“She wasn’t after your money,” Winter snaps.
“What, then? Should I have dropped down on one knee and proposed? I hardly even knew her.”
“You could have called to ask if she was okay. Did you even care if she was pregnant or not?”
“Hell yeah, I cared. And I did call—she wouldn’t answer.”
Winter’s look of surprise quickly turns into one of doubt.
“No, you didn’t.” She shakes her head and folds her arms. “Mallory would have told me.”
“Why would I lie about it?”
She shrugs. “To make yourself sound like less of an asshole.”
I exhale deeply, frustrated with how stubborn she seems to be.
“I’m sorry, Winter. I really am. About Mallory, and about what you’ve been through. If you’ll take it, I’d like to give you a check to help make up for your lost wages.”
Her eyes flash bright with anger. “You can’t buy your way out of the guilt, Harry. You should have been there, and you weren’t.”
“I’m not trying to buy my way out of anything. Avery’s my daughter, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for her.”
“Raising her,” Winter says, barely getting the words out as tears well in her eyes. “I’ve been raising her, and now you’re taking her away from me. Money won’t make anything better.”
It’s not her words, but her anguished expression, that guts me. Winter’s just standing up for her best friend, who I don’t think told her the whole truth about what went down. To her, I’m the bad guy. And I’ve taken away the baby she grew to love.
“Listen,” I say softly. “I’m wiped out from only getting a couple hours of sleep last night. Stay again tonight if you want.”
She looks away, thinking it over, but in the end, she simply nods.
“I think I’m in over my head,” I say. “I may need to hire a nanny for Avery.”
Winter turns to me, her expression bitter. “You took her from me so you can hire some stuffy bitch to take care of her and call yourself Superdad?”
Jesus. This woman is the most stereotypical redhead I’ve ever met. She’s strong, fearless, and she’s pissed off by my very existence.
“I just found out last week that I have a kid,” I say, forcing myself to stay calm. “Can you cut me just a little slack?”
She narrows her eyes. “Avery should be raised by someone who loves her, not someone who’s being paid to take care of her.”
I arch my brows and I’m about to fire back when Avery’s little cheek flops against mine. It’s warm and soft, and whether she meant to do it or not, it feels like she’s offering me her form of affection. I brush a kiss across her tiny forehead, no longer focused on being upset.
“Are you saying you’re that person?” I ask Winter. “Even though you’re homeless?”
“I’m not homeless yet.”
“How long do you have to move out?”
Her shoulders sink with defeat. “Two days.”
I give her a knowing look. “So I’m the big, bad wolf, but I’m the guy with the money to take care of Avery. And I’m her father.”
“Listen, Harry. You will never win me over to your side. Never. I’d rather…roll around naked on top of broken glass than be friends with you.”
Skeptically, I ask, “Really?”
“Really.”
I can think of much better places for her to roll around naked, but I don’t say anything. If Winter knows I find her attractive, she’s just dramatic enough to cut all her hair off or something.
“Have you eaten?” I ask her.
“No, I’ve been here with Avery all day.” She says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“Well, there’s food in the kitchen.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not eating your food.”
“Jesus Christ. Let me guess, you’d rather starve to death?” I ask lightly.
“Pretty much.” She sniffs and looks away.
“I’ll order some takeout. You like Chinese?” I ask as I pass Avery to her.
“I’m not eating dinner with you.”
Shrugging, I say, “Suit yourself. I’ll order enough for both of us and you can just stare at yours all smug and hungry-like.”
“I’m only staying for Avery.”
Winter unwraps her from the blanket and Avery’s limbs flail all over once they’re free.
“I’m only asking you to stay for Avery.”
“I think it’s so you can sleep tonight.”
I look up from my phone, which I’m scrolling through take-out places on. “I’ll get up with her tonight. Now that I know about the magic Binky, I’m all set.”
Winter rolls her eyes. “It’s not always the Binky. Sometimes she has gas, or she’s hungry. You need to spend lots of time with her if you want to be able to tell the difference between her cries.”
“I’m going to. I plan to be a hands-on dad.”
“Really? By hiring a nanny?”
“I have to go to work, Winter. I can’t be with her every minute of the day.”
“Well—”
She’s interrupted by an explosive sound from Avery’s bottom. My sweet daughter gurgles with satisfaction after dropping a gas bomb in her pants.
“The fuck?” I meet Winter’s gaze. “That was a massive fart for such a little baby.”
“Oh, it wasn’t a fart.” Winter’s eyes dance with glee as she holds Avery out to me. “Here’s your chance to be a hands-on dad.”
I stand back and look at her sagging diaper. “Oh, shit.”
“So much shit,” Winter says. “This is at least a ten-wipe job. You might even have to give her another bath.”
“Oh no.” I hold up the phone. “I’m ordering dinner, though.”
“Harry, you are changing her diaper.”
“Hello?” I say into the phone I haven’t even dialed a number on yet. “Sure, I can hold.”
I give Winter a helpless look and say, “They’ve got me on hold.”
“You lying sack of shit.” She shakes her head with disgust.
“Fine.” I put my phone in my pants pocket and take Avery, holding her away from my body. “Wait, why are her pants brown?”
“Looks like a blowout.”
I cringe. “Where am I supposed to put her?”
Winter looks around. “Didn’t you order a gold-plated changing table or two?”
“I don’t even know what that is.”
“Go lay her on your bed.”
Shaking my head, I say, “Hell no. I’m not putting someone who shit their pants on my bed.”
“She’s your daughter.”
“Shit is shit, Winter.”
“I’ll get a towel to put on your bed then. Will that work?”
“Get three towels. They’re in the closet in my bathroom.”
I catch a whiff of the shitty diaper on my way back to the bedroom and practically gag. It smells toxic. Avery is giving me a wide-eyed what’s-the-rush look, oblivious to the stench.