Page 40 of Inked Craving

At the first sound of the baby’s cry, overwhelming emotion slammed into me, and tears fell. Lee kissed my tears away as his eyes widened.

“Would you like to cut the cord, Lee?” the doctor asked. I blinked, looking up at him.

“You can,” I whispered as the doctors continued to work.

“Are you sure? I mean...”

“It’s okay,” I cried.

And so he reached out, cut the cord, and I watched as Lee Grier, the hot, sexy, manly man who was my brother’s best friend andmybest friend, cried as he did so.

And then they put the baby on my chest, all wiggling limbs and a scrunched-up face of pure anger and outrage. I held her close and put her on my breast as the nurses continued wiping her down.

“Emery, happy birthday,” I whispered.

“Happy birthday, baby,” Lee mumbled right next to me as he held out his hand. Emery immediately tapped on his finger but didn’t latch on. She was far too young for that, but she was touching him, and I saw the pure love in Lee’s gaze.

And right then, I fell in love. Not once, but twice.

With the baby girl in my arms, with how she made me feel as if she were the only thing in the world.

I fell in love with my daughter.

But I also fell in love with the man now holding her as the nurse took care of me. With that, I knew what I had been feeling long before I had let myself believe it. I hadn’t felt anything like this with Colton. No, that emotion had been a mere fade of what I felt for this man. And not because he was holding my daughter with such love and tenderness in his gaze and his touch. But because of the man he was.

The man I really had fallen in love with. Just like I knew right then and there, that he had fallen head over heels for my daughter. I didn’t know what to say, and I was sure that saying anything right then would be too much.

After the nurses had cleaned Emery and me up, I held my daughter close as Lee brushed my hair, muttering little things to my baby as I rubbed her cheek with my finger.

I loved Lee, but I loved Emery, too.

And my child needed me. Frankly, I wanted Emery to need Lee, too. Because with that look, I knew he wouldn’t walk away. And letting myself fall for him in the open, allowing myself to make the mistake of pushing him away would hurt my daughter.

So, I wouldn’t. I would find a way for him to be in Emery’s life, but I wouldn’t break him, and I wouldn’t tie him to me.

Because Lee and Emery deserved better than that.

I was a mother, and I was a friend.

And maybe, just maybe, that would be enough.

ChapterThirteen

Lee

Ismiled down at the photo on my screen and shook my head. Paige had sent a selfie of a happy-looking Emery lying on top of Paige’s chest after lunchtime.

I shook my head and texted back.

Me:Looking good. Our girl spit up in your hair yet today?

I knew I was a little too territorial and protective when it came to her. With Emery, at least. I was trying not to be so with Paige. While I wasn’t Emery’s father, sometimes I felt I was as good as. I was getting good at the whole filling the uncle-role thing. And though Paige’s father and brothers constantly helped out, I felt as if I had a special connection with Emery. After all, I had been there when she was born. Yes, the rest of the Montgomerys had shown up soon after Emery was born, and she and Paige had been cleaned up. But I had been the one who was there—no one else. And I felt like I had a special right to them, even if I knew it was stupid.

But Emery had taken a part of my heart, and I wasn’t ever going to get it back. And, frankly, I didn’t need it back. Not when I knew it’d be safe in that baby girl’s palms.

Paige:I don’t want to talk about the amount of vomit I have on me right now. I’m going to set her down for a nap soon, and then I will be ready to shower. Oh my God, I cannot wait to shower.

I laughed, remembering the last time that Emery had spit up down my back. Somehow, it had gotten beneath the collar, and vomit had been everywhere. For a baby less than ten pounds, a lot of projectiles sure came out of her.

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