Page 34 of The Troublemaker
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.
