Liam walked with Vivian into the other room.“Was she blowing him off, and he wasn’t having any?”
“No.She was flirting with him.”
Vivian began to fuss.“She needs a bottle,” Liam said and went to the kitchen.
Riley followed, more irritated the longer he thought about the night before.
Liam handed him the baby while he washed his hands and got her bottle ready.Riley’s irritation faded.It was hard to remain annoyed when you held a sweet baby girl in your arms.Liam took the baby and the bottle from him so he could wash his own hands.After drying them off, Liam gave him the bottle and Vivian, and Riley sat down to give it to the baby.“I thought Val was nursing still.”
“She is.That’s breast milk.”
“Oh.Doesn’t it feel kind of weird to be talking about nursing and breast milk?”Not to mention, giving the baby a bottle full of breast milk.
“No.Why?We raise horses.We’re ranchers.We have animals.They all have babies and nurse.”
“I guess.”He watched his niece drink.“Vivian has a good appetite.”
“Back to your screw-up,” Liam said, leaning against the kitchen counter.“Why did it bother you to see Letty with Bud?”
“She doesn’t know him.And she was drinking.Letty never drinks a lot.”
“How do you know?”
He ignored that.“I got rid of him and made her leave with me.”
“Bet that went over well.”
He snorted.“Not really.She was pissed as hell.”
Liam studied him for a moment.“When did you start having a thing for Letty?”
“I don’t.I’m just looking out for her.”
Liam laughed.“Oh, man.This is rich.You’ve totally got the hots for Letty.”
“Just because I didn’t want her going off with some dipshit she doesn’t even know?”
“How long has it been since you got laid?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”Vivian had finished her bottle, so he handed her to Liam.“You burp her.I can’t do that.”
Liam took her and put her on his shoulder, patting her back.“You can’t even remember, can you?”
Well, shit.He really couldn’t.Six months?More?The last woman he’d been with was Piper Manning.An old friend he hooked up with from time to time.Piper wasn’t any more interested in a serious relationship than he was.After the last time, she’d asked him if he’d been seeing someone and when he’d denied it, she said, “But you want to.”She’d patted his arm.“You should go for it and quit messing around with me.”
That was when he’d realized Letty had been on his mind more and more often.He’d seen Letty a good bit since Liam and Val got married a little over a year ago now.Even more once they had the baby.Last night had been the culmination of months of wanting her and trying his best to put her out of his mind.When he’d finally broken and kissed her, he’d had to admit that Letty was the one he wanted.That he’d wanted her for a long time and his feelings were not going away.But he wasn’t at all sure how Letty felt.
Actually, he was.She was mad as hell at him.
*
Letty was workingin the library when one of the regulars, Bonnie Driver, came in.Bonnie was at least eighty and came to the library several times a week.She was a spinster who fascinated Letty because she always seemed perfectly happy alone.She had friends, a lot of them, she thought, but no children or other family that Letty knew of.
Bonnie was chatty today.More so than usual.“I swear, that man is enough to drive me to drink.”
“What man is that, Bonnie?”
“Norm Ashcroft,” she said with disgust.“He moved into my complex recently.Do you know he saw me withJane Eyreand said it’s one of the worst books he’s ever read?”
