Page 52 of Knocked Up in Alaska

“Your baby is so cute,” she said in a low, soft voice. “So tiny. How old?”

Ready to burst from curiosity, she nonetheless swallowed it down and found a smile. Maybe Ford was interviewing a new waitress. A young one. “She’s two whole days old.”

“Aw. She’s adorable.”

“I think so, too.” Lilah looked the teen over while she was distracted by the baby. Morning sunlight caught the clear, brown rings encircling the pupils of her wide, deep-set hazel eyes. Eyes framed by straight, dark brows. The girl had high cheekbones, a small, straight nose, and a square chin with a little dent in the middle, just like… “Oh my God. Oh. My. God.” Her gaze leaped to Ford. “It’s Mia.” She switched to the girl again. “You’re Mia.”

The girl straightened, clearly surprised, then turned to glance back at Ford before refocusing on Lilah. With a slow, pleased smile and a sweet blush that melted Lilah’s heart, she replied, “Yeah. That’s me. I don’t realize anyone…knew.”

“He told me all about you. But I didn’t think you knew.” And maybe now wasn’t the time to get into all that, right there in the middle of the sidewalk. “I’m so pleased to meet you,” she said instead. “You have no idea.” To cover the conversational pothole, she quickly went on, “This little bundle is Shayla, and this”—she smiled at Izzy, standing there blatantly trying to piece things together—“is my friend, Isabelle.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Mia replied.

“Same.” Izzy smiled. “How long are you visiting?”

“All summer,” Mia said at the same time Ford answered, “That’s under discussion.” They had themselves a short, silent standoff over the inconsistent responses. Eventually, Ford cleared his throat and said, “Possibly for the summer. We’ll see.”

Mia’s winning smile was a feminine version of her father’s. “I’d love to babysit, if you need one. Back home…” Her smile faded a little at the mention of home, but she reinforced it. “Back home, our neighbors across the street had a baby girl just before Christmas. I went over after school three days a week, as sort of a mother’s helper, to earn spending money. I fed her, played with her, changed her and stuff.”

“Did you like it?” Lilah asked.

“I loved it. But Kelly went back to work in May, and they hired a nanny, so…” She shrugged. “Anyway, here I am.”

“Here you are,” Lilah agreed, slightly dazed by that fact alone.

“What are you ladies up to?” Ford asked.

“Just trying to get the car seat moved over,” she explained, lifted the handle of Shayla’s carrier to the crook of her arm, and leaned into the back passenger-side door of Izzy’s Yukon to dig with her free hand into the narrow space where the seatback met the seat for the latch to release the base of the car seat. “The thing is hard to undo.”

“Let me give it a shot.” He walked over, took her arm to move her aside, and leaned into the backseat to wrestle with the latch. Before she thought about the propriety of it, she automatically dropped her gaze to his butt, to admire how perfectly it filled out his jeans. Belatedly remembering his daughter stood by no doubt watching her ogle her father’s backside, heat swept into her cheeks. Desperate to find another place to rest her eyes, she glanced over at Izzy and saw her friend, too, checked out Ford’s butt. Good Lord, they were objectifying him right there in front of his teenager. She risked a peek at Mia, who watched both of them with a hint of a grin on her face. Something—probably her guilty expression—turned Mia’s grin up a notch. “Ford’s a DILF, huh?”

“Huh?” he said from inside the car, responding to his name.

“Nothing,” Lilah said quickly. “Nothing at all.”

“Got it.” He hefted the base out of the car. “Show me where you want it.”

“I’m just over here.” At Izzy’s silent offer of outstretched hands, she handed the carrier over and then led the way to her car, snagging her keys from the diaper bag as she went.

With the doors unlocked, she came around and leaned in the backseat from the driver’s side while Ford muscled the seat in through the passenger side. It took him mere seconds to secure it in place.

“Thanks,” she murmured. “So, when did Mia—?”

“I got the heads-up literally just after Shayla arrived. I ran out of the clinic to arrange a flight to Anchorage with Mad, with the plan of intercepting her and putting her right back on a plane for home, but…” He let out a breath, slowly, and looked up at her from across the backseat. “Nothing went as planned. At least, not as I planned. It’s a long, harrowing story.” He dragged a hand through his hair, unconsciously leaving gullies in the thick, sun-burnished mess. “I’m not sure what I’ve gotten myself into.”

She met his serious stare with a self-conscious smile. “I know how you feel.”

His lips quirked. “Help me, Lilah.”

“You have it easy. Yours talks. She can tell you what she wants or needs.”

“She sasses. She is mule-stubborn, and she won’t take no for an answer, even when it’s plainly for her own good.”

Shayla’s hungry wail carried from down the sidewalk. Her breasts tingled in response. A response along the lines of “Again? Already?” “She can feed herself,” Lilah pointed out.

“I was just about to open The Goose and show Mia around. Come in. You can use my office to…” His gaze lowered, then jerked away to peer through the back window, and she realized he’d stared at her breasts. “You can use my office to, uh, see to her.”

“Okay. Sure. That’s probably a good idea. I’m meeting Ray at his cottage in fifty minutes.” Feeling about as graceful as a sea cow on land, she backed out of the truck, shut the door, and came around to the sidewalk.

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