Page 15 of Secret Baby for Mr. Grump

Later that night, as Caleb napped with his head in my lap, I finally asked Athena exactly what happened to set him off.

“Nothing,” she said. “Nothing special anyway. He woke up from his nap, and I tried to give him dinner. Then he asked where you were—”

“Wait, he talked?” I couldn’t keep the hope out of my voice.

“No,” she said apologetically, dashing my excitement. “Wrong choice of words. He asked without saying anything, just kind of pointing at the picture of you in the corner. And then, when I told him you might be out late today, he refused to eat. I tried everything, begging him and even telling him to watch TV for a full hour after he was done.” Athena was typically stricter than I was, so that was a huge give for her. “And then I tried playing hardball with him too, but he simply wouldn’t eat. And as time went on, he started crying and pointing at your picture.”

My heart ached. This was a new reaction for him. He hadn’t been like this before. While I never made it a habit to stay out late, I’d left him with Athena plenty of times before, and there had never been an issue. What happened this time? What changed?

“How was the date?” Athena asked, and her tone was more curious than disapproving, which allowed me to be honest with her.

“Horrible,” I said.

Her face went dark. “What did he do?”

“Nothing. He didn’t do anything to me. It was just….” I hesitated but then decided to just come clean with it anyway. “Okay, so he got a call from this person, and he sounded very…weird. Different from how I remembered.”

“I don’t understand.” Athena frowned.

I sighed, then explained to her what he’d said during the phone call.

When I finished, Athena raised an eyebrow. “It could have been a business thing,” she said. “Dad used to get frustrated and say stuff like that sometimes too.”

“Yeah, but just the way he said it…it gave me bad feelings.”

She nodded. “It’s always good to go with your gut in any case. Anyway, it’s a good thing you figured it out before Caleb got involved.”

“Yeah,” I muttered in response, although if it was a good thing, why did I feel so bad about it?

Later that night, I finally allowed my mind to drift back, drawing on the stolen moment of pleasure at the base of the mountain.

I remembered the kiss, the way his lips had gently coaxed mine and completely dominated me in a way only he knew how to do.

When I was in his arms, I felt safe. I felt like he would take care of me.

And now, I felt unbearably horny.

Seven years without sex would do that to a woman, but it had gotten worse since I saw Marcus. My clit was pulsating between my legs, and no amount of tossing and turning would allow me to get rest.

I huffed, throwing myself onto my back. It seemed I would need to take care of this the old-fashioned way.

I tried not to look as I let my hand begin its path down my stomach.

I’m not going to do much,I told myself, slightly embarrassed. Just to settle the heat a little, so I could sleep. But as my fingers were about to reach my panties, my phone dinged.

I sighed.Great timing.

I grabbed the phone from the nightstand, glancing at the flashing notification. It was from an unknown number, but from the text, I could tell who it was.

Hey. Is everything okay?

My heart melted. He was checking in on me. How sweet.

That was what made it even more difficult for me to type out:Yes, everything’s fine. But I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to date right now.

There was no response, and my heart ached. I felt like I was making a mistake, but it was a choice I had to make.

For Caleb.

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