Page 21 of The Duke's Surprise Heir

He disagreed, but let this issue slide. For now.

“Are you hungry?”

She looked down at Kyle again. “I’m actually starving,” she admitted. “What’s for dinner? I saw Ms. Kealy put something into the oven, but she didn’t reveal what it was.”

He stood up and lifted Kyle, bouncy seat and all. “Let’s go find out, shall we?”

Dinner that evening was a fun affair. Kyle was in love with his new bouncy chair and waved his little limbs to make the chair bounce as he giggled happily. When he grew tired of that game, Edward snapped the toy arch over the top and allowed Kyle to explore the items while he and Macie ate a chicken and rice casserole that was perfectly spiced with just enough zip, but nothing that might cause Kyle to reject her breast milk.

“Would you like to bathe him?” Macie asked after they’d put the dishes into the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen.

Edward looked startled. “Really? You’d trust me to do that with him?”

Macie nodded her head. “Sure. I know that you’ll be careful with him. And he loves his bath time. But he also loves to splash around, so consider this your warning.”

Edward nodded, chuckling as they walked up the stairs to the primary suite bathroom. “Sean told me about the first time he gave his son, Declan, a bath. His wife, well, his soon-to-be-fiancée at the time, didn’t warn him about how much Declan enjoyed the water. He was drenched by the time Declan was finished with his bath.”

“Oh, that was mean of her,” she replied feeling a spark of jealousy.

They went into the bathroom and Macie gave him a few instructions, then perched on the side of the shower, the tub being too large and too deep, so that she could watch Edward bathe their son.

“Oh, you like that, huh?” Edward teased, using a washcloth to gently soap all of Kyle’s little body parts. Kyle loved the shower and waved his hands and feet as if he were in heaven.

Which meant that Edward got wet as well. “Oh, you think that’s funny?” he said, holding Kyle with one hand while he reached behind his head and…pulled his shirt off, tossing it to the floor.

This wasn’t something Macie had expected or anticipated. She stared at the rippling muscles on Edward’s back, remembering how good it felt to touch him there when he…while he…oh, dear heaven! He’d been deep inside of her, making her scream out his name while her fingernails raked over Edward’s powerful back.

She hadn’t seen his back at the time. She’d only seen his chest. Or the mattress, depending on what angle he was thrusting into her from.

Macie shivered as the memories washed over her.

He must have sensed her shiver because Edwards looked up at her. “Are you okay?”

“Fine!” she quickly assured him. Probably too quickly, she realized when he stared at her for a moment.

Thankfully, he returned his attention to Kyle, who was wiggling in delight at the water.

“So you like water and horses, eh?” Edward soothed, taking the water spout and rinsing him off. Kyle closed his eyes, giggling in a way that only the innocent could laugh.

“Horses?” she asked, her heart thudding against her ribs. Because Kyle had gone out to the stables? Or because she loved the idea of Edward introducing Kyle to large, wonderful animals?

“We went outside today while you were working just to say hello to the stable residents.” He turned and smiled at her as he wrapped Kyle in the dry towel. “Will you come out with us tomorrow? Kyle truly enjoyed the experience. He likes to pet Sanford’s nose.”

“Who is Sanford?” she asked.

“He’s a gelding that is a special favorite of mine. He’s about twenty hands and a powerful beast. When I brought Kyle over to the fence, Sanford sniffed Kyle all over. And Kyle ran his hand over the horse’s nose. It was love at first sight.”

“That sounds…amazing,” she replied, trying to hold back the tears.

He stood up, Kyle cradled in his arms. “Hey,” he paused, looking down at Macie. “What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

“Not at all!” she assured him and took Kyle. Quickly, she dressed Kyle in a warm onsie and found a place to nurse him.

Edward watched her and she felt self-conscious for a long moment while she rocked their son while he nursed. “I’ll be right back,” he announced.

Macie watched him walk out of the bedroom, her eyes never leaving his tight butt in the jeans until she couldn’t see him anymore.

Moments later, Edward returned to the bedroom carrying a small, portable bassinet. He set it in the corner, then turned and walked back to her. Macie looked down to discover that Kyle was fast asleep. With a relieved sigh, Macie lifted him up, carefully closing the nursing bra as she carried Kyle over to the bassinet. “Thanks for this,” she whispered to him.

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