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He probably just wanted me to be able to see the baby.
“Don’t stop talking angles on my account,” I said when my heart stopped racing at his touch. “I’ll stay here to check you’re explaining it the right way.”
As Jax rambled on about buildings, hypotenuses, Pythagoras, cosines, and plumb lines, Charlie closed his eyes, only stirring a little when Jax placed him against his chest to burp him, and through all of it, I stole glances at Jax. The soft illumination of the single lamp in his tousled red hair, and his focused expression as he stared down at Charlie was something I wasn’t sure I’d ever forget. He might’ve been struggling with uncertainty and shock over Charlie’s arrival, but Zach had been right to leave his son here with Jax.
“When will you call your family?” I asked.
He sighed, but then nodded. “I’ll start with Leo first thing in the morning, then maybe he can tell Reid and Lorna, but my parents? What will they think?”
“Maybe, that you’re a good son and brother?”
“Mama will see right through me to all my worries with her freaky Mama powers, and then, she’ll get upset over Zach leaving Charlie, and I’ll end up defending Zach and, probably, getting all up in my head that I’m a huge disappointment.”
I elbowed him, gently though. “That won’t happen.”
“You think?” Jax sounded so desperate for me to comfort him.
“I’m sure of it.”
Charlie’s fingers relaxed their grip on Jax’s shirt, and I reached over to brush a fingertip against Charlie’s soft cheek.
“He’s something else, isn’t he?” I mused.
Jax nodded, his eyes meeting mine. “Yeah, he is.”
I felt a rush of emotion that left me momentarily speechless. The way Jax looked at me, with such vulnerability in his expression, I felt as if I wanted to reach out and pull him into another hug the same as the one in the kitchen.
I just had to ignore the impulse to kiss him.
Because blurring the lines between friend and lover wouldn’t end well.
ChapterSeven
Jax
I was up againat six, a burbling Charlie pulling me out of a dream featuring Arlo and me, and a discussion over lubrication and door hinges. I couldn’t even begin to start to unravel that one. I fed Charlie, who’d woken in the same happy excitable mood as he’d arrived yesterday, then bathed him in a sink after covering the faucet with a towel. He splashed with his fists, grinned, burbled more nonsense, and attempted to grab my hair so often that I gave up and let him twist his tiny fingers into the curls.
“Get used to curls, because you’re heading that way,” I told him as I wrapped him in a fluffy towel and hurried to the bed where I’d laid down yet more towels, and got him into a diaper before I had a repeat of the two-a.m. change in which he only narrowly missed peeing in my eye. Sue me, but I’d had two daughters, and I never expected wee to travel quite that far. With Charlie diapered up and in a tiny baby romper, I made a nest of the towels, and washed up as best I could without doing the whole shower thing. I was nervous about the big reveal to my family, worried there would be something wrong with Charlie, and worse, that Leo wouldn’t agree with what I’d done. I had that little brother anxiety going on where Leo was concerned, fearing he’d judge me, and worse, judge Zach. All of that and I haven’t even contacted him yet. More concerned about making sure Charlie was secure in my arms than where Arlo might be in the house, I never even noticed him stepping out of the guest bathroom, a faint cloud of steam still curling around him. My heart skipped a beat as I couldn’t help but appreciate how sexy he looked, water droplets glistening on his skin like diamonds. The towel around his waist clung to him in all the right places, leaving very little to the imagination. And God, there was the softness of his belly, and the faint trace of hair around his nipples, and fuck, the treasure trail.
The sight of him sent a shiver down my spine, and I couldn’t help but feel a rush of desire. His hair was spiky, darker gray from the water, and his gray eyes darkened as he caught me watching him. A cautious smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and I couldn’t help but return the gesture.
I inhaled deeply, savoring the intoxicating scent that clung to him, a mix of the shower gel and deodorant, and it drew me closer, making me want to wrap my arms around him and never let go. I could step forward, I could touch…
“I’ll be down in a bit, coffee’s already on,” he blurted, then dashed around me to get to the spare room.
In my arms, Charlie encouraged me to move with a string of ‘bahs’. I pushed aside the image of Arlo in just a towel and followed my nose to the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee as it wafted through the air. First the smell of Arlo, and now coffee? I was having the best, and most confusing, morning ever.
“Coffee!” I exclaimed as I turned the corner into the kitchen, the rich, earthy scent of the coffee beans filled my senses, and Charlie bounced in my hold, gripping my hair. “One day, you’ll be surviving on this stuff,” I explained and extricated my hair from his grip, and then, held him to my chest to assess whether coffee was possible.
Not happening—hot coffee and wriggly baby was a match made in hell. Instead I made him a bottle and hummed under my breath as I danced him around the kitchen. I could get used to this, Charlie smiling at me, coffee, Arlo in a towel…
We really need to talk.
“Hey,” he said, heading straight for the coffee and pouring us two cups, mine black, his with cream and sugar. “How did Charlie sleep?”
My chest puffed up with pride as if I was solely responsible for Charlie sleeping well and not causing a fuss, but also because my nephew was a pretty awesome baby. “He did good.”
Arlo leaned over and pressed a kiss to Charlie’s nose, peering up at me and giving me a smile that made me want to grab him and kiss his nose, and his lips, and then…
