“You’re still here,” I said.
“As you see.”
“Maybe we should start over. I’m Jack, as you know. You are…?”
“Oh. Yeah. Um, Ellie. I’m Ellie Garrett.”
Slowly, with trepidation, she made her way forward and took my extended hand briefly, and then everything was suddenly hot.
It was like a lightning bolt had struck between us. My eyes flared, and my body went into automatic pilot. I actually started to get hard, just from that tiny little contact. She dropped my hand too quickly, and her face flushed again. I had noticed it the first time, in my office, but was too busy in my head to really process it then.
I watched her for a second, then looked over at the baby, reminding myself that she was—or rather, might be—the mother of my brother’s baby. Therefore, for what seemed like far too many reasons to count, she was not an option, despite the attraction. And I knew for sure that it was mutual. No way did she not feel that heat with me. But I wouldn’t go there, not with her.
Damn shame.
“Okay, Ellie Garrett, would you like to come back to my office, and we can talk?”
“Yeah, Jack. I’d like that.” She gave me a little smile. Wow. I really liked her smile. I liked what it did to her face. I wanted to see more of that. And I liked hearing my name from her lips. I liked her lips. I liked her voice—soft, a little bit husky, but smooth.
No. This was all wrong. She’d said she needed my help. Well, we’d have to see first about figuring out how to tell if that baby really was Keith’s, and then go from there. Hell, I hoped it wasn’t. I mean, it’s not because I didn’t want to help her. But I couldn’t see a way to spend time with her without wanting her, and if she was Keith’s baby-mama for real, then wanting her was a dead-end, and I wasn’t into self-punishment.
On the other hand, if this really was Keith’s baby, that would be…astounding. Amazing. Incredible, and wonderful. I’d have a little part of my brother, living, breathing, here. It was really too much to process.
I caught myself staring at the baby. I think I’d also been staring at her, at Ellie, too. Good thing I was still wearing my shades. My brain today was really on slo-mo. I glanced back at Ellie. “Well, come on back, then.”
I held the door for her as she gathered her bag and her baby, then followed her back to my desk. Trini actually pouted before she let the kid go. Today was OTT bizarre.
Once she had settled herself in the chair, and I in mine, I just sat there looking at the baby in her arms. Ellie knew I was trying to see Keith in him, but I couldn’t. The kid had dropped off to sleep, and it just looked like a baby—any baby. What the hell did I know about babies? Answer: nothing. They all just looked like babies to me. They were completely interchangeable.
I figured it was time to get things moving.
“Okay, so, here’s the deal. I don’t know you. Keith never said anything to me about you. Sorry, but that’s a fact. Did he know you were pregnant? Did he know about this kid? I think he would have told me. So, how do I know that what you’re saying is true?”
She’d come prepared for this, and that quickly became obvious. “There is a test they can do now to check for uncles and nephews, and it’s so specific, that if it’s positive it usually comes out with a ninety-nine plus percent accuracy rate.”
Whoa. This was interesting.
She went on. “It’s a DNA match specifically targeting the baby’s and uncle’s Y-chromosomes, so they don’t even need my DNA to rule out the mother’s part of the mix. They’ll only be comparing your two Y chromosomes. Yours and little Petey’s.” She was looking down at her baby with a little smile—mother in love—and fortunately missed my grimace.
“Petey? That’s his name? You mean Peter, right? Jeez, Petey.”
She looked back up. “Yes. His name is Peter, but I like Petey, for short. I sometimes call him Petey. He likes it. It fits.” She was getting her back up about it.
“Easy, there, woman. Calm down. Peter is a man’s name. I don’t know what Petey is. I’ll call him Peter, if it’s all the same to you.”
“Fine. You call him Peter. Whatever.”
She side-eyed me and sighed deeply. Damn, that was a nice sound. I liked how it made her chest rise high. Her tits were phenomenal. Well, they would be, I figured. She’s probably nursing, so yeah. But…wow. Nice. Really, really nice. I wanted to bury my face in her cleavage, to weigh and massage her breasts in the palms of my hands, to tweak her nipples and taste her skin…