Baby Daddy Wanted (Crescent Cove 5)

I peeked around the bush and found a cardboard box. “Son of a bitch.” I quickly pulled my jacket off as the squeaks became clearer. Puppies. A freaking litter of them, just left.

People were the fucking worst. “Hey, little guys.” I crouched down beside the box and they all scampered toward my voice. They were cold and so freaking tiny. I immediately stripped off my chambray shirt and put it in the box and they burrowed into the material still warm from my body.

I lifted the box and met Gideon at the bed of his truck. He’d backed it into their yard to pick up all the tools.

“I wondered where you’d gotten off to. What the hell did you find?”

“Puppies.”

“Oh, no. No, we don’t do puppies on jobs.”

“I know, man. I can’t leave them to die though.”

“Well, shit.”

“It’s all right. I’ll take them back to my place for the night.”

“Are you sure? Who knows what they have?” Carefully, Gideon tipped the box his way and one of the more enterprising little bundles of fur tried to leap up for his hand. “Holy crap, they’re tiny.”

“And cold. I can’t believe someone just dumped a box of puppies.”

“Prob had a knocked up dog and didn’t want to deal with the aftermath.”

“It’s cruel. Good thing it wasn’t colder tonight.”

Gideon shook his head. “Softie.”

“Yeah, well, I just can’t leave them.”

“No, I guess you can’t. Don’t let those kids see them. Their mother will kill me. They already have three cats.”

I laughed. “All right. You good?” I glanced over at the last of the tools.

“Yeah. Lucky will help me pack up.”

“Whatcha got, Moose?” Lucky came over and whistled. “Oh, man. A box of pups? Damn, that sucks.”

I rolled my eyes. “Understatement. I’m assuming the shelter is closed since it’s after eight.”

“Yeah, there’s a 24-hour vet in Laurel.”

“I’ll just take them home for the night. Give them some food and bring them to the shelter in the morning.”

“Boy Scout,” Lucky coughed into his hand.

I took my box of precious cargo and walked away before I did something stupid. “C’mon, little guys. We’ll turn the heater up and get you guys warm.”

The drive back to my house, with a quick pitstop at a pet store for supplies and advice, was relatively uneventful. Once they were warm, the puppies drifted to sleep.

I rushed around to feed them and get them cleaned up before I had my cyber date with Veronica. No, Vee. I couldn’t keep calling her Veronica out loud or I was going to fuck up one of these times.

But she was so stubbornly Veronica in my head.

Even when the in-person Veronica was being a little crazy lately. I chalked it up to the insane level of fame she’d cultivated with her baby daddy hunt. But no matter how we interacted at the café, when the night came…it was just us.

CF and Vee and the insanely intimate conversations we had about life, food, parents, and the all-important baby she longed for. God, I wanted to give that to her.

And more.