Kye’s eyes widened, as if he were impressed by my convincing lie. I turned and walked back to the kitchen.

  “We don’t have to do a vegan one, but I have several friends who are also vegan. It’s becoming more popular. Maybe do a small one, and then the big one can be a regular cake.”

  That sounded like it would work.

  “Okay,” I told him. “If you’re sure.”

  “Yeah. Besides, I’ve not convinced you that life is better as a vegan yet. Until I do, I figure you want the regular cake.”

  This man was delusional if he thought I was giving up ribs. Or steak. Or bacon. Not happening.

  “Don’t get your hopes up,” I replied.

  He laughed. “We’ll see. But anyway, I just wanted to hear your voice before I went to bed. I’ve got an early morning tomorrow, and I have some work to get done first.”

  “Okay,” I replied. “Good night. Love you.”

  “Sleep tight. Love you,” he replied, then ended the call.

  I headed back for the living room, and Kye was holding an empty bottle. I tossed the burp cloth over my shoulder and took Jagger from him.

  “After he eats, you have to burp him,” I explained, and he watched me until a loud little belch came out, making Kye laugh.

  “All right, good job, both of you,” I said, amused. “Ready to go shopping?”

  Kye stood up. “Yeah. Let’s go do this.”

  I moved Jagger back to the crook of my arm, and he was watching me. “We are going to go get you all the things you need,” I told him. “When we get back, we can get you a nice, warm bath.”

  Because I wasn’t sure the last time he’d had one. The woman who had written the letter Kye had shown me didn’t seem like one to bother with bathing her child.

  “How do we bathe him?” Kye asked me.

  “We will get an infant tub,” I told him. “And baby washcloths and baby shampoo and a baby towel.”

  Kye nodded once. “Got it. In other words, I am about to go broke.”

  Smiling, I walked over to the infant seat. “I think that’s the general consensus among all parents.”

  I buckled Jagger in and covered him back up with the blanket. Kye picked it up by the handle. Why did he have to look so sexy, carrying a baby seat?

  Fifteen

  Kye

  The amount of stuff that babies needed was way beyond what I had expected, and it was clear that Genesis had been trying to just get the basics. The must-haves. There was all kinds of shit she didn’t go near. Still, it had been a fucking lot.

  Blaise had texted while we were out shopping, asking if I had things under control. I told him Genesis was helping me and we were currently buying baby things. He’d left me alone after that. I wondered if he’d told Maddie about Jagger and she’d made him check to make sure the baby he’d allowed me to take was okay. I couldn’t imagine Maddie would have been pleased to hear that.

  Genesis was really good with baby stuff for someone who didn’t have her own kid, nor did she have younger siblings. Were women just born with the gift? No, that couldn’t be true because Chyna had clearly sucked at it.

  I took the baby clothes we’d bought out of the dryer and carried them into my old bedroom, where we had set up the portable crib thing. Genesis put her finger over her lips the moment I entered the room. She was standing over Jagger, who she’d wrapped up like a burrito in one of his new blankets.

  I put the clothes on the bed, and she started for the door, motioning for me to follow her.

  Once we were out of the room, she started to close the door and froze. She looked up at me. “I forgot to get a monitor,” she whispered, leaving the door open before heading back toward the living room.

  “What’s that?” I asked when we got to the living room. “Is it vital? I can go get it now. Walmart is open all night.”

  She shook her head. “A baby monitor. It’s not vital, but I can’t hear him if the door is closed. It won’t be an issue at night. I or you …” She paused. “One of us will be in there with him.”

  Sleep. Yes. We hadn’t talked about things. It had been go mode since I had gotten here with him and announced I had a kid. The thought of leaving them here without me didn’t sit well. I just hadn’t thought that far ahead.

  “I was planning on staying. He’s my responsibility. I just knew I needed help. I was lost, and you’re the only person I wanted help from.”

  She walked over and sat down, curling her legs up underneath her. “I didn’t question why you brought him here. I would have expected you to. But what are the next steps?”

  I sat down beside her and laid my head back, staring at the ceiling. “I get my name on his birth certificate. Then, the state determines I have full custody after they acknowledge Chyna deserted him and gave up all rights. After all that, then I go through the process of putting him up for adoption.” I turned my head to look at her then.

  She sighed heavily. “That’s a lot,” she said softly.

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  Then, she slid over and laid her head on my shoulder. I curled my arm around her shoulders, and we sat there in silence. My head was all over the place. Tonight … hadn’t been bad. I’d actually enjoyed myself. Which was strange. Genesis had taken the fear away, and I had been able to relax enough to be in the moment with him … and her.

  “That’s not all going to be done overnight,” she said.

  I’d already known that, but how did I ask her to help me until then?

  “No, it’s not.”

  She tilted her head back and looked up at me. “I’ll try not to get too attached to him. That is, assuming you want my help with him, or do you want to call your mom?”

  Calling my mom was out of the question. Thankfully, she was in Greece right now. Once she got a look at my mini me, she was going to want to keep him. I wasn’t going to let my mom raise my kid. She’d done her job with me. She needed to be free to travel with her new husband and live her life.

  “Mom is in Greece, remember?” I said.

  “Yes, but she’d come home for this.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to see him,” I replied.

  She nodded. “I get that.”

  “But if you don’t want to do this or you think it’ll be too much, I can figure out something else.” Saying those words was fucking hard. I wanted to beg her to help me. Help us.

  “Kye,” she began, “do you honestly think I could just turn my back on the two of you? And it’s not because I don’t think you can’t learn how to take care of him by then. It’s because you’re my best friend and you are about to handle some tough stuff. Emotional stuff. I can’t leave you to do it alone.”

  God, I wanted that, but she was forgetting something real damn vital.

  “Bowie. The two of you are getting married soon.” Way too fucking soon. Never would be better in my opinion.

  She didn’t say anything at first, and I almost wished I’d not said anything.

  “We will push the wedding to the summer. I’ll need to explain it to him though. I can’t keep this a secret from him.”

  Push the wedding off. Fuck yes.

  “This is a lot, Baby Doll. You’re sure you want to rearrange your life to do this?”

  Please say yes. Please choose me.

  “That little boy is yours. He’s a part of you. That makes him a part of my life. The wedding can wait. He is more important. You are more important than all the other stuff.”

  I pulled her tight against me and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Fuck, I loved her. “Thank you,” I said, emotion clogging my damn throat, like I was a pussy.

  “Always. Right?” she replied, putting her arm around me to hug me.

  “Right,” I agreed, then inhaled her scent.

  “Stop smelling me,” she said against my chest.

  “But you smell so fucking good all the time.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “You’ve not smelled me after I work out.”

  The thought of her sweaty started to make my dick stiffen. I had to think about other shit real quick before that became obvious. It wasn’t like she hadn’t noticed me hard before when we were together, but right now was not the time to remind her that my body was attracted to her in ways it shouldn’t be.

  I heard her yawn and squeezed her arm gently. “Go to bed.”

  She sat up, and I already missed the way she felt against me. “Do you want me to sleep in the room with Jagger, or do you want to?”

  I sat there, staring at her. I knew I should do it, but I was afraid to be alone with him. What if he stopped breathing and I was asleep and didn’t know? The thought of being alone with him at night was daunting.

  “Uh, the bed is a queen size. Can’t we both sleep in there?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, until you’re comfortable in there with him alone. But that’s something we don’t ever need to share with Bowie.”

  I wanted to grin at the thought that this would piss him off, but I didn’t. She was sacrificing a lot for me.

  “It will go with me to my grave,” I promised.

  She laughed softly and stood up.

  “Please tell me you sleep in those little silk things I saw you in,” I teased, knowing there was no way she’d wear that for me—and it was a good thing because I’d be so fucking hard all night that I’d never get to sleep.

  She shook her head. “Not for you.”

  “Okay, fine. You can sleep naked. I’m good with that,” I replied.

  “Kye, keep it up, and I’ll make you sleep in there alone,” she warned.

  I smirked, knowing she was full of crap. “Does that mean I can’t suggest you sleep in one of my T-shirts?”

  She picked up a pillow and tossed it at me before walking down the hallway. Grinning, I followed her, amazed at how my day had gone from a nightmare to something I was going to survive.

  Sixteen

  Genesis

  The loud wail woke me up, and for a moment, I was confused. Then, it all came back to me, and I sat up and turned on the lamp by the bed so I could see.

  Jagger’s little face was red as he let out another angry cry. He had kicked the blanket loose, and he tried to suck on his hand, then wailed again.

  “Someone is hungry,” I said, picking him up. “It’s okay.”

  “Here,” Kye’s deep, gravelly voice said beside me. “I’ll take him while you get the bottle.”

  I turned to him, and seeing Kye’s messy hair and bare, tattooed chest distracted me briefly. He’d been wearing a shirt when we went to bed. Where was that shirt now? I did not need to be reminded how droolworthy his chest was.

  “It got hot, Baby Doll. I’m sorry. I usually sleep naked,” he said, and I realized I was still looking at his six-pack.

  My eyes snapped up, and I gathered myself, then handed Jagger to him. He took him the way I’d taught him, and when he pulled him to his chest, Jagger turned his little head, as if he was going to latch on to a boob.

  “What’s he doing?” Kye asked.

  “Trying to nurse,” I replied with a grin.

  He chuckled. The deep sound to his sleepy voice was making me feel things between my legs that I did not need to be feeling for Kye.

  “Sorry, little dude. I don’t have what you’re looking for.”

  I stood up and headed for the door.

  “Baby Doll is going to get you a bottle. Hang in there,” he reassured him.

  I hurried to the kitchen and went about getting it mixed up. Thankfully, he wasn’t crying too bad. He would start up and then stop. Kye must be talking to him. He was very interested in his father, which was so freaking precious that it hurt. I could not let my head go there. Kye couldn’t raise a kid.

  When I walked back into the room, I sat on the bed beside Kye. “I’ll feed him. You go back to sleep. Then, you can do it next time. We will take shifts.”

  Kye handed him to me, but he didn’t lie back down right away. He watched as Jagger took the nipple and began sucking hungrily. It was cute. I didn’t blame him for wanting to look.

  “He’s an aggressive little man when hungry,” Kye said, observing him. “Good thing he can’t get to your tits. He’d latch on real damn fast.”

  I cut my eyes at Kye. “Go to sleep.”

  He gave me a cheeky grin, then lay back down. Still shirtless. And very close to me. He needed to scoot over some. Give me some space.

  “This bed smells like you,” he said before turning his head to the pillow and inhaling.

  I acted like I didn’t enjoy him smelling me, but that was a lie. I didn’t say anything though. I let it go.

  By the time Jagger was fed and burped, Kye was asleep again. I took Jagger to the other bedroom to change his diaper, then wrapped him up snuggly, then swayed back and forth with him until he fell back asleep. Once I placed him in the crib and he didn’t wake back up, I climbed in beside Kye and managed to not think about his naked chest and hard muscles, which were entirely too close to me.

  The next time Jagger woke up, I changed his diaper first, then gave Kye the bottle before going to sleep. I had a feeling I would only get a brief nap before I had to help Kye get him to sleep, but when the next wail woke me, the sun was already rising, and Jagger was in his bed while Kye was spooning me.

  Kye stretched and yawned, but didn’t move away from me right away. I started to sit up, and he grabbed my waist, pulling me back to him.

  “This feels good. Jag, buddy, don’t make her leave me just yet,” he said in that raspy voice again.

  I felt my nipples harden, and I glanced down, thankful he couldn’t see the front of my shirt. I agreed that this felt very good. Too good.

  I wiggled. “I need to get his bottle,” I said, hoping my voice sounded sleepy and not breathless.

  “My boner needs to go down before I pick him up,” Kye said.

  I felt my entire body flush as I hurried from the room. Kye’s laughter echoed down the hallway. Good Lord, I needed to stick my head in the freezer. It was as if every nerve ending in my body were buzzing with electricity. Whew.

  I made the bottle while mentally scolding myself. We were not playing house. Kye was my best friend. That was his baby, not mine. I was engaged to Bowie. Reacting like that to Kye had to stop. Jagger needed me. Kye needed my help. He did not need me getting all worked up over his teasing.

  When I walked back into the room, Kye had Jagger in his arms and was sitting with his back against the headboard. The man was mommy porn. Literally, if there was a thing such as mommy porn, then Kye was their star.

  “See, there she is,” Kye said to him. “I told you she was coming back with the goods.”

  I sat down and reached for him. “My turn.”

  He took the bottle from me. “It’s good. I’m awake. Get some more sleep. I’ll wake you for a diaper lesson if I can’t figure it out myself.”

  Jagger was already drinking away comfortably in Kye’s arms. I pulled back the covers and lay back down, putting my back to them. I didn’t need to get any more visuals of Kye being a sexy, shirtless daddy. Exhaustion pulled me back under pretty fast.

  When I opened my eyes again, I was surprised to see a sleeping Jagger in his bed, the sun was completely up, and Kye was spooning me again. His breathing was slow, so he was asleep too. I closed my eyes again and tried very hard not to focus on the hard length pressing against my butt. Or the fact that his arm was right under my boobs. They might as well be resting on them. I knew he was tired from last night, and I hated to wake him, but I had to get up. My body was not understanding that Kye wasn’t supposed to arouse it.

  I moved slowly, and just as I thought I was almost free to slip out of the bed, his arm tightened, and he pulled me back.

  “Not yet,” he mumbled.

  Thankfully, he moved his arm lower, away from my boobs, but his erection was now tucked even closer.

  “Kye,” I hissed.

  He nuzzled his face in my hair. “Shh,” he whispered.

  I took a deep breath and tried to move, but my wiggling did nothing but shift him from my butt cheek to being in the crack. My eyes went wide. He felt thick and long. At least compared to Bowie. I was afraid to try and inch away now. Would it push him more?

  “Mmm … that’s real damn tempting, Baby Doll,” he groaned close to my ear, and then he rocked his hips just enough to rub it against me.

  My clit throbbed so hard that I wasn’t sure if I could handle any more without crying out. I had to get away now. I pulled away hard this time and scrambled to get out of the bed before he could do anything more.

  A deep, low chuckle came from the bed, and I glared at him. I shouldn’t have though. The covers were down to his waist, and he had his arms crossed behind his head. The muscles popping in his biceps, hair sticking up like he’d just had wild sex, and his hooded eyes that looked like he’d just opened them after a deep sleep—it was an image that made my knees weak.

  “Sorry, Baby Doll. I woke up horny. I’ll behave,” he said, then winked. “I’m gonna go rub this out in the shower. You want to give me a quick flash of those tits to help a guy out?”

  I rolled my eyes and spun around to get away from him. My attraction to him was deep. Yes, he was sexy. Ridiculously so. But all the other emotions went with that. I loved him. He was my best friend. It added up to be this powerful reaction.

  Kye, however, got hard over any boobs. Didn’t matter that they were mine or that it had been my butt he was pressed up against. He’d have gotten hard had it been any other female. His sexual activities and desires weren’t connected to any other emotion.

  Calming my body down, I went to use the bathroom and do my morning necessities before Jagger woke up again. I heard the shower come on in the master bathroom, and for a second, I was tempted to go listen at the door and see if he was jerking off, like he’d said he was going to do. That was creepy, and I clearly needed slapped.