Page 25 of The Secret

Betty Grace Valentine Williams.

Hmmmm.

Arabella had been next up on the baby name list I kept in my head.

Arabella Grace Valentine Williams.

Bell?

The coffee finished dripping and I picked up the cup while I continued debating with myself.

“Good morning, did you sleep well? Feeling more human? Look, baby, Daddy is awake. Would you like to hold her while I make her bottle?”

The coffee cup stopped halfway to my lips and I fought the urge to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

Kit smiled wide, her body almost pressed to mine as she gently placed the baby in my arms, the scent of sandalwood fighting the coffee aroma, not detecting I’d been rendered speechless.

This was not the nanny I met yesterday. I would have noticed.

Definitely.

I would have noticed if the woman I’d met yesterday had hair the color of melted caramel, hair that was tied up in a long, thick ponytail on top of her head, swishing as she reached into the cupboard for the tub of formula. I’d have noticed if she been all soft golden curves, perfectly proportioned with full, pert boobs and an ass so round and tight in the yoga pants she was wearing that you could bounce a quarter off it.

I would have noticed.

No, this was not the woman I’d met yesterday.

The woman currently in my kitchen, staring up at me with deep chocolate eyes, rosy pink cheeks, and a mouth whose sole purpose was to be kissed, looked like she’d just fallen out of the Teachers’ Edition of Sports Illustrated. Like she always had snacks in her bag, a rainbow variety of crayons, and finger painted without worrying she'd get dirty.

“Murray?” she waved at me, breaking my gaze.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

She laughed. A throaty laugh that was both innocent and dirty all at the same time, whether she meant it to sound like that or not, and it licked across my body as though it was her own tongue, making my dick stir instantly.

“Where are the spoons?”

I pointed to the drawer and she took one out.

“Maybe you need to go back to sleep for a bit. Your mom said you haven’t slept this week.” Her gentle smile was more beautiful than the sunrise slowly creeping up the horizon and leaking through the kitchen windows, and hit me with just as much might. “It’s really hard with a newborn, but we’ll get her on a proper schedule soon and it’ll be much easier for you. Just a few more nights and you’ll be all caught up.”

I forced myself to look away from her; from the freckles that dotted across her creamy shoulders, visible due to the tank top she had on.

I coughed through my spiraling thoughts and thrust the baby back at her. “Yes, good idea.”

I practically ran out of the room, and back up the stairs two at a time, desperately needing to create distance between us and get my shit together.

Jas and Cooper had been correct. I was in for a world of trouble, because for the next sixteen weeks, I’d be living with the hottest nanny in existence.

Penn had also been correct. But I didn’t just want to give her one; I wanted to give her an entire orchard full of apples.

They’d all been fucking correct, and I cursed my sisters again for their meddling; for putting me into a path more tempting than anything Eve ever had to deal with.

I reached my bedroom and shut the door. Taking a deep breath I stood tall, pulling my shoulders back. I might be on the precipice of my own personal hell, but I wasn’t going to cave.

I was a fucking father now. And that was the most important thing.

I was responsible.

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