Forever His Baby

by Airicka Phoenix

  Too weak to protest, she let her head lull back against his shoulder. She closed her eyes and willed her stomach to stop.

  Sloan continued to hold her, keeping her tucked in the V between his legs with one arm hooked tenderly around her middle. The other stroked her hair.

  “Okay?” Warm lips brushed the shell of her ear.

  “I want to die,” she groaned, turning her head away from him, saving him from getting a face full of her sour breath.

  “Mm,” he murmured softly. “I’m all out of death, would you like some water instead?”

  Despite the exhaustion weighing her down, Lily laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you joke before.”

  “I’m a very funny man on the inside.”

  She closed her eyes and lay quietly in his arms a moment, basking in the feel of him surrounding her. His heart beat against her shoulder blade and his every breath tickled the hairs at her temple. The bathroom wasn’t big enough for him. One leg was stretched out into the hall, while the other was curled up against her shoulder. Yet he seemed like he could sit there forever if she asked him to.

  “Why are you here, Sloan?”

  His chest rose and fell against her back. “Your dad asked me to be here, to talk to you.”

  “My parents think you’re the father. Why do they think you’re the father?”

  If her question threw him, he never showed it.

  “Because I told them I was.”

  “Why?”

  “Because not telling them will hurt you. People will need a face and if you want to keep Cole out of this, you need to give them that face.”

  “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  Something dark flickered behind his eyes. “Your father came to me because you didn’t tell them about the baby. He was out for blood, Cole’s blood, because everyone in town knows the only person you were ever with was Cole. What would you have liked me to say?”

  Lily hated that he was right, hated that she had been given no chance to prepare or to prepare those she loved.

  She closed her eyes. “They want me to keep it. They say we will work it out, but we can’t.” She opened her eyes and tipped her head back to search his blue eyes. “My dad already works so hard just for the little we have and without my job—”

  “What happened to your job?”

  She looked away. “I was fired today.”

  “What? Why?” he demanded, his face a mask of dark anger.

  “It doesn’t matter—”

  “Why?”

  She had to look away from the fire crackling in the depths of his eyes. “She said it was because she was getting complaints, but Dawn thinks it’s because she doesn’t want to pay me to go on maternity leave in nine months.” She shook her head. “That doesn’t even matter. The point is that no one is going to hire me for the same reason and a baby needs diapers and clothes and a crib … my dad can’t do that on his own.”

  “Why do you keep assuming you’ll be alone?”

  “Because I’m not making you raise my baby, Sloan. It’s my responsibility and it’s up to me to take care of it, which I can’t. So I need to do what’s best for it, which is … is to find it a good home.” She broke off, bit her lip when it trembled and sucked in a shaky breath. “This is the only way I know how to protect it from getting labeled as the bastard child of the town whore.”

  “Who the fuck said that?” His snarl made her jump. “Who?” he demanded when she said nothing.

  “No one!” she said quickly. “But they will. You know they will and I…” A tear slid down her cheek. He caught it with the pad of his thumb and gently swiped it away. “It would kill me, Sloan. I wouldn’t be able to stand it.”

  “That won’t happen.” His voice was filled with such confidence that she nearly believed him.

  “You can’t—”

  “It won’t happen,” he repeated louder, with a steely undertone that left no room for argument. “Because that kid will have me and I will kill anyone who hurts him.”

  Lily shook her head, a fresh wave of tears making her shoulders rock with a sob. “And what about me?” She lifted her face to his. “Do you think I would be able to bear it, seeing him in town, knowing he’s mine but I can’t be with him because I gave him away?”

  There was a look of disgusted disbelief on his face that was barely concealing the outrage she saw crackling underneath.

  “Do you really think that I would cut you from his life?”

  “I think I would have no right in his life,” she confessed. “What sort of mother just gives her baby away and then continues to be in his life? What would I tell him? Yes, I’m your mother, but I can’t keep you. Would I get weekends to take him out for ice cream, but would have to bring him home by nine? Back to a home that’s not with me so you can read to him every night and watch him grow and take his first steps while I … God it would kill me, Sloan!”

  “Jesus, Lily!” His growl vibrated up her back. His arm tightened around her and his lips brushed her brow. “I would never let anyone take that baby away from you, not even me.”

  Lily leaned into him, resting her brow against his chin. The stubbles scratched her skin, but she didn’t care.

  “I’m in no shape to afford a baby,” she whispered, careful not to let her parents overhear. “I can’t raise him in this house. It’s a death trap. Everything is falling apart.”

  “Then let me help, Lily.”

  “How?” She pulled back an inch to peer into his face. “What can you possibly do?”

  “Marry me.”

  Maybe it was because she’d just thrown up, or the fact that she was on an emotional rollercoaster that wouldn’t stop, but she couldn’t seem to get her brain to wrap around his astonishing declaration.

  “What did you say?”

  There was shock in his eyes, like even he couldn’t believe those words had left him. But just as quickly, he squared his shoulders and met her gaze with determination.

  “Marry me,” he repeated firmly.

  Lily scrambled to her feet, horrified and insulted. “I can’t believe you just proposed to me over a toilet full of vomit.”

  Even he had the decency to grimace. “I flushed…”

  Disgusted, Lily stormed from the bathroom.

  Lily had always known Sloan McClain was a stubborn man. Aside from having known him the last nineteen years of her life, she had seen him argue with Cole and win on just about everything, except her. She was the one thing Cole refused to budge on, no matter how many times Sloan told him to find a different friend. Lily had heard the argument with her own ears too many times to count. But the eldest McClain could hold his ground on just about any issue, sink his teeth in until he was the victor. So it was not entirely surprising when Lily woke the next morning to find Sloan in her kitchen, half buried in the cupboard beneath the sink.

  There were tools and towels everywhere. A bucket full of black crap was next to his hip and a low grinding filled the air with every wrench of his arm. The square table that usually sat in the center of the narrow room had been pushed to the side and that’s where her mother sat, morning paper and coffee mug in hand. She waved at Lily with the hand not holding a cup.

  Lily squinted at her, then jerked a head questioningly towards the toned pair of legs sticking out from inside the cupboard. Her mother shrugged in response.

  Bemused, Lily padded over to the pair of black boots and glanced down at the front of Sloan’s pants. His black t-shirt had ridden up over his belt and a thin sliver of flesh had become exposed. She studied it a moment, then looked down at the zipper and the well outlined bulge leaning a little to the right.

  A warm wave rippled spread through her, tightening her stomach muscles. The place between her legs pulsed with longing and her nipples hardened. She wondered just how inappropriate it would be to straddle him like that, to undo the fastens, fish inside the denim and pull him free. She was clearly not a stranger to a male erection, but she wanted to see his
. She wanted to feel it in her hands. She wanted his hot groans in her ear and the feel of his calloused hands on her skin.

  Lily forced herself away from those thoughts. Not only because she was barely keeping her hormones in check, but her mother was sitting barely five feet away. Part of her wondered if her cheeks looked as feverish as she felt, but she refrained from pressing a hand to them to check.

  “Morning,” she forced out.

  The grinding noise stopped and Sloan poked his head out.

  “Morning.”

  She shifted her weight, more to smother the ache than anything else. “What are you doing?”

  With the wrench in his grimy hand, he gestured to the sink above his head. “Your drain was clogged,” he said. “I’m replacing the U-bend.”

  Lily nodded slowly. “Why?”

  He frowned at her. “Because your drain was clogged,” he repeated slowly, like she was hard of hearing.

  Lily glanced at her mother again and got another shrug. She faced him once more.

  “It’s nine in the morning.”

  He disappeared under the sink once more. “I’m aware.”

  “How long have you been here?”

  “Since six,” her mother chimed in with a hint of something she smothered behind her coffee mug, but Lily didn’t miss the amused twinkle in the other woman’s eyes.

  Lily’s jaw slackened. “Why on earth would you be here at six in the morning?”

  “Because I have a job at noon and this needed to be done.”

  “Okay, but—”

  “Can you pass me that rag?” He gestured with a hand towards the rag next to the bucket.

  Lily grabbed it and handed it over.

  “Sloan, why are you under my sink?” she demanded.

  “I told you, your U-bend was clogged.”

  She threw her hands up in defeat and left him to his work. She walked over to the table and dropped down across from her mother.

  “He showed up as soon as your dad left this morning,” her mother said in a conspiratorial whisper. “Had his tool box and everything.”

  “Why?” Lily hissed back in the same low tone.

  Her mother shrugged. “He just walked in and started fixing stuff and I didn’t stop him.”

  It was a solid fifteen more minutes before Sloan finally hefted his lean frame to his feet. He scrubbed his hands on the rag before reaching over and turning the faucet on. He let it run a minute, watching the drain. Whatever he was waiting for must have satisfied him, because he gave a brisk nod, shut off the water, and stepped back.

  “There.” He stuffed the rag into his back pocket and turned to them. “That should make things easier.”

  “Thank you, Sloan,” her mother said warmly. “It was really kind of you to fix it, and for the air conditioner.”

  Lily blinked. “Air conditioner?”

  Her mother grimaced sheepishly.

  “I had a spare one lying around,” Sloan replied as he began gathering his tools. “It’s been a hot summer and I figured someone should get some use out of it.”

  It was only then she realized the house wasn’t sweltering hot and all the windows were closed.

  She looked to her mother, who smiled brightly.

  Mess cleaned up, Sloan said goodbye to her mother, inclined his head to her and headed out into the hallway. Lily jumped out of her seat and followed him to the front door.

  “What are you doing, Sloan?” she demanded, reaching him just as he twisted the doorknob.

  He stepped outside and turned to her. “What do you mean?”

  Her gaze dropped to the crisp, brand new air conditioner box sitting on the ramp next to his feet. “Just lying around, huh?”

  Unfazed, he bent down and grabbed the box up. “Yeah, it was.”

  His blue eyes clashed challengingly with hers, daring her to argue, but she couldn’t. The gesture had been sweet. Him coming over at the crack of dawn to fix the sink and cool the house down had been sweet. If anything, it made her want to lean over and kiss him.

  “What are you playing at, McClain?” she whispered.

  Realizing she wasn’t going to fight him, the hard lines on his face softened. His gaze became prodding, determined and warm as they held hers. The boards beneath his boots creaked as he shifted his weight forward. His voice was husky and rich when he spoke.

  “I’m not going to let you live in a death trap, baby girl.”

  With that and without letting her respond, he turned and started towards his pickup truck.

  He returned the next day. Lily woke to the roof groaning over her head. Terrified that the ceiling was about to collapse on top of her, Lily bolted out of bed and hurried from the house. She found Sloan perched on the ladder, ripping shingles off the roof. On the ground were several bundles of new shingles waiting to replace the old ones he was tearing out.

  “What are you doing?” she cried, still frantic.

  “It’s supposed to rain next week,” he called down. “These need to be replaced before then.”

  “You’re a roofer now?”

  He glanced down. “When I need to be.”

  “You’re going to get yourself killed!” She took a panicked step forward. “Get down from there.”

  His mouth curled in one corner. “Worried about me?”

  “Yes!” she cried without hesitation.

  “Don’t be,” he said, turning back to his shingle yanking. “It would take more than falling off a roof to get rid of me.”

  A week later, Lily was awakened by the persistent thump, thump, thump of hammer pounding into wood and knew without opening her eyes that Sloan was back. She rose from the bed and edged out of her room, surprised to find the house empty as she followed the sound to the front door. She yanked it open and squinted through the brightness at the figure tearing up the ramp.

  “What are you doing now?”

  Sloan raised his head. “Did I wake you?”

  A grin tugged on her mouth. “I’m beginning to get used to it.” She ran a hand through her tussled hair. “What are you doing?”

  “The boards on the ramp are finished,” he said, gesturing with the hammer. “I got some new ones.” He motioned to the neat pile a few feet away. “They’re thicker and durable.”

  Lily stepped out onto the front porch, ignoring the fact that she was clad only in a t-shirt and panties. She folded her arms at the slight chill in the air and studied the boards at her feet.

  “Why?” she wondered, facing him.

  “Because these ones are rotted and I don’t want your mother’s wheelchair to go through.”

  His response stole all other thoughts. It filled her with a warmth that spread through her like sunshine. Lily looked into his face and knew without a shred of doubt that she loved him.

  “What?” he said and she realized she’d been staring at him.

  Lily chuckled and gave her head a shake. “Nothing. I just…” She shrugged. “I know you’re only doing all this for the baby, but it really means a lot to me.”

  “It’s not.”

  Lily blinked. “What?”

  He slid the shaft of the hammer into the loop of his utility belt and turned his body in her direction. “It’s not just for the baby.” He paused, hesitating before adding, “I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you.”

  That light flutter grew into a hard wrench that seemed to collect all the strings attached to her heart and twist until they were in knots and she was breathless and dizzy.

  “You should head inside,” he continued when Lily remained speechless. “It’s chilly. I’ll finish up here and head out. I have a job this afternoon, but I wanted to make sure this was safe before I left.”

  Unsure what to say, Lily did as he said and started for the house. She paused halfway through the door and glanced back, not surprised to find him already watching her.

  Without a word, she ducked her head and hurried inside.

  The day after, she found him taking down and pain
ting the shutters and cleaning the gutters.

  A week after that, Lily stood at the living room window, arms folded, watching as he put the second coat of paint on the side of the house, a soft, canary-yellow. He was topless, his beautiful torso a masterpiece of tattoos and muscles. Lily was having a hard time concentrating on anything else but how deep the grooves were cut along his abdomen, stamping his taut, golden flesh with six perfect squares and how his arms were hard, bulging muscles that flexed with his every fluid movement. His tattered jeans hung low on narrow hips and she had an aching urge to trace the V with her tongue.

  It wasn’t anything unusual. She’d had thoughts like that regarding the eldest McClain since she’d turned thirteen and had caught him coming out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel. He hadn’t spotted her, but it had been an image that stayed with her for the next six years, becoming the centerpiece for all her fantasies. Not for the first time did she wonder what it would feel like to splay her hands across all that beautiful skin, to feel the heat coming off him beneath her palms, her lips and grazing every inch of her as he pressed her into the mattress and…

  “Water?”

  “God, yes!” She snatched the frosty glass she was handed and downed the contents in two greedy gulps. “Thank you!” she gasped, breathing hard.

  Her mother raised an eyebrow, her expression barely containing her amusement. “It was for Sloan.”

  Lily blanked. “What?”

  She gestured with a nod to the glass in Lily’s hand. “The water. It was for Sloan.”

  Cheeks flushing, Lily looked down at the empty glass. “Oh,” she mumbled stupidly. “Sorry.”

  Her mom laughed. “I get it. The boy sure knows how to make a girl work up a sweat.”

  Despite the gross factor of the comment, Lily laughed. “Doesn’t he just?” She stole another peek at Sloan through the blinds. “I just don’t understand him at all.”

  “What do you mean?”