Chapter 11
Delilah lay awake, flat on her back, staring at the ceiling. She wasn”t used to insomnia. She and McKenzie had been here with Ben for a few days now. It was going pretty good, as far as Delilah was concerned. Ben cooked every night and made her breakfast every morning, and she had mostly gotten over her urge to weep with gratitude at every meal. Also, he held McKenzie while Delilah showered. That alone made the man worth his weight in gold.
Despite all this, she felt tension between them. In another life, her pre-baby life, she might have thought that tension was attraction. No denying the man was fine AF. However, attraction couldn”t be it—she was imagining it. He was Chase’s brother, anyway. He was off limits.
If their whole dynamic hadn”t been weighed down by baggage, though, she knew she would be tapping that.
Oh, except one tiny issue—she had a baby and she had put her wild ways behind her.
The baby in question was probably going to wake again soon, and that was why Delilah couldn”t get back to sleep. This had to be some form of torture, waking a person up at random intervals. Thanks to Delilah cutting dairy products out of her diet, though, McKenzie had been fussing less and less. Maybe, just maybe, Delilah would get through this baby year with her sanity intact.
Then it was time for toddlers, ha. From the past couple of days working at Tykes Palace, Delilah knew that caring for toddlers required a whole new set of skills.
She wondered how Ben was handling all of McKenzie’s nighttime crying. He hadn”t said anything, but she thought he had dark circles under his eyes too. Well, she thought ruefully, maybe this was a form of training for him for when he finally decided to settle down with someone and have kids. He would know what to expect.
McKenzie sniffled and turned over in her crib. Delilah sat up, waiting. It had been really nice of Ben to bring the crib over, although Delilah hadn”t really thought it was necessary. All that work to disassemble it and then assemble it again? Putting the crib together in the first place had taken Delilah damn near a whole day. She had thought she would need to go back to school and get her engineering degree or something just to get the job done.
But he’d done it. Here was the crib, upright, as proof. And he’d even remembered to bring an extra set of sheets. The man was thoughtful, she”d give him that.
McKenzie gave a soft cry and Delilah got out of bed. But before she could even reach the crib, McKenzie cried louder. Delilah rushed over and picked her up, but by now her impatient little baby was truly furious.
Delilah lifted her shirt and offered her breast. McKenzie latched on immediately and began drinking like her life depended on it.
Delilah sat on the edge of Chase’s old bed—because by now she had guessed this room used to be Chase’s—and sighed. She glanced at the clock. Only two-thirty in the morning. There was hope for her yet. After she put McKenzie down again, she would get some sleep for sure. And this was Friday, which meant she would get paid.
She grinned down at McKenzie. ”See, little girl? There”s always something to be happy about.”
Delilah heard a door slam. Curious, she stood up, clutching McKenzie to her chest. What was Ben doing awake? She thought she heard footsteps on the deck behind the house, so she looked out the window.
There was Ben, in jeans and nothing else, striding across the deck and down into the back yard. He was shaking his head like he was upset about something.
Delilah had a pretty good guess what he was upset about, and she flicked her gaze down to the baby in her arms.
* * *
Delilah woke early,before McKenzie. That almost never happened, but she had heard Ben in the kitchen, and she wanted to talk to him.
She found him at the kitchen counter. He wore jeans and no shirt, like he had worn when he”d left the house in the middle of the night. Delilah couldn”t resist peeking at the waistband, curious if she”d see the tops of his underwear. Boxers or briefs? She didn”t see anything at all. Was he going commando? The idea gave her a little thrill, but she pushed it away.
”Good morning,” she said.
”Morning.”
”So,” Delilah said, ”I was thinking it”s time McKenzie and I went back to our own house. We’ve overstayed our welcome.”
He turned around finally, and Delilah took in his disheveled appearance. His eyes were rimmed in red. Dark circles stretched beneath them. A dark auburn scruff decorated his jaw, making him look haggard. No, not haggard. Rugged. She liked the scruff.
”I just need a couple more days,” he said.
Delilah had already forgotten what they were talking about, so she thought back and tried to bring herself to attention. No more ogling the man, she told herself.
”A couple more days for what?” she asked.
”I just want to make sure it”s safe for you two.”
Delilah didn”t really understand. ”If you have suspicions or something, maybe you should go to the police with them.”
”That won”t work.”
Delilah folded her arms across her chest. Was it just her imagination, or did his gaze flick down to her boobs before going back up to her face? It didn”t matter—she had to focus right now. ”Look, I get that you’re private security and you have some kind of protection thing going, but I”m getting paid today and I can stay in a hotel, okay?”
He seemed to stand even taller all of a sudden, and he towered over her. Delilah had never really thought of herself as a small person until this moment.
“You”re going to stay here,” he said.
What the fuck?
”Like hell,” Delilah said. Nobody could tell her what to do. She had been pushed this way and that way during her years in the foster system, and she had sworn she would never experience that again once she got out.
McKenzie started crying.
Before he could say another word, Delilah spun on her heel and went back to the bedroom. ”Fuck it, I”m out of here.”
”Wait,” Ben said, trailing behind her toward the bedroom.
”Wait for what? I”m not gonna stay here and be bossed around,” Delilah said. She stood in front of the crib and crossed her arms. McKenzie continued to fuss. Delilah’s entire chest felt tight, but she couldn’t tell if it was because she was mad or sad. Both, she figured. She wanted to throw something at him, but the closest throwable object was McKenzie.
Ben’s voice went soft. ”Here, I”ll hold McKenzie so you can take a shower and get ready for work.”
Delilah turned around and stared at him. He held his hands out like he didn”t mean any harm, and his amber eyes were wide and beseeching. She didn”t want to take anything from him, she didn”t want his help anymore. Not if it came with strings attached. She knew his type. She had met them on the street. Men of all shapes sizes, colors, ages. They would offer a girl help, sure, but they always wanted something in return. Was that what Ben was after?
As if sensing the bottled rage Delilah held, Ben took a step back.
Her anger deflated. She wasn”t that girl anymore, and Ben sure as hell wasn”t one of those men. She knew that, and he”d shown her he was a good guy over and over again in the past five days.
She reached into the crib and gathered McKenzie into her arms, then held her out to Ben. ”I”m gonna take a shower, and then I should pack.”
He started to shake his head, but then seemed to think better of it. He bounced McKenzie in his arms a couple times and she calmed down.
”I”m not here to rule your life. I just want you to be safe,” he said.
Delilah nodded. ”I know we’re a burden, and I hate that.”
”You”re not a burden,” he said. ”Either of you.”
Delilah watched him cradling her daughter in those massive arms. He was so strong, and yet he held her daughter with such care.
”Please don”t pack now,” he said. ”I”d like to invite some people over for dinner tonight, to meet you and McKenzie. Would that be okay with you?”
Her thoughts stuttered to a halt. “Meet some people? Who?”
“I’m not sure yet—I haven’t invited anyone. But I’d like to.”
Delilah tilted her head to the side, looking for clues in his face, but she got nothing. Curious, she said, ”Okay. But this doesn’t mean we’re staying past the weekend. I don’t want to be a—”
“Burden,” he said along with her. Then he reached out with his free hand and touched her cheek. “Trust me, you’re not.”
His touch started out comfortably warm, but after a second, Delilah felt her heart beating faster than ever. Her body was heating up. Their eyes locked and she couldn’t look away. She wanted to step closer. She wanted to see how he could make the rest of her feel. But instead, she broke eye contact and stepped back into the bathroom, out of his reach.
It didn’t matter how hot she made the shower—the feeling of his hand on her cheek burned hotter than anything else.