Chapter 8
Ben looked at the baby in his arms. She stared back with eyes just as blue-green as Chase’s had been. She smelled sweet and fresh, sort of like her mother in that respect, but Delilah also held the scent of a woman.
This wouldn”t be so hard. The little thing was kind of cuddly, actually. Besides, he was a grown-ass man. It was seriously fucked up to be afraid of a baby.
He grinned down at the infant in his arms and listened to Delilah walking back down the hall. The bedroom door closed behind her.
The baby started crying. Shit.
”Oh no, I”m sorry,” Delilah called from inside the bedroom. ”I”ll just be two minutes, okay?”
The baby screamed louder. Ben looked down into its little face, its eyes scrunched up, its toothless mouth wide open. Then he looked around wildly. Two minutes with this screaming version of hell was two minutes too long. What could he do? How could he get it to stop? This thing needed a damn off switch.
He heard the shower water turn on. Delilah was in the bathroom, probably stripping out of her clothes as fast as possible. He pulled a mental curtain over that thought. No time for it now. Balancing the baby in one arm, he grabbed his phone from the coffee table and started searching. How to make a baby stop crying.
A list of tips popped up on his screen. Make a loud shushing sound. Rock the baby. Wrap the baby tightly in a blanket so it felt secure. He looked around, but there were no blankets. He stood up and rocked the baby back and forth, saying shhh as loud as he could.
The baby screamed louder. Maybe there was something wrong with it. He scrolled down past the tips and found the “Ask Dr. Bridges” symptom checker. Crying baby? it read. Following that was a list of symptoms too horrifying for Ben to contemplate.
The baby”s screams were so loud he thought his ears would split open. Damn shifter hearing. This kid was a shifter, too—wouldn”t this hurt her just as bad as it hurt him?
The shower water was still running and Ben was ready to kick the door down and demand that woman take this baby back. But the sight of her uncertain eyes when she had asked him for a favor made him pause.
He needed help. This was all Viviana”s fault—she was the one who had said the baby and the mom should move in with him. So she should be the one helping him now. He pulled up her number and called her.
”Ben?” she said. He could barely hear her over McKenzie’s screaming.
“Yeah.”
“What”s going on? Is somebody hurt?”
”I”m watching the baby and she won”t stop crying. Get over here now.” Remembering that he was speaking to the soon-to-be alpha, he added, ”Please.”
”I”ll be right there.”
Luckily, Viviana only lived five minutes away.
Not knowing what else to do, he continued rocking the baby back and forth. It had absolutely no effect, but at least he was doing something. He looked at the tiny red face, wondering where all the noise could possibly be coming from. Maybe it was like a whistle. Tiny, but capable of producing deafening shrill sounds.
After what felt like an eternity, Viviana walked into his house without knocking. “Hand her over,” she said.
Ben passed her the baby gratefully. ”I don”t know what to do,” he said over the screaming.
Viviana promptly spun around and walked out of the house.
Kidnapping. He liked it. He doubted Delilah would be thrilled with this option, but this was looking better and better to him.
”Get your ass out here, Ben,” Viviana said.
As he stepped out, the baby”s screams were already quieting.
He looked at the baby cradled over Viviana”s shoulder, to Viviana”s face.
”What the hell?” he said.
”Step one, get the baby outdoors if you can, out of mama”s hearing. The mom is probably stressed, and a shifter baby will pick that up right quick.”
Ben just stared at her.
Viviana continued, ”Besides, she’s like us. I bet she likes being outside more than anything else. Look at her.”
Viviana turned around halfway so Ben could see the baby”s face. Sure enough, McKenzie was looking around, her eyes locked on the tree line.
”I guess you”re right,” Ben said.
He cleared his throat. He hadn”t been alone around Viviana in a long time. In fact, he wasn”t sure, but he thought their last one-on-one conversation had involved a physical fight after he’d taunted her about being “the princess of the Corona Pride.” He’d been a dick.
”Viviana, I”m sorry,” he said.
”It”s no problem,” she said. ”Hudson and I are talking about trying for a little one, so I can use the practice. Besides, I”m happy to meet your niece. Other than you, I”m the first one to meet her.”
”Um, that”s not it.” Shit, this was uncomfortable. He wasn”t sure how to say it, so he came right out and said it. ”I was a dick to you when we were together. It wasn”t right, and I”m sorry.”
Viviana looked up, surprised. ”You”re still hanging onto that?” she asked. ”That was a long time ago, Ben.”
He shrugged. ”I never apologized. Felt like I needed to.”
She stepped over and put her hand on his shoulder. ”Those were different times. I accept your apology, but really, it wasn”t necessary.”
It was necessary, Ben thought. And he was glad she had accepted it.
”You want to try holding her again?” Viviana asked.
”Nope.” Ben took a step back.
Viviana laughed. ”Come here, I”m handing her over whether you”re ready or not.”
Ben held in his growl so he wouldn”t scare the baby, then took McKenzie from Viviana”s arms.
”Look at those eyes,” Viviana muttered. ”Just like Chase’s.”
Ben nodded, but he found he couldn”t speak.
”Well, the reason I could get here so fast was I was on my way out,” Viviana said. “So I should probably get going.”
”Wait, don”t go.” Ben didn”t even try to hide the desperation in his voice.
”Aw, you’re fine. Just walk her around for a little bit. Look how glassy her eyes went. She”s exhausted.”
”It”s probably all the screaming that tired her out,” Ben said. Tiny little spitfire.
Viviana said goodbye, then got into her car and drove away. Not knowing what else to do, Ben paced back and forth in front of his house. The baby felt soft and pliant in his arms, but he was afraid to move her in case she had fallen asleep. When he passed the front window, he checked the reflection. McKenzie”s eyes were closed.
Suddenly, he realized that Delilah wasn’t out yet. At least twenty minutes had passed. Was she okay?
He went into the house and knocked carefully on Delilah’s bedroom door. Afraid to raise his voice much louder than a whisper, he said, ”Delilah? Are you all right?”
The shower water was off. He listened at the door and heard deep, rhythmic breathing. She was alive, that was a good sign. Had she fallen asleep somehow? He knocked again, but there was no response, and the deep breathing continued. Sighing, he eased open the bedroom door.
Delilah lay flat on her back. It looked like she had sat down after getting dressed and collapsed on the bed, then immediately fallen asleep.
He couldn”t take his eyes off her. She wore a black tank top that showcased her extensive tattoos and a pair of athletic shorts. A small heart tattoo had been inked above her ankle.
Her blond hair was damp and he wondered if she needed a blow dryer or something. Neither he nor his brothers owned such a thing, and he found himself thinking about picking one up for her at the store.
He backed out of the bedroom quickly. What the fuck was wrong with him? This lady was staying for one night. Two nights, tops. Buying her a hairdryer?
He kept his grip firm on the sleeping baby on his shoulder and wandered back through the house and out to the porch. While there, he resumed his pacing. Back and forth, back and forth. He was afraid to be still for too long. Didn”t want the tiny monster to wake up.
He had been pacing for maybe twenty minutes more before he heard Delilah”s footsteps rushing through the house. She burst out the front door, her eyes wild.
”I”m so sorry,” she said. ”I don”t know what came over me, I just sat down, and then bam. I wasn’t trying to take a nap, I swear.”
”No problem,” Ben said.
Delilah came over to look closer at McKenzie. She smelled like sweet vanilla. ”Wow, is she asleep?”
Ben nodded, feeling proud in spite of himself.
”Amazing. You”ve got the magic touch.” Delilah stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
Ben blinked. His brain felt fuzzy all of a sudden. He didn”t know what it meant, but he didn”t like it.
The baby started squirming against his shoulder, waking up.
”Here, I”ll take her,” Delilah said. ”Thank you so much for the shower, and for the nap. I must”ve really needed it.”
”No problem,” he said again.
The baby was bobbing her head against Delilah”s tank top.
”I should probably feed her,” Delilah said.
Ben looked at the sky. The sun was dipping lower. ”I should make us some dinner,” he said. ”Any requests?”
”Oh,” she said in surprise. ”No, no requests. Although I’m trying to avoid dairy. Someone at my old job said it might help with McKenzie”s fussiness.”
Ben had never heard of such a thing, but he figured if he had a baby as loud as McKenzie, he would try anything to make it stop crying.
”I”ll see what I can whip up,” he said.
He walked inside to the kitchen. Delilah had looked completely different after a shower and a nap. She still looked a little on the malnourished side, but the shower and some sleep seemed to have changed her face somehow. She looked...radiant. There was no other word for it. That woman was like a ray of light, shining down into his empty, dark house.
He found some things to make tacos and he left the cheese on the side. Delilah came in and they ate, Delilah holding the baby in one arm and managing her tacos with the other. Delilah talked a bit about the new job she was about to start and Ben listened mostly, not adding much to the conversation. He was still gobsmacked at the change in her. She had been attractive before, but now she made it hard for him to breathe. And that smile.
After dinner, Delilah disappeared with the baby. His sensitive ears picked up a couple minutes of fussing in the bedroom, then the baby was quiet, and Delilah came back out.
She was still wearing that black tank top and the running shorts. He wondered if she liked to run for exercise, or if the shorts were just the most comfortable thing she had. If he and Delilah were actually friends, he would have asked her. But he had no claim on the details of her life. He was plenty curious, but he had no claim.
”So what do you do?” Delilah asked.
Apparently she had no qualms about asking for personal details.
”Private security,” Ben said.
”Is it a family business?” she asked.
Of course, Chase would have given her the same answer. Chase had been a Guardian for the Corona Pride, too.
”In a way,” Ben said, hoping she would drop it.
She seemed to pick up on his reluctance to talk about it, and she pointed to the TV. ”You want to watch something?”
”Sure.” He tossed her the remote, surprised at himself. Being master of the remote was something he and his brothers used to fight to the death over.
She picked a baking reality show, which didn”t bother Ben too much. He liked working in the kitchen, and he wasn”t so invested in the show that he couldn”t sneak glances at Delilah every few minutes. Make that every few seconds. She looked so pretty, and calm, and happy. He didn”t understand it. Here was this woman whose house had just been broken into, and who had just discovered that the father of her child died. All in one day. And yet she sat here looking alternately delighted with every success on the show, and indignant when things didn”t go right for the participants. Underneath it all, there was a peace about her that Ben couldn”t understand. It drew his inner mountain lion to her—the beast inside of him wanted to curl up around this woman and rumble a contented purr.
Ben mentally flicked his own ears.
Once the show was over, Delilah said goodnight.
”And thanks,” she added. ”Thanks for taking us in tonight. The shower alone, man.” She grinned. ”I”m too embarrassed to tell you how long it’s been since I actually had a shower.”
”Glad I could help,” he said quietly as she walked away. He forced his gaze back to the television screen rather than letting his eyes linger on her ass like they really wanted to do.
* * *
Ben didn”t knowwhy it took him forever to fall asleep. But once he finally did, the baby”s shrill cries woke him up immediately. The cycle continued three more times that night.
Regardless of whatever interest his inner mountain lion had for Delilah, Ben hoped the woman took her baby and left soon. Things were easier around here without them.