Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Hadley
With the sun high in the sky and the streets of Chicago littered with people, my decision from last night is tasting like regret, as if I were blackout drunk and I’m still piecing it all together. Did I really come here and ask Easton to marry me?
I stop outside the black iron security gate that has a giant cardboard sign with the words The Dugout written in girly script. It’s overfilled with white pieces of paper with phone numbers and lines. I catch Easton’s name on one, so I peek to read what it says.
Easton—want to prove how fast your hands are? Call me.
He wasn’t kidding when he asked if I knew what I was signing up for.
In all honesty, I didn’t even know who he was when I first met him, so maybe I am being a little naive about his world and what it will mean to me.
Then again, I have no choice. He’s my means to the bookstore.
Whatever comes along with being married to Easton Bailey, I’ll just have to deal with.
I take a picture of the sign and send it to Honor.
Home sweet home.
The three dots appear immediately, and then a text pops up.
Already? I thought you were going to call.
So you could talk me out of it? No way. And… he agreed!!!
Hadley Eleanor Hargrove. CALL ME.
I’ll give you all the details later, but send me some rainbow power.
Absolutely not. No rainbow power for you.
That’s rude.
Ugh… fine… (rainbow and lightning bolt emojis)
You’re the bestest.
Call me… asap!
I put my phone back in my purse and ring the buzzer, thinking it’s not appropriate for me to use the code again.
Easton answers quickly. “Yo?”
“It’s me… Hadley.”
He laughs. “You know the code. Use it.”
But he must click the accept button anyway because the lock clicks open. I look around the area, but the street-level bar Peeper’s Alley isn’t open yet, so there isn’t anyone around.
As the gate closes behind me, I pull my suitcase through and take a moment staring up at the cement steps.
How many times did I walk up these with the goal of having a fun night, and now it feels entirely different?
My heart stutters at the thought of caring for his baby.
This is real life, not just fun anymore.
Maybe if I’m lucky, the little guy turns out not to be his, and this will just turn into an afternoon of babysitting. I’m not sure how Easton feels about Tanner. He looked a little in love with the baby last night, and if Tanner turns out not to be his, Easton might be crushed.
I shake my head and pick up my suitcase.
It’s not my business. Easton and I don’t have a relationship like that.
This is as much as we’ve ever intertwined our lives.
Hell, I’ve never even gone to a game. The only reason I knew Decker was from running into one another by accident one night.
Then Easton started asking me more and more often to meet up with them while they were out.
When I reach the landing, Easton’s door is already propped open.
A flashback hits—one night I showed up to find his door propped open, and I found him shirtless in the kitchen.
It had been a long dry spell for me, so I jumped him, and he ate me out on his counter, then fucked me over the back of the couch.
Tanner’s cry pierces through my thought, reminding me I’m not here to get off, I’m here to watch a baby. And not screw him up in the process.
“It’s okay, your babysitter is here,” I hear Easton say.
I push open the door to find him shirtless again, holding Tanner to his chest as he does something in the kitchen.
Easton’s back is to me, and it’s as chiseled as ever.
It’s odd. Before messing around with Easton, I’d never once had the thought that a man’s back could be hot, but it turns out on Easton, it’s a turn-on.
“Hey,” I announce myself, but he doesn’t turn around.
“Not gonna lie, I was a little worried with the new day you’d change your mind.” He sets a bowl on the counter and settles Tanner in the high chair.
Easton looks as though he’s rocking this dad thing, and my fears of inadequacy stack up inside me. Maybe I should go play shortstop for the Colts instead of being the one responsible for a living, breathing baby. My odds of success are better on the field than in this condo.
“Come closer, he’s not a biter.” Easton laughs and nudges a chair into place, using his foot to push the one on the other side out in offering.
I leave my suitcase by the door and go to sit down.
“Relax. I get it, it’s scary, but honestly, you just have to make him happy.”
I raise my eyebrows. “That easy, huh?”
He laughs, his usual infectious one. Easton Bailey is so damn swoony with his deep laugh and timely jokes. “Well, not easy, but we’ll figure it all out together.”
He has way too much faith in me.
“I just want to remind you that I’ve never cared for a child before.”
He spoons the baby food from the bowl and holds it out to Tanner. His arms and legs are flailing, and he’s so excited that a laugh bubbles out of me.
“I remember.” He puts the spoon in Tanner’s mouth, glancing at me. “Breathe, Hadley. He’s not as breakable as you’re worried he is.”
“His survival is going to be solely on me until you get home. Which is when, by the way?”
He continues to feed Tanner, making the job look easy. Tanner is more than eager to eat, and I’m tempted to ask for the spoon, but it won’t look nearly as smooth if I do it.
“Practice will be done around five or so. But you should know…” He cuts a glance at me, and my stomach drops. “I got the results last night, and there’s a ninety-nine point nine percent chance that he’s mine.”
I smile, although I’m sure it doesn’t reach my eyes. “Congratulations.”
“It’s okay.” He pats my leg. “I know you don’t mean that…”
An entire year helping to raise a baby. This won’t be the first time I didn’t think things through. Then again, I’m asking him for an entire year of marriage. We’re both getting something out of this.
“Tanner, this is your nanny, Hadley.” He holds out his arm to me as if Tanner understands him.
“Are you happy?” I pause for a beat. “That he’s yours?”
He keeps feeding Tanner, and I wait for him to answer me.
He shrugs. “I think so. I mean, I grew attached to him in the week that he’s been here, and there’s something about knowing he’s half me.
I guess I just wish it could be different for him.
I mean, who is his mom and why would she leave him with me?
Doesn’t she know how crazy that is? And in her note, she says I can handle it, but she’s wrong.
I’m mad for him that she would just abandon him. ”
“Maybe she’s just going through something. Or it was too hard for her.” Not sure why I’m making excuses for a woman who would leave her kid with someone the way she did. “I think she must have known you well enough to trust you.”
“Honestly, you’re the only person in this city that I’ve slept with who knows anything real about me.
As horrible as it sounds—and don’t ever tell my mom—I’ve never let anyone else get close.
They were all pretty much one-nighters where I never stayed over and never invited them to stay.
Made it easier not to blur the lines that way. ”
I place my hand over my heart. “I feel so honored. I had sleepover privileges.”
His gaze lands on my suitcase by the door. “Now you have live-in privileges.”
“With strings.” I nod at Tanner.
He ignores my comment. “Where’s the rest of your stuff?”
“That’s all I need. You know I travel light.”
His head tips back and he stands, grabbing a cloth from the counter and wiping Tanner.
Then he grabs a can of something and sprinkles them on the tray.
“He loves these, by the way. And they’re not that bad.
” He holds out the can toward me, but I shake my head.
He puts a few of the puffs in his hand and places the can on the table.
“Your loss.” He pops one into his mouth.
Tanner’s head turns from his dad to me as he places the small puff-looking thing in his mouth. He continues to check on me after he picks up each puff.
“So, we should probably figure out the living arrangements since it’s permanent.” I lean back in the chair.
“What’s to figure out? The guest room is yours now. Do with it what you want. I moved the crib to my room last night.”
“You move fast.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “Don’t ever say that outside these walls.”
“Sorry, did I bruise your ego?”
“Hell no, because it’s not true. And I know you know it’s not true.” He picks up one of the puffs and tosses it at me, winking.
“So we’re really doing this?”
“Do you want me to get on bended knee right now?” He pushes up from the chair.
I scowl at him. “Sit down. No bended knee required, but we can’t be dragging our feet. My timeline doesn’t start until we say I do.”
He drops back onto his chair. “I know. I was thinking we could go to the courthouse and not tell anyone. We don’t have to tell the press about any of this.” He circles a finger in the air. “We can handle it when people figure it out.”
“Easton, you’re the starting shortstop for the Colts. People are going to figure out you have a child and a wife now.”
He lifts one shoulder in a half-shrug. “We can address it when they do.”
I guess that’s a him problem, so I let it go, although I think he’s crazy if he thinks the Diamond Girls who stalk this building won’t notice him with a baby. Or a wife.
“Any rules I should know about?” I ask.
“Nah. You know I’m easy.” He pushes away from the counter and takes the bowl to the sink.
Tanner angles toward me and smiles, the two little nubs of his bottom teeth emerging.
I tap his belly. “You’re a charmer,” I whisper. “Just like your daddy.”
Easton turns from the sink. “I need to get dressed. I’ll leave you two alone for a little bit.”
I want to scream no, just stay here. I need a warm-up day when we’re battling this one together. But I don’t say anything. That’s unfair to him when he’s doing so much for me in this exchange.
I asked for this, so panicking isn’t an option.
“Sure.” My voice cracks, so I’m not sure I give off the air of confidence I was hoping for.
He goes to change, and thankfully Tanner is good with his puffs, so he doesn’t get upset.
When Easton emerges from his bedroom, grabbing his backpack, he walks over to the high chair. “Daddy has to go to work, and Miss Hadley is going to watch you. She’s taking you to a bookstore.” He talks to him the entire time he takes off the tray and unbuckles Tanner.
I have so much to learn, but I’ve fumbled my way through Naples, where motorbikes were buzzing by me, and I survived Burning Man. I can do this too.
He holds Tanner out to me, and I’m still so in my head about how I’m going to keep this kid safe that I don’t realize it right away.
“Sorry, part of the deal is you have to carry him.”
I stand and open my arms. “Yeah. Of course.”
I take Tanner from him, and the baby slips into my arms, his pudgy legs going around my hip as if it’s natural, even if it feels so foreign to me. To him, it’s not.
Easton smooths his hand over Tanner’s head.
“There you go. She’s good people.” He kisses Tanner on the cheek, then gives me a kiss too.
His lips are warm and familiar on my cheek, and some of the tension eases in my shoulders.
“See you at dinner, honey.” He chuckles but sobers quickly, that famous cocky jokester dying.
“Thanks again, Hadley. I put the front office number on a piece of paper on the counter if you can’t get a hold of me on my cell.
I’m just at the stadium today if you need me. ”
I nod, and he laughs.
“I get it. I was the same way after Callie and Penelope left me alone with him the first night. It gets easier.”
How can he be so trusting of me? No one has ever given me so much responsibility and expected me to succeed.
“See you at five or so.” He kisses Tanner one more time and picks up his backpack, giving me one more glance before walking out the door.
Tanner’s arms reach out when Easton is out of view, then his bottom lip quivers as tears well in his eyes.
Shit. I so do not have this.