Baby Daddy Wanted (Crescent Cove 5)

Perfect in far too many ways for me.

I wrapped around her with a sigh. “Staying?”

“As if I had any intention of leaving now? My bones are caramel.”

I tucked her hair aside and laughed into her neck. “Good.”

“That my bones are semi-liquid?”

“That you’re staying.”

“Oh…” She laced our fingers, settling them around her middle. “Yeah, I kinda like that part too.”

Thirteen

Vee

Cabin Fortress: I’m not sure how I’m supposed to work today with your smell still on my skin. It’s distracting as hell. And yes, it’s a good distraction. Make that a great one.

Getting that text while I was reluctantly dressing in Murphy’s bathroom the next morning was the best kind of surreal.

Sending back a winky smile was too.

We quarantined Latte in the small bathroom with a toy, his favorite blanket, food, and water so we could go out for a little while. He was all set, but that didn’t stop him from whining the minute we shut the bathroom door.

My heart broke as we headed out to Murphy’s truck.

“He’ll be fine,” he assured me.

“He will.”

“I’ll take a half day at work today so I can keep an eye on him. Don’t worry.”

I nodded and smiled. Good daddy material indeed.

Walking into the diner a short time later with him securely holding my hand was a few different things.

Amazing.

Incredible.

A moment I’d probably note in my Humane Association pocket calendar with an assortment of stars and a plethora of hearts.

What it wasn’t, however, was casual.

It probably would’ve been if Ivy from the baby support group meeting last night hadn’t been the one to take our orders. If she hadn’t noted the time—four-fifteen, since I had to be at Brewed Awakening by five—with a wide smile and a wink.

“Did y’all have a good night? I’m guessing you did based on your general cheerfulness at a truly heinous time of day.” She winced. “I am so not a morning person.”

I shot Murphy a glance and fiddled with my coffee-stained menu. “We did, but we’re also used to being early risers. Murphy works construction, and as I mentioned before, I’m the baker at Brewed Awakening. Sleeping in is a rarity in my world.”

Even after getting my brains banged out. And how.

Who said that the quiet guys were the ones to watch? Because holy truth bomb, right in the center of my rhododendron.

Later, I’d go back to calling it

a pussy, even in my own head. Hard not to be so thoroughly debauched and still retain a layer of mental shyness. But I’d have some coffee and eggs first.