Page 26 of Bedding the Baby Daddy

“Ten going on thirty. I swear, she’s smarter than I am.”

Aurora soaked in the little smile on his face as he talked about his sister and felt, for a moment, like she was staring into the sun. She felt like there were two Dante Callaghans. The one who had hit on her relentlessly for years and the one who lovingly grinned into his food when he was talking about the little sister he was raising. A headache started to form behind her left eye.

“So how come you never bring her around? You’ve had her for four years and the only time I’ve ever met her was two years ago at that picnic?”

“She hates doing work related stuff. Every once in a while I’ll bring her into my office and she’ll entertain herself for an hour. And after that I pretty much wish I’d never been born.” He grinned again.

Aurora felt as if her stomach had turned into a fist. A giant, clenching fist.

“But the picnic was outdoors and there were going to be other kids there, so she wanted to go. Plus,” he raked a hand over his stubble for a second, a look coming into his eyes that she’d never seen before. “I was what you’d call a nervous new parent. I was so scared when I first took her in. We barely knew each other, and her mom had just died. I just wanted her to be comfortable and happy. So we spent a lot of time one-on-one. And I guess I just got used to it that way.”

Aurora filed the information away for later. She felt like she could barely breathe, let alone comprehend what he was saying right now. She thought back to the little girl from the office picnic. Rat’s nest hair, a Little League softball t-shirt. She’d been sweet. She’d asked Aurora to take her to the restroom because Dante wasn’t allowed in. Another memory trickled through. “She got hurt at that picnic. Banged her knee or something?”

Dante’s eyes darkened again. “We left early for the hospital.”

“The hospital for a banged knee?”

Dante pushed his empty plate away from him and reached for his water. “She has a blood disorder called Von Willebrand’s. It’s similar to hemophilia, for all intents and purposes. And any time she gets a bruise, she risks internal hemorrhaging.”

“Wow. Oh my god, Dante. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s manageable with regular health care, but we have to take stuff like that really seriously.”

“Wow,” she repeated again. Aurora lowered her chin to her hand, pressing her eyes closed against the pain that was growing in her head. This was all so much. Almost too much. Definitely too much.

“You alright?” He reached across the breakfast bar and cupped her elbow, a look of concern etched onto his face.

“Yes.” She waved a hand through the air and pushed her empty plate away from her the same as he had. “I guess I’m just having trouble reconciling Dante Callaghan, Moneybags Ladies Man, with Dante Callaghan, Devoted Brother.”

Dante leaned back in his chair, a serious look on his face. “There’s only one Dante Callaghan, Aurora.”

“Sure, sure.” She stood and started clearing plates. “I guess I’m just surprised at how little we know one another.”

“Yeah, well, blame yourself for that one,” he said as he came up behind her while she started loading up the dishwasher. He nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck. “You’re the one who’s been keeping me at arm’s length for years. Hmmm. You smell like my soap.”

Aurora turned in his arms, squinted at him, and tried to get her brain to catch up with reality. “Dante Callaghan, family man.”

He scoffed and tightened his arms around her waist. “Family man might be pushing it a little far. Michelle and I have made it work for us over the years, but I’m not exactly a ‘kids’ person.” He shuddered. “Raising her has been hard enough and she’s like the best kid ever. I’m not interested in doing it again.”

Well.

Well.

That answered that.

Aurora gulped. Okay. That was information. He hadn’t said it to hurt her. She couldn’t allow herself to linger over the pain and fear settling into her stomach.

It was simply a fact about him. He didn’t want kids. She wasn’t getting closer to him because he wanted to be World’s Best Dad to the kid in her belly. No. She was getting closer to him in order to figure out who the hell he actually was. And she’d just gotten a shit ton of information all at once.

Any of the fatigue that dinner and a bath had soothed instantly came back full force. The pain behind her eye increased ten fold and the only thing Aurora wanted to do was crawl under her covers and sleep for a week. His arms around her waist suddenly felt as if they were trapping her.

She stepped out of his grasp and smoothed her shirt down with one hand. “I’m going to go.”

She inwardly winced at the rude note in her tone, but she couldn’t really help it. She needed to get the hell out of here.

“Oh,” he cleared his throat. “Sure.”

“Thanks for dinner,” she said over her shoulder as she padded down the hall toward her shoes.

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