“Petals appreciates it,” Vicki said. “Petals’s owner, however, is so over it.”
“Wait.” Sandra frowned. “Why are you still here? Don’t you have a date tonight?”
Vicki tried to keep the defeated sigh from escaping, but failed. “Declan had to cancel. He was called in to cover the E.R. Apparently they just got slammed with food poisoning from a birthday party.”
“Aw, honey, I’m sorry.”
“There’s always a next time,” she said, hunching her shoulders. She turned her attention to Jordan, who was now fighting to put Mason’s jacket on him, a battle he was clearly losing. Vicki bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing. “Do you need some help?” she asked.
He held the jacket out to her and let out a relieved sigh. “Please.”
Instead of taking the jacket, she took Mason. The little boy leaned his head on her shoulder and stuffed his thumb between his lips, and Vicki’s heart instantly went the way of ice cream on a hot summer day.
Her heart did something all together different when she looked up again and found Jordan with his bottom lip between his teeth, concentrating hard as he threaded Mason’s chubby arms through his jacket sleeves. She absolutely hated that everything he did looked so damn sexy on Jordan. And that she couldn’t help but love it.
She suddenly discovered a bright spot to her canceled date.
“I’m free to babysit tonight,” she said to Jordan.
His head popped up. “You sure? What if your date manages to get away from the hospital after all?”
“From the way things sounded, that doesn’t seem likely. Besides, you look as if you can really use the rest.”
“I told him he looks like shit,” Sandra said.
Vicki covered Mason’s exposed ear. “Not in front of the baby,” she admonished.
“Don’t waste your time,” Jordan said. He hooked a thumb toward his sister. “I’ve already accepted that this one will teach my son every swearword there is by the time he turns three.”
“That’s what aunties are for,” Sandra said, giving the baby a kiss on the cheek before heading back up the staircase.
“So are you really up for babysitting tonight?” Jordan asked. “Because if you are I won’t turn you down. Sandra’s right, I do look like shi... Crap,” he finished.
“Saying crap isn’t much better,” Vicki said, unable to hide her grin. She jiggled Mason’s chubby cheek. “Just wait until his grandma Nancy hears those swearwords coming out of his mouth. Then both your daddy and Auntie Sandra will have some explaining to do.”
“Don’t remind me,” he said.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Vicki laughed. She turned her attention back to Mason. “What do you think of me coming over, huh? We can play games, or watch a movie, or even make a snowman while your daddy gets a little rest. What do you say about that?”
The little baby teeth that peeked out as his face broke into a smile was hands down the most adorable thing she’d seen in months.
“I think he’s okay with it,” Jordan said with a grin of his own.
Her reaction to that smile was wholly uncalled-for. Maybe if she refused to acknowledge the flutter that swept through her stomach, she could pretend it didn’t really happen. Because, seriously, how could a simple smile give her butterflies?
She could not wait until the day she was past this ridiculous infatuation—if she could ever move past it.
No. There was no if about it. When it came to her feelings for Jordan, the new Vicki was not going down the same road the old Vicki had traveled. She’d come to that decision after Sandra’s wedding. It was the reason she’d signed up on that dating website: she was done pining for Jordan Woolcott.
Yet she’d just agreed to babysit for him tonight. What in God’s name had convinced her to come up with that stellar suggestion?
She studied the look of exhaustion etched around his face and was reminded of just why she’d made the offer.
“Are you on your way home now?” Vicki asked.
“You done here?” he asked, gesturing to the refrigerated display case.
“Yep, Petals is closed for the day. I was supposed to be on a date, remember?” Vicki refused to read anything into the way his brows dipped at the reminder. “Just let me grab my purse and keys and I’ll follow you to your place.”
She retrieved her phone from the counter and sent Sandra a text message, letting her know she was leaving. When she went outside, Jordan was strapping Mason into his safety seat. A few minutes later, they were making their way along Seaside Drive, the stretch of highway that hugged the coastline that wrapped around Wintersage. Jordan lived on the opposite side of town, what locals called “below the bay.”
Jordan’s gray, single-story, shingle-style cottage, with its charming white shutters and walkway bordered by weather-beaten boulders from the shoreline, was, in Vicki’s opinion, one of the most charming homes in this section of Wintersage. Though modest for someone of Jordan’s means, it seemed to fit him perfectly.
He turned into his driveway and both doors of the double garage opened. Vicki pulled her car in alongside his. When she walked over to Jordan, he was holding a finger against his lips.
“He fell asleep on the drive over,” Jordan whispered.
“Ah.” Vicki nodded. She pointed to her car and mouthed, “Should I go?”
He hunched his shoulder. “I guess,” he whispered as he unstrapped Mason. He took great care in lifting the baby from the safety seat, huddling him close to his chest.
Vicki waved goodbye and started back for her car, but her feet stopped at the sound of Mason’s sudden wailing. She spun around and instantly took pity on Jordan’s pathetic expression. He looked on the verge of collapse.
“I guess I’m staying after all,” Vicki said, returning to Jordan’s side. She lifted Mason from his arms. “It’s okay, honey.” She patted his back as she followed Jordan up the garage’s steps and into the mudroom.
By the time they entered the house, Mason’s wail was down to a soft whimper. Vicki carried him through the short hallway that led into the kitchen, but stopped short as she passed the threshold.
The place was a mess.
Plush teddy bears and plastic toys littered the floor. There were newspapers and empty coffee mugs strewn about the table in the breakfast nook. Dirty dishes and at least a half dozen sippy cups filled the sink.
“Uh, excuse the mess,” Jordan said as he pushed aside an open box of animal crackers to make room on the counter for the baby bag he’d carried in from the car. He perched against the counter and folded his arms over his chest.
He looked from her to Mason and huffed out an exhausted laugh. “I don’t know what you do, but I wish you’d tell me,” he said. “I’m starting to believe you have some kind of magical powers when it comes to my son.”
“I already gave you my theory,” she said. “You’re agitated, and I think Mason can sense that.”
“I guess your theory makes more sense than magic. I have been wound pretty tight since the election results came in. I can’t seem to relax.”
“Have you tried?”
“Not really,” he said with another weary chuckle. “I’ve never been good at it. Always seems as if my time could be better spent doing something more productive.”
“Get some rest, Jordan. I’m sure some uninterrupted sleep will do you good.”
He walked over to them and smoothed a hand over Mason’s head. This brought him way too close to her for her peace of mind.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said.
“There’s no ‘maybe’ about it,” Vicki said, taking a step back to create some distance between them. “Put the election and everything else out of your head for a few hours and rest. This little one and I will be just fine.”
He came over to them again and pressed a kiss to Mason’s forehead. “Thanks again for doing this,” he said to her, his grateful though exhausted smile setting off all kinds of sinfu
lly delicious tingles in her belly.
Goodness, but she was pitiful when it came to this man.
“If you need me, just come in and wake me,” he said before walking through the arched entryway that led to the rest of the house.
Vicki remained standing there until she heard the click of a door closing.
She looked down at Mason. “The new Vicki needs to remember what she said about not acting a fool for your dad.”
“Ball,” Mason said, pointing to a multicolored ball on the table.
Vicki picked up the ball, along with several other toys scattered along the kitchen counter, and brought Mason into the living room. Lifting an afghan with a seaside lighthouse pattern on it from the sofa, she spread it out on the hardwood floor and set Mason on it, then she plopped down next to him and rolled a plastic ball toward him.
After several minutes of playing with the ball, Mason’s mouth twisted in a frown. Seconds later, Vicki caught a whiff of something that made her stomach turn.
“Oh, you would do that after your daddy has gone to nap, wouldn’t you?”
She scooped the baby up and went in search of diaper-changing supplies. Vicki opened several doors, including a linen closet and what had to be Jordan’s home office, which was impeccable—a surprise—seeing as how the rest of the house was in shambles.
Finally, she came upon Mason’s brightly colored bedroom. Unfortunately, she didn’t find any diapers in there.
Vicki remembered the baby bag Jordan had brought in and returned to the kitchen where he’d left it on the counter. With the baby perched on her hip, she searched the bag but only came up with baby wipes and a small bottle of baby powder.
“Well, we’ll definitely need these, but we’re missing the most important thing.”
She hated to wake Jordan up so soon after he’d gone in for his nap, but if this diaper didn’t get changed soon the stench would probably wake him.
She went through the great room and down the hallway to the master bedroom. Tapping lightly on the door, she softly called, “Jordan?”
“Come in,” came a voice that was much too robust to come from someone who should have been asleep.
Vicki pushed her way through the door and frowned.
Jordan sat up with his back against the headboard, his stocking feet crossed at the ankles. An open laptop rested on his thighs and a pair of reading glasses was perched upon his nose. Make that an astonishingly sexy pair of reading glasses.
She tried to block the sexiness from her head, otherwise her impending lecture wouldn’t be nearly as effective as she needed it to be. She plopped a hand on the hip that didn’t have a twenty-two-pound toddler on it and narrowed her eyes at Jordan.
“Seriously?” she said, jutting her chin toward the laptop.
“Yeah, I know.” He grimaced. “I just needed to check one thing.”
“You’re supposed to be resting, Jordan, not working. Those are two very different concepts. It’s easy to tell them apart.”
He looked at her over the rim of his glasses and grinned. “Who knew Vicki Ahlfors was such a smart a—” He glanced at Mason. “Aleck,” he finished.
No, no, no. Her cheeks would not heat up at his teasing.
“No changing the subject,” she said, keeping her voice as firm as possible. “I didn’t volunteer to watch Mason so you can work.” The little boy shifted in her arms and Vicki caught another whiff of his aroma, reminding her of the reason she’d come in here in the first place. “Please tell me you have diapers,” she said.
“In there.” He pointed to the master bath.
Vicki cursed the deep flutter that traveled through her belly as she entered Jordan’s bathroom. There was something way too intimate about this. The discarded facecloth hanging on the rim of the sink, the bottle of multivitamins, the razor—not an electric one, a classic manual razor, the kind that required control and a steady hand.
She briefly shut her eyes against the image that tried to crop up in her head. Thinking about Jordan and his steady hands was bound to get her in trouble.
At the far end of the long vanity sat a stack of disposable diapers, along with more baby wipes, lotion and powder. She grabbed a plush towel from the wooden towel rack and gently laid Mason on top of it.
She’d just pulled off his pants when she heard Jordan say, “I can do that.”
Vicki’s back stiffened. She’d been so busy with Mason that she hadn’t heard him approach.
“I’ve got it,” she called over her shoulder.
The tingle that raced down her spine was completely inappropriate, but wholly expected. Those tingles were par for the course when it came to being in close proximity to Jordan. The new Vicki was supposed to be done with those tingles, but apparently she hadn’t gotten the memo.
Standing watch just over her shoulder as she efficiently went about changing Mason’s diaper, Jordan said, “You handle that like a pro.”
“Changing a diaper?” she asked.
“Yeah, especially with the way that one squirms.”
As if on cue, Mason immediately started to writhe around on the vanity. Vicki caught his feet together in one hand and moved her hip to block him from rolling right off the counter.
“I see what you mean.” She leaned over and nibbled Mason’s chin. “But your cute little booty isn’t getting away from me.” She looked back at Jordan. “Goodness, is there anything more adorable than those two bottom teeth that peek out whenever he smiles?”
“Nothing I’ve found,” he said with a laugh.
He finally backed away, making it easier for Vicki to get her breathing under control. His nearness was pure torture on her new quest to not be affected by him.
He settled in the doorway and leaned a shoulder against the jamb. “How’d you learn to change a baby’s diaper?” Jordan asked. “You don’t have any kids of your own.”
Vicki snorted as she glanced over her shoulder. “Thanks for pointing that out.”
“Damn. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to sound the way it did. I’m just impressed,” he continued. “It took me a while to get the hang of diaper changing.”
“I guess it’s instinctual for some,” she said. She gave the two pieces of tape a firm pat before pulling Mason’s corduroys up over his fresh diaper. “There you go, sweetie,” she said, tickling the baby’s belly. He giggled and treated her to that wide, sweet grin that was sure to break hearts.
“So did you reschedule your date with the doctor?” Jordan asked.
Vicki’s head jerked up. She met his eyes in the bathroom mirror.
“Uh...no,” she stammered, caught off guard by the subject change. “He was already at the hospital when he called earlier. He didn’t really have time to talk.”
“Oh. Well, maybe you two can find a time that works later this week.”
Hefting Mason into her arms, Vicki turned and faced him. “I doubt there will be any future dates with Declan.”
“Really?” Jordan’s brows rose. “So it wasn’t anything serious, whatever it is you had with the doctor?”
Should she tell him the truth, that before it was canceled, her date with Declan would have been her first in well over a year? And that the last date she went on—with the cousin of a friend of a friend—was so unremarkable that she couldn’t even remember the guy’s name?
Vicki considered it for a moment, but decided against mentioning it. She had no desire to be pitied, especially by Jordan.
Instead, she said, “It’s pretty obvious that Declan is too busy for even a casual relationship, let alone something more serious.”
Still leaning against the doorjamb, he crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side. “And you’re opposed to casual?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m opposed to it. But it’s not what I want.” When it came to this particular issue, Vicki decided that being vague would do her no good. “I’ve done the casual-dating thing in the past. I’m ready for something more stable...something that has potential.
”
She fought against the self-consciousness brought on by Jordan’s thoughtful, probing gaze.
Several long moments passed before he asked in a curious tone, “Does this have anything to do with Sandra and Janelle both getting married? Are you feeling left out?”
Vicki’s head reared back. Had he really just asked her that?
“You do realize how insulting that is, don’t you?”
He looked completely baffled. “Insulting?”
“Yes. Your question insinuates that I only want a serious relationship because my two best friends have recently found their soul mates. It’s insulting.”
He grimaced, bringing his hand up to massage the back of his neck. “Now that you put it that way...” When his eyes returned to hers, they were filled with contriteness. “I’m sorry if that offended you. I swear that wasn’t my intention.” He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. “It’s just that the three of you have always done everything together. With Sandra getting married so soon after Janelle, it just seemed natural that you would be next.”
Vicki had to work hard not to release a deflated sigh. He was likely one of many who shared that same sentiment.
“It’s okay, Jordan. Both Janelle and Sandra would tell you that of the three of us, I’m the one who they both suspected would be the first to marry.” She gave him a wan smile. “Things don’t always turn out the way we expect.”
“Tell me about it,” he said with a gentle smile of his own. His gaze shifted to the little boy in her arms. “But sometimes those unexpected detours in life turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to you.”
The complete adoration in his eyes made her heart squeeze.
“A blessing in disguise,” Vicki said.
“Ball,” Mason said, pointing in the direction of the living room. “Ball, ball, ball.”
She laughed. “We were playing with the ball before the diaper change became mission number one.” She scooped up the towel she’d used to cushion Mason and tossed it on top of the overfilled clothes hamper before heading past Jordan on her way out of the bathroom. Her elbow brushed against his chest and a shudder went through her.
A Mistletoe Affair (Mills & Boon Kimani) (Wintersage Weddings - Book 3) Page 4
