Baby in His Arms Read online

  He traced her cheek with one finger, a soft smile gracing his lips. “Hello, Afton.”

  Trembling, she smoothed her hands down the front of her lacy tank top, taking him in fully for the first time. A dark T-shirt hugged his chest and torso, subtly showing off strong lines that promised delicious muscle beneath. Worn jeans fit the long length of his legs and cradled his hips. His eyes were affectionate yet sparked with a devious light.

  She licked her lips, relishing his taste and the tingly aftershocks on her lips. He swept her with a long glance, his expression dropping into something she couldn’t read.

  “You look—” he said.

  “Hey, you! He’s bleeding.”

  Noah glanced over his shoulder. One of Frat Boy’s friends was glaring at Noah like he’d just smashed his friend’s head in instead of causing a small cut on his hand.

  His voice was hard, cold. “Lucky for you, I know a great ER. Six blocks east on Milton, then turn right onto Becker’s Way. Boom. You’re there.”

  Noah turned back to her with a smoking hot grin. “You look beautiful, Afton.”

  She could hardly breathe, but she managed to smile at the compliment. Trying to decide on an outfit had been futile. She’d thought up an issue with everything she’d put on. Jeans too tight. Top too revealing. Too frumpy. Too mom-like. Finally, she’d given up and threw on curvy skinny jeans and a slinky top with a deep V that showed off a thatch of shimmery lace.

  His fingers trailed the ends of her hair, making her glad she’d left it down tonight.

  Noah slid into the seat beside her, leaving a slip of space between them. What was she doing, letting him kiss her? Letting him touch her hair? That kiss should have driven her full of regret, but it hadn’t. It had been familiar, comforting and full of passion.

  She wanted more.

  “I still can’t believe I’ve found you.” His smile showed off perfect teeth.

  Tension stretched between them, and it was either kiss him again or attempt to gloss over it by being light hearted.

  “Is that why you kissed me? To see if I was a figment of your imagination?”

  He ran a thumb over his chin and looked at her lips. “No. I just needed it.” ‘Needed,’ dripped heavy from his lips. He took her hand in his and lightly ran his thumb over the back. Her body both tensed and relaxed with the sensation. Her brain was a mess. It didn’t know what signals to send.

  He slid closer and the ache between her legs skyrocketed. Afton shifted in her seat. It was so wrong to want more. Yet her skin electrified at the possibility that he might brush up against her. Her heart skipped as his head tilted toward her, his voice going low.

  “I’ve never forgotten you. The hot sex; how easy you were to be with. How much fun we had. It’s stuck with me all this time.”

  Oh God, she couldn’t breathe!

  “Afton, that night with you blew me away.”

  Suddenly, nothing was making sense. Her entire world shrunk down into the expanse of this booth.

  “It did?” Her voice was weak, her body on fire. Why didn’t he move closer, fill the sliver of space between them?

  The sound of his quiet breathing was loud in her ears. The thrum of his pulse was palpable as if she could feel the desire beating in his veins on the air between them.

  “Did you think about that night, after you got home? In all these months, did you remember how good I fucked you?”

  Her nipples perked inside her bra, her finger curling to keep from reaching out and touching him.. God yes, and I have your baby to prove it!

  “This isn’t the conversation I thought we’d have. I—I thought we’d just...”

  Afton shook her head and tossed back the shot of whiskey. As if on cue, the waitress appeared with a little notepad in one hand, pen ready in the other.

  “Food or drinks?” She focused on Noah as if Afton wasn’t sitting there.

  “I’m going to need another.” Afton slid the shot glass to the edge of the table and tapped it loudly. “Make it two.”

  The waitress walked away, and Afton clasped her hands in front of her on the table.

  “I’m a new grad. After this, I’m headed for my Masters. Things are tight for me right now and I need this job. I might think about that night—occasionally—but that’s all it can be. One night.”

  “You think I’m going to screw things up for you.”

  “Obviously.”

  “You underestimate my ability to be discrete.”

  The cocky tint to his voice flamed her anger. This wasn’t a game.

  “What exactly are you implying?”

  “That we had amazing chemistry and amazing sex. And if you were open to exploring that more, I’m completely on board.”

  Afton’s shot arrived. She snatched it from the waitress’ hand and downed it before she’d gotten two steps away. Noah’s lips lifted in one corner, the sides of his eyes crinkling with amusement.

  “You’re not talking about a relationship here, are you Noah?”

  His fingers brushed along her forearm with the barest of touch. A shiver raced over her skin, followed by a hot flush that spread over all her limbs.

  “I have a child,” she blurted before he could respond.

  He moved his hand away and sat back, creating more distance when she secretly craved that there be none.

  “I’m aware. I didn’t realize that the first time we met.”

  She shrugged. “We didn’t really dig into the ‘getting to know you’ stage, Noah.”

  His irises darkened, his lips tensing. Oh, I know you, she imagined he was thinking. I know how you love your nipples sucked, and your legs wrapped around my shoulders while I pound your pussy over the side of the bed. I know everything I need to know about you.

  She shifted in her seat again, wishing for a third shot of whiskey. If he kept looking at her like that, like he was going to run those lips over every inch of her, she was going to lose it.

  “I want to, to know you better. But first, I want you to know something about me.”

  He turned, almost completely facing her. His hands moved to her waist, yanked her closer until she was forced to throw her right leg over his left, her pelvis tilted toward him. If she looked down, she’d have an excellent view of his crotch.

  God, what would she see? A glorious, thick bulge pressing against the denim?

  She licked her dry lips. “What’s that?”

  His hands moved along her sides, lightly streaking over her ribs, along her back and down her spine.

  “I’ve raised my son, and I’m enjoying my freedom. Starting over isn’t for me.”

  His fingers thread into her hair and he pulled her in until his breath touched her lips. “I’ve wanted you since the moment I left your hotel room. I never stopped wanting. And I understand you have a child to take care of and I respect that. What I’m interested in involves you and I. Only, you and I.”

  The sincerity in his voice was compelling, but she could only focus on what he’d said first. Starting over wasn’t for him. He didn’t want a baby, to have that responsibility again.

  It hit her.

  There was no reason to tell him, to worry about legal fees and custody issues. He’d be perfectly fine never knowing about Kylie. He’d basically said so himself.

  He wanted sex, a no-commitment booty call when the mood struck, right? Hot, amazing sex like they’d had in Cabo, but on repeat.

  Was it fair to be excited about his desire for her and equally relieved that he had no interest in taking her baby? What a shitty variety of emotions. Neither one was good. Desire would lead her down a dangerous path. And honestly, below her fear and anxiety over it, was a small wish that maybe he would want to know his daughter.

  Christ, from any other man this kind of talk would be smarmy, inappropriate. Sleezy. And maybe it was, but this was Noah, a man whose touch she’d never stopped craving. He was decisive in his decisions, went for what he wanted without preamble. He wanted her. Not a child. Not a f
amily. Just casual sex. He was a good doctor, a caring man. This proposition wasn’t disgusting; it was thrilling. And enticing. She’d be free to raise her baby as she saw fit and get hot round in bed when she felt like it.

  “So, you’re propositioning me then?” She breathed the words. Her throat was too tight to do anything else.

  “Do you want me to?”

  Did she? It didn’t matter. What she wanted was never in the equation. What was best for her daughter was her only concern. She had to get this back on track.

  “You’re seeing someone.”

  “We’re not exclusive. I haven’t slept with her since you showed up in my ER. I don’t want her.”

  “You don’t?”

  “I want you.”

  Damn, that hadn’t worked. Afton gripped the table with one hand and tried to move herself back and untangle her leg from his. “I need to say no.”

  Noah lightly gripped her wrist. Heat spread where he touched her.

  “Need to, or want to?”

  Her body thrummed with sexual tension. It pooled between her legs, demanding and primal.

  “Need to,” she breathed.

  His grip tightened as he pulled her hand to his chest. Palm out, her fingers splayed across the warmth of his body and the pound of his heart.

  “You want me. I won’t let you walk without exploring this thing between us some more.”

  This was the part in the movie when the quirky best friend swooped in to save her from making a huge mistake. This was the part where her phone rang because the baby had a fever, or her house was on fire. Anything to prevent what Afton knew with complete certainty would happen next if she didn’t part ways with Noah Crisler right the hell now.

  “Things are different now.” She hardened her voice. “When I met you, I was rebelling a little, I guess, over the way my life was. I don’t have the luxury over doing whatever the hell I want anymore. Not like you do.”

  Afton curled her fingers to remove herself from the feel of him. It didn’t help as her hand thrummed with his electricity even as she pulled back. His eyes dropped to her lips and the need between her legs flamed.

  He made her feel sexy, confident. Wanted. He made her feel like a young, desirable woman and not a stressed, slightly pudgy, broke young mother. He had the magic to make her forget the obstacles she faced as life moved forward, sweeping her away with it.

  Noah gently retrieved her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles. His kiss lingered, and warmth languished at the contact as if her body, and his desire, had no intention of giving this up. She itched to run her fingers over the stubble on his chin, to cup his face in her hand, but she didn’t. She was nearing the edge of temptation. Any further physical contact and she’d climb him like a tree.

  She needed to protect her heart and her vagina from his charm.

  Noah stood inside the small space between the bench and the table, so close that she had to spread her thighs wide to make room for him as he advanced. She shifted toward him and he moved into the cradle of her legs. Heat from his hard thighs seeped through her jeans. His hands found her hips, the contact sending pulses of need through her. A moan bubbled in her throat and she swallowed it down.

  He leaned low, his breath tickling her ear. “You’re all I can think about.”

  His lips embraced her earlobe. She couldn’t stop another moan. Kneading her hips with his fingers, Noah bit and sucked at her lobe until her inside were worked unto a frenzy. His hands ran along her legs then back to her hips where he gripped her tight.

  “We’d be in trouble if someone found out how fucking hard I am for you right now. Especially if they knew what I want to do about it.”

  “Jesus Christ, Noah.”

  A flash of that night so long ago replayed in her mind; the dark look in his eyes when he held her hands above her head and fucked her so hard her breasts bounced harder than the bed.

  She let out a slow breath. This was so inappropriate, but she couldn’t find the indignation to care. The magnetic pull between them was a force she couldn’t ignore. She could deny it though. Refuse it. And she would.

  “I can’t. There’s too much on the line for me.”

  His throat moved slowly as he swallowed, studying her with eyes that softened without losing their heat. Covering her hands with his, he threaded their fingers lightly together.

  “How about dinner, then? I was serious when I said I’d like to know you.”

  She couldn’t do that, either. Any break from their professional relationship opened the door to explicit, dangerous things that would send her future careening off a cliff. Worse, the more he got to know her, the closer she let him in, the sooner he’d find out about Kylie. Right now, there wasn’t a concrete reason to tell him about his daughter, and she didn’t want to create an opportunity for one to pop up.

  Guilt over keeping the secret was already tapping at her brain, urging her to do the right thing. Right now, that was walking away.

  “I’ve got to go. Babysitter and all that.”

  She dug a ten out of her pocket and set it on the table for her tab. Noah stopped her with a wave of his hand.

  “Thank you, but I pay my own way.” Afton set the money down. “Good night, Dr. Crisler.”

  The sound of her kitten heels clicking on the hardwood floor could have belonged to someone else. She couldn’t really be walking away from the Hottest Sex of Her Life, Round Two. Disappointment wasn’t the right word to describe what she was feeling. It was more the surreal sensation of having lost something, found it again, only to have it snatched away before you could appreciate its reappearance.

  “It’s for the best.” She muttered the words as she hailed down a cab. But even saying them with conviction didn’t make her heart believe it.

  A woman walked by on the sidewalk as Afton opened the rear cab door, looking openly at her. She was tall and lithe; her body clad perfectly in a light blue trench coat. The gloss of her dark hair spoke money. The curious interest in her gaze was punched with a catty glare.

  “Hello,” the woman said as she strode by.

  “Hello.”

  Afton turned to watch the woman walk away, feeling like she’d just been thoroughly weighed and measured. And come up real short. There’d been nothing ominous in the stranger’s tone.

  It didn’t stop a chill from racing directly down her spine.

  Chapter Six

  “You’re fucking Yeager Henningsen’s daughter?”

  Rashida’s voice carried off the hallway walls as she rounded into Noah’s office and firmly shut the door. Her eyes were on a magazine as she clipped in, her nonchalance a precursor to a tantrum waiting to happen.

  Sadly, he’d seen this before.

  Looking up from his paperwork, Noah narrowed his eyes.

  “What did you say?”

  She flipped a page. “Is that why you didn’t bother to return my calls, or show up at your apartment where I’d waited to surprise you last night? I left at eleven, in case you’re wondering.”

  Noah dragged his thoughts away from last night and pretended to focus on Rashida. Truthfully, he’d forgotten about her. He was completely pulled in by Afton. She’d carefully put him in his place last evening, and while he appreciated and respected that, it didn’t kill his desire both to know her, and to get her in bed.

  He sat straighter. “What about Dr. Henningsen’s daughter?”

  She sighed, then snapped the magazine onto his desk. “You’re telling me you didn’t know Afton’s daddy is the biggest asshole of all time over at Regions? Are you really that unobservant?”

  No one had filled him in on that little nugget. Honestly, he’d never made the connection. Sure, same last name, but that wasn’t uncommon. He’d had other things on his mind. His interactions with Yeager Henningsen had been limited to a few emails and short phone calls in which the elder doctor was feeling him out for a possible opening in Region’s emergency room. Noah hadn’t yet met with him for an official meeting,
because frankly, the man’s reputation was terrible.

  “Darling,” Rashida leaned one hip on his desk. “I know we’re not exclusive. But at the very least, if you’re going to fuck other women, try to not get yourself into another situation.”

  “That’s enough, Rashi. I haven’t been with anyone since you, and you damn well know it.”

  They’d agreed to keep their relationship open, so if the urge struck, either of them had the freedom to explore other sexual options. Rashida used her freedom to explore other women, the whole reason he’d agreed to the arrangement. Who was he to squash her needs that he couldn’t fill? On his end, he’d been monogamous. Mostly, because the desire to step outside of their arrangement hadn’t presented itself. As much as he loved women, he’d been disinterested in another meaningless one-nighter, or random sexual stint that went nowhere.

  “I’m just saying that I don’t want to see you involved in another scandal. We still don’t know if this psycho is going to release your name to the world, Noah. Let’s not add to it.”

  He pushed back from his desk and rose.

  He’d never intended for Rashida to find out he was the Dr. Narcissist in Deena G’s social media nightmare, but her proximity in his life had made it hard to hide. In the back of his mind, it was ammunition she could use against him if she was so inclined. He worried about it. Rashi was a sexual beast, but she was selfish and shallow, too. He wouldn’t put it past her to hurt him when the time came.

  “I’m not involved with anyone, Rashi. If I were, I’d tell you.”

  “I came in yesterday to see if you were free for lunch, about the same time you yanked the Henningsen girl into an empty exam room with you.”

  “We were discussing a patient’s care. Nothing more.”

  She lifted her chin and made a face. “Mmmm. Okay.”

  Their eyes locked. His body tightened as if it were subconsciously protecting him from showing any emotion. From outing himself.

  Her face softened, her smile going bright. “So, we’re still on for Bali then? The clock’s ticking, and I’m certainly ready to commit.”

  Commit. God. He struggled with the confines of that word. Even his attachment to Rashida was more than he was comfortable with. He’d been slowly pulling away from her the past few months. She’d noticed but pressed the Bali, anyway. They were good together, she told him. Even if it were just as business partners and not lovers.