Daddy Undercover (Crescent Cove 9)

“I’m just doing what feels natural. But yeah, she needs a bath and a change. Hold on, little one.” I adjusted my hold on her and bent low to dig through the collection of bags before arching a brow. “Did you really bring everything in with one trip?”

“Not quite. The swing and portable crib are left out there.” He mimed swiping sweat off his brow. “Pro shopper.”

“You know it. I picked up clothes. Toys. Infamil. Little jars of pureed bananas and peas and carrots and beets. Not that anyone likes beets, right, baby girl?”

She shoved her fist in her mouth and stared at me.

“Trust me, they’re gross. But maybe you’ll like them, since you’re a Brooks and they’re weird.” I grinned at Jared and found him watching us pensively again.

“She should be yours,” he said huskily.

I didn’t know what to make of that—not at all—so I plucked the diapers out of a bag and jerked to my feet.

“Since you’re a little occupied, I can take care of the baby’s bath and diaper change.” I jerked my chin toward where Sadie had made herself at home on his lap while she nosed through the bags of toys around her—including a large squeaking Christmas pig for her, which she had not found yet.

“No, no, I can help.” Jared tried to scramble to his feet, only managing it as Sadie pounced on her pig and ran off with it in her mouth, making a flurry of manic squeaks. “You got some food too? I saw bacon somewhere.”

“Yeah, should probably get that in the fridge, but it’s not urgent if you really want to help. Fu—fudge,” I amended, glancing at the baby. She was still snacking on her thumb. “I forgot baby shampoo.”

“I have regular.”

“Good to know you don’t use a bar of soap like some unenlightened dudes. I’ll just use a small amount until we get something gentler. Same with body wash. Hopefully, this poor child won’t have to smell like Axe or something.”

In truth, Jared smelled like a mysterious forest. Smoky and rich and earthy in the very best way. But I wasn’t about to inflate his ego. All his parts were already big enough.

I was pretty sure anyway.

He shot me an affronted look as he dug through bags and grabbed the ones with food in them. “You know I don’t use Axe, but mine isn’t a particularly feminine scent. Will she be confused?”

“Because she smells like grass and trees? I think she’ll probably be fine. Right, pretty girl?”

Her mouth worked like a guppy’s, and she gazed at me, but no sounds came out. I wanted to tickle her belly and see if I could make her giggle again. That was the best sound in the world.

Turned out I could make her laugh more, and I didn’t even have to try that hard.

“You’re a little water baby.” I splashed water on her in the big farmhouse double kitchen sink while Jared lurked awkwardly in the background, handing me bottles and towels and asking if I needed anything.

Samantha giggled—no questioning it now—and banged her feet in the water as I carefully soaped her up.

“She has a birthmark,” I said over my shoulder.

He stood next to me, swallowing audibly. “A strawberry one.”

“Yeah.” I touched the little mark near her knee. “Do you want to try soaping her hair?”

“Okay.”

I had to laugh at his trepidation. “Trust me, she’s easy. I’ve given baths to babies who screamed the whole time. She loves water. Right, Samantha?” I tested the name while I slowly poured some warm water over her legs.

Unless I was mistaken, she hadn’t had a bath recently, and I was trying to push down the anger simmering inside me.

How could a mother abandon her child? Just leave her in a basket on the doorstep of a man she hadn’t seen in a year?

“Did her biological mother know you were a cop?”

“Sheriff,” he corrected, and I hipchecked him, making him laugh.

The baby giggled, looking right at her father, and he fell silent immediately.