Page 54 of Unexpected Delivery

He sure must want my fist introduced to his face. There’s no other reason for why he’s holdingmy babyand smirking atmy womanthat way.

“Ahh, man, I wondered what was up,” Dax says, pulling off his wraps. “You’resofucked.”

I snort, tossing the pads in the corner of the ring. “Not even close, but I am about to fuck him up if he doesn’t take several large steps back.”

Dax continues to chuckle. “So incredibly fucked. She is pretty, though. Not sure I could wrap my head around taking on someone else’s kid, but if the mom looked like that…” He shrugs. “I’d put in some effort to at leasttry.”

I flip him off and climb through the ropes.

It takes everything in me not to stomp across the room and lay Matt out. Instead, I roll my shoulders back and swagger over, faking the look I’ve seen Hael give Arbor. It’s some combination of a lazy smile and natural confidence that always earns a smile from the little omega.

I make it to her side, toss my arm around her shoulder, and nod at Matt and Ray before focusing on Arbor. “Ready to grab some lunch?”

“Yeah,” she agrees, nodding. “I’m starving.”

Chapter Twenty

Arbor

Hayes leads me into his office with his arm around my shoulder and his free hand pushing Gracie’s stroller. He gently but firmly took her from his coworker, and I have no idea why he seemed so upset to see Matt holding her. She’s in that weird stage where, as long as the stroller keeps moving for a while, she’ll probably stay asleep.

Hayes bumps the door closed and stares at me for so long, I start to worry that I have something on my face.

“I finished all the invoices,” I say, in case that’s what this is about. “They’re alphabetized on your desk by last name.”

He growls, edging forward.

I back up as he continues gently pushing Gracie’s stroller with his left hand. My butt hits the filing cabinet behind me, and Hayes’s hand comes to rest on the top of it just above my head. “Matt is charming, but he’s not a good guy. Okay, he’s not a bad person or anything, but he’s not the kind of man you need in your life.”

My forehead wrinkles as I tilt my head.

Matt spent theentiretime talking up Hayes. He made sure to tell me that all Hayes talks about lately is me and Gracie. Then he went on to tell me how he hasn’t seen him show interest in anyoneever. Not once since Matt has known him has he ever seen Hayes with a woman.

At the time, I thought maybe he was exaggerating to make his boss, or friend, or whatever, look better.

Hayes’s scent is everywhere. Lightning and electric compatibility flood my nose as he leans closer. The sweaty alpha continues giving me a look I can’t decipher and, combined with the desperate energy spilling off him, I think he might have been jealous.

Did Hayes go all caveman and get protective because I was talking to his friend? I had a similar reaction over Lexie at Gracie’s doctor’s office with Hael, so I get it.

A little possessiveness is hot.

Taking things to the extreme…not so much, but since Adam, I’ve learned to trust my instincts. If I hadn’t been so deep in grief over losing my dads, I would have noticed how my impulses never felt safe around him. Not to mention, while I liked Adam’s scent, and it wasn’t appalling to my senses, my reaction to him wasn’t even a hundredth of the attraction I feel toward Hayes’s.

“I’m not trying to be a controlling asshole, I just don’t think he would be a good match for you,” Hayes says, clearing his throat.

Stepping forward, I wrap my arms around his lower back and bury my face in his sweaty T-shirt. “It’s okay if you were jealous. I would have been too if I saw you talking to a beautiful lady.”

His chest flexes under my face as he continues to push Gracie in her stroller. All three of them do things that Adam never would have dreamed of, and it helps remind my system that they aren’t him.

Hayes pulls his hand off the top of the filing cabinet and moves it to soothe up and down my back. He finally releases the stroller and relocates his hand to my chin. His fingers are scratchy as he brushes them over my skin.

His dark blue eyes are so expressive that I almost ask him what’s wrong, but he bends, crashing his lips against mine.

My fingers dig into his T-shirt as my heart races. Every breath I suck in floods my senses even deeper with his scent. His beard scrapes against my cheek as he tilts his head, nipping at my lower lip.

Everything is intense.

The way he holds me up as I melt into him. How his fingers dig into the back of my head as he wraps them in my hair. Even the commanding way he leads the kiss, fucking his tongue into my mouth. I’m not sure when he released my jaw, but that hand digs into my ass, and holy hell…

---