But when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her more fully against him, her legs failed her completely and she sagged against him.
Thankfully Sunnie chose that moment to spit out her pacifier and wail at the top of her little lungs, effectively bringing Abby out of the spell Brad had put her under. Leaning back, she quickly looked around to see if anyone had been watching them. She was relieved to find that the hall was empty.
“I … need to … get my coat,” she said, feeling as if the oxygen had been sucked from the room. “Sheila and I have… some shopping to do for the party…. at the women’s shelter.”
“Yeah, I should get Sunnie home for a bottle and a nap.” To her extreme displeasure, Brad didn’t act as if he had been affected one darned bit by the kiss.
He stuck his hand out and without thinking, Abby reached out to shake it. The moment their palms touched, a warm tingling sensation streaked up her arm. She quickly drew back.
“May the best man—”
“Or woman,” she automatically corrected him.
Shaking his head, he gave her that knowing grin of his—the one that never failed to make her want to bop him. “I suppose it won’t hurt for you to hang on to that little dream until it’s announced that I’ve won.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Price. I most certainly will,” she said, with renewed determination. “I can’t wait to see the look on your face when I win.”
“We’ll see about that, Langley.” He picked up the baby carrier and diaper bag, then turned toward the exit. “If I were you I wouldn’t start polishing your gavel just yet.”
“I could say the same thing about you and your presidential gavel,” she shot back.
His deep laughter as he walked down the hall and out of sight sent a wave of anger coursing through her. What on earth had gotten into her? Why had she let him kiss her? And why was she standing there like a complete ninny, watching him leave?
Unable to understand her atypical behavior, Abby started toward the coatroom. She wished she had the answers to why she’d acted so out of character, but at the moment nothing came to mind—other than she might have temporarily lost her mind.
Shaking her head, she pulled on her coat and walked to her car. She wasn’t certain who she was more angry with, him for being so blasted arrogant or herself for letting him get away with it.
But one thing was crystal clear. Nothing like that was going to happen again. Aside from the fact that she wasn’t interested in being kissed by any man, she was far more comfortable dealing with Bradford Price her lifelong opponent than she would ever be with Brad Price—arguably the best kisser in southwest Texas.
Two
“Zeke, is Sheila at home?” Brad asked, as soon as his best friend answered the phone.
“Hey man, how are things going?” Zeke Travers asked cheerfully.
Brad tried to rub away the tension building at the back of his neck. “At the moment, not good.”
“I can tell.” Zeke laughed. “It sounds like Sunnie is throwing one grand and glorious fit. Where’s Juanita?”
“Out of town and—”
“Uh-oh, you’re on your own with the baby,” Zeke finished for him.
“Yeah and she won’t stop crying,” Brad said, wondering how something as small as a baby could make so much noise. He was pretty sure her wailing had the dogs barking in downtown Royal. “I was hoping Sheila might have an idea of what could be wrong with her.”
“Sorry, man. Sheila went with Abby Langley to do some shopping for the Christmas party they’re throwing next week for the kids at the women’s shelter over in Somerset.” His friend paused. “Do you think Sunnie might be hungry? When Sheila took care of her, I noticed that Sunnie was pretty short on patience when she wanted a bottle.”
“It hasn’t been that long since I fed her, and everything was fine up until about ten minutes ago,” Brad said miserably. “That’s when she started crying, and she won’t stop.”
“Maybe she needs her diaper changed,” Zeke suggested, sounding as mystified as Brad felt.
“I just put a new one on her.” Brad walked over to the baby swing, where his niece sat screaming at the top of her lungs. “I’ve tried rocking her, holding her to my shoulder and walking the floor with her. Nothing seems to help. She normally likes her swing, but that isn’t cutting it with her this evening, either.”
“Man, I don’t know what to tell you.” Zeke paused. “Hang on a minute. Abby’s car just pulled into the driveway. Let me fill Sheila in on what’s going on and then have her call you back.”
“Thanks, Zeke. I owe you one,” Brad said, ending the call. He tossed the phone on the couch and picked up Sunnie to pace the floor with her again.
He hated having to bother Zeke and Sheila. They were newlyweds, and he was pretty sure they had more pleasurable things to do in the evenings than give him advice on how to care for a baby. But he was at his wit’s end and man enough to admit that he needed help.
“It’s okay, baby girl,” he crooned as he patted her back and walked from one room to another. “We’ll get through this.”
If anything Sunnie’s screaming got louder and made him feel like a complete failure for the first time in his life. He had thought he was doing the right thing when he made the decision to adopt his late brother Michael’s daughter. But if today was any indication of his parenting skills, he might have been wrong. Although he had gotten the hang of diapering and feeding Sunnie, it appeared he was a complete washout at knowing what was wrong and how to calm her.
What was taking Zeke and Sheila so long to return his call? he wondered, checking his watch. It had been a good ten minutes since Zeke assured him that Sheila would call him back.
With Sunnie wailing in his ear like a banshee gone berserk, it took a moment for Brad to realize that someone was ringing the doorbell. “Thank God,” he muttered, as he rushed over to open the door. He fully expected to see Zeke and Sheila Travers standing on the other side. “I really appreciate—”
Instead of Sheila, Abigail Langley stood on the front porch with her hand raised to ring the doorbell again. Great. The last thing he needed was her witnessing yet another of his inadequacies in child care.
“I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here,” she said, as she hurried into the foyer. “But Sheila became ill while we were out shopping and asked me to stop by to check on you and Sunnie.”
Apparently he hadn’t been very good at hiding his displeasure at seeing her again. But Abby’s help was better than no help at all, he quickly decided when the baby’s screaming reached a crescendo. Explaining everything he’d tried to get Sunnie to stop crying, Brad shook his head. “Nothing works. She’ll start to wind down and look like she’s going to nod off, then she’ll open her eyes and start screaming again. If she keeps this up much longer, I’m afraid she’ll hurt herself.”
Quickly removing her coat, Abby handed it and her
