Because of the Baby(23)

With Grace tucked against his chest, he carried both items back to the living room. From the kitchen came the sound of humming. He glanced toward Lark. She was completely focused on smoothing white icing onto a triple-layer yellow cake. Her pleasure in the task made it hard for him to look away. Only when Grace began to squirm did he switch his attention.

Since opening and assembling the infant gym was going to be impossible one-handed, Keaton sat down on the floor, stretched out his legs and settled Grace on his lap. The new perspective engaged her interest, and when she started to fuss, he bent his knees and bounced her a little until she calmed.

Once he had the gym mat placed on the floor and the various toys attached to the padded tubes that crisscrossed over the baby, he slipped Grace inside the structure and held his breath. A newborn’s ability to focus was limited to a range of twelve inches, but he wasn’t sure how that applied to preemies. Grace had been born some thirteen weeks earlier, but her adjusted age was closer to three weeks.

The bright-colored animals dangling above Grace were a huge hit. She gurgled in delight as she reached up and batted at a monkey. It swung wildly and Grace kicked in response. Keaton didn’t expect much of a reprieve, so he turned to the second item, the wrap. It was a long, infinity scarf that had been designed to snuggle the baby tight against the wearer, thus freeing the hands. For a baby like Grace, who didn’t want to be put down, it should enable Lark a little more freedom.

But first he had to figure out how to make it work. Like the swaddling, the trick was to manage all the folds of the fabric. After watching a video on his tablet, he used one of Grace’s stuffed animals for practice. The soft bunny was smaller than Grace, so he wasn’t sure how secure the wrap would keep her, but it would be worth a try.

“What are you wearing?”

Keaton looked up from tucking the toy bunny into the wrap and met Lark’s amused gaze. His heart jumped at her relaxed expression. The lines of tension had faded from around her mouth, and the frown lines had smoothed out on her forehead.

“It’s a wrap for carrying a baby. I thought if you put Grace in it, you could free up your hands.”

“That certainly would be nice. Can you show me how it works?”

“I’m still trying to figure that out. Maybe together we can get it to function properly.”

Although Keaton hadn’t started out with ulterior motives when he began fitting the wrap around Lark’s slim body, he quickly discovered the activity gave him the perfect excuse to skim his fingers all over her slender form.

“And then you wrap it around this way.” He settled the fabric into place, noticing the slight jump in her body as he accidently grazed his knuckles against her breast. “You should have two pockets. Here and here.”

“Looks like I do.” She sounded a trifle breathless. “Now what?”

“Now we take Buster Bunny and put him on your shoulder.” After watching the video four times, Keaton felt pretty confident in the steps. “Next we settle his legs into this pouch and pull up the fabric around him.”

“That doesn’t feel very secure.”

“We’re not done. This side comes up like this.”

He rocked the edge of the fabric up her torso, across her breasts and the stuffed rabbit tucked against her chest. Although he was working hard to keep his touch neutral, the intimacy of their proximity and the slight tremble in her muscles were eating away at his better judgment.

“That feels better,” she said. “What’s this piece for?”

“I’m getting there.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rush you.”

“Are you always so impatient?” He hadn’t meant to sound flirtatious, but there was a teasing edge that had slipped into his tone.

“I’m not usually impatient at all.” She bit her lip in confusion. “Something about this is making me anxious.” With her hands she indicated the fabric wrapped around her torso.

“Is it making you feel claustrophobic?”

“I’m not sure that’s it.”

“Are you sure you want to keep going? I could take it off you.”

The sensual tension in the room escalated. Lark vibrated with it. Keaton’s body hummed in matching harmony.

“Keaton.” She whispered his name as his hands encircled her waist, palms gliding up her rib cage. “What are we doing?”

He dipped his head and grazed her lips with his. “Save your questions for later.”

“Okay.”

With a groan he claimed her lips. She came alive in his arms, pushing up on her toes, tunneling her fingers into his hair. The bunny became trapped between them as he dragged his mouth over hers, tasting a hint of buttercream icing.