Baby Daddy Wanted (Crescent Cove 5)

Vee

I wasn’t exactly lying to her.

Nor would I ever lie.

But she didn’t need to know exactly what I was doing. The fact that she even had to question if I loved her made this little trip into Rochester even more important. Juggling my schedule and hers to find a time for me to sneak away was like herding feral cats.

My passenger side door opened, and Gideon’s bearded face ducked in enough to show me just how annoyed he was. “Why am I here?”

“Just get in.”

He sighed. “My one day off in a month and you want to go shopping? Dude, you have a girlfriend for these things.”

“Soon to be fiancée.”

“Oh, shit. Another one bites the dust.” Gideon climbed in and gave a little grunt when I took off before he even got his seatbelt on. “What’s the freaking rush?”

“We’re heading to Rochester.”

“God, why?”

“Jeweler friend.”

“Let me out.”

I laughed. “I’m already nervous enough, give me a break.”

Gideon slouched down in his seat—as much as a six-foot three guy could anyway. “You suck. This is the kind of thing you drag your sister to do, not your best friend.”

“I cannot deal with Maddie today. She’ll hit me with a barrage of questions and squeals. Have you ever heard how high pitched a seventeen-year-old girl can be?”

Gideon gave me a bland stare.

“Right. Sorry.”

Not many people knew Gideon had a seven-year-old daughter. He kept that part of his life private. An ugly divorce left him gun-shy about introducing people to Dani and that included people he dated. Or lack of dates. It was one of the reasons we got on so well. We understood the need for a solitary lifestyle.

Gideon could turn on the charm for customers, but when they were gone he was work first, talk later.

And that quiet steadiness was exactly what I needed right now.

I was usually the steady one, but right now I was freaking the fuck out.

Gideon tapped his fingers on the door handle. “Marrying her? You sure about that? Was that part of the contract?”

“I never should have told you about it.”

“Hey, I get it. Having a kid is awesome. Hard work, but awesome. But marrying her? Sure about that?”

“Yes.”

“Decisive answer. I like it.”

“Was that a test or something?”

“Maybe. I asked Jessica on a whim.”

I turned down the radio. Gideon didn’t talk about his ex at all. “I assumed it was because of Dani.”