“And that’s you?” She quirked an eyebrow.
He smirked, and it made her eyes flash. She swallowed hard, her throat undulating. He watched her intently, waiting to see what she’d do.
“If you tell anybody, I’ll cut your dick off,” she muttered, leaning in to brush her lips against his.
He slid his hands around her behind, and she promptly reached around to lift them up, so he was cupping her hips. “First base only,” she told him.
Taking control, he leaned forward and crushed his mouth to hers, sliding his tongue along her bottom lip until her mouth parted. Her arms curled around his neck as she kissed him back, hot and heavy, and that aching pulse in his dick intensified.
He wanted to grind against her. To make her purr with pleasure against his lips. Wanted to kiss his way down her neck, across her chest, then down to her breasts, to capture her nipples between his lips until she was calling out his name.
He dug his fingers into her hips, his mouth hot and needy as he plundered hers. But a loud cry cut through the silence.
Lydia leaned back, swallowing hard as her eyes met his. “The baby’s crying,” she said.
“I figured.”
“I should go and…” she inclined her head.
“You want me to do it this time?”
Her lips pursed as she blew out a mouthful of air. “Do you mind? I’m feeling a little, um, flustered right now.”
He grinned. Thankfully his body was calming down. Lifting her gently until she was standing, he caught her eye. “Hold that role play,” he told her. “I was going to try for second base.”
She laughed. “And I was going to fight you off. It would have been hot.”
Skyler cried again, her sobs echoing down the hallway. “That’s my cue,” he told her, leaning forward to steal a kiss from her soft lips. “Wish me luck.”
Lydia walked back in from the yard where she’d been petting Eddie, who was snoring on one of the old bean bags Autumn had put out. Jackson still wasn’t back, though Skyler’s cries had quieted at least ten minutes earlier. Maybe she was having her diaper changed. Lydia wrinkled her nose. She’d leave him to finish that before she went in.
He’d left his phone on the coffee table, next to his brown leather wallet. The screen was lit up, though no sound was coming out. Curious, she glanced at it.
Mom.
The screen faded as the call diverted to voicemail. Lydia picked the phone up and carried it into the hallway, quietly pushing open the nursery door so she could give it to Jackson.
He was in the rocking chair with Skyler. The baby was crad
led against his chest, her tiny fingers clutching the thin fabric of his t-shirt, and the two of them were sound asleep.
Lydia’s heart did a little leap at how adorable they looked.
There was a flicker in her memory – of the other night when Griff held Autumn sweetly as they both smiled at Skyler. But instead of Autumn and Griff, Lydia’s mind replaced them with her and Jackson.
Her breath caught in her throat at the image of them cradling their own baby. Jackson would kiss her shoulder, and whisper dirty things in her ear to make her hurry up and get the baby to bed.
The thought was so sweet she could almost taste it. In another world, another life, that would all be hers.
Jackson cracked an eye open. “Hey.”
She made herself smile, chasing the thoughts out of her mind. “Hey yourself,” she whispered. “I don’t know who is putting who to sleep here.”
He looked down at Skyler and stroked her downy head with his hand, the baby so tiny in his big arms. Lydia swallowed hard. She might not need her ovaries right now, but she also didn’t want them to explode.
“Holding her is like taking a sleeping pill,” he murmured, his eyes soft as he pressed his lips to Skyler’s cheek. “I don’t understand why Griff moans about not getting enough rest. All he has to do is cuddle her.”
Lydia chuckled. “You don’t hear her in the middle of the night.”