Page 110 of One Unexpected Gift

He played with Gabriella on the floor and listened as Skylar did her nighttime routine in the bathroom. Her place was tiny. More like an apartment disguised as a house, but it suited Skylar just fine. At least, Skylar pre-Gabriella. They’d outgrow the space soon.

She’d mentioned applying for bigger housing. If money was an issue he’d help. During their drive south, he’d told her he wanted to pay for any and all of Gabriella’s expenses and for food and clothing. She’d turned down his offer, but he wouldn’t let her struggle financially.

Gabby stretched her hands above her head and let out a yawn that seemed much too big and loud for someone so small.

“Did we tucker you out, little angel?” He tickled her belly and didn’t get much of a response. A sure sign she was tired. “Too much fresh air at the park? Or was it all the wrestling with Daddy that wore you out?”

He picked her up and laid on his back, resting her on his chest. She lifted her head a few inches and then it came down with a smack.

“She looks exhausted.”

Nick craned his neck and could just barely make out Skylar’s feet. He let his eyes roam up her naked legs, still wet from her shower, and smiled at how little the bath towel covered her.

“Come here for a sec.” He waved her over from the floor. “I want to show you something.”

Skylar padded across the carpet stopping a few feet from him. He could see a little higher now, but not nearly as much as he wanted.

“Closer.”

“What is it?”

“Here.” He pointed to Gabriella’s leg and, like he knew she’d do, Skylar leaned over them to get a look.

Nick took that opportunity to let his hand roam up her leg and tugged on the towel. Skylar yelped and jumped back.

“You’re such a brat.” She laughed as she scurried down the hall to their bedroom. Her bedroom. The bedroom. While he’d love to stake claim over half of it, he’d be gone in eighteen hours, and spending two nights there didn’t make it his any more than the last guy’s.

Shit, no. He wasn’t going to think about Skylar with any other guy. Knowing no one had touched her besides him for the past year strengthened his pride, which he needed. Especially now when he wasn’t sure how Skylar felt about the long haul.

While his parents were good about talking about the touchy feely stuff, Holden was the only Pierce kid who inherited that gene. Nick and Logan avoided it, and he wasn’t sure where Camilla stood. She was too young to be serious about a man anyway. Better for her to live her life on the edge. It worked for Nick when he was in his twenties. Or maybe it hadn’t since he had a marriage and a divorce under his belt before he hit twenty-six.

Gabriella squirmed on his chest and then let out a long grunt, followed by a noise he’d learned meant some explosive action was taking place in her diaper.

“For a little angel, you sure do poop a lot.” He held on to her and sat up, giving her a few minutes to get it all out before changing her.

He wasn’t the squeamish kind, and never needed a clothespin on his nose when changing diapers, but some of Gabriella’s explosions teetered on the edge of cosmic destruction. Just last week he had to scramble through his junk drawer for a pair of scissors so he could cut her out of her onesie.

“Better now than the middle of the night,” Skylar said from behind him. “I can change her.”

“You’re nice and clean. I’ve got this one, but you owe me.” He was only joking, especially since he’d be gone for who knew how long and Skylar would be doing all the messy work on her own.

Nick made quick work of changing her diaper and snapped her into clean pajamas before handing her off to Skylar to nurse. The past few nights, Gabriella had slept straight from ten at night to six in the morning.

Part of him felt guilty for interrupting what could be eight solid hours of sleep for Skylar, but he couldn’t keep his hands off her. They’d made love until midnight, and when they both woke around four, expecting to hear baby cries, they made fast work of their love making, only to be given the gift of more than an hour to sleep.

While Skylar nursed, Nick took a shower. He didn’t bother putting on shorts or even boxers. It was his last night with Skylar, and he wasn’t about to spend it with clothes on. Because her house was so small, they’d kept the playpen in the living room, so they’d have some privacy in the bedroom. Really, though, it was so they wouldn’t wake Gabriella with their love making.

A few minutes after he’d laid in bed, the lights went off in the living room and Skylar came into the bedroom. He heard the rustle of clothes and could just barely make out her silhouette from the thin light the streetlamp streamed through the windows.

Skylar’s warm, naked body slipped under the covers and moved on top of him.

“Mm. This is more like it.” He let his hands drift down her back, dipping in the hollow arch of her spine.

“More like what?”

“You. Naked. On top.”

“Is that how you like it best? With me on top.” Skylar sat up, straddling him. The covers fell to her waist.

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