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“Roll him over on his back,” Ryan suggested. “Then you can lift him more easily.”
Lucas gently moved the baby onto his back and found himself looking into the little guy’s blue eyes. When the baby’s gaze fixed on Lucas’s face, Noah’s rosebud mouth opened in a gummy smile. The warmth that spread through Lucas’s chest startled him, and he smiled back without thinking. The baby began to kick and make sounds.
“Aw, he’s cooing at you,” Ryan said.
Cooing? That was the weird sounds? “Is that good?”
“Sure, it means he feels happy and content. He must likeyou. You’ve got a natural touch with kids.” Ryan glanced at his Apple Watch. “I gotta go, bro. Good luck.”
Lucas wanted to laugh at the “natural touch” comment, but he felt strangely touched at the thought that the baby liked him. If there was a person with less experience with babies, he didn’t know who it might be. “Can’t you stay a little while?”
“Not if we want to use our tickets. You’re a big, strong cop—you can handle it.”
Lucas was sure hecouldn’thandle it by himself, but he had no choice as Ryan turned and vanished through the door onto the porch. Lucas watched his brother walk to his Camaro and drive off before turning his attention back to the baby who was watching him. Noah broke out into another toothless grin when he saw Lucas look at him.
“You’re going to be a lady killer, Noah.”
Noah kicked his legs in agreement, and his little fists waved in the air. He was doing that cooing thing again, and Lucas kind of liked it. It wasn’t like anything he’d ever heard before. Should he let the baby continue to lie on his back or pick him up?
Picking him up might provoke an unhappy response, so Lucas decided it was safest not to disturb him. He stood with his hands on his hips and stared down at the boy. What did one talk about with a baby? Or was it even necessary to talk? He wasn’t about to be one of those people who jabbered baby talk at a kid. He’d heard a dad doing it at the hardware store once and thought the guy sounded like an idiot.
He reached down and touched Noah’s hand. The little guy grabbed hold of Lucas’s index finger. “Um, you doing okay, buddy?”
Noah brought Lucas’s finger to his mouth, and Lucas flinched as the small gums went to work on his finger. “You’ve got quite the bite there, little dude.”
Noah chewed on his finger for a few more seconds before turning to his own fist. Lucas wiped his wet finger on his shorts. Maybe this wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. As long as the kid didn’t require a diaper change.
Six
Carly felt naked and bereft without the egg in her possession as she drove away from the bank. She’d never dreamed she’d really find a Fabergé egg in her lifetime, and everything in her wanted to keep it, to treasure it. But that dream was not to be.
Traffic was light as she maneuvered through Beaufort back to Lucas’s house in his bright blue Jeep pickup. The vehicle drove like a dream, and after parking in his drive, she was sorry to slide out of the comfortable seat. She listened for Noah’s cry as she hurried up the steps to the front door. He wouldn’t be hungry for another hour, but he didn’t know Lucas and she feared he might have gotten scared and fractious.
The only sounds she heard were of the waves across the street mingling with the bees checking out the rose bed along the front porch. Lucas didn’t strike her as the type to be good with babies, but he’d offered, and she needed help to get the egg to the bank on time.
She peered through the screen door past the open entry and spotted his red golden stretched out on the floor at the foot of the stairs. The living room wasn’t visible from here, and Lucas had told her to come on in when she got back ratherthan knock. The screen door squeaked as she eased it open and stepped inside. Major lifted his head to flare his nostrils her direction, then plopped his head back on his paws and closed his eyes.
Could Noah still be sleeping? Carly slipped past the dog into the living room and stopped short at the incongruous sight of her baby boy sleeping peacefully on Lucas’s chest. Lucas lay stretched out on the sofa with his eyes closed and one arm thrown protectively around the baby so he didn’t slide off. A shaft of late-afternoon sunlight fell on Lucas’s face, and she allowed herself the chance to look over his handsome features, from the deep-socketed eyes and dark brows to the straight nose above firm lips. His strong features spoke of his inner strength as well.
Her heart stirred at the sight of that muscular arm around Noah. Even in rest, Lucas’s nature tilted toward protection.
Without warning, his hazel eyes opened, and she found herself staring into them. Heat rushed to her cheeks to be found drinking in the sight of him. She cleared her throat. “Um, sorry to wake you. Did Noah give you any trouble?”
He shook his head and eased into a seated position. “We had a nice chat. He’s quite talkative.”
“He’s just started to coo at people he likes.”
“He pretty much talked nonstop. I didn’t change him or anything. I wouldn’t know how.”
“Thanks for taking care of him.” She hurried to lift the baby from Lucas’s chest. Lucas’s warmth had transferred to the baby, and she caught a faint aroma of masculine cologne.
“Not a problem. Any trouble getting a safety-deposit box at the last minute?”
She shook her head and went to sit on the chair across from the sofa. “They were very kind, and I got it tucked away safely without anyone seeing.” She dug into her purse and pulled out the key she’d just gotten. “Would it be all right if I left the key in your possession? I’d feel safer if you had it.”
Surprise lit his eyes. “Sure. I’ll put it in our safe. No one knows the combination but Ryan and me.”
“That’s perfect. There’s no safe at Gram’s, and I was worrying about where to hide it.”
