Chapter Thirteen
Jessica
“Oh dear!”
I could only hope the spit up that didn’t reach the floor hit the burp cloth as I dashed into the kitchen and grabbed a paper towel roll and cleaner, then quickly returned.
I took one look at the back of his shirt and cringed. Pulling paper towels from the roll, I tossed three sheets on the floor and moved them around with my shoe at the same time I tried wiping his shirt.
He turned to face me, chuckling.
“You warned me.”
“Now you have to let me wash your shirt.”
“It’s fine, really. I need to do laundry tonight anyway—I’ve been on the road for two days and have a duffle bag full of dirty clothes.”
I squirted cleaner on the floor and crouched down to finish wiping up the mess.
“Where were you?”
“I live in Massachusetts. Brian and Jade stayed at my cottage on the beach a few weeks ago, and they had to leave Brian’s truck. I’m just returning it and visiting my little brother and Lainey, and Conor, too, of course. My parents are flying in tomorrow to meet Lainey and the baby.”
Okay, that explained a lot. His brother was Lainey’s boyfriend.
A wave of disappointment came over me as I reached for Ruthie to work on cleaning her up, too.
“So, you don’t live here.”
“No. Although the Chief of Police keeps offering me a job.”
I pulled a receiving blanket from the diaper bag and spread it on a couch cushion, then laid my daughter on it so I could change her diaper and bodysuit. A freshly bathed baby was one of my new favorite scents. Fermented baby barf and poop on the other hand…
It only took a few minutes to change her, dress her, and deposit her soiled clothes in a plastic grocery bag I kept in her diaper bag for exactly that reason.
When I stood up and turned around, I almost dropped back onto the couch.
Gorgeous Guy had taken his shirt off, and holy hell would be putting it mildly. I’d only seen abs like that on TV. The smattering of hair across his broad chest was way different than Jon’s bare one. Gorgeous Guy was a grown-ass man, no doubt about it.
And even though tattoos were frowned upon at church, I couldn’t help but think the Marine logo on his biceps sexy.
Forget twins, judging by the condition of my panties, I was probably having triplets now.
And I didn’t even know his name.
That was quickly remedied when Lainey walked in a minute later.
“Whoa, Alan! Where’d your shirt go?”
I sheepishly answered for him. “Ruthie spit up on it.”
She wrinkled her nose then walked to the closet and opened the door. “There are a lot of things I miss about that age, but the barfing after almost every feeding isn’t one of them.”
She pulled something pink off a shelf and tossed it to him.
“Here, put this on before someone sees you half-naked and calls the health department.”
He unfolded it to display a large t-shirt with the Beaumont Bakery logo in bold blue and yellow letters.
“Awesome!” Grinning broadly, he pulled it over his head and tugged it down to his waist, covering his drool-worthy abs.
Such a shame.
Oh my god, Jessica, you harlot!
With his soiled shirt in hand, he asked Lainey, “Do you have any empty bags I can put this in?”
“In the supply closet, next to the bathrooms.”
He disappeared, and Lainey pulled two more t-shirts from the shelf and looked at the labels before telling me, “You don’t have to wear these, but if you want, here’s a couple for you. I’ll just put them in Ruthie’s diaper bag.”
“Thank you so much.”
“It’s almost four-thirty, why don’t you call it a day?”
“You don’t want me to stay until five-thirty?”
She frowned. “No. You’ve done your eight hours.”
“But what about the times I was nursing?”
“You’re not off the clock for that.”
“I’m not?”
“Of course not. You’re technically still working.”
“Um, I think the burnt cinnamon rolls refutes that.”
Lainey gave me a patient smile. “Take the kindness when it’s offered, Jess. Otherwise, the Universe is going to think you don’t want it and won’t offer more.”
Maybe that’s been my problem.
I nodded in understanding and softly said, “Thank you.”
“Alan volunteered to drive you home, but if you’re not comfortable with that, I can take you. Kristy, my BFF and night baker, should be here any minute and can handle things until I get back.”
My heart raced at the idea of being next to Alan in the passenger seat, even if it was for only a few miles.
I should’ve waited to text Mr. Roberts—there was no way I was calling him Kevin, I didn’t care what he said.
“I actually arranged for a ride.”
Lainey cocked her head. “You did? I told you we’d figure something out.”
I glanced down at the floor and mumbled, “I know, but I felt so bad about the cinnamon rolls and your friend’s shirt… I didn’t want to bother you more.”
“Oh, honey. Taking you home is no bother—honest. You didn’t need to inconvenience your mom again.”
“Actually, it’s an elder from church who’s coming to get me. He’s a friend of my parents and was over for dinner last night when I talked to my parents about the job. He volunteered to give me a ride home, so I took him up on it.”
I’d barely gotten the words out when a deep voice said, “Text him and let him know it’s not necessary.”
I glanced over to see Alan standing in the doorway. The t-shirt was a little tight on him, but he could definitely pull off pink.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Positive,” he replied as he came into the office and held out his hands to take Ruthie from me.
I carefully handed her to him, then fished my phone out of my apron pocket. Unlocking the screen, I bit back a groan when I opened my texting app.
“He’s already here.”
****
Alan
Son of a bitch.
I’d really been looking forward to talking more with Jessica on the drive to her house.
“Well, make sure you tell him that you’ve got a ride for the rest of the week. Actually, you know what? Here’s my number in case your mom can’t bring you in the morning. It’ll be no problem to pick you up—I’m sure I’ll be awake with nothing to do.”
Before she could argue, I fired off my digits, then repeated them to make sure she got my number right.
I didn’t glance Lainey’s way, but I could feel her staring at me.
And I didn’t give two shits. She could be mad all she wanted; I wasn’t doing anything wrong.
I finally looked over at Lainey when she said, “I’ll help you to the car,” and picked up the baby’s diaper bag.
Little Ruthie made soft cooing sounds, and it felt like my heart grew three times in size when I looked down at her sweet face.
Reluctantly, I gave her back to Jess, who immediately put her in the car seat sitting by the couch. She made it look so effortless as she carried the car seat out the office door like she was carrying a purse.
A wave of possessiveness fell over me, and I decided to follow them out. I wanted to see exactly who they were getting in the car with.
I grabbed the handle on Ruthie’s car seat from her with a sheepish smile. “Let me help you.”
Not that I didn’t think Jess was capable, but more like I wanted to have a reason for going outside with them.
She released her grip, telling me, “Thanks.”
We stepped onto the sidewalk, and Jessica scanned the parked cars until a honk came from a gold Buick LaCrosse that I estimated to be about ten years old.
“There’s my ride.”