Perhaps if I ignore him, he’ll shut up. My eyes remain fixed on the door.
My silence has my brother following my gaze to the door. “She should be here any minute.”
“Put that book away.”
Jake stuffs the books under the cushions. “You’ve got that look. The I-will-burn-you-down-without-blinking look.” He grins. “I love that look. Moreso when it’s not aimed at me.”
“Don’t make me regret asking you to sit in on this,” I warn him.
Rising from his seat, he stretches. “Let’s just wrap this up. I have places to be.”
I check my watch. “And I have an appointment with Mike at eight.”
“You’re getting furniture?” My brother blinks. “For what?”
“I don’t think Natalie likes my taste in decorating. So I’m going to let her redecorate. And there’s the baby’s room.”
“Can I come along?”
“What the hell for?” I stare at him.
“I’m the baby’s uncle. I want to be involved in picking furniture.”
“Go pick furniture for Nick’s kid.”
“His wife hates me.”
“Natalie isn’t your biggest fan either,” I point out.
“Yeah, but I can win her over. Elisha’s just crazy.” He leans against the edge of my desk. “Let me come.”
“No.” My answer is short.
“Heartless bastard.”
I sneer at him. “You want a kid, go knock up one of your hundreds of girlfriends. This one’s mine.”
Jake just sighs. “I just want to be an involved godfather.”
“You’re not the godfather!” I snap.
He just grins. “So says you. I bet I can sweet talk Natalie into it. Want to place a wager?”
I narrow my eyes. “Fine. What do you have in mind?”
“If I win, I get to name the kid.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Fine,” he backtracks. “If I win and become the godfather, I get to be the first one to meet the baby. Even before Mom.”
My eyes tighten around the corners. “Mom’s not going to like this.”
Jake’s grin widens. “Do we have a deal?”
“If you lose,” I bare my teeth in a vicious smile, “you’ll be in charge of diaper duty for a whole year. Every time you are around and the baby needs a change, you’ll be doing it.”
Jake studies me before holding out his hand, a grave expression on his face. “We have ourselves a deal.”
