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Reluctantly, I forced myself to leave the apartment and headed back to my hotel. On the way, I called my sister and asked to see her the next day. I would only tell her I had a surprise and laughed when she started grilling me like I knew she would. Jenna hated surprises and therefore, I loved surprising her. It was my duty as her older brother to drive her nuts. She finally accepted that I wouldn’t budge and grudgingly agreed.
She was always predictable, and so I knew I would gain back any lost brownie points when I asked for the name of a good realtor. I had to pull the phone from my ear when she shrieked.
A male voice rumbled in the background, “Jenna, you’ve gone ultrasonic again. You’re going to make your brother deaf.” I grinned, silently thanking Jenna’s fiancé for saving my ear drums, but not the least bit sorry when I heard the tell-tale thwack of Jenna smacking him on the arm like I’d seen her do so many times.
She took a deep breath and said calmly, “I’ll get you a few names. See you tomorrow!” Then she promptly hung up and I laughed. I had a feeling she and Aspen were going to get along great.
Back at my hotel, I grabbed my unpacked bag and went to the front desk to check out. The same woman was working and she looked at me oddly, but didn’t comment, and I didn’t bother answering her silent question. I signed the bill and walked towards the exit as I dug my cell phone out of a pocket.
I pulled up my contacts and scrolled through until I found Kat’s number. Reaching the car, I threw my stuff in the trunk and dropped into the driver’s seat before hitting send. She picked up after the second ring.
“Hello, Weston,” she greeted me in a low voice. I briefly wondered what she was doing that caused her to speak in that way, but I really didn’t care.
“Kat, I need you to look into something for me.”
“Anything you need, Wes. I’m always available for you.”
I almost pulled the phone away from my ear to look at it, as though it would have an answer as to why she was acting so strange. Instead, I skipped over the weirdness and got down to business.
“Someone must have tampered with the email account I set up for Aspen. She was sending messages all fucking year that weren’t getting to you.” Rage began to surge through me and my tone hardened. “You need to find out who the fuck was behind it and deal with it, because if I find them first, I’ll fucking kill the son of a bitch,” I snarled.
She gasped, and I immediately felt a little guilty for projecting my anger onto her. “I’m sorry, Kat. I didn’t mean to take it out on you but . . .” I paused, trying to decide how much I wanted to tell her. My situation with Aspen and Carter was private, but maybe if she understood my motivation, she’d work even harder to help me nail this person. “Aspen was pregnant and she couldn’t get a hold of me to let me know. She had our baby three months ago, without me. This fucker took something I’ll never get back, and I need your help to make them pay.”
She was silent for a long beat, and I checked my phone to make sure the call hadn’t dropped. Finally, she cleared her throat. “Um, I consider you a friend and I don’t want to overstep but, um, are you sure the baby is yours?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, annoyed with the situation and now her. “You’re right, Kat. You’ve stepped way past the fucking line. Just dig into it and let me know what you find.” Thinking fast, I added a gruff, “Please.” After all, the situation wasn’t her fault.
6
Aspen
Waking up in the morning with Weston wrapped around my body was a heck of a lot better than when I’d woken up from my nap the day before to an empty bed. For a brief moment, I couldn’t help but think he’d up and disappeared again—until I’d found his note on the pillow next to me. The one he’d signed Love, W. Talk about sending my heart into overdrive. I still hadn’t figured how much I could read into his choice of wording. I’d had to repeatedly remind myself that I’d never heard him say the words aloud to me each time I’d wanted to moon over the note.
Gently disengaging from his hold and sliding from the bed, I paused before heading to the bathroom to stare down at him. His face was relaxed, his eyelashes resting against his cheeks, and he looked almost boyishly innocent. At least, until my gaze drifted downwards. With the sheet hanging low on his hips and his hair tousled from sleep and sex, he looked smoking hot. I wanted to crawl right back into bed and trace each of his tattoos with my tongue, but he was sleeping so peacefully. I didn’t want to wake him up.
I forced myself to pad away from him, taking the baby monitor with me, and went about my normal morning routine. Just as I set my toothbrush back in its holder, I heard the rustling of Carter’s sheets through the monitor and headed into his room. It wouldn’t be long before he started fussing, and I wanted to get to him before he woke Weston.
I found him rolling from side to side, not quite able to get all the way over yet, and staring up at his mobile. “Morning, my Carter-bear. Mommy’s got you.”
I lifted him from the crib and cuddled him against my chest, breathing in his baby scent. This was one of my favorite times of day, when he’d just woken up. Morning baby snuggles were some of the best, even if I only got to enjoy them for a few minutes before he complained about being wet and hungry.
I managed to keep him happily occupied while changing his diaper, and he barely made a peep while he was breastfeeding. But then he got cranky when I was burping him.
“Shhhh, sweetie. Daddy’s still sleeping.”
Wow. It felt darn good to refer to Weston as Carter’s daddy. I heard the clearing of a throat and found him standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a huge smile on his face. A pair of hunter green pajama bottoms hung low on his hips, but it was the only thing he’d thrown on when he’d climbed out of bed.
“Or maybe not,” I mumbled, trying to ignore the slow burn seeing his naked chest ignited.
“I wasn’t about to miss my first morning with my beautiful family,” he rasped, prowling towards us. “What kind of Daddy would I be if I did?”
“The sleepy kind?” I yelped when he picked me up, took my spot on the rocking recliner, and settled me on his lap. Carter giggled happily, enjoying the ride from his position in my arms.
“I’ll have plenty of time to sleep when our kids are older.”
“Kids?”
His hand slid down, in between Carter and my stomach, to cup my lower belly. “I’m not gonna stop at just one, beautiful.”
Holy crap. He really was serious about trying to knock me up again. And if that was true, then it stood to reason maybe he meant how he’d signed his note. Right?
“How soon can you and Carter be ready to head out?”
“He’s already eaten and had a diaper change, so it wouldn’t take too long.” I shifted in his lap to twist around and peer up at him. “Are we going somewhere?”
“Out to breakfast.”
Not having to cook or clean up sounded pretty good to me. “I guess I could eat.”
“With my sister.”
“Your sister?” I squeaked, jumping off his lap and thrusting Carter into his arms. “Scratch that, it’s going to take a while. You get him dressed. His diaper bag is in the living room and probably needs a couple bottles from the kitchen, his favorite blankie from his crib, and some extra diapers.”
I raced into the bathroom and jumped into the shower. I washed up as quickly as I could, to make sure I had plenty of time to blow dry and straighten my hair. After an hour of primping, I finally felt like I was ready to face Weston’s sister. Maybe.
The look of masculine appreciation on his face when I walked out made all my preparations worthwhile. But it was the moment we walked into his sister’s home and I saw a drop-dead gorgeous brunette, dressed to the nines with a stunned look on her face, that I was truly appreciative of the effort I’d put into my look today.
“West!” she squealed. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing anyone with you.”
“Of course I didn’t,?
?? he drawled. “It would have spoiled the surprise.”
“You know how much I hate surprises,” she groaned.
