She sat in the living room with Ryan and Sean, who'd fed Beth, who'd then immediately fallen asleep upstairs. The three of them watched Shark Tank, getting a kick out of the famous businessmen and women. They'd had a comfortable interaction, as if they'd known each other for years. Lynn caught herself staring at Ryan and Sean and their interaction. They had a silent communication thing that was mesmerizing. A facial tick here, a raise of an eyebrow there, a twitch of a jaw all in a nonverbal conversation only they understood.
“Do you have to be home?” Sean asked.
She tilted her head confused.
“Do you have a husband, fiancé, boyfriend that'll be expecting you?” Sean clarified. “Don't want an angry partner knocking on my front door ready to go rounds. I have a wife and two daughters on the way. Need to watch how many people I knock off.”
Ryan laughed and pointed at her. “That's the second priceless look that's come over you today.”
She picked up the decorative pillow and threw it as hard as she could his direction. Naturally he caught it with ease while he tumbled to the floor in another fit of laughter. Ass.
“No, I'm fine, but I'll leave after this is over,” she said.
“You can stay as long as you want,” Ryan said quickly.
She glanced at him and then Sean, who looked at his brother, brows furrowed.
“Ahh, thanks?”
Ryan nodded as if he hadn't heard the question in her voice. “So, no husband?”
She choked on the sip of water she took and shook her head. “No. No fiancé or boyfriend either.”
“How is that possible?” Ryan asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You're‒” He stopped whatever was going to pop out of his unfiltered mouth. “You just seem like the relationship type.”
She cocked her head again. Was that a compliment or insult, and what did that mean?
“It's just, I can't see you as a single woman. That some guy hasn't snatched you up.” Man, he was terrible at whatever it was he trying to convey.
Sean rolled his eyes.
“I was in a relationship for a while. I thought we would get married. We lived together. He's the one who encouraged me to go to nursing school and get a degree,” she said, suddenly feeling melancholy. It was probably the comfortable environment the two men created in their home, accepting her into their fold.
They both sat silent, as if they were afraid to ask anything further.
“He dumped me in my last rotation during clinicals. I had no income, an apartment to pay for, and my exams to pass.” She sighed, hating the fact she admitted the most embarrassing moment of her life to these two handsome, successful men. Though she'd never admit the details of how she slipped into a depression after graduation. How she cried herself to sleep nightly. How she worked three jobs at one time so she didn't lose her apartment, but that still hadn't been enough to get by.
“He's an asshole,” Ryan growled.
She smiled, unable to look at him. “He's been calling me lately. Says he wants to give us another try.”
“You aren't considering taking him back, are you?” he said brusquely. Something in his tone she didn't quite comprehend.
“No. Though he won't get the point.”
“If you have any problems with this guy, you let us know, Lynn,” Sean said serious. “He's not dangerous is he?”
“No, just annoying.”
Sean punched Ryan in the arm. “Yeah, we have one of those here.”
She didn't know if she could agree with that statement. Ryan was growing on her. The entire family was. Spending the evening with the two brothers was...comforting. She needed to watch herself and keep from getting too close. It was dangerous for her to feel as if she could emotionally depend on a man, even her boss and his brother.
***
Lynn had the weekend off because Ryan was off. His schedule at the hospital assured him he'd have one weekend free a month. The other three weeks, his days off varied. Today she'd woken up early and decided to go for a run since the weather remained warm. It'd been a long time since she'd been able to commit to a regular exercise program. With this new set schedule, she'd be able to commit to a workout regimen.
Around eight she jogged back to her apartment but the whole time she felt odd. Something felt wrong. Like she was being watched. Her entire run she kept glancing over her shoulder. She'd pulled the ear buds from her phone out because of the onset of paranoia. Finally, closer to her return, she assumed she was losing her ever loving mind. Gawd, she needed to get a grip.
When she crossed through the parking lot, on her cool-down, a car door popped open on a black Jaguar. Robert tossed his long, lean legs out of the obscenely expensive vehicle and climbed out.
What the hell? She couldn't afford rent and he was driving that? An evil little lady on her shoulder suggested taking a baseball bat to the headlights to make herself feel better.
“Lynnie,” Robert greeted her brightly.
“Robert, what are you doing here?” she growled. What did it take to get him to finally leave her alone?
“I came to see you. I was hoping to take you to breakfast since you refused dinner.” He shrugged negligently.
She brushed past him and entered the first floor lobby. She went straight to the elevator and stabbed at the call button. She wasn't thinking clearly, because if she had been, she wouldn't have allowed him on the elevator with her. Or given away which apartment was hers. It wasn't until she stood outside her apartment door she realized her error. More than likely it'd been because she was trying to tune out his nonstop, annoying chatter.
“Fuck.”
“Really, Lynnie? That's not very lady-like,” Robert scolded.
What had she ever seen in him? Not very lady-like? He'd been the only man in her life to say that to her, and he'd done it often. In fact the Millen men, who obviously went after ladies, embraced her foul mouth. She only got fined when she swore around them. Never berated.
Looking Robert up and down, why had she been attracted to him? He was tall and lanky, not bad looking, but there wasn't anything that stuck out. There was no great personality trait. He wasn't funny. He wasn't alpha serious. Oh, he was intelligent and would certainly let you know how smart he was, but other than that, he was...bland.
“Really, Robert, don't get the hint much? I don't want to have breakfast with you. Lunch. Dinner. A date. A phone call. A pass in the grocery story. I don't want to have anything to do with you.” Her voice started to rise, echoing off the linoleum floors and bare hallway walls. She felt her blood boil. It'd been a long time since she'd been angry enough to spew venom. Oh, she could go rounds with the best of them but decidedly chose not to get into verbal spars with others. It wasn't worth it.
The elevator dinged but neither turned towards the doors.
“Leave, Robert,” she growled again. “Before I call my brother.”
“Lynnie‒”
“Lynn?” a deep, sexy male voice said from behind them. His tone laced with worry and something else she couldn't place.
She spun. Stalking her direction, Ryan.
Ryan the predatory, former Navy SEAL, military killer, glaring at Robert as if he could rip off his head with vicious mind control. Ryan with a baby carrier in hand. She started to giggle. The conflict of the scene was ridiculous and he was clueless.
“Who's this?” Robert asked, his voice suddenly curt.
“Ryan, what are you doing here?” she asked, genuinely surprised.
“Came to see if you wanted to go get something to eat,” he said, his laser glare never leaving Robert. “Who's this?” he demanded.
She sighed, exasperated. The day had started off great with a cathartic run. So much for that. “Ryan, this is Robert. Robert, this is Ryan.”
Ryan cocked a brow. “Ex?”
“Yes.” “No.” She and Robert said together.
“Robert,” she growled.
Brady stirred awake and started to whimper.
Lynn lost her focus on the two men and snatched the baby off Ryan.
“What's going on my little man?” she cooed. “Did Daddy feed you yet?” She pulled him out of the carrier and held him to her chest. Amazing how in less than two weeks this baby had wrapped her around his tiny pinky finger.
“Daddy? Baby? Lynnie, what is going on?” Robert asked, his voice holding a familiar tone of displeasure.
“Lynnie,” Ryan mocked, “is Brady's nanny.”
“Nanny? What about nursing?” Robert asked.
“I can't get a job, Robert.”
“So move,” he said as if that was the answer for all her problems.
“Yeah, because that's so easy for a young, single woman to do. Pick up and leave everyone behind and move to a city where she knows no one,” Ryan snarled.
What was his issue?
She spun to Robert. “Why are you still here? What can I do to get rid of you? Because you sure as hell got rid of me when you felt the need to walk. I didn't beg you to take me back. Why do I have to tolerate this harassment?”
“Need me to get rid of him?” Ryan asked menacingly.
She tossed a glare over her shoulder. “No. Stay out of this.”
He held up his hands, took a step back, and leaned against the wall, his thick, muscular arms crossed over his broad chest. Oh, he wanted to give off the casual look, but she new better. She considered herself an expert in military men's seemingly nonchalant behavior that could strike a lethal blow in the blink of an eye. Nothing casual existed in that stance.
Her gaze raked him over. A smirk crossed his handsome features. She rolled her eyes and went back to Robert.
“I'm not asking again, Robert. Leave. I'm calling Russ and telling him about this,” she warned.
“Now, that's not necessary,” Robert countered. “I'll talk to you later, when you don't have company.”
Yeah, he didn't want her brother knocking on his door. Russ had never been Robert's biggest supporter.
“I think the lady said she didn't want to hear from you again. Take the not-so-subtle order,” Ryan mocked. “If you don't, Russ won't be your only problem.”
What a smartass.
Robert stalked past them both without another word. Lynn and Ryan watched him until he was tucked into the elevator on his way out of the building. She noted how he refused eye contact with Ryan. Pussy.
“Breakfast?” Ryan asked again.
She glanced down at her wardrobe. “Do you mind workout clothes or else it'll take me about fifteen minutes to shower and change?”
“I can wait.”
“We. You mean, we can wait,” she corrected him.
“Yeah, we can wait,” he said softly, embarrassed.
Handing Brady back to his father, she pulled her key out of her slim pocket, and let him into the apartment. “I'll be as quick as possible. Make yourself comfortable.”
She went to her bedroom and grabbed a pair of jeans and tee shirt, confused as to why Ryan showed up at her place. Was he bored? Was he in the neighborhood? And why was he so hostile towards Robert? Not that she'd been perfectly polite, the man didn't deserve her kindness. What was Ryan's issue with him?
She jumped into the shower, baffled by Ryan Millen.
***
They sat in a corner booth at the diner down the street from Lynn's building. She hadn't been to the place, but Jarrett had commented that their food was pretty good. He said the place had been around for years and the inside looked it. A typical old fashion diner with greasy food, booths, and waitresses who looked like they could rip your head off if you didn't tip. Yellow walls and floor, obnoxious cooks, and regulars at the counter. She loved it.
She and Ryan had ordered their meals while Brady slept peacefully and drew a lot of attention from every woman in the place. Talk about a chick magnet. Though Ryan clearly didn't see it that way. He carried Brady around as if it was a chore, not something he desired to do for his son. Time to find out about this dynamic between father and baby.
“Where's Brady's mother? If you don't mind me asking,” Lynn asked.
Ryan glanced up from his coffee cup and shrugged. “I don't know.”
Her brows slanted together. “You don't know? You know the mother, right?”
“No.” He shook his head and refused eye contact. “I should say, I didn't recognize her when I went to the hospital after I received a call to come in, that there was an issue.”
“Issue?” What did that mean?
He sighed and wiped a hand down his face. Tired lines had formed around his eyes. Lines that hadn't been there yesterday when she'd left. Hadn't he slept last night?
“Brady wasn't planned,” he said, then explained what happened in the hospital, afterwards, with his brother and sister-in-law, the paternity confirmation, and up until the point she arrived into his life.
With this clarification, everything clicked into place. Thrown into fatherhood without any warning or preparation. An unexpected single father. No wonder he wasn't adjusting.
Lynn reached across the table for his hand and squeezed. She felt for him. He wore his strain like an advertisement. “I'm so sorry you had to go through that. That's not the way a man is meant to become a father.”
He blew out a breath. “Thank you. You're the first person to say that. Everyone else tells me I “have to do this” or “do that” as if it's that simple. It's not. I almost lost my job. I've got no help. Well, now I have you. Everyone demanded that I keep him, but everyone turned their backs as soon as I brought him home.”
“That can't be true,” she said kindly. She didn't believe that statement. “Maybe it felt that way to you because you felt cornered, but I doubt very much that your family would abandon you.”
“But they did,” he argued.
She wanted to press further but refused to pry too much. It wasn't her place. She didn't really know him, and the subject was undecidedly deeper than she should be involved. And did he realize he was whining?
She squeezed his hand harder. “Stop whining like a child, Ryan.”
He looked up, shocked, his bottom lip jutted outward. “I am not.”
“Stop pouting.”
He blinked. “I was not.”
“Are you in your terrible twos?” she mocked.
“You're awful.”
She shrugged and took a sip of coffee. “Been called worse.”
He grinned, losing his self-pity, looking handsomely boyish. “Thanks.”
She understood what he meant. She delicately put him in his place. Not many people in his life probably did. “No problem. Sometimes we need kicked in our ass,” she said, nonchalant. “You just happen to have the pleasure of it being me.”
Ryan nodded, picked up his coffee cup, and set it down. “I'm glad it's you.”
What? Oh, lord, she was afraid to ask. Refusing to address that comment, she changed the subject to a lighter topic. Football. “So, what do you think about the Steelers against Baltimore on Sunday?”
His blue eyes shined with joy. A girl could easily lose herself in those puppies...and him.
12
Ryan gently laid Brady in the living room bassinette, having finished feeding him his brunch. Staring down at his son, Ryan smirked at how much the newborn ate. He was going to be a big boy, just like him and Sean. Maybe he'd join the US Navy as well and continue the family tradition of all the Millen men proudly serving their country.
His mind wandered to breakfast with Lynn. Why he'd decided to go in search of her, he wasn't sure. Except over the past week, while she stayed late each night, having dinner with him, Sean, and Beth, she turned into someone he could count on. Being around her was comfortable and safe. Lynn resembled his female version of Sean. In all his years of bachelorhood, he'd never considered he'd come in contact with a woman who could unseemingly kick him in the ass while making him feel all right about it.
He considered her ex. Is that the type of man she went for? A douche with a penis shaped head? Cause h
e was a dickhead. Lynnie? What the fuck was that? She wasn’t a child. Lynnie demeaned her. Ryan was positive that was dick's intention with the pet name. Yeah, it had taken great restraint to keep from putting his fist into dickhead's...head. He snorted. Though Lynn handled herself well. She'd put Robert in his place. But it seemed the idiot didn’t get the hint. It'd been years since he'd had to give a man a warning to back off a woman. The last time was protecting his cousin. He was due and it had felt fantastic.
Ryan went to kitchen to grab a beer. What the hell was he thinking? He was mooning over Brady's nanny like a junior high crush.
How the fuck did he manage to get himself into an emotional mess? Not only wasn't he stable accepting the baby yet, he had no place panting over his nanny. He couldn't afford to lose Lynn. His world was fucked up enough as it was, let alone if he got involved with the woman he needed to help with his son to keep his life in balance.
He needed to get laid in order to wash Lynn off the brain. How long had it been since he'd been balls deep in a woman? Too long. Only problem? The last time he was about to pound into one of the sexy little ménage blondes, he couldn't “perform.” It had taken a consorted effort to get past that fiasco. Seems having a surprise baby put a damper on his sex drive. Figures.
***
Six in the morning Ryan stood in the kitchen, Brady cradled in his arms while sucking down his breakfast. The front door burst open and the whirlwind that was Michael Connors sauntered into the room followed by his wife, Jill. Beth's parents descended.
“Ryan,” Jill said softly. It was obvious where Beth inherited her gorgeous features. She was the spitting image of her mother. Coal black hair, porcelain doll skin tone, hourglass figure. Sean was in a world of trouble if his twin girls received those amazing genetic looks.
Mrs. Connors approached and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. She leaned over and kissed Brady's soft head. “How is he?”
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