Page 34 of SEAL's Doorstep Baby

“We should talk about this,” I murmur.

He presses his lips to my head. “Probably.”

I drift off to sleep, draped over him, with absolutely no thoughts in my mind except how wonderful I feel right now.

Chapter fourteen

JACOB

By the time I get the back of the truck unloaded, both of my arms are full of groceries. The skin on my arms is turning white. Allison is standing at the door, watching me with an amused and judgmental expression.

“You want to come carry them?” I call, raising my brows.

She holds up her hands. “No, by all means, risk your extremities. Very masculine.”

I laugh. She grins.

When I come through the door, I drop the groceries on the ground. I swoop Maddie off the floor, pressing kisses to her face while she giggles uncontrollably. “How’s my princess doing?” I ask, receiving another round of giggles for my troubles. “Was she good?” I asks Allie.

I almost lose my train of thought and myself into those emerald pools, not even realizing she is speaking and so I don’t catch anything but the very end of her sentence. “—perfect. Well, almost. She had a bit of a screaming fit, but that was short.”

I walk to her with Maddie in my arms, and when she’s close enough to hold, I transfer Maddie to one hand so I can wrap the other around Allie. It’s a brief hug, but when I pull away, Allie is blushing. It makes me feel warm all over.

We haven’t talked about that night—or the other nights we’ve had since.

It’s been…

Nice, I guess.

Wonderfulis a bit more like it. But that feels cheesy and weird and embarrassing and not exactly—

Well, I don’t know. I know that when I kiss Allie, though, I feel good. Whole. Like I’m not playing house. Like this is just… Life.

But then I feel weird and strange and bad for feeling good, for feeling—

I clear my throat, stepping away.

“What made her start screaming this time?”

She shrugs. “Probably the phone.”

I glance at her. “The phone?”

“Yeah. It keeps—” As if on cue, the phone begins trilling. “Ringing.”

I laugh. Allison smiles a bit.

“Why does Emily evenhavea landline?” I ask. Then my heart drops a little.Had.Had a landline.

Allison seems to know exactly why I’m upset. She presses her lips together, emerald eyes flickering across my face. Then she shrugs.

“To be retro, I guess,” she jokes weakly, a clear attempt to lighten the mood, before crossing the kitchen to grab the phone. . “Hello?”

I turn to Maddie. She’s focused on something across the room, and I realize with a frown she’s staring at the TV. Some kids’ show is playing, and the kid is in a trance.

I squint, trying to see if I recognize the show. Though, of course, if it’s not from damn near thirty years ago, I wouldn’t.

“Hey, Al,” I say, turning my head. “I thought we agreed no screen time till twenty four months…”

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