Page 19 of The Fear
She wore jeans today—he was mostly used to seeing her in flowery little dresses lately. He liked the jeans, especially the way they fit. Hala was shaped like temptation itself. The jeans just showed a man that. Drove a man crazy, really.
But…pressing matters. Gia had handed him awetbaby. Eww. Kid needed changed. “Soggy kid. Still, he’s really cute. Think Charlie will trade him to me in exchange for a puppy?”
He looked up. Andshewas watching him now.
Well, he’d suspected a direct confrontation. She wasn’t the type to just hide. Not her. They’d sparred and battled before.
Just not…likethis.
He was going to have to talk to her alone. Before she told his sisters about what had happened. The last thing he wanted or needed was those three little chickens butting in. Meddling or getting ideas or something. That would just complicate things for him and Hala both.
But first…wet baby.
Grady carried him down the hall. They still had a changing table in the largest guest room at the end. He needed to think, too. Decide just what he wanted to do now.
Everything felt…different now. Exciting. In a way it hadn’t in a long, long time. And it was all because ofher.Hala always had been trouble. It was just adifferentkind of trouble now.
13
Hala hada wet baby in her own arms. And…Grady had the diaper bag.
She had no real choice but to follow him. She stood in the door and watched him for a long moment. He was just talking to the baby, telling him a story about a magic pony. The same story he’d told Ryan when her nephew had been out there before.
Grady Hiller liked babies. She’d seen that many times before. He turned, saw her standing there. “Hey, honey. Hand me the wipes, will you?”
Just like that, he changed the diaper and had the kid redressed in no time. Like an expert. Well, he was a really good uncle; no denying that. He often had his brothers’ kids. He’d probably have Greer’s kid sometimes, too.
Why was it that a guy who was good with kids was so…attractive?
“His sister is wet, too.”
“I’ll let you handle that one, then. Me and my buddy here are going to go find the horsies. We can wait for you, if you’d like. Wouldn’t be fair for one twin to see the horsies and not the other.”
Going to the barn with Grady Hiller would be completely insane. Hala wasn’t crazy. But there was a challenge in his eyes. She wasn’t about to let him think she wasafraidof him. That just wasn’t going to happen.
He was not getting the upper hand here. He just wasn’t.
She changed Charis quickly. She was a very beautiful baby, who looked a great deal like her Auntie Chantal and her big sister Charlotte. Hala cuddled her close. She definitely wanted babies of her own someday. She always had. Half a dozen, maybe?
With the rightman,anyway. Wherever he may be hiding. Under a rock, maybe? Behind the barn? Outer space?
She refused to even think that the man right in front of her might be a contender. Not him, right?
Grady and baby Chaz were waiting on the back porch. “Ready, honey? Both little honeys?”
“We’re ready. But don’t you think they are far too young to see the horses?”
“They’re plenty old enough to see horsies, right, pal?” He held the little boy close and kissed him. “Won’t hurt them at all. Not like they are going for a ride.”
Hala just dutifully carried Charis through the crowd. Grady told anyone who asked where they were going. His mother just laughed and told them to have fun. Hala didn’t miss the look in Gayle’s eyes though. One of pure satisfaction.
Maybe Grady had been right. Maybe Gaylehadbeen plotting.
She told Grady that. He just smirked at her, like he was enjoying being right.
He had always been very much like his mother. The rat.
“Stop looking at me that way, or I am telling your motherandGia that you kissed me completely senseless. Then they will never leave you alone, darling future husband. They’ll have thewedding planned, and have Gunn rehearsing his lines before we can blink. Then I’ll have to go around all heartbroken when you dump me.”
