Baby for Keeps

by Janice Maynard

  “Come for me, Mia,” he rasped, the words barely audible.

  And she did....

  * * *

  Dylan held her as she writhed and cried out. He ground the base of his erection against her mound, sending her up yet again. Feeling her climax, watching the sharp jolt of completion paint her face with rosy color, sent exultation fizzing in his veins, despite the fact that he had thus far denied himself release.

  Holding back was next to impossible, but he wanted to enjoy her pleasure. When she was sated and still, her eyes closed, he withdrew and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You screamed my name,” he said smugly.

  Mia opened one eyelid. “Did not.”

  “Did, too.”

  Playing with her was fun. But fun was not even on the scale of what he needed now. “I’ll let you sleep soon,” he promised, not at all sure he wasn’t lying. He rolled to his back, taking her limp body with him. Arranging her like a sleepy rag doll with her legs straddling his hips, he lifted her gently, positioned the head of his erection at her entrance and pushed.

  Mia’s lips parted, an arrested expression on her face. “Oh,” she breathed, her hands settling on his shoulders.

  Oh, indeed. The new angle put increasing pressure on his hypersensitive sex. Straining to give her as much as she could take, he flexed his hips and drove upward, shaking the bed with the force of his rhythmic movements. Mia’s hair fell around her face. Her breasts swung enticingly above him.

  Rearing up, he captured one nipple with his teeth and sucked it into his mouth. Mia moaned. He felt the clasp of her inner flesh tighten around him. The visual stimulation and the feel of her in his arms snapped the last of his control. He rolled the two of them again, needing the mattress to brace against as he lunged wildly toward the finish.

  Holy hell. Sharp yellow lights obscured his vision. Uncontrollable trembling sapped his muscles of their strength. Lightning struck his groin with paralyzing heat, and he slammed into the end with a shout.

  Ten

  Dylan lay stunned on top of Mia, barely able to breathe. What in the hell had happened to him? Instinctively, he gathered his defenses, unwilling to let her see that their lovemaking was anything out of the ordinary. Already, Mia knew far too much about his psyche for him to feel completely at ease with her. A man liked to hide his weaknesses.

  It remained to be seen, however, if the last hour was a weakness or a catastrophic shift in the continental plates.

  When he thought he could force his muscles to move, he lifted away from her, stumbled to his feet and went into the bathroom to take care of the condom and splash water on his face. In the mirror his eyes were overbright, feverish. He ran both hands through his hair, raking his fingers across his scalp.

  When he returned to the bedroom, braced for the inevitable postcoital conversation, Mia was sound asleep. She lay on her back where he had abandoned her, arms outflung, hair mussed, her body bare as the day she was born. He couldn’t decide if relief or disappointment held the upper hand. Looking at her made his chest hurt and his head throb.

  What had he done?

  The clock ticked away the minutes before dawn. Mia needed her sleep. Even if he was already partially erect and wanted her again with an alarming desperation, it would be cruel to wake her. Cora was a lively handful. A rested Mia would be better able to handle her daughter’s demands.

  Quietly picking up his scattered pieces of clothing, he bundled them into his arms and lingered by the bed. Mia and his ex-fiancée, Tara, were as different as two women could be—in looks, in temperament, in every way. What did it say about him that he had so quickly recovered from a broken heart? Had Tara’s defection been more a blow to his pride?

  In all honesty, the sex with Tara had been fun. And she had been fun. Always urging him on to the next wild adventure. In retrospect, it was kind of ironic. Tara was a female version of himself, or at least the self he had been in high school and later as a young adult.

  Maybe that had been the attraction. He understood her.

  Mia, on the other hand, was a complete mystery. Even given her history of crippling shyness, it was hard to imagine that no man had managed to put a ring on her finger. She was warm and funny and loyal and brave. That she had resorted to a sperm donor to become pregnant baffled him.

  Such an action pointed to the fact that she didn’t want any messy involvement with a man who might make demands. Had she never been in love? Ever?

  Now that he thought about it, he surely hadn’t. The relationship with Tara had been two parts lust and one part male hubris. Dating a beautiful actress made him feel like a million bucks. He could be excused for believing their short-lived engagement was the real thing, because he’d been thinking with his male anatomy and not his brain.

  He liked to imagine that in the intervening years he had matured. At least he’d been smart enough not to get entwined in any further unsuitable relationships. His dating nowadays was light and fun. No commitment, no complications.

  Up until tonight.

  He backed away from the bed a step at a time, his feet silent on the plush carpet. When he reached the door, he opened it quietly. Mia slept so deeply, she never even stirred.

  The bed and the woman were inviting. All he had to do was lift the covers and take her in his arms. His hands tingled as he imagined the feel of her skin. Warm. Incredibly soft.

  Damn. He had a sick feeling that he had let the genie out of the bottle. What was he going to do about Mia and Cora now?

  * * *

  Mia rolled over and glanced at her phone to see what time it was. Weak, early-morning sunlight filtered into the room through a crack in the heavy brocade drapes that matched the moss-green color palette of the room. Her breasts ached, heavy with milk. Cora would be awake any moment now. On the monitor, the grainy picture of Mia’s daughter showed a reassuring image of the infant sleeping peacefully.

  Concentrating on the baby wasn’t working. Movielike flashes spun through Mia’s head. Arousing, incredible memories. She needed to believe that the stimulating pictures were nothing more than a surreal dream. But the fragrance of a man’s skin lingered on her sheets.

  Even as her legs moved restlessly, her heart and soul ached with the breath-stealing certainty that she and Dylan had been lovers last night. In the wee hours when rational thought was easily subverted by yearning and need. During the drowsy moments when phantoms seemed real and the concrete world faded into shadows.

  The emptiness of the bed mocked her. If the dreams were real, where was Dylan? Why wasn’t he curled up with her beneath the sumptuous covers, his body warm and hard and ready for a morning tête-à-tête?

  Shaking all over, she fled to the bathroom, taking the baby monitor with her. If she were lucky, she would have time for a quick shower before Cora demanded her breakfast. Beneath the hot, pelting spray, Mia soaped herself furiously, trying to erase the feel of Dylan’s touch.

  His absence spoke volumes. Even in the beginning, he had expressed his doubts. Perhaps he had been looking to her to put a stop to the madness that had caught them up in the middle of the night.

  Mia hadn’t been interested in making rational, grown-up decisions. Dylan had stood before her, wanting her. So she took without asking, without considering Cora, without deciding if her selfish behavior had consequences. What did Dylan think of her? Why wasn’t he here?

  Closing her heart to the pain she didn’t want to face, she returned to the bedroom to dress. By the time she had finished, Cora was stirring. As she went to scoop up her daughter and change her diaper, Mia reminded herself how lucky she was. Cora was the sunshine in her life. The one true lodestar that kept her focused and reminded her that a mother’s job was to be selfless...to put her child’s well-being ahead of her own.

  Mia was in Silver Glen so Cora would have a roof overhead while he
r mother found a job. Touching base with Dylan had accomplished that. He needed Mia’s help, and she heeded his. But their bargain had a definite timeline. A beginning and an end.

  As she sat in the rocking chair nursing her daughter, the familiarity of the routine brought some peace to her heart. Dylan wasn’t hers. She’d known that at fifteen and she knew it now. Her only mistake had been thinking sex with him would end the wondering and the wanting.

  Well, now she knew. Sex with Dylan was deserving of all the superlatives she could summon. But she wouldn’t embarrass him by letting him think she was expecting more. Neither more intimacy nor more attention. She was living in his house because of a fluke. It would be wrong to put him in an awkward position by burdening him with her feelings.

  When Cora was finished, Mia dressed her in a teal-and-yellow sundress. Mia’s stomach was growling so loudly she knew it was impractical to put off breakfast any longer. As she suspected, when she and Cora entered the kitchen, there was no sign of Dylan. Only Gertie...frying bacon.

  The older woman turned and smiled. “There you two are. I had a feeling someone kept you up during the night, Mia.”

  Mia felt her cheeks redden and hoped the housekeeper didn’t notice. “Yes, as usual. I came in here for a glass of milk, but thankfully Cora finally settled down and slept until morning.”

  Without asking, Gertie waved Mia to a seat and put a bowl of fresh strawberries and blueberries in front of her. “I’ve got some cinnamon muffins coming out of the oven in about a minute. Eat up.”

  “Did Dylan have an early appointment?”

  “Not to my knowledge. He left about thirty minutes ago to head down to the Silver Dollar. Why? Did you need to speak to him?”

  “I did have a few questions about the books. But it can wait.”

  Mia had barely finished her meal when the landline phone rang. Gertie answered it and then held out the cordless receiver to Mia. “It’s for you. Ms. Kavanagh.”

  Gertie swooped in and scooped Cora from Mia’s lap. Mia answered reluctantly. “Hello?”

  “Good morning, Mia. This is Maeve. Zoe and I have put our heads together, and we would like for you and Dylan to come to dinner tonight up at the lodge. Zoe wants to cook for us. We have several portable cribs here for the hotel guests. We can set one up in Zoe and Liam’s bedroom, so you can put Cora to sleep and not have to rush off.”

  “But, Ms. Kavanagh, I have no idea if Dylan is available.”

  “Call me Maeve. Please. I’ve already talked to him this morning. He said it was up to you.”

  Mia was stuck. Social convention dictated that she accept the invitation, but she could think of nothing more awkward than sitting across the dinner table from the mother of the man with whom she’d been naked the night before. Since she didn’t have a valid reason to decline, however, she was forced to agree. “Well, yes, then. That would be lovely. And thank you for making arrangements for Cora. Since I’m nursing, I don’t want to be away from her for too long.”

  “I understand completely. We’ll look forward to seeing the three of you around six-thirty. Oh, and Mia?”

  “Yes?”

  “Would it be a problem to dress for dinner? Zoe has worked hard on this meal, and I thought it would be fun to celebrate.”

  “Not a problem at all. See you soon.”

  Mia hung up the phone wondering ruefully when she had become such a good liar. Dress for dinner? Good grief. She had brought all of her clothes with her to Silver Glen except for winter things that were in storage, but she had no idea if she could find anything suitable, since most of the cartons were still out in the garage.

  When she asked Gertie to help with the baby so Mia could rummage in her boxes, Gertie offered a solution. “After the baby’s next feeding, why don’t you put her down for a nap and let me keep an eye on her? You could go into town and visit that cute little shop called Silver Linings. They have beautiful things for women your age. I’m sure you can find what you want.”

  “I hate to take up your time, Gertie.”

  The woman, still holding Cora, waved a hand dismissively. “If I have to choose between babysitting or doing the laundry, it’s no competition. Go. Have a few hours to yourself. All new moms need that. I swear I’ll take good care of her.”

  “I know you will.”

  Mia’s other problem wasn’t so easily solved. It seemed self-indulgent in the extreme to buy a new dress for herself when her finances were so tight. On the other hand, wearing the appropriate feminine armor for the night to come would go a long way toward helping her face Dylan.

  She needed something that would make it clear, without words, that she knew the score and was confident in her own skin. A sexy frock that would knock his socks off and at the same time convince him she had no designs on his bachelorhood.

  By the time Cora fell asleep right after lunch, Mia was itching to get out of the house. She hadn’t realized how much she had been chained to Cora’s side until she had the opportunity to be out and about without a diaper bag or a stroller. Not that she was unhappy with her new role. She loved being Cora’s mom. Every minute of it.

  Still, the prospect of stealing away for a couple of carefree hours held definite appeal.

  Gertie’s directions were spot on. Silver Linings had not been around when Mia was a girl. The trendy shop occupied the ground floor of a historic building adjacent to the bank. When Mia parked and got out to glance in the storefront windows, a little flutter of excitement skittered down her spine. There, on a mannequin, was the exact dress she’d imagined.

  Nursing moms were often limited in their choice of clothing due to necessity, but this dress opened down the front. Without wasting further time, she went inside to try it on.

  The salesclerk was a young woman several years younger than Mia. “I’m Dottie. May I help you find something?” she asked politely. Her nose was pierced and she had a tattoo down her left forearm. In high school, this was the sort of person who’d looked down at Mia and made fun of her. But Mia was an adult now and no longer cowed by the idea of someone judging her. It had been a long road, but she was happy with who she was.

  “The red dress in the window? May I try it on? I became a mom not that long ago, and my wardrobe is in need of help.” Fortunately, the store had her size. Otherwise she would have had to swallow her disappointment and choose something else. Though she took three additional dresses into the changing room, she had her heart set on the sexy one from the window display.

  Stripping down to her bra and panties, she stepped into the sleeveless, cocktail-length dress. It was not at all conventional. The fabric was a heavy watered silk. The design featured a nipped-in waist and a skirt that flared slightly in a bell shape. The back was scooped out, but the front dipped into a low V topped with a single pea-size clear crystal that served as the zipper pull.

  Even before she zipped up the dress, Mia knew her bra would have to go. Unfastening the undergarment and dropping it onto a stool, she stared at her bare breasts in the mirror, reminded of the hungry way Dylan had gazed at her. And then touched her....

  Her nipples ached as they furled tightly. She would have liked to blame the telling response on the air-conditioning, but the small space was actually quite warm.

  As Mia struggled to close the bodice, the saleslady spoke from just outside the door. “How are you doing in there?”

  Mia grimaced at her reflection. “This is the same size I always wear, but...”

  The clerk’s voice was sympathetic. “Don’t worry if you still have a few pounds of baby weight to lose. It will come off in no time. Do you need me to bring you another size?”

  “It’s not that. Look at me.” She opened the door. “Tell me what you think.”

  The young woman’s eyes widened and she grinned. “Ah. Now I get it. You’ve got nursing boobs. I say enjoy the
m while they last. Same thing happened to me when my son was born. My husband loved it.”

  Mia’s cheeks warmed. The woman in the mirror had Mia’s face and hair, but beyond that she seemed like a stranger. The bombshell image made her uncomfortable. She’d spent most of her life trying to blend into the woodwork. This dress made a statement, even more so because of her breasts. “You don’t think there’s too much...”

  “Cleavage?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not at all. You’re probably not used to showing off your body. I see it all the time. Just because you’ve got a kid doesn’t mean you have to wear a shroud. You’ve got a kickin’ figure. And if I’m not mistaken, you’re hoping to catch someone’s eye with this—right?”

  “It’s a small dinner party.”

  “You didn’t answer my question. Which is as good as a yes. Buy the dress. You know you want to.” She glanced at the three hanging on a hook at Mia’s shoulder. Turning up her nose, she shook her head. “Those other ones are fine if you’re presenting an award to the parent-teacher association or visiting your grandma’s church. But if you want to say, ‘I’m available,’ then the red is your best bet.”

  Mia swallowed her misgivings. “I’ll take it.”

  Three hours later she had a mild panic attack. If it had been feasible, she would have ripped open every one of her moving boxes until she found a nice, safe, boring outfit to wear tonight. But it was about a thousand degrees out in the hot, muggy garage, and besides, Dylan was going to be ready to leave in less than half an hour.

  She still hadn’t seen or heard from him today. Not so much as a peep, other than a terse text indicating their time of departure. Clearly, he had chatted with his mother and knew the plan.

  Once more, Mia looked in the ornate, full-length mirror. Her strappy black sandals were not new, but they were comfy and flattering. She had left her hair loose and wavy on her shoulders. For once, the style was cooperating, though all bets were off when she had to step outside into the heat and humidity.