Page 28 of Madam Temptress
“I can show them.”
The deep voice comes from the hallway, and we all turn to see Mount ... the ruthless king of New Orleans ... carrying his princess, dressed in all pink.
“Rory’s awake! How’s my baby girl?” Keira rushes toward them, her arms outstretched for her daughter.
Rory, however, has other plans. She buries her face in her father’s neck, and there’s an audible whimper.
“Someone didn’t sleep during her nap, and now she’s angry at the world. If she had the nuclear codes, she just might use them,” Mount says, uncharacteristically teasing his wife.
“Aw, baby girl,” Keira says, patting her on the back. “And now she only wants her daddy, isn’t that right?”
How the man can manage to look so forbidding while carrying a cranky almost-toddler, I have no idea, but he manages it. Oddly, it suits him very well.
“Of course. Because no other man will ever be good enough for her. Isn’t that right, princess?” Mount says in what is most definitely the friendliest voice I’ve ever heard him use. There’s no question the man loves his daughter something fierce.
Rory makes a grunting sound against his neck, and I can’t help but smile. She’s the most precious thing I’ve ever seen. This little girl will know nothing but love because Mount won’t let anything touch her.Ever. And that’s exactly how it should be.
Thoughts of what might have happened to Desiree try to intrude again, but I block them out.
It’s not going to help anything right now,I tell myself.
Keira says something to Mount and Aurora that I can’t hear, but his reply carries farther.
“She can stay with me. We’ll show these gentlemen to their rooms, and then see if she wants to take another shot at a nap. Maybe read a book or two. I guess I’ll have to do the voices.”
The baby snuggles into her daddy, and I have to wonder if she knows she’s got him wrapped around her tiny little finger.
Keira presses a kiss to the back of her baby girl’s head, and Mount leads Trey and Jules down the hall. Trey turns around to look at me and Moses, and his eyes look like they’re going to bug out of his head. Keira laughs when she sees his expression and leads us back into the suite.
“People don’t know what to think about Lachlan and our little princess. I swear, I had no idea how quickly and easily that girl would be able to bring her father and his gruff personality to heel. She’ll be spoiled rotten by the time she’s two at this rate.”
“That’s what baby girls are supposed to do to their daddies. Hopefully, you’ll have a houseful,” Moses says with a soft smile. “I pray to the Lord above every day that I’ll get to know the exact same feeling.”
He snags my hand and squeezes it, and I freeze.
Wait. Is he saying what I think he’s saying?
Keira’s grin is so wide, it’s in danger of splitting her face clean in half. “You want children, Moses?”
Without hesitation, he nods. “Yes, ma’am.”
When he glances down at me, I stare at his face in shock.
“You really do want kids?” I ask him in a cautious tone.
“I’d love three, but I’d settle for one. I guess it’s really up to you, mama.”
Something I keep hidden deep inside me comes to life as soon as he says those words. “Maybe just start with one and go from there.”
Moses’s smile beams so full of joy—the complete opposite of how he looked only an hour ago when he came into the house after returning from Desiree’s. I wish I could burn this new image into my brain to replace all the ugliness of today.
“It sounds like you two are on the same page then,” Keira says quietly, backing out of the room, no doubt to give us space so we can discuss the topic further. There’s no question in my mind Keira would love it if I started popping out babies tomorrow so she and I could raise them together.
“Here come your bags,” she says as she reaches the hallway. “I’ll let you two get settled. Your guys will just be down the hall to the right. If you hit zero and ask to be transferred to their room, the operator will be able to assist you. If you’re up for dinner, it’ll be very low key, at seven.”
Moses releases my hand, and I walk toward my friend. “Thank you, beautiful. We appreciate all you’re doing for us.”
She smiles. “It’s my pleasure. I’m not letting anything happen to you, Mags. Not if it’s in my power.” Her arms come out, and she wraps me in a tight embrace. As she does, she whispers in my ear. “And that man ... well, you’re going to have to tell me all about him later when we get some time alone. I gotta hear everything about the guy who wants to give youthreebabies.”
