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He leaned back in the booth to get comfortable. “I know for a fact you’re an only child like me, so how it is that you’re so great with kids?”
“Years of babysitting, followed by years of working with kids at the clinic.” Prim shot him a merry look. “You want to give it a try?”
To his alarm, she attempted to hand Marco Junior over to him.
“Whoa! Time out, champ.” He shook his head at her. “I’ve never once babysat. Plus, I handle dogs at work. Not kids.”
“Don’t be a wuss, Shep.” She pressed the squirming baby into his hands.
He stared at the kid, terrified of doing something wrong. Marco Junior stared back, kicking his blue pajama-clad legs. After a moment, he stuck two fingers in his mouth and starting sucking on them.
“What do I do now?” His voice was nearly a whisper.
Prim made a bawk-bawk sound, like a chicken.
“You’re heartless,” he groaned.
“No, I’m Prim, your best friend, remember?”
“Will you please be more specific about the baby advice?”
“I don’t know. Hold him against your shoulder or something.”
So he did. Little Marco promptly gave another little burp. This time, it was accompanied by a warm damp feeling against Shep’s left shoulder. “Nice,” he muttered, knowing exactly what that meant.
“You’ve been anointed,” Prim crowed, reaching for her napkin.
“I am aware.” He glanced ruefully down at the damp spot on his shirt.
“Positively showered with baby love,” she continued, dabbing at the spot with her napkin.
“Are you done having fun at my expense yet?” He pretended to glare at her over the top of the baby’s head, reveling in the fact that she was helping clean off his shirt.
“Never,” she scoffed.
He liked the sound of that. While he was still processing what it might mean for their relationship, the little fellow in his arms bobbed his mouth against Shep’s chin, leaving another damp spot.
“And now you’ve been kissed,” Prim sighed, leaning back to survey the two of them in mock dismay. “All he did was snicker at my expert raspberries. You act like you don’t know what end of the baby is right side up and get kissed for it. It’s so unfair!”
Their bread and tea arrived. After serving them, Aiyanna collected her son. “I enjoyed the break. Now you enjoy your meal.” She danced away with little Marco, none the wiser about him upchucking on one of her favorite customers.
“So not fair,” Prim muttered again. She reached for the mini loaf of bread and cut into it with a vicious slash.
Shep watched her place a slice of bread on each of their hors d’oerve plates. “Are you really that upset about not getting slobbered on by a baby?”
“Kissed, Shep. You were kissed.” She sounded so put out by it that he couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not.
“If you’re that worried about a dumb kiss, I’ll kiss you myself,” he offered in a teasing voice.
“You’re all heart.” Instead of biting into her slice of bread, Prim pushed it around her plate with her butter knife.
“That’s why you love me.” He gently elbowed her side. “Come on. It’s not often a girl gets the opportunity to kiss a guy who smells like sour milk.”
A faint smile curved her lips. “You’re the best, Shep. You really are. If I haven’t told you that today, I’m telling you now.”
“So, kiss me,” he urged, not sure where his burst of boldness was coming from. “You know you want to, especially after what your mother said about me.”
Her gaze flicked shyly to his. “Really, Shep? We’re going to turn our first kiss into a social experiment?”
