Ben sat down on a chair and said, “I’ve never fed her. Is there anything I need to know?”
Vic grinned. “Keep her head elevated and watch her. She’ll guide you.”
Ben looked at Aurelia, as if he could somehow learn from her silent guidance, and she took a little guilty pleasure in being so important to him. The smile that appeared on Ben’s handsome face when the baby stopped crying and nursed the bottle made her warm all over, but when that smile reached his eyes and he turned that prideful glow on Aurelia, her knees weakened. She lowered herself to the chair beside him, and without thinking she squeezed his thigh in a silent Way to go!
“So, what’s this little lady’s name?” Vic asked.
Ben flashed a secretive smile at Aurelia and said, “We don’t know. We call her Baby B.”
“That’s cute,” Vic said. “Like Beatrice, but shortened?”
“Something like that,” Ben said.
Vic handed the bag of supplies to Aurelia and said, “You’ll find diapers, wipes, formula, pamphlets, and a few other things you’ll need in there. Read the pamphlets. They’ll help you over the next few weeks.”
“Few weeks?” Ben glanced at the baby and asked, “How long does a paternity test take?”
“Depends on the lab. Normally it can take anywhere from a day or two to three months or more.”
“Are you fu—” Ben winced and said, “Freaking kidding me? I’ll pay whatever it takes to get the results fast.”
“Duly noted. I figured you’d want to fast-track it, and I’ve already made a few calls. I’ll finalize the arrangements and we should have the results within the week.”
As Ben fed the baby, Vic asked a host of questions, most of which they couldn’t answer. Then he examined the baby, and he didn’t even flinch when the baby pooped as he was examining her, though Ben looked mortified. Vic cleaned her up, cooing and tickling her the whole time. When Vic swabbed the inside of the baby’s cheek, Ben kept his face beside hers, soothing her with sweet words. When B cried, Aurelia thought Ben might cry, too, but he scooped her into his arms, clutching her against his chest like he was protecting her from the big, bad doctor.
“Well, Ben, from what I can see, you’ve got a healthy little girl,” Vic said. “I could do blood work, but I don’t see a reason to poke her if we don’t need to.”
“No needles,” Ben said, turning and shielding the baby from Vic with his big body, which made Aurelia get all warm and fuzzy inside again.
Vic laughed. “If you are her father, you’re going to have to get used to needles. Babies get a lot of shots. They’re like puppies that way. Anyway, my guess is she’s three to six weeks old. It’s hard to tell. She should have gotten her first hepatitis B shot in the hospital, assuming she was born in a hospital. Since we have no immunization records, we need to discuss how to handle the shots she should have. For obvious reasons, I don’t want to repeat immunizations, but we want her protected. Assuming she’s had her first shot, she’ll be due for a booster within a few weeks, along with a number of other shots. There’s a schedule of shots in the bag I gave you.”
“We’re looking for her mother,” Ben said, glancing guiltily at Aurelia.
“You mentioned on the phone that you were tracking down two women? Hopefully you’ll find them and figure this out sooner rather than later. We should have the paternity issue worked out quickly enough, but paternity is only a small portion of the equation.” Vic leaned against the desk and crossed his arms, setting a serious stare on Ben. “Ben, before I swab you, fatherhood is a major commitment. It takes dedication, and it’ll put a serious damper on your spontaneity.”
Aurelia felt her cheeks burn. She was thankful Vic was looking at Ben and not her.
“Are you sure you’re ready for the results?” Vic asked.
“As ready as I can be. I wasn’t ready to find her on my porch this morning. If it weren’t for Aurelia, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“You would have sent me a nine-one-one text,” Aurelia said with a laugh. “Like you did when that awful woman who works with Talia tried to pick you up at that club.” And I would have come running, just like always.
One side of Ben’s lips tipped up. “That’s the truth. You’re a good friend.”
Vic eyed Aurelia, and she tried to hide the sting from the f-word, but based on the pitying look in Vic’s eyes, she had a feeling she’d failed miserably.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of feedings and diaper changes. Aurelia had newfound appreciation for parents. She also had a greater appreciation for Ben. He was human after all. She’d started to wonder if there was anything he couldn’t handle. Now she knew there was one thing that could rattle the calm, cool, and collected man. Throw a baby at him, and he kind of fell apart for a while. She thought about their chaotic, exhausting day and felt the tug of a smile.
Whoever said that all babies did was eat, sleep, and poop got two parts right. But Baby B was not a great sleeper. She slept in fits and spurts and was happiest snuggled on Ben’s chest.
I would be, too, Aurelia thought.
Every time he put the baby down, she cried, so he picked her up. Watching him try to answer emails with the baby cradled in the crook of one of his arms was pretty funny, but he adjusted quickly. Aurelia had heard enough baby talk from Bridgette to know it wasn’t good for the baby to be held all the time, but B had just been abandoned by her mother, and Aurelia figured she deserved the extra love. Besides, she was hardly one to argue with wanting to be in Ben’s arms.
They’d navigated some pretty stinky situations today, but at least with the second diaper blowout she hadn’t had to cast away her—Ben’s—shirt, which she was still wearing. They’d bathed the baby again, but neither she nor Ben had found time to shower. Now they were back where they’d started, sprawled out on the chaise lounge. Ben smelled like sweat and baby puke, and still her stomach fluttered when he tightened his hold on her or made one of his sleepy, sexy noises. It would be much easier to start fresh in Harmony Pointe and leave her feelings for Benny boy behind if he were an asshole. But even that thought felt wrong, because being an asshole wouldn’t make him a good father for Baby B, and she’d never want that—even if it kind of felt weird that he might actually be the father to some random woman’s baby.
She lay beside him and B, wondering how she’d ended up there. After they’d ordered, and devoured, an entire extra-large pizza, she’d tried to leave so she could go home to shower and check on her renovations, but Ben had flashed those dark, sexy eyes, pleading for her to stay as he pulled her down on the chaise lounge beside him, and she was toast. She’d been lying with him and B ever since. Now it was after eleven, the living room was dark, Ben and B were fast asleep, and she could barely stand the smell of herself.
She carefully and quietly pushed up to a sitting position, and as she rose to her feet, Ben grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t leave,” he whispered.
“I’m just going to shower. I smell like baby puke and poop.”
A smile lifted his lips, and he said, “I love how you smell.”
She sighed over the honesty in his voice, but she knew better and quickly reined in that hopeful thought. “That’s because you’re delirious from lack of sleep.” She pried his fingers from her wrist and said, “I’m borrowing your flannel pajama pants and another shirt to sleep in.”
He pressed a kiss to the baby’s head and pulled one of the new blankets he’d bought her over her little body. “You can have anything, as long as you come back and sleep with me.”
Her body threw a little celebration at his words, despite knowing he didn’t mean it the way she hoped. But after wanting him for so long, and seeing him love up the baby all day, her hormones were in overdrive.
He yawned and patted the spot she’d just vacated, his eyes fluttering closed again as he said, “Hurry back. We’ll miss you.”
There went the fireworks again.
I’m leaving in the morning.
No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Today had felt like a month rather than a day. She had to get on with her life.
At least that’s what she told herself, because I’m falling harder for him was too terrifying a thought to ponder.
CHAPTER FOUR
MORNING CAME FOR the third time on Tuesday, announced by the hungry cry of the sweet girl draped over Ben’s chest.
And it wasn’t Baby B.
“Benny,” Aurelia whisper-whined. “I changed B twice last night. Making breakfast is the least you can do.”
B was sleeping soundly on the other side of his chest. Aurelia had slept with one leg over his, her arm stretched across his body, her hand resting on B’s back, and she’d woken right up every time the baby made a noise. They’d both gotten up with B and had fallen into an unspoken agreement in which Ben fed her and Aurelia changed her. They’d tried to put her in the basket last night after each feeding, but she’d wailed, as if she feared being abandoned again. Ben had a feeling sleeping with her on his chest wasn’t the best idea, and Aurelia had told him as much, but they both agreed that if she wasn’t his, she’d have enough discomfort and upheaval in the coming days to last a lifetime. The truth was, he enjoyed holding her while she slept. That way he knew she was safe and he could feel her breathing. But between worrying about the baby and enjoying Aurelia curled around him in ways she never had before, he’d only half slept.
Now, bleary eyed and exhausted, he was surprised to find he was also in a really great mood—and he was in no hurry to move away from Aurelia. “Stay right there,” he whispered. “Food can wait.”
She lifted her head, giving him a do-you-even-know-me look. Aurelia wasn’t one of those women who was afraid to eat, and it was just one of the things he adored about her. She would eat just about anything he put in front of her, but she also exercised and hardly ever sat still. They went jogging together often, and while he could whip her in speed, she could run for hours. Actually, there wasn’t much she couldn’t do. She was fearless about life and business, and she was creative in ways he could only dream of being. Her biggest flaw was that she had terrible taste in men, and it was a bone of contention between them. When he pointed out that a guy seemed like a dick or wasn’t worthy of her, it only made her more determined to go out with him, which pissed Ben off.
She tried to lean up, and he held her against his chest. “Ben!” she whispered harshly. “I’m hungry.”
He reached behind her and retrieved one of the huge bags of peanut M&M’s he’d bought for her when he’d gone shopping for diapers. He plopped them on his stomach and said, “Eat.” They were Aurelia’s favorite candy.
She groaned. “I don’t want candy. I want sustenance.” She pushed free of his grip, moving slowly and quietly, her beautiful eyes locked on the baby as she sat up.
Ben instantly mourned the feel of her beside him. “Hey, Rels?” He grabbed the back of her shirt, and she turned with a sleepy smile.
“Yeah?”
Maybe it was because of all they’d just been through, but his love for her swelled, making his chest constrict. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but this mess he was in, this baby who might be his, wasn’t Aurelia’s issue to deal with, so he kept those intimate thoughts to himself and said, “Morning looks good on you.”
She snort-laughed, then covered her mouth. She hated when she did that, but he thought it was the cutest thing ever. “You’re into girls with bags under their eyes?”
I’m into you no matter what you look like.
Her gaze shifted over all the things he’d bought yesterday, which were now scattered around the room. Baby blankets lay across the couch and recliner. Piles of tiny outfits covered the coffee table, and several toys, still in their packaging, littered the floor. There were bags of diapers and packages of baby wipes beside a pile of clean towels, on which they’d changed B last night. The kitchen trash can was beside the towels, and empty bottles sat atop the end table by the chaise lounge.
“I think a hurricane hit your house,” she said as she grabbed a handful of M&M’s and stuffed them into her mouth. “I’m going to the bakery to get breakfast. I’ll bring you back something. But you have to let go of my shirt.”
“I think you mean my shirt,” he said as he released it.
She stood up and put her hands on her hips, turning from side to side. His flannel pajama pants hung off her petite frame, and his shirt hung nearly to her knees. She had no idea that her hands cinching the shirt at her waist made the outline of her breasts and nipples prominent.
“Bet this is a turn-on, huh?” she asked with a teasing smile.
“You have no fucking idea.”
“Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes as she pulled off his flannel pants and tugged on her jeans. Even though she was completely covered by his shirt, seeing that flash of bare legs made his cock twitch. He vowed right then and there, if Baby B wasn’t his, the hell with Aurelia’s fresh start. He was going to tell her how he felt. That determination came with a jolt of unexpected discontent as his eyes shifted to the sweet little girl sleeping on his chest. Fuck. He didn’t want to wish her away as he had when they’d first found her, at least not with the vehemence he had yesterday.
“I forgot to throw the clothes in the dryer last night,” Aurelia said. “I’ll throw them in before I leave.” She knotted his shirt above her belly button.
Damn. With a flash of her taut stomach, she was even more tempting. He knew exactly what he wanted for breakfast, and it sure as hell wasn’t at the bakery. He wasn’t about to let her leave looking that hot for some other guy to enjoy.
“Aren’t you missing something?” he practically growled.
“What?” She sat down to put on her sneakers, and he eyed her bra, sitting on her purse by her feet. She followed his gaze and laughed. “The bakery isn’t open yet. Only Willow and Piper will be there, and they’ve seen me without a bra.”
Willow got to the bakery between four thirty and five every morning to prepare for the morning rush, and Ben’s sisters and Aurelia often hung out with her before going to work. Now that Aurelia was living in Harmony Pointe, he knew she hardly ever got a chance to hang out with them in the mornings. Talia and her fiancé, Derek, were also living in Harmony Pointe, and Talia no longer joined them, either.
He glanced at the clock on the wall, relieved that it was only six fifteen. “Please don’t mention B to them.”
“You were serious about that? You know they’d help you. What are you worried about?”
He sat up, holding B against his chest and speaking quietly. “It’s too complicated. I feel like a dick for not knowing the name of the woman in LA or the last name of the yoga girl, and the last thing I need is my sisters all over my case. It sucks enough that I had to admit all that to you.”
A flash of pain washed over her face, and just as quickly it disappeared and she said, “You think they’ve never hooked up with a guy they didn’t put through a thorough interview first?” She smiled and shook her head. “Listen, Benny boy. You may not want to think about your sisters doing that, but girls do hook up with guys. We’re no different from you.”
He scowled. “I don’t want to think about them or you hooking up with random guys, and before they get excited or irritated at the idea of B, I want to be sure she’s mine. Is that too much to ask?”
“Of course not. You know I’d never say anything behind your back.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Rels.”
“I have to go brush my teeth,” she said, heading for the stairs. “I wish I had deodorant.”
“Just use mine.”
“And get your cooties?” she said as she headed for the stairs.
“I’ll give you a hell of a lot more than cooties,” he mumbled.
He pressed a kiss to B’s head and whispered, “She’s really something, isn’t she, peanut?”
He thought about the two women they needed to locate and how hard
it must have been to leave such a tiny baby. How could a woman go through an entire pregnancy, give birth, care for this sweet girl for weeks, and then abandon her? He couldn’t fathom leaving her. He was getting attached after only one day. She must have been desperate. Or in trouble.
Aurelia came downstairs looking tired, though she was smiling.
“Take my truck. It’s parked behind your car in the driveway,” he said. “The keys are on the table.”
“Okay. I’ll help you clean up when I get back. Any special requests from the bakery?”
“You know what I like,” he said, and not for the first time—or the millionth—he thought about what it would feel like to say that to her when they were lying naked in his bed, when she was touching her lips to his flesh after he’d torn off her panties with his teeth, teased her until she begged him to make love to her. He wanted to hear her say it as he buried himself deep inside her—
The baby cried, wrenching him from his fantasy.
Reality slammed into him again. Baby B was not Aurelia’s, and the chances of her wanting him if he was raising another woman’s baby were slim to none.
Aurelia pulled open the back door to the bakery, inhaling the sugary goodness. She felt like she was sleepwalking as she stepped inside. Yesterday had been emotionally and physically exhausting. She wanted to hunker down in a comfy chair with about a dozen doughnuts and talk out all her conflicting emotions with her girlfriends. But considering her closest girlfriends were Ben’s sisters and Remi, she was screwed.
“Hey, girl. I’ve missed you!” Willow said as she pulled a tray of delicious-looking muffins from the oven and set them on the counter, where doughnuts and croissants were already cooling. Her long blond hair was braided in a thick plait over one shoulder, and her jeans and shirt were speckled with flour. “What brings you to Sweetwater so early in the morning?”
Piper eyed her from her perch on the counter, where she sat in her torn work jeans and boots, eating a chocolate croissant. She scarfed down food like she had a hollow leg, but she and her father owned Dalton Contracting, and her job was hard manual labor, which enabled her to eat like a horse and remain a size two. “I think we can guess what brought you back. Rough night?”
Call Her Mine Page 5