”
She nodded, but her fatigue was showing.
“Do you need a break? You want to find a place to lie down here?”
He didn’t really expect her to go for it, and she didn’t.
“Then put your head back down and try to sleep a bit. I can tell you from experience that the Nipper hates being sick, so she’ll be cranky when we get her home. You’re going to need your energy.”
She nodded her agreement and dropped her head. She was out in a couple minutes. By that time, Wesley had already sent three texts. He out-and-out lied, passing on the message that Juniper had had a little fever crisis, but all was well now and Andy should ignore any contact from the Red Cross.
He eyed the kid, forbidding her to make a liar out of him. Nothing made a sailor sweat bullets like a message from the Red Cross.
* * * *
Felicity barely remembered the trip home. She’d put her head down as Wesley had instructed her to, and the next thing she’d known, he was shaking her awake at five o’clock. Juniper’s spinal fluid was clear, her fever had subsided, and they could go home.
Junie had opened her sleepy, cranky arms to the third incredibly hot-looking man in her life, and promptly fell back asleep on his shoulder. Really, just as Felicity would have liked to do.
Okay, it had to be said. What the heck had happened on West Azalea Point Road in Norfolk that three such outstandingly fine men had hooked up as housemates? Was there some weird vortex in the area, maybe turbulence set off by the nearby airport that drew them to this one location?
Reinen was jaw-droppingly spectacular, and she hadn’t failed to notice that in the very first, like, nanosecond. So much so that Andy really hadn’t drawn her attention. He’d been stressed and in daddy mode, and Felicity had still been in that sexual haze Reinen had woven around her, so she’d hardly noticed. But the fact was, he’d hold his own in any come-to-mama contest. In most cases, he’d win.
Wesley capped it. He fell much between the two in his features. He was neither Reinen’s dark broody type nor Andy’s blond-haired blue-eyed surfer sort. He had medium-brown hair and eyes the color of a chocolate kiss. At about six two, he was an inch below Reinen and an inch above Andy in height.
But there was nothing average in his looks. He had sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw, like he’d have passed for a gunslinger back in the day. He wasn’t quite as broad or thickly muscled as Reinen—who was?—but sleeker, like a panther rather than a bull.
When she’d first opened her eyes and seen him there in the little emergency room cubicle, she’d had a hard time linking his gorgeous face with the nasty disposition of that voice on the phone.
He’d come around quickly, though, showing care and concern and taking some of that terrifying burden of responsibility for a fragile little life. Managing Juniper and her diaper bag with one arm, he still had one available to usher her out to Andy’s vehicle. Assuring her he was sober, he drove them home and helped her tuck Juniper into her crib.
Then he sent her off to the shower and didn’t argue much when she said she’d sleep in Andy’s bed so she’d be nearby. She fell asleep quickly and wasn’t the least surprised when she woke at nine and found he was asleep right there as well, lying on top of the blankets.
Good-looking and take-charge sort of guys, apparently.
She’d slept in yoga clothes, so when she heard Juniper stir she slipped out from under the covers and went to her. She wasn’t quite her usual cheerful self, but she raised her arms eagerly, ready for a cuddle. Felicity picked her up and held her close, not caring in the least that tears streamed down her face.
* * * *
Damn. The woman was in love, and Wesley was sure that Andy and Reinen hadn’t factored that into their urgently made scheme to save Andy’s job.
The double doors to the nursery were open, and Wesley watched her there. The light was behind her, and she made a lovely picture, picking up Juniper and squeezing her tight. Tears made up of relief and, he had not a single doubt, love spilled over, and he could tell she had to work to keep from blubbering with it.
His morning hard-on stirred behind the sweat pants he wore, and he spent a long moment thinking about how it could be. How it would feel to have a woman like this as wife, to have her greeting their child, to be stroking himself while he figured the odds of getting her back to bed.
He could see how he’d have to give up on that. How he’d get out of bed and pass kisses around, nudging his cock into his wife enough for her to know what was on his mind, to know what plans he had for her come naptime.
It wasn’t just a nice little fantasy, but a rock-solid image, the thing he suddenly knew he wanted.
When he’d left that bar last night, he went home alone, and he was the only of his buddies who did. There were half a dozen—probably more—women in the bars they hit who would have been persuaded easily to his bed. He could see the questions in his friends’ eyes as they waited for him to make his choice. He had the rep of being more a lover than a partier, and he was usually the first to put his arm around a woman and leave with her.
He’d almost done it last night. He’d chosen the woman to approach. She’d made eye contact with her pretty blue eyes that held a lot of interest. Then he saw it—not just interest, but a little anxiety, too. A little desperation.
In that moment, his enthusiasm for what he was about to do evaporated
.
She’d looked close to his age—maybe twenty-six to his twenty-eight. She wanted something more than a night of drinking, mindless sex and an awkward, hung-over morning. She wanted a morning like this.
So did he. It hadn’t gelled for him last night, not like it did at this moment. But he’d understood something in that brief exchange of looks that had made him nod and then turn away. She wouldn’t have been satisfied with what was about to happen between them, and neither would he have been.
Today, watching this woman and baby, it was entirely clear to him what he was looking for. But it was Ri’s woman and Andy’s baby, so he kept his hands off his cock and tried to edit the picture. He worked on imagining a brunette, like the woman in the bar, holding a dark-haired baby. No redhead. No little towhead.
He couldn’t make it happen. He couldn’t make his boner go away either. So he silently rolled out of bed and went to his room for a shower. A very long, cold shower.
Chapter Five
They spent two weeks acting like a family—Wesley, Felicity, and Juniper. Felicity was sure that was what people assumed when they were seen together, and that was exactly how they behaved. Nearly exactly.
On that first Sunday, Felicity wanted to do nothing more than hold Juniper tight, like she could single-handedly protect her from the cruel, impersonal specter of illness and death. Wesley had disappeared for a long time while Felicity fed Junie and then bathed her.
The sturdy little girl recovered quickly. By the time Wesley appeared, freshly showered and shaved and wickedly handsome in a blue polo and khaki shorts, she was struggling to get free of Felicity’s arms.
Wesley took in the situation and came to the rescue—of the squirming baby, if not the newly neurotic, uh, nanny. “Hey, Nipper,” he offered, holding out his arms.
Juniper leaped for him, obviously having had enough of those anxious, too-tight arms. He took her up, held her above his head, and gave her a toss.
The baby squealed in delight while Felicity failed to stifle a scream. Wesley caught the happy toddler safely in his arms, then held out a hand to Felicity.
“Come on. She’s fine, except for the fact that you were just about strangling her. Let’s eat.” He pulled her to her feet and led her to the kitchen, in that competent way he had of handling Juniper but still keeping a hand free to handle Felicity, too. “I’ll bet you fed her but not yourself, am I right?”
He was, but he didn’t bother to wait for her answer.
He took Felicity to one of the high stools at the counter, then went to the refrigerator and opened it. “Wow,” he said, looking inside. “There’s more than beer and an expired container of milk.” He looked back at Felicity over a shoulder. “It looks like a woman lives here.”
Felicity started. “I’m sorry, I—”
Wesley laughed, and Felicity blushed. Too late, she remembered pea pods for Juniper, and the other fresh fruits and vegetables that had filled the kitchen when she moved in. She’d learned since that the household belonged to a CSA, so fresh produce was delivered weekly.
“It’s not bad, Felicity.” Wesley kept an eye on her as he put a bottle of orange juice on the counter and then got out two glasses and a sippy cup. “I like it.”
He set Juniper in a sunny spot on the hardwood floor, then came back to pour juices. “Uh-oh,” he said to Juniper as she stood and toddled over to him. “Does your father know you can do that?”
“No.” Felicity took it upon herself to answer, because Juniper would probably lie about it. “And we’re not telling him, either. She’d under strict orders to wait for Andy.”
But Wesley only laughed and congratulated the baby when she reached him, still on her two feet. He lifted her up in the air again. “Good girl, Nipper!”
Her handed her the sippy cup and set her back on the floor. Very competently, even managing to reroute Juniper as needed, he set to work. He whisked eggs and sautéed spinach and garlic. In charge, he set cheese and a grater in front of Felicity.
As they worked together, they chatted. It turned out Wesley, too, had been raised by a single, hard-working mother. Like Felicity, he’d managed meals and his younger siblings in the hours after school.
For the rest of Sunday, they stayed home, Felicity’s concern about Juniper’s health prevailing to that extent. By mid-week, they had a pattern.
Juniper woke early and liked to spend some time with Wesley in the morning. Eventually, Felicity started making breakfast while Wesley showered and dressed for work and entertained the baby.
He worked early and came home by late afternoon. As a little threesome, they’d stroll around the neighborhood, or put Juniper in a backpack and hike at First Landing State Park, or play in the sand at Virginia Beach. They’d eat dinner at home or pack a picnic.
In the evenings, after Juniper went to bed, Felicity sometimes studied. But often she joined Wesley in front of the TV. She’d have a glass of wine and he a beer or two, while they watched a show or just chatted about their day.
On the next Saturday night, Wesley went out with friends, but he didn’t stay out late. Felicity was still up when he came home. He offered to stay with Juniper if Felicity wanted to meet her friends the next evening, but she declined.
Though, she did see Cassie and Angie, both, during the course of those two weeks. She met up with them on their days off, taking Juniper to a park to play while they got caught up, or meeting at Cassie’s already kid-safe home. Both were interested in how Felicity was “playing house,” and she made every effort to disguise just how close to the truth that description was.
Wesley and Felicity shared cooking and cleanup chores fairly equally, though Wes liked her gourmet cooking better than his own basic dishes, so he wrangled more meals out of her than otherwise. The guys had contracted with a cleaning service already, so the housework chores were minimal.
Through it all, Wesley was friendly and casual. And touched her at nearly any excuse. He’d nudge her shoulder, teasing, as they cleaned the kitchen. He’d take her hand or touch her back anytime he was directing their activities. She’d hold Juniper as he leaned in to kiss the baby good-bye, and he’d wrap his arm around Felicity as he did it.
By Friday of the first week, he kissed her cheek, too, when he went to work in the morning and again that night when she went off to Ri’s room, where she was sleeping now. By Wednesday of the second week, his lips came close to hers, and by Thursday, they touched.
That Friday night, when they knew they’d be getting up in the morning to go to the pier to meet Ri and Andy’s boat, the kiss he gave her wasn’t just a quick touch of lips. He held her arms and looked gravely at her. Then he leaned in and took her mouth. He was ever so gentle, just lips brushing, moving slightly against each other. But he held it for several heartbeats.
They didn’t have to rush in the morning. The cruiser was due in at two, and the welcome home festivities at the pier wouldn’t start until noon. Wesley slept in, missing their usual “family” breakfast.
Felicity had talked Juniper into an early nap and was washing the breakfast dishes when she saw Wesley’s hands on either side of her, gripping the edge of the sink. He didn’t speak at first, but she could feel the heat of him, could feel the tension of his body. She started to turn to face him, but he moved against her, capturing her between his hard body and the sink.
His very hard body. His erection, large and demanding, pressed into her lower back. His thighs caressed her ass.
Felicity turned off the water and put her wet hands on the sink between his. He moved his big hands over hers, encompassing them, squeezing them. He dropped his head and nuzzled into her hair. She could feel his hot breath on her neck.
“Felicity,” he whispered. He ran his hands up her arms and then covered her breasts, cupping them with his palms. He compressed them, and rutted his hard cock into her. “Would you stop me? If you weren’t waiting for Ri to come home. If you didn’t have a man…would you stop me? Tell me.” His breath was rough, ha
rsh, his body so solid against hers. “Tell me.”
Felicity dropped her head back against his shoulder, arching her breasts into his hands and her ass against the hard pressure of his cock. But she couldn’t speak, couldn’t answer him.
She should have known this was coming. He was an attractive, red-blooded male, a lion, not a housecat. There was no way she could play house with him, pretending they were a little family, and ignore the potential for sexual desire between them.
He’d been obvious in his attraction to her. Those touches, those kisses—she’d been foolish, trying to convince herself he saw her asexually, as he would a sister.
He didn’t see her as a sister. He’d been as plain about it as he could be.
She couldn’t claim innocence. If she were honest, she had to admit that she’d enjoyed that unacknowledged attraction. It was a little heady, flattering, and—safe. So different from the literally breathtaking, aggressively sexual approach of Reinen.
But no. Wesley wasn’t tame, either. Not a housecat.
And the truth was she liked him very much. The truth was, if she wasn’t waiting for Reinen, if she hadn’t met Ri first…
She was waiting for Reinen, though. She’d spoken to him several days earlier and again on Thursday when he’d told her when his ship would be arriving in port. Well, more precisely, he’d used the date of her birthday as the basis for a code to let her know when to be at the pier.
She’d been in bed when that call came. He said he was topside on the ship, with nothing but dark and stars and the sound of the water. What he was imagining, though, he told her, was what she was wearing. A pink thong, he thought, and described how he’d use his teeth to take it from her. And where his tongue would stray in the process. How he’d use his tongue to make her wet, to make her ready for—
But right at that moment, Juniper had let out a wail over the baby monitor, and Reinen had sighed heavily. “I’m getting us a room for Saturday night. There are some things I’ve been waiting to do to you, and I want no interruptions. No…witnesses.”
Billings, Rachel - Three Men and a Woman: Felicity (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 7
