Caitlyn and the Alien Protector (Intergalactic Brides 7)

by Jessica Coulter Smith

  He shut off the water, dried off, and dressed. When he left the bathroom, he tossed his sweats into his room and went to get Katy, who was patiently flipping through a board book in the middle of her floor. When she saw him, she toddled over and held up her hands. Cosmir lifted her over the gate and carried her to the kitchen, where he strapped her into her high chair and clipped the tray into place.

  Cosmir scrambled the eggs in a skillet while Katy played, smacking her spoon against the edge of the tray. He’d popped the bacon in the microwave and the cinnamon toast was in the oven, the one thing he was certain his daughter would eat. He’d been able to coax her to eat a few bites of egg over the last few weeks -- often with it being spit back out -- but she didn’t seem to care for bacon or plain toast. He’d have to make a list of things she liked and didn’t like before he turned her care over to Caitlyn.

  As he finished the eggs, adding a little pepper to them, he heard Caitlyn enter the kitchen… and made the mistake of looking her way. He damn near dropped the skillet as he took in her tousled hair, sleepy eyes, and skimpy pajamas. If he’d known that’s what she was sleeping in, he’d probably have been awake all night, trying to figure out how to get her out of them.

  “Morning,” she said with a husky voice.

  “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

  She nodded and claimed a seat next to Katy as she yawned.

  “Not a morning person?” he asked.

  She cracked a smile. “Not until I’ve had at least one cup of coffee. Please tell me you have some.”

  “I have one of those machines that makes it one cup at a time. I’d be happy to make you a cup. Just remind me before bed tonight to show you how it works so you can make some while I’m at work the next two days.”

  “Thanks.”

  Cosmir scraped the eggs into a bowl and placed it on the table, then put the bacon beside it before removing the toast from the oven. Once everything was ready, he brewed a cup of coffee for each of them then took a seat across from her on Katy’s other side.

  “I wouldn’t have pictured you as the type to cook,” she said as she took a sip of coffee.

  “It was one of the first things I learned to do. It was either cook for myself or eat out all the time. It made more sense to learn to cook. Buying food isn’t as expensive as ordering out for every meal. The cost of one dinner at a restaurant would feed me all day if I made my own food. Not that I’m hurting for money, but why throw it away if you don’t have to?”

  “Makes sense.”

  “I hope you like your eggs scrambled. Katy refuses to eat them any other way, and even scrambled it’s sometimes a chore to get her to take a few bites.”

  Caitlyn smiled. “Scrambled is my second favorite, especially if you add some cheese to them.”

  Cosmir studied her over his coffee cup. “What’s your first favorite?”

  “Over easy. I like to break the yolks and dip my bacon in it.”

  “I’ve never tried that, but it sounds interesting.”

  Cosmir watched his daughter munch on a piece of toast, sugar and cinnamon dusting her face. She watched Caitlyn with a fascination he’d never seen on her face before and it made him wonder what she was thinking. Was she missing her mother? Did she think Caitlyn was a replacement mother? Or did she just find Caitlyn as beautiful as he did and was a bit awestruck?

  “Are you calling the doctor today?” Caitlyn asked.

  “I spoke with him this morning. Jerick said he would see you tomorrow at ten in the morning. You’ll want to leave a little early because of morning traffic. I tried to get something later, but he didn’t have anything available.”

  “Did he know anything about Katy’s medical history?”

  Cosmir shook his head. “She’s as much of a mystery to him as she is to us. He said that when Katy came through the station, he contacted the doctor from her home Terran station and was informed that Katy had never been seen there. He hadn’t even been present at her birth, so I’m guessing she was born in a human hospital. It’s a miracle she’s here with us. If anything had gone wrong, I’d have lost her before I even knew about her.”

  “Well, I’ll make sure she’s on time for her appointment. Do you want me to call you when we’re heading home? I can tell you what the doctor said.”

  “I’ll give you my cell number. Just send me a text to say you’re leaving and then I’ll find out in person how the appointment went.”

  Katy finished her toast and reached for the plastic bowl of eggs that Cosmir had placed on her tray. With a giggle, she dipped her spoon in the yellow fluff and then flung it straight at Cosmir’s face. It slapped against his cheek before plopping onto the table. Katy chortled and banged her fists on the tray.

  “Katy, what did daddy say about flinging food at the table?” he asked as he wiped his face. A glance at Caitlyn showed she was fighting hard not to laugh.

  “Not to,” Katy said.

  “That’s right. We don’t fling food, right? You should try the eggs. They’re really good.”

  She shook her head adamantly. Caitlyn bit her lip and reached for Katy’s bowl. Without a word, she took it over to the kitchen counter before opening the fridge. Cosmir watched as she sprinkled some shredded cheese over the eggs, then came back to the table. Caitlyn took Katy’s spoon from her, scooped up a bite with the added cheese, and offered it to his precocious daughter.

  Katy studied the spoon before opening her mouth and accepting the bite. Her eyes lit up as she opened her mouth for another spoonful. Caitlyn hadn’t even been with them one full day and already she’d accomplished something Cosmir had failed at repeatedly for weeks. It made him wonder what other tricks were up her sleeve when it came to Katy.

  He watched as his daughter ate all of her eggs, but when Caitlyn offered her bacon, Katy turned up her nose. Caitlyn crossed her eyes and blew a raspberry at Katy, making her laugh and clap her hands. Cosmir got up and cleared the table, but as he opened the dishwasher, Caitlyn hip checked him.

  “You cooked. I’ll take care of the dishes,” she said.

  “I didn’t bring you here to keep house.”

  “Are we seriously going to argue over who does the dishes?” She smiled. “Go spend time with your daughter before you go back to work tomorrow. I’m sure she misses you when you’re gone.”

  Cosmir rubbed his jaw and decided not to argue with her. Unbuckling Katy from her high chair, he took her to the bathroom to clean up her hands and face. He’d changed her an hour ago when she’d woken up, but he hadn’t thought to ask her if she needed to go to the bathroom since then. He really sucked at the parenting thing, but he was doing the best he could.

  “Do you need to potty?” he asked.

  Katy shook her head.

  “All right. Cartoons it is, then.”

  Cosmir picked her up and carried her to the living room, where he put on her favorite show. He pulled out some of the toys he noticed she liked the best, then went to check on Caitlyn. The kitchen was empty and her bedroom door was closed. He didn’t know if she had plans for the day or if she might want to hang out with Katy and him, but it felt awkward to knock on her door.

  She solved the dilemma for him by opening the door and barreling straight into his chest. His arms went around her and he nearly groaned from how perfect she felt pressed against him. Her mouth dropped open and her hands wrapped around his biceps. Cosmir wasn’t sure if he should be thrilled that she didn’t seem in a hurry to pull away, or if warning bells should be going off. How smart was it to make a move on a woman who wanted to avoid commitment? He took a breath to steady himself and wished he hadn’t. Lilacs. She smelled like lilacs.

  His pants tightened as his body responded to having her lush curves so close. He hoped like hell she didn’t notice. No way he could go back to the living room with Katy until he got himself under control. What kind of ass got a hard-on with his daughter in the other room? Oh hell. Was it even okay to have sex in the same house as Katy? Cosmir nearly
smacked himself. Of course it was. Lots of people had more than one child. Now he was just being an idiot.

  She pressed a little closer and he couldn’t resist a moment longer. With a groan, he lowered his head and captured her lips. He felt her melt against him as she opened to him. Cosmir’s tongue swept inside and danced with hers. Caitlyn gripped him tight as he fed from the sweetness of her mouth. A long, deep, drugging kiss that had the power to take him to his knees.

  Cosmir released her as he drew in a ragged breath and questioned the sanity of such a move. Had he screwed up by kissing her? Would she pack her things and leave now? Or did she want more, like him?

  Caitlyn held a trembling hand to her lips as she backed up another step.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I was just changing clothes.”

  Thank you for that mental picture.

  She peered up at him. “Are you all right, Cosmir?”

  “Fine,” he croaked. Clearing his throat, he backed up a little more. It was too tempting to reach for her again. “If you don’t mind watching Katy for a moment, I just need to get my cell phone out of the bedroom.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  Before he could make an even bigger fool of himself, he hurried into his room and hid like a coward. Cosmir looked down and cursed. A male his age should have better control of his body, but there was something about Caitlyn that made him feel a little out of control. Once he’d willed his wayward cock back into submission, he picked up his cell phone from the bedside table and headed back to the living room.

  Caitlyn was on the couch with her laptop in her lap while Katy watched cartoons and sucked on the ear of her stuffed rabbit. Cosmir eased down onto the other end of the couch, not wanting to jostle Caitlyn while she worked, and he watched his daughter for a few minutes. He should probably get Katy out of the house for a while so Caitlyn could work in peace.

  “Katy, would you like to go to the park today?” Cosmir asked.

  “I think it’s supposed to rain this afternoon,” Caitlyn said without looking up. “But I bet she’d love Fun Zone over on Walnut Lane.”

  “Fun Zone?” he asked.

  “It’s this kids’ place that has a ball pit, inflatables, kiddie rides, some games… they sell pizza and soda too.” Caitlyn glanced his way. “If you can give me an hour or two to work on this project, I can go with you.”

  “I don’t want her to disrupt your work,” Cosmir said.

  “I can take my laptop in my room and work in there for a while. If she plays in here or in her room, I don’t think it will bother me. Worst case, I take my laptop out back and sit at the table on the patio until the rain comes.”

  “I’m not running you out of the house.”

  Caitlyn smiled. “You aren’t. I actually like working outside sometimes. The fresh air seems to boost my creativity. I’m going to make a few simple book covers to upload and then we can do whatever you want for the rest of the day.”

  Whatever I want? No, they wouldn’t be doing whatever he wanted because that would require Katy to stay somewhere else for the night so he could have Caitlyn all to himself. In the bedroom. Where they would stay for at least twenty-four hours. He figured it would take at least that long to exorcise Caitlyn from his system. Hell, that might not even be long enough.

  He watched the sway of her hips as she sashayed out of the room, wishing he could go after her. If circumstances were different, he’d toss her on the bed, strip every piece of clothing from her delectable body, and then make love to her all day and all night. He wasn’t sure she’d appreciate that though.

  Cosmir knew one thing was for certain. He needed to get naughty thoughts of Caitlyn and what she may or may not be wearing under those shorts out of his mind. His phone buzzed with a text and he smiled when he saw it was Jake.

  Jake: You better be taking care of my baby sister.

  Oh, he wanted to take care of her all right, but he doubted her big brother wanted to hear that.

  Cosmir: I think it’s more like she’s taking care of us.

  And Cosmir could think of several ways Caitlyn could take care of him. With any luck, maybe they’d get to explore some of those fantasies at a later date. She’d certainly responded to his kiss, so that was good news, right?

  Jake: LOL yeah that sounds like Caitlyn.

  Cosmir: We’re going to Fun Zone in a bit… you should come.

  Jake: That kids’ place?

  Cosmir: Caitlyn suggested it.

  Jake: Don’t want to break up a family outing ;)

  Cosmir smiled and shook his head. It was obvious his friend wanted him to hook up with Caitlyn in a very permanent way. Jake had to know how she felt about firemen though. Was he pushing because he knew something Cosmir didn’t? Was it possible she would consider dating a fireman again? Yes, their kiss had been passionate and she hadn’t exactly pushed him away, but it was a far cry between a few kisses and sharing a life together.

  He set his phone aside and crawled onto the floor with Katy. They played for a while until she froze during a commercial. Cosmir glanced from Katy to the TV and back again. It was one of those diaper commercials with human babies. Did she wonder why they looked different from her? Was she wishing she could play with them?

  Katy looked up at him with her innocent eyes. “I want a baby.”

  His eyebrows rose into his hairline. “A baby? You mean to play with?”

  “You and Mommy have a baby.”

  Well fuck.

  “Katy, Mommy isn’t here, remember? She sent you here to live with me.”

  She frowned, her brow puckering.

  “Mommy lives in Kentucky and we live in Texas.” Cosmir hoped she’d remember and not burst into tears. She had yet to cry over the loss of her mother and he wondered if it was only a matter of time before the dam broke.

  “Want a new mommy.” Katy stuck her lip out. “Daddy, get me a mommy.”

  If only it were that easy. If he could pick a mother for Katy, it would probably be Caitlyn. He barely knew her, but he’d already seen how wonderful she was with Katy, and the sparks he felt when she was around were enough to bring him to his knees. But he doubted Caitlyn would appreciate a marriage proposal the first full day she was in his home. If anything, she’d probably look at him like he was some psycho stalker and she’d pack her stuff and get the hell out of here.

  “Katy, I know you want a mommy, but Daddy has to find just the right one. It could take some time.”

  “No.” She shook her head, curls bouncing. “Now.”

  “Katy… why do you want a mommy right now?”

  “So I can have a baby.”

  Cosmir sighed. Something told him this wasn’t a battle he was going to win easily. How did you explain to a three-year-old about falling in love and lifelong commitments? Heck, she probably didn’t even know where babies came from, just understood that a mommy was involved in some way. Not that he thought she was ready for that conversation. Hell, he wasn’t ready for that one. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to discuss reproduction for many years to come. If he ever had more kids, maybe he could convince her that the baby just magically appeared in Mommy’s tummy.

  “We’ll talk about it later, Katy. Right now, I think you need to get ready for Fun Zone. Do you need to go potty?”

  She sucked on her lower lip and hesitantly nodded her head.

  Cosmir held out his hand to take her, but she backed up.

  “You want to go potty, but you don’t want me to take you?” he asked.

  Katy pointed toward the hall.

  “Oh. You want Caitlyn to take you?”

  She nodded.

  He couldn’t blame her. It had to be awkward for her to do things like that with a daddy she barely knew. He went to Caitlyn’s door and knocked softly. He heard a muffled response and twisted the knob, pushing the door open a crack.

  “I didn’t mean to bother you, but Katy needs to go to the bathroom and she refuses to go with anyone but you.”

  Caitly
n pulled the door open further and smiled at him. “It’s okay. I was done for the moment anyway. We should probably look into a stepstool and one of those seat covers that makes the toilet opening a little smaller. She might feel more confident about going on her own then.”

  “We can stop on the way home from Fun Zone, if that’s okay with you? I don’t know if you need to work more later.”

  “I do, but I can hide in my room after dinner and get some stuff done before bed. I’d love to go to Fun Zone and then shopping with the two of you.”

  Katy came bounding down the hallway, holding the front of her shorts. “Gotta go.”

  Caitlyn smiled at her and held out her hand. “Come on, Katy. We’ll go potty and then we can put on our shoes and go to Fun Zone.”

  Katy smiled back and grasped her hand. While the girls went into the bathroom, he began getting Katy’s bag ready. He packed a few pull-ups and a change of clothes. Made sure the wipes were restocked, as well as her snack and sippy cup. By the time the bag was ready, Katy and Caitlyn were ready to go. Katy seemed reluctant to let Caitlyn’s hand go, so he let the two of them walk together to the SUV parked in the driveway. Caitlyn even buckled Katy into her car seat before getting into the vehicle herself.

  “You said it’s on Walnut Lane?” asked Cosmir as he started the engine.

  “It’s across from Mama Rosa’s.”

  “The new Italian place?”

  She nodded.

  “Maybe instead of getting pizza at Fun Zone, we should plan to have Katy play a while and then get some Italian food for lunch. Or do you have to order pizza to play there?”

  “You can skip the pizza. I’m sure Katy would prefer spaghetti anyway.”

  Katy clapped her hands. “Sketti.”

  “I invited your brother to go. Did you want to send him a text and tell him we’re on our way? You can invite him to Mama Rosa’s too if you want.”

  Caitlyn laughed. “I don’t see Jake entering Fun Zone voluntarily, but maybe he’d meet us for lunch after. I’ll see what he says.”

  Chapter Eight

  Cosmir focused on driving while Caitlyn texted with her brother. As they pulled into the Fun Zone parking lot, he glanced in his rearview mirror and saw that Katy was staring at the place with wide eyes. There was a huge blow-up clown on the roof and balloons were tied to the posts on either side of the door. He wondered if she’d ever been to a place like this before. Part of him wanted to experience one of her firsts with her, but the other part was sad to think her life had been lacking in any way, even though he knew it had. Katy’s mom had made it clear that she hadn’t wanted their daughter and couldn’t wait to be rid of her.