My Ex's Baby (Crescent Cove Book 8)

by Taryn Quinn

  I asked Caleb to give me a few but he was gone when I returned—and so was the armoire.

  I hadn’t seen him go out the front so he must’ve gone up the rarely used interior staircase. It was built in a way that carrying furniture up it was a trial, but leave it to my brother to push his luck.

  He was a big guy, although not as big as Lucky. I probably could’ve managed to lug the armoire upstairs to Kinleigh’s shop myself, but he’d stopped in and I’d figured hey, maybe he’d help keep things from getting awkward when I presented it to Kinleigh. She got too quiet whenever I brought her anything, from flowers to takeout to furniture.

  Not that it stopped me from doing it. I was compelled to offer her stuff whether or not she wanted me to. My swimmers were just the beginning, apparently.

  That gift was one she always appreciated though, right on down to times on a chart and breathy phone calls saying, “August, I need you.”

  I knew what she needed. The same thing I did. But for entirely different purposes, at least some of the time.

  My urgency for her burned hot in my blood. Morning, afternoon and night. It didn’t matter if I’d just had her. My body was primed to react to her lemon fresh scent.

  At the rate I was going, even the detergent aisle at the grocery store was out, because fuck me running if I smelled something citrus. Hard-ons while picking out fabric softeners were never appropriate.

  On top of all of that, time was passing and she hadn’t gotten her period again yet. Did that mean we’d been successful? Who knew? She’d informed me she wouldn’t take a test before the right time, whatever that was, and I was torn between wanting to knock her up and wanting it to take a while so she still needed me.

  The shop phone rang and I picked up, barking out a, “Yeah?” without looking at the readout.

  “Did you send this strapping young man up here with this fine piece of wood?” She sounded flirty and breathless, and I could hear Caleb’s rich laughter behind her.

  I fisted a hand on the phone stand. “It’s my piece of wood, and it’s far finer than his.”

  “Touché.”

  “We were supposed to bring it up there together, but God forbid he ever not shoot his wad in a hurry. Kind of his specialty.” I deliberately spoke loudly enough for Caleb to hear me if he was standing close.

  Which he would do without thinking, because Kinleigh was a beautiful, presumably single woman and Caleb was perennially on the search for a good time. And hey, I hadn’t staked a claim on her, so all good, right?

  Except it wasn’t. Not even a little bit.

  “It’s a lovely piece, August. Truly. But where am I going to put it? It’s too big.”

  Caleb said something in the background and I could only imagine what shot he’d taken at my manhood in jest. He didn’t know that was a particularly sore spot right now when I was doing target practice on Kinleigh’s ovaries and constantly wondering if I’d scored.

  That was my life now. Times on a sheet. Goals and practice. Being with her was still sexy as hell, since Kinleigh made me hot even when she was unconscious, but I couldn’t deny I wouldn’t have minded being intimate with her when implantation wasn’t an issue.

  “I’ll be right up.”

  “Wait, you don’t have anyone to man the store—”

  I hung up. I usually wasn’t testy, especially not with her, but I was in a mood today and my brother wasn’t helping.

  Once the chair shoppers had stopped browsing for other pieces for their kitchen and went on their way, I flipped the door sign to closed and went outside to march upstairs.

  I needed a minute of fresh air to cool off.

  My greeting as I entered Kinleigh’s shop was her light, airy laughter as she opened and closed the drawers of the armoire. I stopped in the doorway, savoring how she looked for one more moment.

  My brother had rested his arm on the top of the thing and was looming over her, probably checking out her perfect little ass in another one of those thin, summery skirts she loved to wear. If that wasn’t enough, I could very clearly see the lines of her pale blue thong when she was bent over at that angle.

  I took a deep breath and came closer, resting my hand on the small of her back. “What do you think, babe?” I gave my brother a death glare, tempting him to push me over the edge.

  Kinleigh’s head reared up, bumping the open armoire door at the same time as Caleb raised a brow and held up his hands in his increasingly annoying “no problem” gesture. Maybe everything was casual as could be in his world, but in mine?

  Not so much.

  “Are you okay?” I palmed the top of her head, feeling for bumps, and she stared at me with wide, uncomprehending blue eyes as if she didn’t grasp what was happening. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have surprised you.”

  “It’s okay. I’m okay.” Her throat rippled. “You can let go of me now.”

  “No, I really can’t.” It took everything inside me not to lower my head and take her soft, unpainted mouth. The kind of kiss she couldn’t slot away as for fun or reproduction, or maybe some combination of the two. But not anything more.

  “You’re acting strange.” She nudged me back. “You chased off your brother.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. “So I did. Too bad.” Had to hand it to Caleb, maybe he wasn’t as absolutely oblivious at catching subtext as I’d assumed.

  “He brought that up for you. It’s awfully heavy. Why are you mad—oh.” She cupped her hand over her mouth, her pupils flaring brighter for an instant. That lively blue practically rendered me mute. I didn’t see her that amused nearly enough.

  “Oh, what?”

  She let her hand drop. “You’re jealous.”

  I crossed my arms. “What do I have to be jealous of?”

  “Absolutely nothing.” She took a quick look over her shoulder to assess the shop. Finding it empty, she swayed closer, rubbing her nipples against my chest through my T-shirt. “This is the sweetest thing. I love it, even if I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet. Or where I’m going to put it. Thank you.” She rose on her tiptoes and rubbed her lips against mine. “You don’t have to do stuff like this though. I’m a sure thing.”

  “You’re the farthest from a sure thing.”

  “Not according to my chart.”

  “Kinleigh, stop.”

  She stepped back. “Sorry.”

  I swore under my breath. “Don’t do that. Don’t shut down on me.”

  “Seems like you shut down first.” She gripped her necklace, a long yellow crystal wand that dangled between her mouth-watering breasts, discreetly hidden away. But I remembered their exact shape. How her nipples bloomed under my touch, whether with my lips and tongue or my fingers. The way they flowed into my hands, soft and perfect. A vulnerability she never hesitated to share with me.

  The only one she’d share.

  “Go out with me.”

  Her expression turned cagey. She didn’t move back any farther physically, but in her head, she was already bolting all the locks against me. “I do all the time.”

  “You stay in with me. Locked away in your bedroom.”

  She ran her hand up my chest, her nails lightly skimming the material. My cock jerked against my zipper and her lips lifted. “Not just in my bedroom. Pretty sure we’ve enjoyed a few other inventive spots.”

  “I want to walk with you in the sunshine and hold your hand.”

  Saying it out loud felt absolutely ridiculous. This was what I was making my stand on? I had access to this woman’s luscious curves almost anytime I wanted them. Basically, I had my brother’s ideal situation, minus the procreation part.

  Yet it wasn’t nearly enough. I didn’t want only her moans in private. I wanted her smiles in public and to be able to just touch her hair or cup her cheek. I craved her innermost thoughts and her dreams and her fears.

  I wanted fucking everything.

  She held my gaze for a long moment before turning toward the front as the chimes on the door sign
aled a customer. “Good afternoon. Is there something I can help you with today?”

  “Just browsing, thank you. I love your shop.”

  “Oh, thanks. Are you sure you don’t need any assistance? We just got in these new Tibetan singing bowls,” Kinleigh added as the petite brunette paused by the self-care section. It led into a space filled with home relaxation items and a couple of padded chairs meant for taking a moment with a cup of tea. “Have you seen them before? They’re so soothing. If you’re planning a special night, they set the perfect mood for getting ready.”

  When she turned away, I left the same way I’d come in. And kept right on walking down the street without even locking up my store for the day. It was Crescent Cove, after all. A lovely safe town, made for families.

  I might even be on my way to having my own family, with a woman who wouldn’t let me in no matter how many times I knocked. Whether I used gentleness or a battering ram, the vault of Kinleigh Scott remained on lockdown.

  And I’d really believed having a child with her was the answer? She’d probably lock me out of that too. Then what? We’d need to get lawyers involved, because there wasn’t a way in hell I would let her keep me from my baby. It was bad enough trying to understand the distance she put between us. If a child was involved, I wouldn’t be able to let her close the door in my face. Whatever tenuous strides we’d made between us would be destroyed.

  What the hell had I been thinking?

  I strolled down the street in the fading sunshine, my head down. I didn’t want to chat with anyone. Definitely didn’t want to exchange smiles or waves.

  I climbed into my truck and reversed out of the spot and hit the gas.

  Without knowing where I was headed, I drove out of town. Aiming anywhere and nowhere, following the curve of the road and the sunshine along the horizon. Spring was coming, but it hadn’t quite arrived yet. Even so, the days were longer now and I drove until the sun dipped behind the far side of lake and the already chilly air turned cold.

  My stomach growled and I decided I’d get a pizza for one. No delivery service tonight. If Kinleigh wanted me for any reason other than my dick, she could be the one to make the move this time. I was tired of winding up and striking out.

  And if she never contacts you, then what?

  Then I’d deal with it. I didn’t know how. The idea of not being with Kinleigh again was like a physical blow to the gut. Not just sexually. I missed her when she wasn’t around. Her voice, her rare laughter, the way she touched me when she forgot her goal and just lived in the moment. I’d spent years watching her and Ivy’s bond grow and deepen, but now if I wasn’t mistaken, even that relationship was faltering. Probably because of me too.

  Weird as fuck to be both the cause of Kinleigh’s problems—in her mind—and her solution to yet another one. Where for me, she was just the answer. The meaning that made everything else make sense.

  I went into Robbie’s and ordered a large, sad pie for one with extra cheese and pepperoni and green peppers. Kinleigh hated them but she wasn’t around.

  Might never be around in any way that didn’t include her legs in the air. Hard to complain about that but here I was, complaining in my own head.

  While I waited at the counter, a text came in from my brother.

  Why didn’t you just admit you want her?

  Such a loaded question.

  Banging the sister’s best friend is on half the movies of the week. You know, it’s just enough taboo to juice the panties but not taboo enough to get you thrown out of church.

  I shouldn’t have laughed, but I couldn’t help it as I replied.

  Don’t tell Ivy your theories, all right? I have enough problems.

  If Ivy went to Kinleigh with suspicions about us, Kinleigh would probably not only decide she didn’t want a baby any longer, she was also done with me and men in general. She was so afraid of losing Ivy, when anyone who knew my sister would understand she would never begrudge someone’s happiness. She only wanted all of us to find what she had with Lucky Charms.

  So why was Kinleigh so spooked about the Ivy thing? Did it have to do with valet guy somehow? She’d lost someone important to her, and her family didn’t seem to be a factor in her life, so maybe she was convinced deep down she’d end up alone.

  She refuses to see you’d never leave her. Maybe she just doesn’t feel the same.

  Caleb responded but I didn’t take time to read it since my pizza was finally ready. I snagged the box and headed out to my truck, head still down in case anyone felt chatty. But it was the Cove, so of course I was stopped a couple of times just on my short walk to where I was parked.

  I slipped into my truck with a slip of paper with a phone number for a potential new customer. Jude Keller was a recent transplant to the Cove. In fact, he hadn’t even landed yet. He was still scoping out the area as far as potential places to live. I gave him a tip on the apartments over the café—and not because I wanted to make sure that Kinleigh and I had time to break it in first—and he mentioned he needed furniture. And voila, I had a line on a new piece to fill my nights.

  Pathetic, Beck.

  I’d no sooner pulled into the duplex’s parking lot when Kinleigh’s name flashed across my in-dash screen. I intended to let the call go to voicemail, as rare as it was. Maybe it was petty, but I had no intention of giving her any more inches when she’d seen fit to not make use of a mile.

  And for once, I wasn’t thinking of my penis.

  Then I heard her breathless, frantic voice and I forgot about anything but making sure she was okay.

  Aug, if you’re there, pick up, please. I know you’re mad at me, and you probably have a right to be, but I need you.

  Those three words were always my undoing when it came to Kinleigh. She probably fucking knew it too.

  I snagged the call. “What is it? Where are you?”

  “At Ivy’s. It’s the baby. I didn’t know who else to call—”

  I left my pizza in the truck and shut off the engine before jumping down and running inside. I didn’t disconnect the call. Nor did I keep talking to Kinleigh. I had no idea if she was still there. All I could focus on was getting inside to my niece.

  As soon as I opened the door to Ivy’s side of the duplex, Kinleigh rushed forward with a sobbing Rhiannon in her arms. My girl’s eyes were stark and frightened. “Ivy had to run to the store because she was out of Rhi’s baby food. She warned me she was super fussy today and wouldn’t sleep, but I figured I’d sing to her and try to put her down anyway. But she just won’t stop wailing. And then I saw this.” Carefully, she peeled the pale yellow blanket wrapped around Rhi away from her head. There was blood on the material.

  My chest seized. “From what? Her mouth? Where?”

  “I think her ear. Oh, God, what’s wrong with her? Did I do something? All I’ve been doing is rocking her.”

  “Come here, sweetheart. Come to uncle August.”

  Instead of reaching her arms out to me as she always did, she just flailed in Kinleigh’s embrace, swatting her hand against her head again and again. More blood trickled from her ear.

  “We need to go to the hospital.”

  Kinleigh stared down at the baby, her mouth trembling.

  “Kinleigh, are you listening to me? We need to take the baby to the ER. Grab Ivy’s baby bag, and I’ll go get the truck.”

  She nodded, her eyes overflowing. A tear splashed on the baby, but she never stopped jerking around long enough to notice.

  I took a second to cup Kinleigh’s cheek. “You did the right thing, baby, calling me. It’s going to be okay.”

  She nodded again, her tears still running freely.

  I hated leaving them for even a moment.

  I hurried to the lot and stowed the pizza box next to the car seat before backing out of the space. They were waiting on the porch when I pulled the truck around. Luckily, I kept a car seat in it all the time in case I needed to babysit Rhiannon, so it was just a matter of getting her si
tuated.

  Rhiannon sobbed the whole way to the ER. Kinleigh texted Ivy that she should meet us at the hospital, and my heart gave a painful lurch at the panic my sister would feel getting that text. But it couldn’t be helped. I didn’t want to delay any longer. When blood was involved—even a small amount—I wasn’t taking any chances.

  “Can you text Rory too? Do you have the number? I think he’s down in the city for the day, back tonight.”

  “I have the number.” She typed frantically while I tried to focus on the road.

  Every minute or so, I glanced back at my niece and crooned softly to her, hoping I could find the right combination of nonsense words and her name and anything I could think of to try to calm her down. She just continued to let out huge wrenching sobs that made my throat constrict and my shoulders ache.

  “She’s going to be fine, baby.” I reached over to take Kinleigh’s hand as she stared morosely out the window. “I promise.”

  Instead of shoving me away, she wrapped her fingers around mine and held on tight.

  Twenty

  I paced up and down the small waiting room while August was in the examination room with the baby. We’d been together for most of it while the doctor did the necessary checks, August and I taking turns soothing Rhiannon while the other helped keep the fussing baby still. Then Ivy’s frantic texts had started coming in, along with Rory’s, and August had suggested I wait out here for Ivy to arrive.

  Since the little girl’s anguish was tugging hard at my chest and belly, I hadn’t argued. August’s steady calm had soothed me as much as it had the baby.

  Oh, it hadn’t happened quickly. Rhiannon was still uneasy and crying, but she’d definitely started to calm down. The doctor had mentioned a likely ear infection, with a probable ruptured eardrum. That sounded much worse than it actually was apparently, especially when it came to babies that young. But I didn’t blame Ivy for freaking out. Add in the mom guilt that she’d chanced running to the store and now her baby was at the ER and she was a mess.