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Hunter pulled his car to the curb of the third apartment building on Madison’s list, and he immediately counted five reasons she and Joy couldn’t live there. “No fucking way.” Dammit, he needed to clean up his language, or Joy’s first word would be the F-bomb.
A long-suffering sigh sounded from his passenger seat. “Don’t NFW me. This place looks nice. I want to see the unit.”
“You’d be safer living in a cardboard box in an alley.” He knew he sounded like a sullen, unreasonable prick, which made sense since that’s exactly how he felt. Yesterday he’d held her naked, sweaty, beautifully responsive body in his arms and delivered the kind of orgasm that had rendered them both useless for hours. Today she’d popped out of bed and announced she wanted to start looking at apartments. Like she couldn’t get away fast enough. Rather than spend the last day of his three-off alone, silently boycotting anything remotely connected with her eventual departure, he’d agreed to be her driver. The gesture gave the appearance of supporting her goal, but his inability to stop himself from finding fault with every single place on her list undermined his just-trying-to-help act.
“Okay, let’s hear it. What’s wrong with this one?”
He turned to her and took in her exasperated expression and folded arms. This is no way to handle the situation, his last remaining sane brain cell warned, but the rest of them ignored the warning. “The street level units are completely accessible to every ax murdering pervert who happens by, the balconies on the higher units are hazards—those railings can’t possibly comply with code—they put the building on the busiest corner of a busy street, and a twelve-year-old kid could squeeze through the slats in the perimeter fence, much less a tiny baby.”
Her brows lowered and her chin jutted. “It’s a safe neighborhood, and while I may not be a genius, I have managed to learn how to lock doors and windows. Meanwhile, Joy doesn’t even roll over by herself yet. I’ve got a good six months until I need to baby-proof a patio or balcony.” Apparently satisfied she’d addressed his objections, she opened her door and hopped out. “Joy and I are going to check out the unit. You can sit in the car if you’re too scared to join us.”
“Madison—”
She slammed the door.
Fuck.
He killed the engine, got out, and then waited on the sidewalk while she unhooked Joy from the car seat. When she joined him on the sidewalk, he automatically held out his hands for Joy so Madison could shrug into the baby sling. Joy snuggled in his arms, warm and a little groggy from riding around.
“Thanks. I’ll take her now.”
Bypassing her outstretched arms, he settled the baby in the sling. His knuckles brushed her breasts in the process, and his chest tingled with the phantom weight of them pressed against his skin.
Maybe she felt some tingles, too, because she aimed a sharp look at him and said, “Don’t try to distract me.”
He held his hands up and took a step back, but when she stepped past him, he came up behind her, slipped his hands into the back pockets of her baggy jeans, and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You know, if you want to live dangerously, I have a better way to scratch that itch.” He squeezed her ass and didn’t miss the hitch in her breath. “No security deposit necessary. In fact, it won’t cost you a dime.”
“Knox?”
The familiar female voice came from behind him. He held back a curse—barely—withdrew his hands from Madison’s pockets. Control this scene, and get your ass out of it quickly. Pasting a smile on his face, he turned to confront…
“Hey, Ash.”
Curious brown eyes slid over him and then shifted to Madison and Joy. “Hi. I thought it was you.”
“You thought right.”
Silence stretched for an awkward beat.
Control the scene. Control the scene. Open your fucking mouth and say something to move her along…
Ashley stared heavenward, as if praying for patience, and then extended a hand to Madison. “Hi, I’m Ashley Granger. I work with Hunter.”
In his mind’s eye, his rec letter circled a giant toilet bowl.
Madison took the offered hand. “Madison Foley. Nice to meet you. Hunter’s mentioned you.”
That unlocked his vocal cords. “We were on our way—”
Ashley laughed, cutting him off. “Yeah, I’ll bet he has.” Her attention settled on Joy, and if Hunter didn’t know better, he’d say her expression turned wistful. “Your baby is adorable. How old?”
Circling…circling…
Madison smiled and ran a hand over Joy’s back. “She was my New Year’s Eve surprise.”
“A very sweet one.” A wrinkle formed between her brows, and she tapped her chin with her index finger. “Madison Foley… Your name sounds so familiar.”
No. No. No. Another second and Ashley would connect the dots. He wrapped a sweaty palm around Madison’s forearm and gave her a little tug toward the building. “We really have to get go—”
