Page 32 of The Irish Rogue

She laughed. “Yes.” She brushed her finger over Declan’s cheek. “And it’s also the most amazing experience.” She looked up at him. “It’s harder alone though. Thankfully, I had Tom and Dorothy to help me.”

“I thought you had a bunch of friends. Weren’t they here for you too?”

She choked back a bark of laughter. “Nope. They were all on the side of the town gossips that thought I was a whore to be having a baby out of wedlock.” She looked up at him with an annoyed expression. “Although, I think some of them were just afraid pregnancy was contagious. They were young enough to not want kids, and old enough to know how it happens. But they weren’t ready.”

He stood there, watching her with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, those blue eyes seeing more than Kennedi wanted him to see. “You weren’t either, were you?’

She shrugged slightly. “I handled it. And Declan’s the most amazing little guy that was ever born. So, we’re good.”

“I’m here now, Kennedi. And I’ll help out.”

She looked up at him and smiled, but her only response was a polite, “Thank you.”

He gritted his teeth, gripping the now-empty glass of tea. “You think I’m going to bail on you again, don’t you?”

She tilted her head to the side. “I’ve been alone for a long time, Sean. I have Declan now. Whatever you choose to do, we’ll be fine.”

“I’m choosing now, Kennedi. I’m not abandoning my son!”

She smiled at him, but the disbelief was still there in her eyes. “Okay.”

Sean stared at her, stunned by her bland expression. She didn’t believe him! She thought he was just going to head out of town and abandon them again!

Well, she was damn well going to have to get used to having him around!

Watching her now, he thought she was even more beautiful. It wasn’t just the fact that her body was nurturing his…their…son. There was something softer about her. And yes, tension around her eyes and in her shoulders. But he suspected that was due to nervousness because he was here.

Kennedi shifted Declan to her other breast, grimacing at the awkwardness of the moment. “Well this is weird,” she muttered, trying to break the silence.

“What can I do to make it less awkward?” he asked, staring down at her again.

“Go away?”

He lifted his eyes up, then shook his head. “No way am I leaving, Kennedi. I just discovered that I’m a father and I’ve only held my son once.” He looked back down at Declan. “We’ll get married.”

Kennedi jumped so badly at that last announcement that Declan objected. “Sorry buddy,” she soothed, stroking his nose again as he started nursing once more. His fist touched the top of her breast as if he could stop her from distracting him.

When she looked up at Sean, he looked arrogant and adamant with his feet wide apart and his arms crossed over that deliciously wide chest.

“We can’t just get married, Sean,” she scoffed.

“Why not?”

She rolled her eyes, then gazed down at Declan. “Because we’re not in love with each other.”

There was a long silence after that comment. When she looked up at him, there was a hardness to him that was different than before.

Her heart pounded against her ribs, but, unfortunately, she didn’t know Sean well enough to interpret his expression.

“Fine,” he finally replied. “We’ll fix that.” A second later, he’d pulled out his phone. “What do you want for dinner tonight?”

She choked slightly, her hand fluttering towards her refrigerator. “I don’t know what I have in the fridge. But I’ll figure something out.”

He shook his head. “Nope. I’ve read the articles about how mothers have a larger mental load after giving birth. We’re not going to be like that. We’ll do everything half and half.” His eyes lifted from his phone. “Actually, I can take on more of the emotional load. And I can make life pretty damn easy for you. Marry me and you won’t ever have to work another day in your life.”

She lifted a hand, stopping him. “Sean, I appreciate that you are a very wealthy man.” She breathed in and sighed, cupping the back of Declan’s head. “I looked you up online after you…well, after our weekend together.” She wasn’t sure if she was soothing Declan or herself now as she stroked his head, back, and diapered bottom. “I know you’re a very wealthy man. In the top point zero zero one percentage, if I understand correctly.”

He shrugged his net worth estimates away. “I don’t keep track of those silly lists.”

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