A Wonderful Kind of Love (Kinds of Love 2)

“It's French, Mia explained. “It means 'miracle,' which is appropriate. I never thought I'd have a baby. We're going to call her Miri for short.”

“Well, hello little Miri,” Ethan cooed to the baby. Little Miri just blinked once and went right to sleep. She was actually kind of cute, in a squishy way. “You two make good babies.”

“Thanks,” Carter replied. “My part was really hard.”

Mia raised her eyebrows at him from across the room. Her arms crossed and she blinked slowly as she waited for him to say more.

“And I'm going to go make a phone call before my wife murders me,” Carter announced, holding up his phone and quickly ducking out of the room.

“Do you want her back?” Ethan asked, holding out the baby to Mia. As much as he was afraid she was going to stop breathing at any moment, holding her was really quite peaceful. Plus, she was asleep, and he didn't want to accidentally wake her.

“You keep her. You look very cute with her,” Mia told him. She picked up a hairbrush and started working on her wet hair. “How long are you in town for Ethan?”

“As long as Carter needs me while we get things set up for the new research and development office in Denver,” Ethan replied. “It'll be at least a couple of weeks. Maybe more.”

Mia nodded. “It will be nice to have you here,” she said, finishing up with her brush. She set it down and looked at him. “Does Laura know you're coming?”

He swallowed hard. “Laura? Why would Laura care I was in town?”

Mia just lifted a single eyebrow and waited for him to try and deny it again. Given the look he was getting, he suspected she knew the history between Laura and him. They'd had an amazing one-night-stand at the W Motors Christmas party a year and a half ago. He had called a couple times, and then after about a week, she had finally picked up. Only it wasn’t her, it was a guy. Apparently Laura’s boyfriend. The guy told Ethan to never call her again.

He had honored that request. He had no intention of being a home-wrecker or trying to pursue a cheater. It wasn't his fault they were both at Mia's fundraiser last month. He was fairly sure she hated his guts right up to the moment where she kissed him. Granted, she was under a lot of emotional stress at the time, but the fact remained that she'd kissed him. He wasn't quite sure what to think about her.

He sighed. “No. She doesn't know.”

“Why not?” Mia asked. “I thought you two had a moment at the fundraiser.”

“We had a what?” Ethan looked at her in surprise. “Did Laura tell you that?”

“She told me that you kissed when she heard her brother had been found,” Mia replied.

Ethan sighed. “She was just relieved her brother was okay,” Ethan explained with a shrug.

Mia snorted. “Yeah. Because I just kiss people any time I get good news. That must be it.” Ethan ignored the eye roll. “She likes you.”

“Then why did she tell me not to call her? Why did she tell her boyfriend to tell me off?” he asked her, trying to keep the hostility out of his voice. The baby wiggled in his arms, and he didn't want to wake her.

“Her boyfriend?” Mia asked. “Laura doesn’t have a-“

She never finished her sentence because the door opened right then. In walked Laura with a big bouquet of yellow and white daisies.

She was beautiful. Her dark red hair was down around her shoulders, and her green eyes sparkled as she walked into the room with a huge smile on her face. The smile faded as soon as she saw Ethan, but her cheeks went pink.

Ethan was glad he was holding the baby, or he might have tried to kiss her right there on the spot. He had thought she was breathtaking that first night at the Christmas party. He had thought she was gorgeous a month ago at the fundraiser. He didn't know how she did it, but she had gotten even prettier. Now, standing in the hospital room, she was absolutely stunning. She became more beautiful every time he saw her.

She swallowed hard. “I didn't know you were going to be here,” Laura murmured, setting her bouquet of daisies down next to his gift bag.

“Hi Laura,” Mia greeted her enthusiastically, crossing the room and giving her a big hug. “I'm so glad you came.”

Ethan did not appreciate the look that was on Mia's face as she looked back and forth between the two of them. She was plotting something, and he wasn't sure what it was. Whatever she was planning, it was setting of every one of his internal “run now” alarms.

“So, actually Laura, Ethan was just about to go get me some of these cheese curds from this restaurant nearby,” Mia announced.

“I was?” Ethan replied. He didn't remember agreeing to this.

“Yes, you were,” Mia said pointedly. “It's weird. Even though I'm not pregnant anymore, I still have a craving for these cheese curds. Apparently, they're from Wisconsin, and I just can't get enough of them.”

“Okay,” Ethan shrugged, not really following what was going on. Laura looked as confused as he felt.