Chapter Twelve
Vance
This whole situation was fucking with my head. Bad.
I can't describe the punch of emotion at coming into the room to find Magnolia and Rosie, seeing the proud look on Magnolia's face and my baby girl clean and happy. It got to me, the way the neat and efficient woman I knew had dropped everything to take care of my daughter.
And Rosie . . . I can't even begin to process what I felt when I walked into a room and saw her.
I was not ready to have a kid. Kids weren't even on my radar. I didn't know anyone who had kids. I figured eventually, I'd have a kid.
Possibly.
I had no idea how to be a dad, but I was going to figure it out. I had to. All Rosie had was me. And Magnolia.
I set Rosie into her bouncy and started my workout on the suspension system I'd installed on the rooftop deck, letting my mind wander.
I knew I wanted Rosalie. I was already head over heels in love with her. But her timing sucked. I'd planned everything carefully, and Rosie had dropped in the middle like a bomb.
I'd been giving Magnolia time to get over Brayden, planning to make my move. Now that was all fucked up. I couldn't make a move on her now. She'd think it was about Rosie.
I'd roped her into helping me with Rosie out of desperation. I won't lie, I was terrified at the thought of Magnolia going home and leaving me alone with a four-month-old baby.
With Magnolia, I knew I could handle it. Between the two of us, we could do anything. On my own? I didn't even want to contemplate that.
No fucking way.
Magnolia was a soft touch. She wouldn't abandon me. But now that I'd talked her into helping me take care of Rosie, it made my plan to seduce her so much more complicated.
As much as I hated the idea, I was going to have to wait.
I was tired of waiting.
Ever since I'd sobered up, I'd wanted to get my hands all over Magnolia. Wanted to claim her as my own.
That was a big fucking lie.
I'd wanted her since the first moment I'd seen her. Back then, it had been more lechery than anything else. You couldn’t look at Magnolia and not want to fuck her. Pale blue eyes, thick red hair, soft, creamy skin, and fucking curves that blew my mind.
I told her I was forcing her to take up jogging for her health, and yeah, that was part of it, but seriously—her ass in a pair of leggings? I'd fucking run behind that all day.
I'd fallen for her so gradually that I never saw it happening. At first, it had been about her body, though I'd never dared to make a pass after our first interview.
She wouldn't have stood for that shit, and I wasn't willing to risk running her off. That didn't mean I didn't enjoy looking at her.
Her mind was next. I loved the way her brain worked, the way she would analyze proposals, her thought process in line with mine but different enough that she saw opportunities and obstacles I missed.
It got so I didn't like to make any major decisions without her insights. Aiden was right. She was wasted on me, but every time he mentioned trying to hire her away, I threatened to kill him. I wasn't willing to give her up.
I didn't realize I wanted a relationship with her until I was in rehab. I didn't trust it at the time. I was learning how to live life all over again, and when I thought about safety, about comfort, about what I dreamed in the deepest part of my heart, the answer was always Magnolia Henry.
It wasn't the right time back then. I had a lot to prove—to myself, to my family, and to Magnolia. She'd stuck with me through everything, and I needed to show her that I was worth it.
I also needed her to get rid of her dickhead fiancé. I'd been working on that when he dumped her. What an asshole.
But I'd had a plan. I was going to give Magnolia a few weeks to get over the twat, and then I was going to declare my intentions and sweep her off her feet. I'd even planned our first date—the restaurant, the flowers.
Now all that was out the window. We were stuck with a twenty-four-hour chaperone, and I was going to have to be very careful with Magnolia.
I tried to think my way through the problem as I went through my familiar workout, and I came up with nothing. All my usual approaches to seducing a woman didn't work with a four-month-old hanging around, and it was way too soon to think about a babysitter.
I was barely competent to take care of my own daughter. I wasn't in any position to pawn her off on someone else.
I thought briefly about hiring a nanny. Half the kids I'd grown up with had been raised by nannies. We'd had one, too. Not when my parents were still alive, but once we moved in with Aunt Olivia and Uncle Hugh, and Olivia had needed an extra hand.
I might need to find someone, eventually. Not yet. I wanted to get to know my daughter, just the two of us, before bringing a stranger into the mix. Magnolia didn't count.
As far as I was concerned, she was Rosie's family too. She just didn't know it yet.
"Magnolia said you were up here." I heard the familiar voice across the roof and looked up.
Shit.
My cousins, Jacob and Holden.
Dammit.
Holden had been trying to call me the day before, but I'd ignored his calls. I shouldn't have been surprised Jacob had tracked me down after I'd hung up on him the night before, but I hadn't figured out what I was going to say about Rosie.
Looked like I was out of time. I untangled myself from the suspension straps and stood to find Jacob beside Rosie's bouncy, observing her smiling face with a serious expression.
"Is this what I think it is?" he asked.
"Depends what you think it is," I said, stalling for time.
"Is she yours?" Holden asked. "Don't tell me you're babysitting."
"Not exactly," I said. "And yes, she's mine."
Jacob’s silver eyes fixed on me, cold and hard. "Are you sure? You don't want to get taken for a ride—"
"I'm sure," I said, cutting him off. "We rushed the blood test yesterday. This is Rosalie. Rosie. She's my daughter."
"No shit? She's pretty cute, man." Holden crouched down beside the bouncy and offered Rosie his finger in hello. She grabbed it and yanked, pulling it into her mouth to chew. "So, where did she come from?"
"Is her mother coming back?" Jacob asked. I shook my head.
"Her mother's dead," I said, gritting my teeth against the stab in my heart.
Amy was dead. I'd hoped, almost believed, that she was going to make it. Looking at Rosie and knowing Amy was going to miss everything in her daughter's life, and that her daughter would never know her, made it so much worse.
"Shit, I'm sorry," Holden said, looking up at me. "That sucks."
"Yeah, long story," I said.
I didn't want to get into it. I wasn't ready to talk about my history with Amy. Rosie was enough to explain.
"So what are you two doing here?" I asked. "Just being nosy?"
Jacob shrugged and grinned. "Basically. What's Magnolia's role in all this?"
Trust Jacob to ask the tough questions. He never let anything slide by.
"She agreed to help me with Rosie. I have no fucking clue what I'm doing. Neither does Magnolia, but she's a good sport."
"This makes things complicated," Jacob commented.
I knew what he was getting at. He and Aiden had been on my ass forever about Magnolia.
"I've got this, Jacob," I said, lying.
I didn't have it. I had no idea what I was going to do now that Rosie had thrown a wrench into my plans, but the last thing I wanted was Jacob's help.
Then again, he'd managed to get himself a smart, beautiful woman who adored him. Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to reject his input. I thought about it for a second, then threw that idea away.
I didn't need Jacob's help.
I'd figure things out with Magnolia in my own time, in my own way.