Chapter 2
“You heard us coming?” Pixie asked, already horrified by the idea that he might have heard her singing.
With a shake of his head, he said, “I tested the doorbell last night. It’s loud.”
He’d tested the doorbell?
“I didn’t want it to wake Shayna—she’s down for a nap—so I was watching for you.”
Andy shouted, “Fend, fend, fend.”
“Friend,” she interpreted for Brogan. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought my son.”
“Of course not.” He pushed the door open, bent, and lifted the stroller through the doorway as if it, with Andy inside, was no more cumbersome than a basket. “Come on in.” As he spoke, he crouched down to smile at Andy. “Hello, friend.”
Andy reached for him, but he was buckled in.
Brogan offered one finger to Andy’s little hand, and asked, “Okay if I get him out?”
“Um … sure.” She tucked her hair behind her ears, a little incredulous that this big, buff stranger would be so welcoming to her son. Andy sure liked him, though, and Pixie wondered if it was Brogan’s composure. He was used to that calm assuredness from Cort and maybe felt the similarity.
“You can close the door,” he said as he deftly opened the straps and then put his hands on Andy’s middle. “Okay to lift you out, big guy?”
“Out.” Andy leaned forward and fisted his hands in the shoulders of Brogan’s shirt.
Smiling, Brogan stood with her son in his arms. Andy grinned and said, “Fend.”
Okay, settle down, heart.
It didn’t, of course. Nope, it just thundered even harder. It was one thing to see Brogan as an attractive male specimen.
It was another to see Andy smiling at him, accepting him as if he’d known him forever.
“He knows a lot of words for his age,” Brogan remarked.
“He really does. I think it’s because he has so many adults talking to him all the time. He gets a lot of attention.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” Brogan did the guy thing of lifting Andy high—and since he was so tall, it was really high—until Andy laughed; then he lowered him again and, still holding him, asked Pixie, “Want to sit in the kitchen? That is, if those spindly little chairs will hold me.”
“They hold Cort, so you’ll be fine.” Still a little dazed by her new awareness of him, Pixie trailed Brogan to the kitchen. “Oh, you have Shayna in here, too.”
The baby, dressed in a T-shirt, diaper, and little fuzzy socks, was in her basket. She looked cozy with her face smooshed to the side, a light cotton blanket clutched in one fist.
“I always keep her close,” Brogan said. “Shouldn’t I?”
“I guess … I mean … Why do you?”
“I wasn’t sure I’d hear her if she was in the bedroom.”
The smile snuck up on her. “Babies have a way of being heard.”
A small, worried frown pinched his thick brows together. “Thing is, I don’t want her to cry.”
Yup, there went her heart again. Pounding hard, and then possibly melting.
It didn’t even help that Brogan wasn’t looking at her. His attention went back and forth between the children, and he noticed right off that Andy was staring fixedly at this other small person, his big blue eyes unblinking.
“That’s a baby, bud. A younger baby, so I bet she looks itty-bitty to you. Want to see?”
Andy hugged Brogan’s neck, but kept his gaze on Shayna.
“Andy?” Pixie said. “We have to be quiet, okay?”
Andy replied, “Shh,” making Brogan grin again.
“You’re an engaging little dude, you really are.” He walked closer to Shayna, but once he knelt down, Andy turned and shyly hid against him. “No problem, my little friend. I get it. Infants can be intimidating, right?” He stood again and stepped away, all but ignoring Pixie.
Andy immediately peered over his shoulder, whispering with quiet awe, “Baby.”
“That’s right. You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” As if he suddenly remembered Pixie, he turned to her. “Hey, sorry.”
She knew she probably had the oddest expression on her face, but she couldn’t seem to get it together. She continued to stare at Brogan and her son, and suddenly she wanted to cry. Or laugh. It was a toss-up which emotion might win.
His brows pinched again. “You okay?”
Pixie cleared her throat. “Yes, just taking it in.” What did that even mean? “You’re a natural.”
The right side of his mouth kicked up. “A natural what?”
She drew a blank. “I mean … with kids.”
“That’d be one hell of a compliment, for sure. I’m trying.”
Her eyes widened. “FYI, Andy repeats everything.”
Lifting a brow in confusion, he said, “Yeah?”
“You said h-e-l-l.”
This time, he laughed outright. “Sorry.”
“Shh,” Andy said.
That made Brogan laugh again. “It’s okay. My little Sugar is a sleeping champion. I got lucky there, right?” He glanced at the clock. “She should wake up soon. Until then, we could have an earthquake, and she might sleep through it.”
“She must be a very secure little girl.”
His humor faded until he looked solemn. “I hope so.” Gesturing at a seat, he asked, “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Thank you. Anything is fine.”
“Coke? Water?”
“Coke would be good.” Pixie took the chair and set the diaper bag on the floor beside her. “Andy, do you want your drink?”
He moved so quickly, Brogan had to juggle him, but he got him to the floor safely. “Give a man a warning, bud, why don’t you?”
“Sorry, I should have told you that he moves like lightning.”
“It’s all good.”
Once Andy had his special spill-proof cup, he moved closer to Shayna and squatted down for a look. Pixie started to tell him not to touch the baby, but Brogan waved her off.
“He’s curious. It’s okay.”
She nodded, then said, “Easy, Andy. Be very gentle.” She explained to Brogan, “He understands to be careful with kittens and puppies, and occasionally Cort lets him pet a fish.”
Brogan grinned as he got out two colas.
“He hasn’t been around any babies, though.”
Unconcerned, he asked, “Do you want a glass and ice?”
“Out of the can is fine by me.”
He rinsed hers under the tap, dried it with a paper towel, and popped it open before setting it on the table before her.
His, he just opened and took a big drink.
“Are you going to sit?” she asked. She was getting a crick in her neck from looking up at him.
After eyeing the chair dubiously, he eased into the seat, waited, and when it didn’t collapse under him, relaxed.
Just then, Shayna stirred and made a sound. It startled Andy so much, he fell on his bottom, scampered back with a cry, and dropped his cup. In a panic, he crawled to Pixie. She hurriedly left her seat to scoop him up.
Calmly, Brogan got to his feet and retrieved the fallen cup. “She spooked you, didn’t she, bud? I used to react almost the same way.” He knelt down by the baby and gently smoothed his hand over her. “See? She’s okay.”
Andy wasn’t convinced. He squeezed Pixie, stared at the baby, and then squeezed her again.
“Come closer,” Brogan said to her. “Let him know it’s okay.”
Andy was loosening up a little, so she took a step forward. “You want to see?” she asked him.
He tucked his face into her neck.
“Let’s give him a minute.” Pixie patted his back.
Standing again, Brogan walked over to them. “You okay, bud?”
To her surprise, Andy twisted away from her and reached for Brogan. That hurt, especially when Brogan just naturally gathered the little boy into his arms.
“Holding you is a lot different, my man. You’re a sturdy little guy, aren’t you? Almost as big as your mama, but then she’s a little thing, too.” He turned so Andy could see the baby. “Look. She’s moving again. I think her nap is coming to an end.”
From the safety of Brogan’s arms, Andy watched in clear fascination as Shayna stretched out her arms and legs, scrunched up her face, and then blinked open her eyes.
“Baby girl,” Brogan crooned softly, going to her with Andy in his arms. “Did you sleep well?”
She yawned, blinked a few times, and smiled.
“Yeah, there’s my girl.” He knelt down, and Andy didn’t seem to mind at all, now that he was secure in the big man’s arms. “You want to touch her, bud? Here, look at this tiny foot. Amazing, right?” He lifted her little foot, bared by a sock that had fallen off, and pressed a kiss to it.
Andy grinned, leaned forward, and loudly kissed the air.
Then he offered his own foot to Brogan.
Laughing, Brogan kissed the top of his sneaker.
Once again, Pixie felt invisible, but she didn’t mind.
Watching the three of them was something of a revelation.
She was seeing a new side of her son, one she hadn’t experienced before.
Plus, she was seeing men in a whole new way.
Jerks, she was used to. Friendly men from the town, sure.
Cort with all his protectiveness, she’d grown accustomed to and now appreciated.
But this, with Brogan. What did she even call it?
Admiration? Intrigue? Interest? It was unlike anything she’d felt before, which she supposed made sense.
Before, when she’d been drawn to men, she’d been simply herself, insecure and shy Pixie Nolan.
A girl without aspirations, intent only on getting by, day to day.
In many ways, lost. And obviously easy prey to a smooth liar and manipulator.
It was why she’d so easily fallen under Dylan’s charm. It shamed her to remember the gullible, needy girl she used to be.
Now she was Pixie the mother, a best friend, member of a close community, and respected businesswoman.
She was a woman who paid her own way and planned for her and her son’s future.
She had her priorities in a tidy row, starting with her son and branching out from there. Now she had reason to be proud.
Her world was entirely different, so she reasoned that her reactions and perspectives would be different, too.
Brogan glanced up at her. “I guess this party is taking place on the floor. Care to join us?”
Absurdly thrilled to be included at last, she left her seat and joined them. Andy pointed and said, “Baby.”