Because of the Baby(25)

“I haven’t visited Skye since Grace left the hospital. Would you be okay if I went first thing tomorrow? I’ll only be an hour or so.”

“That’s not a problem. I have the electrical inspection for the ranch house tomorrow, but it’s not until the afternoon.” Keaton reached across the table for Grace’s bottle and settled her into his arm so he could finish feeding her. “Don’t worry about us, we’ll be just fine.”



“Keaton moved in to help me with Grace,” Lark told her sister after glancing around to make sure she couldn’t be overheard. Her nerves were already a tangled mess. She didn’t need the added stress of becoming the focus of hospital gossip. “The day we brought Grace home he suggested the idea and I should have turned him down flat. I mean, what was he thinking that I couldn’t handle things?”

Hands moving compulsively across Skye’s bed linens, smoothing, straightening, Lark let her thoughts revel in the previous night’s kiss. It was what she really wanted to talk to Skye about, but she’d never been one to share something so private and needed to warm up to the telling.

“But then Grace had a bad first night. Oh, don’t worry. She didn’t get sick or anything,” Lark rushed to assure her sister. “But I think the transition from the NICU to my house was a little jarring. She couldn’t calm down and then we had trouble swaddling her.”

Of course, recalling that night revived the memory of that first, brief kiss and how soft Keaton’s lips had been. Lark closed her eyes and swayed a little as she relived the delicious sensations she’d experienced.

“Apparently she likes being swaddled really tight.” Lark noticed that she’d grabbed fistfuls of Skye’s blanket, and released her grip with a soft exhalation of self-disgust. Was Julie’s theory of proximity lust the best explanation for the way her body awakened to his slightest touch? “It took us quite a few tries to figure that out. And somewhere in the middle of all that, he kissed me.”

Lark half expected her sister’s eyes to fly open at such shocking news, but Skye remained unconscious. “It was a nice kiss. Impulsive. Didn’t last long.”

Spilling this first secret had taken its toll. Lark bustled around, checking the equipment in a feeble attempt to calm her pulse and restore normal breathing. When it became apparent that her emotions were messing with her body’s electrical signals, Lark decided the best thing to do would be to spill everything all at once.

“He kissed me again a few days later. This one was longer and more premeditated. He made me feel as if I was the sexiest woman alive. Is that how Jake makes you feel?” She felt a little stupid asking. “Of course, that’s why you left with him, isn’t it? I’ve never had anyone treat me like that before. I wanted to...”

Confession might be good for the soul, but Lark had only just admitted to herself what she’d wanted that night. Her hormones, on alert since the night before, quickened. A mild ache invaded her body.

“Funny about Keaton,” she continued. “I expected him to be the kind of guy who got in and got things done.” Not exactly a flattering description, but he was always so stern and efficient. “How was I supposed to know he’d be so passionate? Such a great kisser. I...I didn’t want him to stop.”

There. She’d said it. The truth was out in the open. She wanted to have sex with Keaton Holt. Lark clapped her hands over her mouth and stared at Skye. Why wouldn’t her sister wake up and give her advice about how to handle things with Keaton? She was completely out of her depth. No man had ever made her long to tear his clothes off and take big bites out of him. Well, not literally.

It was just the thought of both of them naked. His big body pinning her to the mattress. Or a wall. While he drove inside her...

Lark gave her head a vehement shake to clear it of such thoughts. She couldn’t want those things with Keaton. He was a Holt. She was a Taylor. Her sister and Jake had left Royal in order to be together. The town was too small to hide a romantic relationship. Word would get out. Her parents would never forgive her.



Keaton was standing in the middle of Lark’s empty third bedroom, slowly rocking Grace, when he heard the door to the garage open. In a couple days Lark would be going back to work and he was going to take over the baby’s care. He wanted Grace in the bedroom next to his so he could handle her late night feedings.

“What in heaven’s name is that?” Lark’s normally soft voice, coming loud and clear from the living room, rang with shock and dismay.

Obviously she’d discovered his newest purchase. Keaton strode into the living room and found Lark staring at the sixty-inch flat-screen television that had been delivered this morning.