anymore,’ she corrected him. ‘I put a sticky note on the board so it’s my shift. You stay with our guests.’ She realised her slip almost immediately, but hoped she hadn’t messed it up. It had felt so natural to call the Burroughses ‘our’ guests rather than ‘your’.
‘I’d love to see the baby,’ Elaine said wistfully. ‘But I guess you can’t bring him down as it’ll put him out of his routine.’
‘You can come up to the nursery with me, if you like,’ she offered impulsively, and Elaine beamed.
‘I’d love to.’
And maybe this would give Dylan and Ted the chance to discuss business, Emmy thought.
Elaine clearly loved having the chance to cuddle a baby. ‘How old is he?’
‘Seven months, now.’
‘You forget how cute they are at this age. He’ll be crawling, next.’
‘And we’ll have baby gates all over the place,’ Emmy said with a smile.
She settled the baby down in his cot again, and put his light show on.
‘It’s very sad about your friends,’ Elaine said, ‘and it must be difficult for you. How are you both coping?’
‘It was pretty tough at first,’ Emmy admitted. ‘Dylan wasn’t a very hands-on godfather when Tyler was really tiny. I guess he was waiting to do all the stuff like kicking a ball round in the park, going to the boating lake, and helping teach him to ride a bike—stuff I wouldn’t do as a godmother, because I’d rather take him swimming or to baby music classes. But we’ve muddled through together for the last three months, and it helps that we take alternate night shifts.’ She blew out a breath. ‘It means we each manage to get one good night’s sleep out of two. I have no idea how my best friend coped the way she did. She always looked fresh as a daisy, even if the baby had been up half a dozen times in the night.’
‘You must miss her,’ Elaine said.
‘I do—and Dylan really misses Pete. They were the nearest we had to a brother and sister.’
‘But Dylan helps you now.’
Emmy nodded. ‘He’s been brilliant. Actually, he’s helped right from the start, even though he’s never had anything to do with babies before and was obviously scared to death that he’d do something wrong and hurt the baby. He’s never just left me to deal with everything; he’s always done his fair share, even if it involves dirty nappies or having stuff dribbled all over him. He’s stubborn and sometimes he comes across as a bit closed off or he says totally the wrong thing, but his heart’s in the right place and he thinks things through properly.’ She smiled. ‘Don’t tell him I said this, but when we do argue he’s usually right.’
Elaine smiled back. ‘He sounds like my Ted.’
Emmy checked the cot once more; satisfied that Tyler had settled again, she ushered Elaine back downstairs to the dining room. She made coffee and brought in the posh chocolate truffles she’d found in the deli, and helped Dylan make small talk until the Burroughses finally left.
Dylan helped her clear up. ‘By the way, do you know the baby listener was still on when you were upstairs with Elaine?’
Emmy looked at him, horrified. ‘You’re kidding!’
He shook his head.
‘How much did you hear?’ she demanded.
‘Let me think.’ He spread his hands. ‘That would be...’ He met her gaze. ‘All of it.’
She closed her eyes briefly. Obviously she’d wrecked everything, because she just hadn’t been able to keep her mouth shut. ‘I’m so sorry, Dylan. Ted must’ve thought...’ She bit her lip.
‘He was laughing.’ Dylan’s eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘Especially at the bit when you said I’m usually right. And I hope you realise I have every intention of using that one against you in the future.’
She knew that was an attempt to stop her worrying, and ignored it. ‘I just hope I haven’t screwed up the deal for you.’
‘I think,’ he said, ‘you showed Ted what he wanted to know. That I’m not just this efficient machine.’
‘Well, you’re that as well.’
Dylan raised an eyebrow. ‘Thank you. If that was meant to be a compliment.’
‘A backhanded one,’ she confirmed.
He smiled at her. ‘That’s what I like about you. You never sugar-coat stuff.’
‘There’s no point. I’ve had it with charm.’
‘Ouch.’ He looked serious. ‘Want to talk about it?’
‘We already have. I told you I had rubbish taste in men. That’s just another example. I fall for the charm every time—hook, line and sinker.’
He reached over and stroked her cheek, and every nerve-end in her skin zinged. ‘Something I should tell you. You’re usually right, too, when we argue. You make me think things through in a different way. And that’s a good thing.’
‘Think outside the regular tetrahedron?’ she asked
‘There’s absolutely nothing regular tetrahedron about you, Emmy.’
‘Thank you. If that was meant to be a compliment,’ she threw back at him.
His eyes crinkled at the corners again. And how ridiculous that it made her heart skip a beat.
‘It was. And thank you for your help. You might just have made the difference.’ He looked at her mouth. ‘Emmy. You were brilliant, tonight.’ His voice deepened, grew huskier. And then he leaned forward and pressed the lightest, sweetest kiss against her lips.
It was anatomically impossible, but he made her feel as if her heart had just turned over. How could she help herself resting her palm against his cheek, feeling the faint prickle of stubble against her fingertips? Especially when his hands slid down her sides, resting lightly against her hips as he drew her closer.
Then she panicked. She couldn’t feel like this about Dylan. She just couldn’t. She took a step back. ‘We...’
‘Yeah. I know. Sorry.’ He raked a hand through his hair. ‘That didn’t happen.’
‘No. It was just adrenaline, because we were both panicking about dinner.’
‘Absolutely,’ he said as she took another step back. ‘I’ll finish up in here. You go and...’ He blew out a breath. ‘Whatever. I’ll see you later.’
She took the hint and made herself scarce. Before she did something really stupid, like kissing him again.
DYLAN
