Facing West (Forever Wilde 1)

“Be still,” I murmured as I dropped a kiss on the unmarked skin over his heart. His hands came up and held my head lightly, following my movement as I sucked on his nipples and bit marks down his abdomen to his hips.

Just before I got to the good stuff, Nico bolted upright, accidentally jamming his knee in my stomach.

“Oh fuck,” I grunted, doubling over.

“The baby,” he said in a rush. “We have to go check on her.”

I took a few beats to mentally confirm I hadn’t taken a hit to the balls. Nico must have seen my hesitation because he turned to me with an apologetic look on his face.

“I’m sorry, West. Are you okay?” He reached out and slid a hand alongside my neck, leaning in to kiss my cheek. “I’m sorry,” he repeated softly into my ear.

“It’s okay.”

He looked around, perhaps realizing finally that we were in a strange place.

“Where are we?”

I laughed. “The bunkhouse at my grandparents’ ranch. We were all too drunk to drive last night, so we stayed over.”

“Griff! Oh god. Is Griff here?”

A stupid curl of jealousy tried to rear its ugly head, but I pushed it down. I knew from talking to him that Griff was loony for his husband back in California.

“I put him in the room next to ours. Don’t worry. He made friends with everyone here last night, so I’m sure he’s able to fend for himself.”

We took turns in the tiny bathroom before getting the rest of our clothes back on and wandering out to the common area. Nico knocked on the door I indicated for Griff, but the room was empty.

We made our way over to the main house and saw most of my extended family in various stages of dress and pajamas, crazy hair sticking up, half-drunk coffee mugs on every surface, and the smell of bacon and blueberry pancakes in the air. God, I loved being at my grandparents’ house with everyone on lazy mornings like this.

“Don’t any of you slackers have jobs?” I called out as we walked in. It was only seven in the morning, and the fact that almost everyone was up already proved at least several of them had plans to head back to the city soon.

Griff was face down in a mug of coffee at the huge kitchen table while my aunt Gina babbled on about Napa wineries next to him. He grunted a greeting as we passed him to get to the coffee.

My cousin Felix was in an overstuffed chair in the family room, giving Pippa a bottle and making silly faces at her. The baby seemed alert and happy, smiling and squinting her eyes at Felix’s antics. I squeezed Nico’s hip and gestured toward Pippa so he would be reassured she was okay.

I could sense him relax the minute he laid eyes on her. He wandered over and greeted my shy cousin with a smile, causing Felix to blush and tuck his chin. Doc caught me watching them and shot a wink at me.

“She’s doing much better this morning,” he said. “Just gave her a second breathing treatment a few hours ago, and that might be all she needs. Fluids and rest ought to do it.”

“Thanks, Doc. I really appreciate it,” I said, stepping over to him and giving him a big hug. His familiar smell of Old Spice and coffee washed over me like a memory.

“You gonna explain why you’re on the birth certificate?” he asked in a low voice.

“I don’t know why. Honestly, I think it’s just in case of emergencies or something. Health benefits maybe. I really don’t know.”

Doc pulled back and looked at me with his kind, blue eyes. “You going to keep her?”

The question caught me off guard. “What? No. Of course I’m not going to keep her. What the hell, Doc?”

He tilted his head and studied me. “Why so quick to answer? It’s not out of the question for you to raise this child, Weston. You were there for Adriana every step of the way. You were her birth coach and her best friend. Everyone knows you’d make a wonderful parent.”

I was taken aback by his assertion that I should even consider the possibility.

“Not a more wonderful parent than the Warners. Plus this is Nico’s decision to make.”

Nico stepped up next to me. “What’s my decision to make?”

Doc and I locked eyes before I stammered, “Oh, ah, whether or not you’re… ah…”

“Keeping the bakery open,” Doc cut in smoothly. “Do you know yet what you’re doing with Sugar Britches?”

“Well, I can’t do much with it until I get the bookkeeping straightened up. I’ve asked Rox to stay on indefinitely and help run it for a while. Once I can get it organized, I’ll reassess. Maybe find someone who wants to buy it. Right now I can’t even sell it with the state it’s in.”