Love You, Baby Read online

  “It’s gonna be four in a week,” her brother pointed out.

  She glared at him before declaring, “I’m going to sit.”

  “Too bad for her you got the chairs,” Bryce commented as she stalked away.

  “I have my blanket,” she called back over her shoulder.

  Her brother grinned again as they both followed.

  “I’m already on thin ice,” Merit admitted in a low voice. “I’d rather not annoy her.”

  “She’s been moody, I take it?”

  He shrugged, not stupid enough to voice an opinion on that specific subject.

  “She was like this when she was pregnant with Ian. A real pain in the ass.”

  “I did not say that.”

  Bryce chuckled. “Clearly, you’re not living with her.”

  Hell, he’d only barely gotten her to start talking to him. Living together would be pushing it toward warp speed.

  She’s pregnant.

  Okay, yeah, moot point there.

  “So, tell me, Merit, what do you do?”

  He shot Bryce a sideways look to decipher if he was making casual small talk or playing detective. Either way, he wasn’t about to admit that he did nothing. “My degree is in structural engineering.”

  “Oh. So you two met through work?”

  “No. Her best friend married my brother.”

  Bryce shot him a glance, then stopped abruptly. “You’re a Diamond? As in Senator Mark Diamond is your dad?”

  And there it was. In less than a minute, he went from being himself, to being Senator Diamond’s son.

  “Well, that’s definitely a step up from the deadbeat jerkwad.”

  If he only knew.

  It was a little before one when Ian’s third game ended in a loss of five to six. Merit had taken the blanket so Mae’s brother could have the chair, and when he got up to stretch, he noticed her smother a yawn.

  Bryce stood and stuffed the chair into its carrying sleeve. “I’m going to say goodbye to the munchkin and then head out,” he told Mae. “Nice chatting with you, Merit. We’ll see you around.”

  “Likewise,” he agreed with a quick handshake.

  The guy gave his sister another hug, and after he left, Merit swiped the blanket from the ground and started folding.

  Mae shot him a quick sideways glance while packing up her chair. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

  “For what?”

  “The knocked up comment.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he assured her. “Although, should I be prepared for the same from the rest of your family?”

  “Bryce is the worst of ‘em when it comes to stuff like that. My middle brother Zach lives up in Boulder, and my parents moved to Phoenix, Arizona last year. They come back for the holidays mostly, and their specialty is the silent treatment.”

  Sensing a bit of resentment against her parents, he turned it back to her siblings. “So Bryce is the youngest.”

  “Yeah. And a real pain in the ass sometimes.”

  Merit grinned.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  She planted a hand on her hip. “That smile isn’t for nothing.”

  “He said you were a pain in the ass.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I assure you, it’s definitely the other way around. Younger siblings are always—”

  “So much fun,” he finished as Ian stepped up from behind her.

  Mae’s eyes widened, and she mouthed a quick thank you while hugging her son close with one arm. “Nice job out there, Scoob.”

  “We didn’t win.” The kid’s voice was substantially subdued compared to the two previous games.

  “You win some; you lose some, hon. That’s how it goes.”

  Ian shrugged.

  “Did you do your best to win?” Merit asked as a boy with spiky, brown hair and a matching red and white jersey slid to a stop beside Mae and Ian.

  “Yeah.”

  “Then you did great. Come on. Put ‘er here.” He offered both boys a high five, and they smiled while jumping to reach his palms.

  Mae slung her chair over her shoulder. “All right, then, let’s head home.”

  Ian whirled around to face her. “Cory’s going swimming at the water park, and his mom said I could come with. She’s coming over right now. Can I go, Mom? Please?”

  Her gaze shifted from his pleading face to a couple approaching with a baby strapped to the man’s chest. “Hi, guys.” She reached out to grasp the baby’s waving hand, and her voice rose an octave. “Hello, Elliott. Look at you, growing so fast.”

  Merit couldn’t look away from the pure joy on her face as she interacted with the baby. The radiance in her expression was breathtaking.

  “Six months already,” the woman said as she put her hand on Ian’s buddy’s shoulder. “Time’s just flying.”

  “Yeah, I bet,” Mae murmured with a split second glance at Merit.

  His pulse skipped as he realized their baby would be six months old this time next year. Holy shit. He looked closer at the guy holding the baby. One year from now, that would be him.

  Little Elliott’s blue gaze locked on his, and when he smiled at the baby, he received a two-toothed grin in return.

  Wow. Yeah. He really was okay with being in those shoes in a year.

  He lifted his gaze and noticed the dad watching him with curiosity. He offered a smile just as Mae said, “Tom and Dawn, this is Merit. He came to watch Ian play.”

  As hellos were exchanged, he fought a prick of resentment at the generic introduction. He hadn’t expected her to announce they were having a baby together, but she could’ve at least said he was a friend or something.

  Except, they weren’t even friends, were they?

  Not yet. He was going to work on that—among other things.

  Dawn laid a hand on both boys’ shoulders. “I assume these two have already presented the grand plan?”

  “I was told about a water park,” Mae confirmed.

  “Yes. Ian can come with us now, and we figured it would keep them busy when it’s raining later.” The brunette glanced from her, to Merit, and back, her own curiosity on full display. “But I don’t want to mess anything up if you had other plans?”

  Clearly the woman was fishing, but Mae waved off her concern. “Oh, no, we’re good. What time do you need me to pick him up later?”

  “We were going to get a room and spend the night. We’d love to have Ian stay with us, if you’re okay with that?”

  Both boys shouted in excitement and started jumping up and down, begging and pleading for her to say yes. Merit liked the idea so much, he wanted to join them.

  “I’ll need to get him some clothes.”

  “He can borrow some of Cory’s. And we have extra swim trunks, too. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot, but I know Cory would love to have someone other than us adults and his baby brother to play with.”

  Mae tilted her head down toward the boys. “Are you sure you want to go?” she teasingly asked Ian.

  “Yes, I do, I do, I do! Pleeeeease?”

  Merit grinned at his earnestness, as if that question had actually required an answer.

  When she agreed, he practically leapt into her arms. “Thank you, Mom!” A second later, he let her go, and he and Cory took off running.

  “Hey, whoa, get your little butt back here.”

  He skidded to a stop and spun around. “Love you.”

  “I love you, too. But you’re still forgetting something.”

  Merit was surprised when she motioned toward him with her head. Ian grinned and ran back to stop in front of him. “Thanks for coming to watch me play, Merit.”

  “Anytime. Thanks for asking me.”

  After one more high-five and Cory’s parents arranging to drop him off the next day about three p.m., Merit and Mae walked to her truck, just the two of them. He was starting to fantasize about just the two of them back at her house when she waved goodbye to a woman and a couple of young
er girls about Ian’s age getting into a car. The hair on the back of his neck prickled as he and Mae walked past their vehicle.

  “You don’t bring guys to Ian’s games very often, do you?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Never. I’ve only ever brought my brothers. Why?”

  “Because it still feels like I’ve got a hundred eyeballs crawling all over me.”

  She grimaced as she shot a glance back over her shoulder. “I know. Sorry. I didn’t even think of that until we got here this morning and I saw all the women eyeing you like a fresh piece of meat.”

  “Jealous?”

  “Please.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re here with me. They were the ones who were jealous.”

  His pulse skipped at her words, but he tilted his head and lifted his brows. “Am I with you? Because I sure couldn’t tell when you introduced me to Tom and Dawn.”

  Her eyebrows dipped slightly. “Well, what did you want me to say? This is Merit. He got me pregnant, and now we’re having a baby?”

  “Whoa—I got you pregnant?” He flipped around and moved in front of her. She pulled up short as he said, “Uh-uh. It takes two to tango, Mae, and you were right there with me.”

  She drew in a breath as if she was about to argue, and their gazes met and held. Merit’s pulse sped up as the memory of that night washed over him.

  Her cheeks grew rosy as she averted her gaze. “You’re right. I’m sorry that came out wrong. It sounded like I blame you, but I don’t.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Positive,” she insisted. Then she ducked her head and moved past him. “I totally agree that we are both equally responsible.”

  “Good.” He fell into step beside her again. “And you can count on me taking fifty percent of the responsibilities. I told you before, I’m not going anywhere.”

  She glanced at him, but didn’t reply as they reached her truck. He didn’t push it. He was going to go with the strategy of letting his actions speak for themselves. Plus, he didn’t want to piss her off and risk having her send him home the moment they got back to her house. He fully intended to hang out with her for the rest of the afternoon, into the evening, and Lord, God, please, the rest of the night, too.

  In the middle of stowing all their stuff, he saw her reach to smother another yawn. When she moved toward the driver’s side, he suggested, “How about I drive? You’ve been yawning for the past hour.”

  She paused with her hand on the door. “I didn’t sleep the greatest last night.”

  “Well, with Ian off having fun, you can take a nap while I cut the lawn.”

  “You don’t have to cut my lawn, Merit.”

  “I know I don’t have to.” He held out his hand for the keys. “But I’m still going to do it.” He’d figured out how to fix the mower, mowing the grass should be a breeze.

  She opened her mouth as if to argue, then shut it and dropped the keys in his palm.

  “Smart,” he commented as she walked around to the passenger side.

  “Tired,” she countered.

  He laughed and drove her home—thinking about the tango the whole way.

  Chapter 12

  “I can cut my own lawn,” Mae protested as she and Merit faced off in her garage. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, and she was getting a little annoyed. Thunder rumbled in the distance and time was running short.

  “No one said you couldn’t,” he argued. “But surely you have other things you can do while I do it instead? Take that nap.”

  “I’m not napping while you do my work.” She stuck her hands on her hips and tilted her head. “Surely there are other things you could be doing right now?”

  With his sunglasses back on the top of his head, he slowly slid his gaze down her body and back up. “I can tell you about any number of other things I’d rather do right now. Where would you like me to start?”

  At my lips and work your way down.

  The heat that had bloomed in the wake of his visual caress reached her cheeks in a fiery rush. Well, damn it all anyway. How the hell did she combat that?

  Don’t fight it.

  No. Somehow she had to.

  Concede gracefully?

  “Just go cut the damn lawn before it rains.”

  He glanced toward the darkening sky with a grin. “You’re not supposed to say that word.”

  “Ian’s not here, so I can say whatever the hell I damn well please.” She spun around to go back into the house.

  “All righty, then.”

  Laughter tinged his words, and she clenched her jaw as she slammed the door. He was good. Damn good. He won no matter which way she responded. Well, then again, she did, too.

  She wasn’t mad at him for pushing her buttons, more like desperate to ignore the desire threatening to override her good sense button. She’d never had a problem with willpower before, but with Merit being so damn nice and fun and sweet and helpful and sexy, she was beginning to doubt her ability to resist the urges that kept getting stronger whenever he was near.

  Touch him.

  Kiss him.

  Wrap herself around him as he took her to the stars.

  The mower roared to life out in the front of her house. She refused to allow herself to look out the window and instead turned to the remaining laundry piled on her couch.

  As neat, folded stacks of shorts, T-shirts, underwear, and towels grew on the coffee table, she silently conceded it had been nice having Merit along today. After the initial shit with her brother, the three of them had chatted all through the rest of the morning. When Bryce hugged her goodbye, he’d whispered that he liked him. Coming from him, that was huge. And it meant a lot after the initial negative responses her whole family had voiced two nights ago when she told them she was pregnant again but not in a relationship. Again.

  She’d felt like such a screw up when she hung up, so having him show up last night and again this morning had been nice. Beyond nice.

  Mae folded a towel in half, then held it close as she let herself imagine, for just a moment, what it would be like to be a family with a man at her side.

  With a man in her bed.

  Merit, specifically.

  Clearly, his mind wasn’t the only one permanently in the gutter these days. Sitting down on the couch, she leaned back and closed her eyes. And when she managed to stop remembering how good the sex had been those two and a half very long months ago, she thought about a few other things, too.

  Ian would have a dad, the same as the baby. She’d have a partner to help around the house, to share the parenting and other decisions with, and an adult to talk to at the end of a long work day. Even someone to snuggle up to in bed when they were both too tired to do anything more than kiss each other goodnight sounded nice.

  The four of them would eat dinner together at the table, and watch movies on the couch, and have family game night. And when the kids were asleep, and she and Merit weren’t too tired, they’d do their best to be quiet as they made love—though he had proved to be exceptional at making her scream.

  Her cheeks warmed at that specific memory. She closed her eyes, and a second later, the full reality of Ian being gone until tomorrow afternoon sent a tidal wave of heat crashing through her. They wouldn’t have to be quiet. They’d have all night. And she wouldn’t have to make him sneak out before dawn.

  She got to her feet and went to peer out the patio doors as the low roar of the lawnmower moved from the front to the back. After a long, lustful minute of watching his ass as he walked back and forth across the lawn, she wanted nothing more than to call him inside and strip off his clothes.

  Instead, she returned to the couch to scoop up her phone as she perched her butt on the edge of the cushions and brought up her best friend’s number. After thumbing the little green phone circle, she held the phone to her ear and bounced her knee while chewing on her nail. Someone needed to talk some sense into her.

  Honor answered on the third ring. “Hey, Mae, I have—” />
  “Tell me it’s a bad idea,” she interrupted.

  “What’s a bad idea?”

  “Just say it.”

  “Nope.” Rustling sounded in the background. “Gotta tell me first.”

  “Merit’s here cutting my grass.”

  She heard a strangled noise and then muted coughing.

  “Um...is that some sort of analogy?”

  “What? No!” Mae exclaimed even as she laughed and sagged back against the couch. “He’s literally here mowing the lawn right now.”

  “Merit knows how to work a lawnmower?”

  That skeptical question came across in Asher’s voice. Mae stiffened in alarm. “Am I on speaker?”

  “I tried to tell you but you didn’t give me a chance.”

  Great. “Am I off now?”

  “Yes. And I moved into the house.” The sound of a patio door sliding closed came over the line, and then Honor said, “So, Merit’s mowing your lawn. What’s the problem with that?”

  “Ian’s on an overnight.”

  “And?”

  She leaned her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. “I want him.”

  “Like you want a puppy that’s so darn cute but you know you can’t have him?” her best friend teased.

  “Like I want to strip him naked and have my way with him.”

  Her declaration was met with dead silence.

  “See? It is a bad idea.”

  “I didn’t say that. However, hearing you say you want to strip him naked, I realize you were right. It is weird being that he and Asher are brothers.”

  Mae sighed. “He came to Ian’s soccer tournament this morning. Bryce was there.” Honor knew her brother could have an attitude sometimes, younger than her or not.

  “How’d that go?”

  “Surprisingly well. I mean, Bryce was an ass at first, but at the end, he told me he liked him. And I like him, too. He keeps saying he’s going to be here for me. For us. He’s even insisting on coming to my doctor appointment on Tuesday.”

  “Are you okay with that?”

  A smile surprised her. “Yeah.”

  “Then that’s good. He’s stepping up.”

  “Seems that way.” She scrunched her eyes tight a second. Be optimistic, not skeptical. “And he’s really good with Ian. I told Ian about the baby last night, and he didn’t take it well, but then Merit came over and I overheard them talking, and oh my God, it was so sweet listening to the two of them. It was crazy, but he already sounded like a dad.”