I darted back out to the living room, but before I could utter a word, Deacon held his index finger to his mouth.
“She just fell asleep,” he whispered.
Somehow, I was still concerned. “Are you sure she’s breathing?”
“I’m positive. I can feel it and hear it.” He swayed from side to side. “I’m afraid to stop this motion, because that’s how I got her to sleep.”
As I watched him rock her back and forth, my ovaries felt like they were about to explode. This man was sexy when he wasn’t holding a baby. Now? Off the charts.
“I don’t get why I couldn’t get her to sleep, and then you hold her for five minutes…”
“Can’t say I understand it, either.” Looking down at her, he said, “I gotta be honest, though. I kinda wanted to run for the hills when you first asked me to take her. But she made it easy.” Deacon shrugged. “Not bad for my first time holding a baby, huh?”
My mouth fell agape. “Ever? You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.” He laughed.
“That figures.”
She looked so comfy in his big arms. No wonder she’d fallen asleep. It must have been like lying in a warm, king-size bed compared to the usual fold-out cot with uncomfortable springs.
“I think you’ll be okay if you stop rocking. Normally, once she’s asleep, she stays asleep.”
His voice was low. “Should I put her down?”
I’d enjoyed watching him hold her too much to suggest that myself.
“Let’s try putting her in the crib, yeah.”
Deacon followed me to Sunny’s room. He carefully placed her on the mattress, and at first it seemed he’d been successful.
We tiptoed out of the room, seemingly in the clear until we heard rustling.
Shit!
And there was the crying again.
“Damn it,” he groaned. “I thought I was careful.”
“You were. Not your fault. She somehow sensed it. The same thing’s happened to me before. She must be super sensitive tonight because she’s sick.”
I went in to get her, but once again, she wouldn’t stop crying. It was just as it had been before.
“Should I try rocking her again?” he asked.
“I can’t make you do that. This is not your—”
“It’s no problem, Carys. Honestly.”
Deacon held out his hands, and I placed her in his arms again. He walked back out into the living room and this time sat down on the edge of couch, still rocking.
Slowly but surely, over the next several minutes, her crying slowed until it was non-existent. Sunny fell asleep again in her king-size bed.
I shook my head in amazement. “She definitely likes being in your arms.”
He smiled down at her. “Anything you want to do, go do it. Because I don’t think I’m getting up anytime soon.”
“You can’t just sit there with her all night.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s late. Don’t you have to sleep yourself?”
“Sleep is overrated. Plus, don’t forget I work from home, so I can sleep in tomorrow if I need to and catch up on work later.”
After sweating from nerves all night, I needed a shower badly. I normally bathed each night before bed, but with Sunny being upset, I hadn’t been able to. Would it be terrible if I took him up on his offer? I hated feeling like a charity case, but if he wasn’t going anywhere for a bit, why not take advantage?
“I’m just gonna take a quick shower, if that’s okay?”
“Take your time. Don’t rush. I’ll be here.”
Despite his words, I couldn’t relax in the shower. So I washed my hair and rubbed the soap over my body swiftly. I did, however, take the time to properly brush through my wet hair after, and I dabbed a bit of concealer under my eyes to get rid of the dark circles. I wanted to look good in front of Deacon, even if that was difficult to admit, and even if nothing would come of it. There was an extremely attractive man in my apartment, and if I had the opportunity not to look my worst, I was going to take it. It wasn’t like I’d been planning for him to come over tonight.
Before I ventured back out into the living room, I peeked out my bedroom door so I could properly enjoy the sight of Deacon holding Sunny without him noticing the look of swoon on my face.
CHAPTER 3
Deacon
DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT
I was pretty sure my balls had fallen asleep. Or if not fully asleep, they were definitely numb from lack of movement. Not wanting this baby to wake up again, I hadn’t moved an inch the entire time Carys was in the shower.
How did I get myself into this situation?
Oh yeah. I’d felt bad for Carys and wanted to show my concern. I never thought I’d actually be able to help. Because shit, what the hell did I know about babies? Absolutely nothing. And I’d always thought it was better that things stayed that way. Such a huge responsibility. The last thing I expected was to be comfortable holding her, or that she’d actually want me to. Apparently this little one liked me for some reason.
When Carys came back out, I nearly did a doubletake. Her long, straight, strawberry-blond hair was down and towel-dried. I’d never seen her hair down before. She typically had it tied up, which was also nice because she had a beautiful neck. She wore a short nightgown that clung to her petite frame. Carys was attractive in a graceful way. It had come as no surprise that she’d been a ballet dancer, though normally she didn’t show off her body. And why should she? Taking care of her daughter was her priority. It wasn’t like she needed to impress anyone.
But damn. It felt kind of wrong to be checking her out under the circumstances. From the moment I met her, I’d thought she was hot. But the fact that she’s someone’s mother automatically made her off limits.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Perfect.” I whispered. “Aside from the fact that my ass has that pins-and-needles feeling from not moving. But I’m afraid if I hand her to you, she’ll wake up.”
She laughed. “You’re a saint, Deacon. Feel free to pass her off to me any time, even if she does wake up. You have no responsibility to stay.”
Maybe not, but I didn’t want Sunny to start crying again. At least one of us—Sunny—was getting sleep in the current situation.
Carys sat across from me on the couch.
She looked down at her baby. “I still can’t get over the fact that you hadn’t even held a baby before, and you nailed it on your first try.”
“Eh. She makes it too easy for me. Unfair advantage.”
Carys smiled. It was nice to see that she’d relaxed a bit. She’d seemed really tense earlier tonight when I’d helped her up the stairs, and that was before any of this crying stuff happened. Come to think of it, Carys seemed wound up most of the time. Not that I blamed her. She had her plate full.
She really did have a pretty smile. And I really needed to stop noticing that. This girl might as well have had a sign on her face that read: Don’t even think about it. I wouldn’t be dating anyone who had a kid; children were not in the cards for me. It would be bad enough to inevitably fuck up a relationship with someone who lived next door, but to have a child involved who might be hurt when you left? No, thank you. No matter how damn cute—or intriguing—Carys was, I wouldn’t be going there.