Dare To Resist (Dare Nation 1)
“Oh my gosh, look at her! She’s so cute!” Amy knelt down by the swing, stopped the motion, and immediately began to make cooing noises at the baby. Jenny gurgled back, doing her best little smile.
Quinn shot him a look as if to say see?
“Thank you,” he said, walking up to her. Out of respect for her family, he didn’t wrap his arm around her the way he wanted to. “This is going to be amazing. I can feel it.”
She grinned. “This is what the Stone girls are trained for,” she said wryly.
“What’s her schedule like?” Amy had walked up behind him and joined them.
Quinn hugged her cousin before she pointed to a notepad. “Okay, so she had her bottle at six this morning. She should be good until between eleven and twelve and then again between five and six, depending on timing. We’ll be home by six thirty.”
Amy nodded. “No problem.”
“Bottles are premade in the fridge. You’re good for the day. Diapers are upstairs in her room. Right now she’s in a pack and play,” Quinn said, opening the refrigerator to show Amy the bottles lined up in the door. She didn’t explain the reasons Jenny didn’t have a real crib, for which Austin was grateful.
“Easy enough. Can I use the instant hot to heat the bottle?” Amy pointed to the faucet on the side of the sink.
“There’s actually a bottle warmer. Whichever is easier for you. You know the drill. Make sure it’s not too hot. Clothing changes are in the drawers in Jenny’s room. If there’s a real mess, I’ll show you where the laundry room is. Don’t forget to use the Dreft,” Quinn said, to which Amy rolled her eyes.
Glancing at Austin, the young girl laughed. “She forgets that I’m already babysitting my older sister’s kid when she and her husband go out on date night. I know the drill. We all know the drill.” She looked at Quinn. “Show me the rooms. I can handle everything else.”
“Okay, but also, for changing her diaper, Jenny gets fussy if the wipes are cold. We use a warmer, so make sure they’re a comfortable temperature.”
Amy nodded. “No problem.”
“Oh! And since you can drive, in an emergency and only in an emergency, the truck with the car seat is in the garage.” She’d asked Austin about that earlier this morning. “Emergencies are sudden spikes in raging high fever and meeting us at the doctor. That’s all.”
“I know, Quinn. You can trust me,” Amy said solemnly.
Quinn nodded. “She’s just so tiny and precious.”
Quinn walked over to the swing and stopped it long enough to give Jenny a smacking kiss on her cheek that had the baby giggling, causing Austin’s heart to squeeze inside his chest.
His brain already spun from the list of things Quinn had given her cousin, most of which he’d have forgotten if he’d done the explaining himself. He was sure he’d have only remembered to tell Amy to make sure she fed Jenny. Once again, he looked at Quinn with utter admiration and something more.
Something he couldn’t afford to think about or name.
He might be sleeping with her and unable to be in the same room with her without wanting her, but the fact that she was so smart, so innately caring about the baby chipped away at his heart.
After Quinn gave Amy a tour of the house, showed her everything she might need for the baby, and reminded her of the instructions she’d already given, they were able to leave for the office.
He took the Porsche, and enclosed in the small space of the car, he inhaled her musky, arousing scent and hoped it remained there for a long time.
“Your cousin reminds me of you,” he said as they pulled off the highway near the office.
“In what way?” Quinn shifted in her seat, her skirt lifting and revealing a nice expanse of knee and upper leg.
“Well, other than looks, she’s as competent, serious, and devoted to her job as you are.”
“You could tell all that in one meeting?” Quinn asked, sounding amused.
“She didn’t appreciate you reminding her of everything you’d already told her, she didn’t appear fazed by the possibility of dirty baby laundry, which we both know means vomit or…” He shook his head, not wanting to think about that. “And she didn’t flinch when you said the word emergency.”
Basically, though, because Quinn trusted Amy, so did Austin. “I figure you know what you’re doing when it comes to Jenny, and you wouldn’t have suggested Amy if she wasn’t the right choice.”
“I appreciate your faith in me. But Amy is smart and capable. And you know I’ll check in on her. Often.”
“Careful, I might think you have a soft spot for Jenny,” he said, chuckling.
“You know I do.” Her voice turned low and serious.
And a part of him wished that meant more than it actually did.