Page 30 of Bedding the Baby Daddy

Aurora was still peeking around at both of them, presumably having a bit of trouble believing what her eyes were seeing.

“What do you say, gorgeous? Wanna join us for dinner?”

“Um. Sure,” she said, laying one hand over her belly in a way that made Dante think she must be really hungry.

“Can we do it take out, Coco?” Michelle asked, naturally taking his hand as they exited the elevator toward the parking lot.

“Coco?” Aurora repeated in complete disbelief, humor and surprise warring in her eyes.

“An old nickname from when she was younger,” Dante muttered, ruffling Michelle’s hair. He could have gone a long time without Aurora LeMonde knowing that his little sister sometimes called him Coco. “Why do you want to do it take out, Michelle?”

She opened the backseat of the car and started climbing in. “One, because then we can eat at home which is better because the air conditioning in that restaurant is flipping cold. And two, because they only give you the good fortune cookies if you order take out. You get the boring ones if you eat in.”

“She’s right,” Dante said, smiling at Aurora, who was still looking a little shell-hocked. “The take out is all around better.”

“Oh. Okay.” Aurora brushed a hand over her hair. “Well, maybe I’ll just go home then.”

“No! Come have dinner with us, Aurora! Dante never brings friends home. Please?”

* * *

Aurora hesitated, but how could she say no to the little girl with the messy hair, big blue eyes and the big, hopeful smile? And how could she say no to the man whose shoulders stretched that business suit like it was their job? The man who still had his little sister’s backpack over his shoulder. The man whose big hopeful smile matched, exactly, the little girl’s beside him.

“Okay,” she heard herself saying. “I’ll follow you. Will you order me—”

“Orange chicken, one egg roll, one spring roll, and cold sesame noodles? Yeah. I remember from last time,” Dante said with a wink.

“Okay,” she said again in that same small voice. Her brain was going a mile a minute here. What the hell was even going on?

Aurora walked to her car, determined not to look back, but of course, she did. She did it just in time to see Dante toss Michelle’s backpack in the back seat and say something in a low, firm voice. Michelle lifted her hands in innocence and said something back that had Dante chuckling and shaking his head.

Aurora slid into the front seat of her car. Knowing he took care of a kid and watching it happen were two very different things, she realized. Over the last few weeks, she’d finally started to wrap her head around the new Dante. The one who basically had a kid. She’d gone over there enough times, seen Michelle’s stuff strewn around, listened to him mention her here and there.

Aurora had thought she had a handle on the whole thing. But apparently not. Seeing them together, their obvious rapport, their ease with one another, had really thrown her for a loop.

Dante never brings friends home.

Michelle’s words echoed through Aurora’s head as she followed their car through downtown Los Angeles, to the Chinese food place and then back to Dante’s house. Did that mean that he never brought women home? Or at least never let them meet Michelle?

Then why the hell was he inviting her to dinner? He could have introduced her as a work colleague, taken the damn contract and told her he’d see her on Monday. He didn’t have to invite her into family time.

Aurora forced her hands to loosen on the steering wheel. She took a deep, cleansing breath and rolled down the window for some fresh air as she rolled up the driveway.

She’d had another doctor’s appointment that morning and the doctor had warned her, again, about the negative effects of stress. She insisted that Aurora find some outlets to bring more calm into her life.

So, either Aurora could fret and piece apart every second of what was about to go down. Or she could relax, eat some orange chicken and hang out with someone who seemed like a very good kid.

She supposed she was going to have to get used to hanging out with a kid. Aurora cleared her throat. She was going to have to get used to it alright, just not with Dante around. After all, Dante had already admitted he didn’t want kids, and she wasn’t about to make him feel obligated to take care of her.

Aurora sighed deeply and stepped out of the car, careful not to slam the door. She had arrived a few minutes later than they had and she found herself knocking on the front door as Michelle pulled it open, a huge grin on the little girl’s face and an even bigger book in one hand.

“You want to look at my new book while Coco sets out dinner?” Michelle asked holding up the huge tome and stepping backwards so that Aurora could come inside.

"Sure," Aurora said as she stepped in and kicked off her shoes. "What's the story about?"

"It's not really a story, it's more of an encyclopedia, I guess," Michelle said. “Dante got it for me for my birthday but he says it's too boring to read with me."

Aurora laughed. "Is that so?”

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