Page 27 of Daddy's Unexpected Gift

“Do you want to stop on the way back, or should I have something delivered?”

I glanced at Georgie. Her lids were heavy. She fought off the nap that was in process of claiming her. A car nap seemed like a good idea. I stretched out on the wide backseat, curling my feet up behind me and resting my head on Sterling’s lap. I was too tired to care about professionalism.

“Have something delivered. I’m going to close my eyes. We’ve got a lot to work on when we get back.”

I think I felt Sterling stroke my hair, but I was asleep in moments, lulled there by the movement of the car. I woke up a few moments before the limo pulled in front of Sterling’s building.

“Rested?” he asked.

I stretched and sat up. Realization of what I had done dawned on me. I groaned. “I am so sorry, that was so unprofessional. I did not mean to use you as a pillow.”

“You’re fine. You can use me as your pillow anytime.”

I felt a blush burn my cheeks.

I didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, the driver stopped the limo, and it was time to unpack Georgie and all of her things and lug it all up to the top floor.

“How was this morning’s excursion?” Wayne greeted us as the elevator doors slid open.

“Tiring,” Sterling said. He stepped out of the elevator and carried the car seat with the sleeping baby toward her room.

“It was a bit more than we expected.” I didn’t have to tell him I lost my cool, and that we didn’t have a properly packed diaper bag. I handed Wayne the stroller frame. I didn’t know where to put it.

“Your lunches have arrived,” he said.

I nodded and followed him to the kitchen. I was starving.

Sterling came in and set down a white monitor on the table before he sat.

“When did you get a baby monitor?” I asked.

Sterling shrugged. “It was on your original shopping list. I purchased everything from that list after your initial visit.”

I nodded. I was still tired, more mentally weary than physically. The brief nap in the car was refreshing, but I felt so stupid for first having yelled at Sterling and then having used him as a pillow. I shouldn’t have done that.

Wayne served lunch and placed our plates in front of us. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

I nodded. “We’re going to need a notepad and a pen, please.”

He handed me a lined notepad and a pen moments later.

“Okay,” I started. “We need to make some lists.”

“You like lists, don’t you?” Sterling teased me.

“They are useful. You were able to shop for Georgie because I left you with lists.”

He smirked, or was that half-grin more of a smolder? Whatever the expression was he gave me, it was gone a split second later when he put a fork full of food in his mouth.

“What were today’s challenges?”

“Don’t you mean what we need to fix?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Challenges don’t necessarily need to be fixed. You need to learn how to approach the problem so that it’s not a problem.”

“The stroller.”

I wrote down what he said, followed by local resources.

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