of the baby was awkward. His hand slid close to Kaitlyn’s breast. If she could have thought of it as merely a clinical move, it wouldn’t have bothered her at all. But everything about this situation seemed personal.
It’s not personal, she chastised herself.
Adam slid his arm around the baby. But when he brought Erica close, his shoulder rubbed Kaitlyn’s. At that point, their gazes met.
The room developed a certain buzz, but then Kaitlyn hadn’t had any breakfast this morning. A half cup of dark, rich coffee, with lots of caffeine streaming through her veins would be enough to make her feel a little unnerved.
After the baby successfully found Adam’s arms again, he brought her up to his face and cooed to her. None of this was contrived. Adam must have figured out Erica liked that last night.
“So you want me to warm the bottle?” Kaitlyn asked, feeling disconcerted. How could a bachelor who serial dated be good at holding a baby? “She seems pretty satisfied right now.”
“You don’t mind?”
“I did come to help,” she said with a wink, knowing this was the kind of help he’d expected.
A few minutes later, Kaitlyn returned with the bottle. “If she doesn’t take the formula, we might have to change it.”
“I have to go to the store,” he admitted. “She needs a lot of things, and a crib’s one of them.”
“Let’s get her basic needs settled first, then we can take care of that.”
Kaitlyn saw his brows go up when she said “we,” but she meant The Mommy Club—the community of parents who wanted to help “we,” the all-inclusive “we.” Not a her-and-Adam “we.” The idea of her and Adam together in any way gave her goose bumps.
“I’m going to have to get a rocker,” he decided. “I think she’d like that while she’s eating or falling asleep.”
While Erica sucked on the bottle, Kaitlyn said, “You were going to tell me about when you met Tina.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Then he revealed, “I was fourteen and she was three. My dad was a widower. He met this waitress where he often had breakfast and they ended up getting married. She was a lot younger than my mom.”
“And that made you uncomfortable?”
“It made me realize Dad was going to put all of his attention toward his second family—his young wife and a three-year-old who was as cute as a button.”
“So how did you feel about her?” Resentment would have been natural.
But Adam gave her a wry smile. “Tina had these big gray eyes and straight blond hair. When she looked up at you, your heart just melted. I felt like a big brother instantly, very protective. Especially protective when my dad and Jade divorced. Tina was only eight and didn’t understand anything that was happening. She’d come to me and cry and cry and cry. That year I’d graduated and I was off to college. I kept in touch with Tina, though. We emailed regularly. She came to visit me now and then with her mom. She had a really tough time again two years ago while Jade battled ovarian cancer. So Tina’s been through a lot.”
“It sounds as if you were there to help.”
“When I wasn’t there physically, I still tried to support her. There were lots of nights we instant messaged when her mom was dying. Fortunately then I was in a part of Alaska that wasn’t too remote.”
“Do you think all of that’s caught up with Tina?”
“Possibly. She has a good heart, Kaitlyn. But she’s twenty-two...and still young. From what she’s told me, Erica’s father has left for parts unknown. She’s feeling overwhelmed. I’ve got to find her, bring her back here and get her help.”
“Have you thought about the possibility that she won’t be coming back?”
“No.” His firm denial said he’d make sure she came back, one way or another.
“Adam.” She had to put this as gently as possible. “If your sister doesn’t want to be a mother, you can’t force her to be.”
His determination was evident in his expression. “I can’t force her to be, but I can set things up to make it easier for her to be a mother. Apparently, I haven’t done enough, and I intend to remedy that. But right now I have a baby to take care of.”
He took the bottle from the baby’s mouth and raised her to his shoulder to burp her, but she didn’t burp. She spit up and started crying.
If Adam thought he could learn to be a substitute dad in twenty-four hours or even a few days, he was sadly mistaken.
A half hour later, Kaitlyn walked beside Adam through the department store. She’d offered to come along because even the best parents sometimes had difficulty juggling a baby and shopping. However, whenever she got within a foot of him, chemistry seemed to snap, crackle and pop between them.
Just like that night at Raintree Winery.
Jase and Adam had been talking. She’d been on her way to speak to Jase’s wife, Sara, when Jase had called to her and introduced Adam.
When she’d lifted her gaze to Adam’s—
Something had happened that had made the air buzz between them. Maybe that buzz had drowned out her good sense. Or maybe since her divorce had just become final, she’d had something to prove—that she was still attractive and desirable.
They’d talked for a half hour while they tasted one Raintree wine after another. Yes, she had to admit she’d flirted with him. What breathing woman wouldn’t have? He was Mr. Tall, Dark and So-o-o Sexy.
The event had become more crowded and they found it hard to hear each other, so they’d wandered down the hall and settled in an office with a long burgundy leather couch. Adam had closed the door so they’d have privacy...to talk.
They had talked. Mostly about sites Adam had seen in his travels as an environmental geologist...how she’d been homeschooled before it had become more common because she’d been academically ahead of all her peers, gone to college at sixteen and fought her way through med school because she was younger than everyone else. But her determination and dedication paid off. And then—
Adam had said, “I never expected to meet a woman like you tonight.”
In her professional life, she was confident. But her divorce had shaken her personal confidence in so many ways. And to hear that from Adam’s deep voice—
“You’re beautiful, sexy and dedicated to what you do.”
Her ex-husband had considered that dedication a flaw, especially at the end of their marriage. “Thank you,” she’d murmured, never taking her gaze from his.
That’s when he’d kissed her, and she’d responded as if her life had depended on it.
The
