Page 23 of SEAL's Doorstep Baby
I don’t have any response but laughter. My actions must infuriate her even more because she flips me off. Her action is so unexpected that it pulls even more laughter out of me, which in turn makes her start laughing. Before I know it, we are both laughing uproariously.
“Leave!” She orders, pointing at the door with a tiny but perfectly manicured finger. “You don’t get to laugh at me in my own room.”
I raise my hands, as though to say I mean no harm, a goofy smile plastered on my face. She is smiling just as widely, and when I focus on her face, I notice a red spot on her forehead.
“Hold on, I think you might be a little bit hurt.” I step closer to take a look at her forehead, and even though I say nothing, I can feel the sparks between us.
“Is it okay?” she asks, her voice soft but concerned.
I press my fingers to her forehead. She lifts her hand and presses her fingers to my wrist.
“Yes, all good. It’s just a little bit red, but we can use a bit of ice for that. And you’ll be right as rain. Okay?”
I don’t even realize I’m staring at her until she lifts up her head and my eyes meet her emerald gaze. It takes a good while before I can finally break free of them.
Her eyes could tempt a monk to sin, so I do the wise thing and break contact with them.
“Thanks. I’ll get some ice on it,” she says, flustered as she whirls back around to continue unpacking, and I walk away.
I make it to the kitchen, where Maddie is sleeping peacefully in her car seat, the kind I can easily move around. I lean against the wall, the interaction with Allison replaying in my head again and again.
The way her lips had parted, just a little, when her eyes widened—the way her neck looked, her hair piled on top of her head—the way her skin had felt against mine.
I blink, shaking my head.
What. The. Hell. Was. That?
Chapter ten
ALLISON
“Maddie, stop spitting.”
I watch from the doorway as Jacob handles a tantrum from Maddie with more attention and care than I have seen from most parents.
He is better with her than I am.
“It doesn’t matter if you spit this out a thousand times Maddie, I will continue giving it to you, because A, you need to eat solid food now, and B, you’re going to eat this because tantrums don’t work with me, baby.”
Over and over again he offers her a spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes, but she just keeps on spitting it out, scrunching her face in disgust the whole time. I know for a fact that she doesn’t think it tastes horrible at all. I am impressed by the calmness he exhibits; he doesn’t increase the volume of his voice no matter how much food gets splattered on him, not even for a second.
“Baby, I need you to eat for me, okay?” He coaxes her, and to my great surprise she hangs on to every word he says, staring athim with eyes that seem way too aware for a baby—like she can understand every word he is saying—and I can see the moment she decides to listen to her uncle.
Finally, after almost ten minutes of urging, Maddie opens her mouth and starts eating. Bit by bit, but steadily, she goes through the remaining food on the plate.
“Good girl.” He praises her as she finally finishes up and Maddie responds with a smile so angelic you would never have guessed that she is the reason why Jacob currently looks like a garbage disposal.
He takes a second to wipe his face clean with a towel before he drops a kiss on her nose, making her giggle uncontrollably, and I can’t help but think that Maddie couldn’t have gotten a more perfect guardian.
“You are really good with her, you know?” I say, stepping closer, trying not to interrupt the moment. I'm not surprised when he answers me.
After all, I should’ve known better than to think I could sneak up on a navy SEAL.
“What?” he asks, confusion written on his face. His obliviousness to how wonderful he is with her is one of the more endearing things about having Jacob back in my life.
“You’re really good with calming her and getting her to do stuff she should be doing. It’s almost like you speak a special language just for her.” His relationship with her is a beautiful one, and I want him to know that. “Just watching you with her is enough to make me smile, no matter how many times I see you do it.”
There is no lie or pretense in my voice when I speak, and I know he can hear that.
