Page 62 of Untamed
Normally, I struggle to fall asleep, listening for any unexpected noise while my brain runs a mile a minute. That's not a problem I've had since Tucker moved me into his house. I'm going to assume it's because no one can find me here, and even if they do, they’ll have to go through Tucker to get to me. Then they’d have to go through me to get to my daughter.
And that's only if no one else on the property discovers something's going on. Because I've got a feeling the number of people who would line up to keep Birdie safe is pretty high. A fact that is exceedingly easy to fall asleep to.
“Mumumumum.”Birdie’s voice warns me she’s awake a second before her little hand slaps me in the face. “Snack.”
I groan, rolling away from her assault. “Why are you up so early?” I don’t know what time it is, but it doesn’t feel like morning.
At least not the part of morning I prefer to get out of bed at. The day my daughter started sleeping past five AM was the best day of my life.
I knew I shouldn’t have put her to bed so early last night, but she was so tired after being entertained by Tucker’s whole family. I really hoped that would also translate into her sleeping until it was time to get up for work.
I snort. Work. All I do is putter around while Tucker works. It’s nice, but now that I’ve cleaned and rearranged his whole office, it’s going to get boring fast.
It’s still better than hanging around here waiting for Deidre to hunt me down.
Yawning, I wiggle my way out from beneath the covers, padding to the bathroom to do my business and brush my teeth.After changing Birdie into a fresh diaper, I quietly open the door of our room. I don’t want to wake Tucker up. There’s no reason for both of us to suffer.
But Tucker’s not sleeping. He’s actually quietly coming out of one of the other rooms.
Like he’s sneaking too.
We both stop and stare at each other, like neither of us knows quite what to do after last night. Just thinking about it has my cheeks flushing. My lady parts join the party with an encouraging throb. Like they can convince me to rub myself against him again.
Sadly, they probably could.
I force on a smile, grateful for the darkness hiding my reaction. “Morning.”
Tucker tips his head in an acknowledging nod. “Morning.” His eyes drift to where Birdie is tucked in my arms, rubbing one fist against her eye. “I can take her downstairs if you want to go back to bed.”
It’s the sort of offer single mother’s dreams are made of. Someone willing to carry a little of the burden, even if it’s just for a short while. But guilt makes me struggle to agree. Tucker is already doing so much for me—for us—asking him to entertain my frequently cranky toddler while I curl back up under the covers seems like a jerk move.
As I’m debating—fighting myself—Tucker comes toward us, each step making my heart rate kick up. As soon as he’s within reach, Birdie leans, putting all her weight into the move. It’s an unexpected shift and I lose my grip, gasping as I flail to catch her before she hits the ground.
But Birdie doesn’t even come close to the floor. Her trajectory was calculated. Fully planned and perfectly executed, landing her directly in Tucker’s ready arms.
I’m not even mad that she’d rather be in his than mine. Afterspending just a little bit of time there, I can definitely see the appeal.
“Are you hungry, Little Bird?” Tucker bounces her in his arm once, signing the word hungry with his free hand.
Birdie agrees, her chubby little fingers rubbing up and down her chest.
Tucker turns to me, lifting his brows in question. “Are you going back to bed?”
It’s so tempting. Even if I just lay there and scroll on my phone for an hour, enjoying no one needing me.
As soon as I move, these opportunities will dry up like the Sahara. The only people who will take care of my daughter are people I pay, and that will be limited to my working hours, so every minute at home will be monopolized. I don’t mind, but knowing that makes it very difficult to turn down his offer.
So even though I do still feel a little bad about it, I nod. “Are you sure it’s okay?”
Tucker grins, giving me a wink. “Of course it’s okay.” He turns to my daughter, smile holding. “We’re best buddies, aren’t we?”
Instead of agreeing, Birdie says one of her favorite words. “Snack.”
“I know, I know.” Tucker moves for the stairs. “My only use is to provide applesauce and scrambled eggs.”
I mean… That’s not his only use. I could think of at least five or six things I’d be happy to use him for. And that’s just off the top of my head.
Not a single one of them involves applesauce or scrambled eggs.
