Page 34 of The Secret

I laid Bell in her bouncer sitting on the table, and turned the coffee machine on just as Rafe and Penn walked into the kitchen.

“I’ll take one of those, thanks.” Rafe sat down at the table and lifted Bell from her chair, the sleeve of his sweatshirt rising up as he did, revealing an inch of the tattoo which crept up his arm, wrapping around him and decorating his body like a mural. “Look how beautiful you are in this. Clever Uncle Rafe.”

“Me too.” Penn took Bell’s bottle from the warmer and threw it to Rafe. “Heads up!”

He caught it mid-air, removing the lid and giving it to Bell. “Breakfast time, Bells.”

They had the synchronicity of a well-oiled machine, which was even more impressive considering I had no idea they were coming over. But that was how we’d always rolled.

Penn started opening and closing the cupboards, walking into the pantry and coming back empty handed. “Where are the muffins?”

It then became clear why they were here, because I wasn’t the only one enamored with my new nanny, although they were more interested in the daily baked goods than I was. I pointed to the oven.

He opened it, pulling out a tray of warm raspberry muffins. “Holy shit, she’s already been baking this morning? Dude, you really need to marry her.”

I rolled my eyes, not wanting to engage in an argument I wasn’t going to win. “Is that why you’re here before eight a.m. on a Saturday? Muffins?”

“No,” replied Rafe. “We’re here because you’re on your own today and we’re taking Bell and Barclay to the park, and then to brunch. Muffins are an added bonus.”

I placed coffees in front of them and joined them at the table, putting a burp cloth over Rafe’s shoulder, just as Kit did to me, then watched Penn take a massive bite of a muffin.

“Fuck, our weekends have changed.”

An overwhelming surge of gratitude and emotion that they were here rolled through me for the trillionth time, although it would have been more shocking if they hadn’t been. We’d always done everything together, even when I was living back in London I still spent a long weekend here every month.

“I know, three weeks ago I was suffering from the worst fucking hangover of my life after I’d spent the night fucking that Swedish girl and drinking all the vodka we could find, so consider me happy with the current state of our weekends.”

I raised an eyebrow at Rafe in silent question as I sipped my coffee.

“I mean the no hangover part, obviously.”

Penn picked up another muffin. “I think we can all do with a few hangover free weekends.”

My stomach churned to the point of vomiting at the thought of being hungover and up early with a baby, almost as though I had an actual hangover. And neither was fun.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be hungover again.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. Of course you will.” Rafe put Bell’s bottle down and moved her to his chest, patting her on the back.

“Raferty, move her higher,” ordered Penn, like he’d done it a million times, which he hadn’t. Between the three of us we’d had less than a month of learning how to parent a new baby and we were all on the same chapter of the baby book we were reading in sync. “She can’t burp like that.”

Bell proved him wrong by burping loudly.

“Nice job, Bell, well done.” Rafe threw him a smug grin.

The air suddenly thinned to the point where I couldn’t breathe. We all turned around to see Kit as she walked into the kitchen, her hair falling in thick waves around her shoulders, her perfectly innocent jeans and sweater combination doing nothing to hide her curves which filled my mind with thoughts that were far from innocent, that were so deep into the gutter my mind needed a good scrub with Clorox. Her eyes widened to a perfect almond shape as she smiled at Bell, her lips soft and glossy and so fucking kissable that I was almost weeping with sorrow that I would never get to experience the feel of them on mine.

Jesus Christ, I’d become a sentimental knobhead.

“Hi, Kiiiit,” Rafe and Penn greeted her in unison, far too eagerly in my opinion, like they were in fucking high school and she was their favorite teacher.

Her cheeks glowed pink with a blush, making my cock ache. Fuck, fuck,fuckshe was beautiful. Even from where I was sitting, far across the kitchen from her, I could almost taste her scent, like soap and springtime and freshly mowed lawns, making my head spin and my tongue practically vibrate.

“Hey, guys.” Her eyes landed on Penn. “Found the muffins then?”

“Sure did. They’re perfect, as always. Can you give me the recipe?” Penn swallowed his current mouthful, winking at me deviously while simultaneously flashing her one of his million dollar smiles, which usually had a girl on her back in less than sixty seconds. “In fact, when you’re done with Murray, you can come and work for me. I’ll pay you to make muffins all day instead of dealing with shitty diapers.”

She laughed loudly and I shot Penn the darkest scowl I could muster while pushing away all irrational thoughts of banning him from my apartment while Kit was here. I was the funny one of the group, and I wanted her laughs all to myself, especially as that was the only thing I’d ever get.

---