Dirty Bad Boys Box Set: Forbidden Romance Collection

“Yeah, I know that,” he grunts. “Just lay off all the Baby Haden talk.”

It’s late afternoon and with many visitors already gone, I yawn as the exhaustion creeps in. Haden leaves to get something from the cafeteria, but walks back into the room not long after, carrying coffees. He hands them to Mr. and Mrs. Sadler, then asks me if I want something. I shake my head, and as much as I would kill for that coffee, the last thing I need is a baby who’s wired up and awake all night long.

“So, do we have a name yet?” Mrs. Sadler coos, rocking the baby gently.

And then we’re back to the problem with the baby’s name. I had some thoughts on boys’ names, but Haden was quick to shut them down. Annoyed at his input, he too would mention names that would make my eyes roll at the lack of thought put into them.

“Are you just naming superheroes now? What’s next, Bruce Wayne?”

“He’d be the coolest kid in school.”

“No.” I put my foot down.

The argument continues on for days, and even after my parents, Gemma, and Melissa arrive, they too end up leaving without knowing the baby’s name.

The nurses seem amused that six days in, Baby Boy Cooper is still nameless, which prompts another argument. I want the baby to be Malone, and Haden, of course, argues for it to be Cooper.

“The baby will be with me all the time. I don’t want people calling me Mrs. Cooper.”

“Well, I don’t want people calling me Mr. Malone.”

I growl in frustration. How can someone so good-looking be so damn stubborn?!

He takes the baby from my arms and sits in the armchair beside me. “I’ve got a name.” He smiles hopefully.

I roll my eyes, again, at this back and forth debate. “Clark Kent?”

“No, this is . . . it’s my dad’s name.”

“Your dad?” I raise my eyebrows at him.

I have learned one thing about Haden; he doesn’t like to talk too much about his dad. It’s a sensitive subject, and one which I never pushed. When he does talk about him, I simply listen. He admires him so much and only ever speaks fondly about him. I get it; he misses his dad terribly, and it was so tragic to have lost him that way.

“Masen.”

I stare at our little boy’s face, as he’s nestled in Haden’s arms. I say it out loud, and the moment I do, I know it’s our baby’s name. Everything about it fits perfectly, from the way it rolls off Haden’s tongue when he says it, to the look on his face when he calls him that for that first time.

“Masen. I like that. Masen Malone Cooper,” I agree.

And just like that, our beautiful baby boy has a name. It’s the only thing we have ever agreed on, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the most important decision, and for once we made it together.

***

“Your cell’s been beeping, like fifty million times,” I tell him.

Haden had fallen asleep on the lounge chair midway through his routine visit with me. Honestly, he looks completely worn out. From what Vicky told me, he had been returning to the office every night to wrap up all the work that I didn’t get a chance to hand over and to finalize details on Fallen Baby before it goes to print.

“Huh, what?” Dazed, he removes his glasses and rubs his eyes.

“Your cell,” I speak slowly. “It beeped a million times.”

He pulls it out and looks at the screen, then immediately places it back in his pocket.

I fix my blanket and find the courage to ask the question that’s been eating at me.

“So, Eloise. Is there a reason she hasn’t visited the baby yet?”

He turns to face me. “She sent you flowers.”