Page 31 of Bedding the Baby Daddy

“Yeah,” Michelle said, climbing up onto the big plush couch in their living room and shoving aside some pillows to make room for Aurora. “But he thinks everything Harry Potter is boring.”

“Excuse me?” Aurora stopped in her tracks and put one hand over her heart. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. He doesn’t like Harry Potter? I didn’t realize the man was a lunatic.”

Michelle laughed and flipped the book open. “Totally.”

* * *

When Dante found Aurora and Michelle, he wasn’t prepared for how affected he’d feel at the sight of his two favorite females together. Aurora had her feet demurely tucked under her, the coral dress straining around her hips and breasts as she leaned over Michelle’s shoulders to get a better look at the pages.

“There it is!” Aurora said pointing at the page. “I knew it was a total tongue twister. Peskipiksi Pesternomi.”

“Pepsi pipsi Pepperoni,” Michelle tried to repeat it and had both of them dissolving into laughter.

“Sounds like something on the menu at a pizzeria.”

The girls swiveled their heads around to look at him and Dante was much obliged to see Aurora's eyes give him a quick scan up and down. He was pretty certain her eyes lingered a bit longer on the dishtowel at his shoulder, but he couldn't be certain.

“Your sister tells me that you’re not a Harry Potter fan.” Aurora lifted an eyebrow at him.

“Oh god.” Dante sagged against the door jamb. “Not you too. I’m surrounded by nerds.”

“Nerdy is the new cool, Coco,” Michelle said, getting up from the couch and strolling toward the kitchen.

He took the dishtowel off his shoulder and whipped it up tight, snapping it out in the air a scant inch from Michelle's waggling behind. Michelle merely cackled with laughter and took off for the kitchen.

Dante took in Aurora’s expression. “You know I’d never actually snap her with this, right?”

“Of course, because of the Von Willebrand’s?”

“You remembered the name of it.”

“Remember it? I Googled the crap out of it when I got home.”

The fact that she’d cared enough to Google Michelle’s condition meant the world to him. In that moment, he wanted to sweep her into his arms and kiss her, but instead he let her walk past him toward the kitchen. She didn't get to see the way he watched her walk away, for once not focusing on the sway of her hips but rather, just the air around her, just the way she moved through his house, toward his little sister who waited, her feet swinging on the stool in the kitchen. She didn't turn, so she didn't get to see it.

But it was there. And it was real. And he felt it.

* * *

After dinner, Michelle wanted to watch a movie and Aurora found herself in the peculiar position of saying yes to the invitation without a single reservation. Dinner had been fun, full of teasing and laughter and so much food all of them groaned and held their bellies and begged for mercy.

And now Aurora sat next to Michelle on the floor, combing through the endless DVD collection that Dante kept hidden in a chest underneath the flat screen.

“Oh, let’s have mercy on him,” Aurora whispered to Michelle when the little girl pulled out her collection of Harry Potter movies. “What about this one?”

She held out Inside Out.

“Sure!” Michelle said, reaching for it. As she did, a necklace fell forward from the neck of her loose t-shirt.

“That’s pretty,” Aurora said, reaching for the chain of the necklace and deftly avoiding the clear crystal that hung on the end.

“Aunt Arlene gave it to me last year, she said it’s a magic stone.”

“Clear quartz isn’t magical, really.”

Michelle’s eyes dimmed but Aurora kept going. “But it is very powerful.”

Michelle’s eyes lit right up again. “Really?”

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