His Tattooed Virgin(Divine Creek Ranch 12)(75)

When she’d begun singing, Toby had gone motionless, fascinated. As she finished, he gurgled happily and patted her face.

In the tone of a question, he whispered, “Mimi?”

She didn’t know how to answer him, so she sang the song again, wondering what would become of that relationship. There was always Skype, if the e-mail connection led to a friendship.

Why do I have a feeling I’m about to dust off my conversational French from high school?

Through the closed bedroom door, she heard the sound of muffled knocking and quiet male voices. She looked down and noted the oddest thing. Rather than showing burgeoning curiosity at his surroundings, Toby was as still as a statue. His eyes flitted to the door as he listened to Seth and whomever he was talking to. Steps on the hardwood floor of the hallway came closer, and Toby clutched her arm, but he remained silent.

Seth entered the room, closing the door behind him. He saw that they were awake and smiled at them both. He greeted her with a kiss and smiled as he caressed Toby’s cheek with a knuckle. “Hey, buddy.”

Jayne released the breath she’d been holding when Toby returned the same small hint of a smile to his father and gurgled, reaching for him. Seth leaned forward as he lifted Toby into his lap and kissed the top of his head.

“Sleep well?”

“Surprisingly, yes.” She felt anxious and ready to tackle whatever happened today. “I can take off today, to help you, if you’d like.”

“Only if it doesn’t get you in trouble.”

“I have personal days coming to me. I’ll call Rowena in a bit to let her know.”

“Angel and Joaquin Martinez are here, with Teresa and Eleazar. They’ve brought us a crib and other baby things. Grace wasn’t joking when she said she’d marshaled the troops.”

“Is Lucy up yet?”

Seth chuckled. “No, she must’ve come in late while I was still asleep. But when she does, she’s got a surprise waiting for her. I called Mom and Dad too. They’re coming over later today.”

“Oh, well, maybe I should leave you alone so you can visit with them, and they can spend time getting to know him.”

Seth shook his head. “I want you to stay.”

“Are you sure?”

Reassurance glowed in his eyes. “Yes. I want them to meet you too.”

Seth took over, finding him clothing and a new diaper, and she scooted into the bathroom for a shower and to make herself presentable. When she emerged, it was to find Toby seated in a baby high chair, being fed applesauce and oatmeal by Teresa Martinez while Seth busied himself putting together a playpen. Toby clapped his hands, bobbed up and down, and kicked his feet excitedly when he set eyes on her, inspiring a happy little lurch in the region of Jayne’s heart.

Teresa greeted Jayne and said, “There are breakfast tacos in the oven. I hope you don’t mind that we came over unannounced. We had a crib and other baby paraphernalia that we don’t need anymore, and a ton of boy’s baby clothing that Eleazar has outgrown.” She indicated the four large trash bags full of folded clothing lined up on the bar. Jayne didn’t know what to say and glanced at Seth, who was watching her with a smile on his face. He was dazzling her with those more and more often.

Swallowing, she said, “Thank you, Teresa, for everything.” The words were out of her mouth before she realized that it might’ve sounded as though she were accepting the gifts like a mom would. Discomfited that she’d been presumptuous, she glanced at Seth but couldn’t draw much information from the enigmatic half smile on his lips. Just then, Eleazar, Teresa’s three-year-old son, wrapped his arms around Jayne’s legs and looked up at her with a flirtatious little grin on his face.

“Jayney-baby!”

Jayne felt her face heat up as Teresa giggled. “It’s official now.” It hadn’t taken long for both of the Martinez boys to dub her with her version of the nickname they gave all the girls, their name plus “baby.” They’d been coming to Kookie Kid’s Klub at the library and seemed to have grown fond of Jayne. The feeling was entirely mutual.

“Hi, Eleazar-baby, how are you?” she asked as she lifted him up for a hug.

Softly, Teresa said, “Eleazar?” With her Spanish accent, the name came out like a caress. Eleazar turned at her voice, and Teresa whispered, “Respectfully.”

Eleazar smiled and nodded then turned back to Jayne. “I’m fine, Jayney-baby.” Then he gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek, hugged her neck, and wiggled to be put down.

Jayne raised an inquiring eyebrow to Teresa, and her friend whispered, “He sees Joaquin and Angel kissing me all the time and we noticed he’s…got very low boundaries where women are concerned. We want to make sure he’s showing proper respect to ladies of all ages.”