Page 16 of Dare To Resist (Dare Nation 1)
Which begged another question. What kind of woman left a defenseless, innocent baby outside at night? Alone? His protective instincts rose for this sweet baby.
He ran a hand over his face and lay down on the bed. Little noises reached his ears. He heard every move and sigh the baby made. And if she really was his, the woman who abandoned her could be damn sure she’d never get near the infant again.
Chapter Three
A scream jolted Quinn awake. Heart pounding, she rushed to the baby, instinct driving her because it had been forever since she’d had to jump up in the middle of the night to care for an infant. But her body remembered what to do before her brain even kicked into gear.
She knelt down to pick up the baby, rising and bumping into Austin’s hard body.
“Shit,” he muttered. “Sorry. I was just rushing on autopilot. I’m not used to this.”
“Yeah, well, join the club.” She adjusted the crying infant in her arms and patted her back, shifting from foot to foot in a rocking motion that soothed the baby. Her cries quieted to little sniffles. “Can you get the light?”
He stepped away, and a few seconds later, the room was bathed in brightness.
She blinked into the glare, her eyes adjusting from darkness, and when she focused, she was looking at Austin dressed in boxer briefs and nothing more, the outline of his cock and the obvious bulge in his boxers completely visible. And what a nice-size one it was. Her body reacted immediately, her nipples hardening beneath her light camisole. Dammit.
“For God’s sake, put on some clothes,” she snapped at him.
“Says the woman in a silk top and nothing more,” he drawled in a way-too-sexy voice.
She frowned at him, realizing that while she’d been staring at him, he’d ogled right back. “I have underwear on,” she muttered, grateful the baby covered her chest. “I’ll change Jenny. Then I’ll make a bottle. You stick close, watch, and learn.” He needed to become comfortable and competent with the infant for as long as Jenny stayed with him and, assuming she was his, for the duration.
“Okay.”
After Quinn diapered the baby on the pallet on the floor, giving Austin instructions, feeling his nervous, stiff body behind her, she stood up and held Jenny out to him. “Take her and let’s go downstairs for the bottle.”
He visibly swallowed hard and accepted the bundle.
No sooner had Quinn given him the quiet baby and he pulled her into him than she burst into tears. “She hates me,” he said in a loud voice.
“Relax your body and rub her back to calm her. I keep explaining she’s reacting to your tension.” She met his gaze. “You’ve got this, Austin. I promise. Now come on. She’s hungry.”
She led him to the kitchen and taught him how to make a bottle with the powdered formula that had been left in the diaper bag and heat it up correctly. For a man who had memorized football plays, he ought to have no problem remembering her directions.
“Where do you want to give her the bottle?” she asked.
He blinked in surprise. “I assumed you’d do it.” He grinned. “Please?”
She chuckled and shook her head. “You’ve got to learn, Daddy.”
His eyes opened wide at that comment.
“Come on. We’ll get you set up in the bed. That way you can easily get her back to sleep without jostling her up the stairs.” She didn’t mention how sexy he’d look lying against the pillows with a baby in his arms.
And when he settled in and was giving Jenny her bottle, even her cynical ovaries did a little dance at the sight.
“Have a seat.” He gestured to the other side of the bed.
Wary but willing, she drew a deep breath, walked around the mattress, and settled beside him, lifting her legs so she could relax. It didn’t escape her notice that she was lying in Austin’s bed, in his room, both barely dressed. The baby between them was the only thing that kept her sane and prevented her from crossing that invisible middle line and falling into his arms.
The fact was, they might not admit to or acknowledge the attraction, but she knew it was mutual. As he fed Jenny in silence, her eyes grew heavy. It had been a long day, first work, then drinks with her brother, and then the baby surprise. She’d never done well being woken out of a deep sleep, and she had a difficult time keeping herself awake.
* * *
Austin was aware of Quinn beside him in bed, attuned to every breath she took. So when she started to get sleepy, her head jerking every time she tried to wake herself, he knew it was only a matter of time before she passed out. She needed rest, and he didn’t want to risk waking her to move to her room and maybe have a difficult time falling back to sleep.
