“She didn’t have a boyfriend. She would have told me.”
“Okay. Whatever you say.”
She brought her thumb up to her mouth and bit it as she stared at him. He thought it was unconscious, but it was still a sexy fucking look. He found himself growing hard as he imagined biting that mouth before thrusting his tongue between her lips and kissing the daylights out of her. She finally dropped her hand and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
“I guess we wait for the results and see where we go from there,” she said. “I appreciate you cooperating with me about that.”
“It’s the right thing to do.” He picked up the check as she reached for it. “I’ll get this. But you still owe me for the paternity test.”
She reached inside the diaper bag. A few seconds later, she came out with a wad of bills that she must have had stuffed somewhere besides her purse since that had only held two twenties. She peeled off thirty dollars for the test and another hundred and twenty for the processing fee. He’d used his credit card on the forms because she didn’t have one.
He pocketed the money. Ana let out a wail just then and Bailey stiffened, her eyes widening with panic. Alexei reached for the baby and lifted her out of the carrier. The problem was immediately obvious.
“She needs a diaper change.”
“Oh. Okay.” But Bailey’s eyes remained wide and her fingers trembled as she tucked her money away. Aw, damn.
“Come on, we’ll change her in the truck.”
He carried the baby and she took the bag, same as when they’d entered the restaurant. He stopped and paid the bill, then continued to his truck with a crying baby in his arms. A couple of old ladies stood outside the restaurant, chatting. When he walked by, they smiled. He smiled back. Nodded.
“That’s a good man you got, honey,” one of them said to Bailey. “Congratulations on your beautiful baby.”
He didn’t hear Bailey’s response because he’d reached the vehicle and pressed the button to unlock it. She came up beside him a moment later.
“Here,” she said, passing him a portable changing pad.
He unfolded it and laid it on the floor of the truck. Then he shot her a look as he placed the baby on the pad. “You doing this or am I?”
“Honestly, I still gag a bit. But I’ll do it if you don’t want to.”
He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at her. “Lightweight.”
“Hey, I have all of three days’ experience. You’ve presumably had years.”
He stripped the dirty diaper efficiently and held out his hand for the baby wipes, which she handed over. “A few.”
He cleaned Ana, applied diaper cream, and put on a fresh diaper. The whole process took less than two minutes. Bailey looked a little stunned when he met her gaze again.
“You know what,” she said. “Forget my neighbor. If you’re still willing, I’ll take you up on the babysitting offer.”
Chapter 5
Bailey couldn’t stop thinking about Alexei and the way he’d taken care of Ana today. When she’d started pounding on his door, she’d had no idea what to expect. She certainly hadn’t expected him to be reasonable. No, she’d been angry and desperate and she’d wanted to take it out on someone. She hadn’t truly thought he’d cooperate.
But he had, and then he’d taken it a step further and offered to babysit for her. She hadn’t planned to accept, but watching him diaper Ana and soothe her in the restaurant parking lot had changed her mind. He knew what he was doing, and he was good with the baby.
Those old ladies had said as much to her. Yes, she’d blushed and stammered a bit in her reply, but that was because they weren’t a couple and Ana wasn’t her baby. Not that she could explain all that to two friendly strangers who were impressed with the big man carrying the squalling baby. If they’d watched him change Ana, they would’ve swooned.
She nearly had. And she’d asked herself, as she stood there being useless, why she was adding the burden of finding childcare on herself when she already had a willing volunteer. She could go and beg Tiffany, her neighbor, but Tiffany had two kids of her own and looked perpetually tired. Plus she’d want to be paid, and while Bailey agreed that pay was warranted, Alexei hadn’t wanted money and he was good with Ana. Better than Tiffany because he wasn’t going to be distracted by other children or only doing it for the money.
She’d taken Ana home and settled in for the day. There were chores and the usual unanswered texts to Kayla. Whenever the kid slept, Bailey slept. Ana slept in fits and starts though, so Bailey didn’t get a lot of sleep. She even managed a quick shower during one of the naps. She’d applied her stage makeup, which was heavier and darker than she usually wore, then dressed in yoga pants and a tank top for the trip to Alexei’s and then the club.
It was around six thirty when she piled Ana and her diaper bag into the car. Alexei had frowned mightily when he’d strapped Ana’s carrier into it earlier.
“This car is older than both of us put together,” he’d grumbled.
“It’s not either.”
“Maybe not, but it doesn’t look all that reliable.”
“It’s not, but it’s been over a month since the last breakdown. I think it’s doing okay.”
He’d frowned as she climbed into the car and started it up. Predictably, it sputtered like a drowning cow, but it lumbered into action when she pressed the gas. Her last vision of Alexei Kamarov was him standing with legs spread and arms crossed over his chest, a frown on his face as she pulled away.
Now, as she drove to his house again, her heart kicked up at the thought of seeing him. She didn’t like that, but there was nothing to be done about it. He was big and handsome and he pinged all her arousal zones. He was one hundred percent her type even if she’d have said before today that she didn’t have a specific type.
Apparently she did. Tall, broad, badass Navy SEALs did it for her, it seemed. She drove the five miles to Alexei’s house, feeling better the closer she got to it. He lived in an older neighborhood with houses, not a low-rent apartment like she did. She’d wanted to save money, and she hadn’t had the cash for a huge security deposit. Then there was the fact she didn’t have a credit card, which meant she was limited in the kinds of places that would accept her.
Still, she hadn’t looked too hard because it had been her and Kayla at the time and their needs weren’t great. But now that she had Ana to care for, the apartment seemed shabbier than she liked.
Bailey parked in the driveway, behind Alexei’s Dodge, and got out of the vehicle. She started around the car to get Ana, but Alexei came outside and strode off the porch toward her.
“I wasn’t sure you’d go through with it,” he said as she opened the passenger door and pushed the seat forward so she could get to Ana.
“Free babysitting? Of course I was going through with it. Unless you’ve changed your mind?”
“Nope.”
She freed the carrier and lifted it out, handing it to Alexei. His fingers brushed hers, and electricity shot down into her toes and up through the follicles on her head.
Wowza!
She grabbed the diaper bag, but he took it from her and shouldered it. Then they stood there staring at each other for a long minute.
“You want to come in for a second?”
“I shouldn’t. I need to get to the club.”
His gaze searched her face. She knew he was taking in the makeup—the heavy eyeliner, the fake lashes, the crystal jewels beneath her eyebrows. She applied it at home because it was often difficult to get a mirror at the club. She’d do her lipstick later, right before she went on. That at least didn’t take too long.
“If you need anything, call me,” he said.
They’d exchanged numbers earlier, before she’d left the first time. In case she changed her mind about the babysitting, he’d said. She’d looked at his number in her phone a few times. Not to cancel. Hell, she didn’t know why she did it. She’d thought about texting him, to see if h
e’d answer, but she couldn’t think of any reason to do so.
“What I need is childcare. You’re already doing that.”
His brow furrowed. “I mean if anyone harasses you or you feel unsafe. I’m the kind of guy who can fix that.”
He stood there with a baby carrier and a diaper bag, all muscled and hot and somehow menacing as well, and she knew he wasn’t lying. He could totally fix anything he set his mind to. Including the longing swirling inside her belly at the sight of him.
Nope, not happening.
He’d plowed Kayla and planted a seed. Or had he?
“I’ll keep it in mind. But Deke doesn’t allow any harassment in the club. Men who get rowdy get thrown out. It’s safe.”
Not always, but she wasn’t telling him that. Shit happened sometimes, but not often.
He frowned as if he didn’t believe her. “I’ve been there, Bailey. I know what goes on in that place.”
“Same as any nightclub,” she replied. “But I’ll call you if anything changes. Though what’s your plan? Put Ana in your truck and come kick some ass? Should I get you one of those pouch thingies people wear their kids in?”
“Very funny. I’ve already got backup if I need it, so no, I won’t be bringing the munchkin.”
She was relieved to hear it. “I gotta get going. I’ll text you when I’m on my way to pick her up. It won’t be before two.”
He was looking angry again. “Okay. Let me know. I’ll be awake.”
Bailey got into the car and started it up. It rumbled in its usual sickly fashion as she put it into reverse and backed out of the driveway. With a last look at Alexei and Ana, she pressed the gas and left them behind. She ought to feel relief that she was free for a few hours to work and not think about a baby’s needs.
But she was strangely sad instead.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Cash “Money” McQuaid said as he walked inside, pizzas in one hand and a six-pack in the other, and stopped dead in his tracks. “Where the hell did you get a baby?”
Cody “Cowboy” McCormick was shaking his head and laughing. Remy “Cage” Marchand came over with paper plates while Adam “Blade” Garrison hovered nearby, ready to leap on the pizzas as soon as the boxes hit the table.
“I answered an ad for a part-time nanny job,” Alexei said. “Where do you think?”
“Dude, seriously.” Money was the last one to arrive at Cage’s house because he’d stopped to pick up the pizzas, and he wasn’t up to speed yet.
Though they’d just gotten back from deployment yesterday, when Cage called to ask if they wanted to get together at his place for pizza and beer, most of the guys had jumped on it. Dane “Viking” Erikson couldn’t make it, but Ryan “Dirty Harry” Callahan and Zach “Neo” Anderson were on the way.
Alexei had almost said no, but he’d decided that taking Ana would be acceptable so long as Cage said yes and he informed Bailey. Both of which had happened. Cage had seemed amused and Bailey sent back a terse reply that basically said whatever, dude.
Damn, that girl fascinated him. When she’d rolled up to his place tonight with all that damned makeup enhancing her facial features, he’d gotten harder than stone. Not that she needed the makeup, but the way she applied it made her eyes bigger and more golden. In other words, striking as fuck. Add in the clingy yoga clothing, which he knew she’d trade for a G-string later, and his mind was working overtime. He seriously needed to get laid. Which wasn’t happening tonight with the pip-squeak for company.
“Girl accused Camel of being the kid’s father,” Cowboy said, always one to jump right to the point. “So he swabbed his cheek and offered to babysit.”
“No fucking way,” Money said, jaw dropping. “Really?”
Laughter drifted from another room. The women were upstairs in the living room, chatting and drinking cocktails while the guys did their thing in the basement, aka man cave. Their thing including poker, of course.
“Yeah,” Alexei said, hardly believing it himself. Was he going fucking soft? “Really. Pounded on my fucking door this morning loud enough to wake the dead and accused me of knocking up her sister.”
“Whoa. So where’s the sister?”
“Good question. Bailey doesn’t know either. Skipped town. She was a waitress at Buddy’s for a while last year. Harley was her name, though it’s really Kayla.”
“I vaguely remember her,” Money said. “Might have picked her up.”
“So maybe you’re the kid’s father,” Alexei said dryly.
Money had given up the pizzas and beer, so both hands went in the air. “No fucking way. I don’t play that game.”
“None of us do—or did,” Cowboy said.
And they didn’t, because their careers as SEALs were too important to them. They didn’t need to knock up a random woman and possibly get busted off the team because of accusations and paternity battles. Now that they were HOT, the best of the fucking best, it was even more critical to keep their lives as simple as possible. Not that they all adhered to that plan anymore—some of them had gotten married or engaged lately. No doubt there’d be babies one day soon for this crowd. But who was taking that plunge first?
Certainly not Alexei. Because this baby wasn’t his, and no matter how cute she was, he wasn’t going to be in her life for very long. She kicked in her carrier and made goo-goo noises just then, as if to remind him how adorable she was.
“So you took a paternity test, huh?” Money said. “How long will that take?”
“A few days according to the package.”
“You trust it?”
“Why not? It’s a pretty straightforward process. Determine if our DNA matches. If it comes back positive, I’ll go for a more formal test to prove it. But it won’t.”
“Man, you don’t even date the same girl for more than a couple of weeks. No way is that your kid,” Cowboy agreed.
“Pretty much what I said to the pip-squeak’s aunt. She declined to accept that explanation.”
Money walked over and peered at Ana. “Sure is a cute baby. Definitely not yours then.”
Alexei snorted. He knew how to get Money back for that remark. “Want to hold her?”
His teammate backed away, shaking his head as if the hounds of hell were about to be released. “No way, man. I don’t do babies.”
“Yet. What if Ella wants a few?”
Money let out a breath. “She will, and that means I will—but not yet.”
“No time like the present to figure out how to hold one without panicking,”Alexei teased.
“Nope, not happening.”
Cowboy came over and peered at Ana. “I’ll try.”
Money snorted, relieved to be off the hook. “Miranda getting the urge?”
“Not yet. But you never know.”
Alexei picked Ana up and snuggled her for a second. She really was a cute little bundle. Then he handed her over, telling Cowboy how to hold her and where to place his hands. His big teammate took her like she was made of glass, then tucked her into his beefy arm and supported her head and neck the way he’d been told.
“She’s so little.”
“Bailey says she’s a month old.”
“And her mother left her?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. Poor kid.”
The other guys came over and looked at her then. When she started to fuss a little, Cowboy thrust her at him. Alexei took her, rocking and soothing her until she quieted again.
“Man, that is weird,” Blade said, munching his pizza.
“What?” Alexei asked.
“Watching you with a baby. You’re a stone-cold sniper, capable of blowing a hole in a man from over a mile away, and yet you’re holding that baby like you were born to do it.”
“Oldest of six, dude. You get used to babies.”
“All right, we eating or what?” Cage asked, grabbing a plate and piling on the pizza.
“Give me a sec,” Alexei said. He spread out the blanket he’d broug
ht and placed Ana on her tummy in the center of it. After he grabbed a slice, he went back and sat on the floor, taking out one of Ana’s toys and letting her grasp it.
His man card was about to get pulled for this shit, but hell, the kid needed attention. It wasn’t her fault she’d been abandoned—or that her aunt meant well but knew dick about taking care of her.
“What the hell are you doing?” Cowboy asked.
“Tummy time,” he replied with a straight face.
“What the fuck?” Money looked puzzled. “What’s tummy time?”
Alexei rolled his eyes as if it was obvious. It wasn’t, but he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to rib these guys. “Man, you two are married and you don’t have a clue. Better read up on this shit before those wives of yours start wanting kids. Tummy time is important because it helps strengthen their necks. She can’t do a lot of it yet, but you do it every day and gradually she’ll get stronger and do more time on her tummy. Helps her learn to roll over and then eventually crawl and shit.”
“I can’t believe you know this stuff,” Money said. “I gotta agree with Blade—it’s kinda weird.”
All right, so it was weird. He wouldn’t deny it. They knew him as their team sniper, the guy who picked off the difficult targets so they could go in and get the job done. They’d fought a lot of battles together, but this was a side of him they’d never seen before.
But they were his teammates, and despite a bit of ribbing, they accepted it. They gathered around, sitting on couches and chairs, and ate pizza, talking and watching Ana. Alexei rolled her onto her back after a few minutes. She was still too young to spend much time on her belly. He’d have to ask Bailey if she’d been doing this with Ana. He somehow doubted it. Bailey was as clueless as these guys when it came to the kid.
After a while, the women came downstairs. They’d already seen Ana once, when he’d walked in earlier, though Ella hadn’t because she and Money arrived after he did.
“We wanted to see Ana again,” Christina Marchand said.
They gathered around, exclaiming over the baby’s cuteness. Christina and Ella were brave enough to hold her, though Miranda was the natural. Cowboy looked a little stunned at that revelation. Miranda gave him a wry look.
HOT SEAL Redemption Page 4