Secret Son, Convenient Wife(24)

The vision of her very nice rear view made him want to walk lazy fingers over her. Lord, he remembered how well the cheeks of her bottom fit his hands as he’d pulled her naked body against him. Those cheeks were a little more lusciously rounded than before, but she’d had a baby since he’d last known her, touched her…

He coughed, more for himself than to alert her to his presence. Otherwise he could easily stand here all evening appreciating that view.

She looked over her shoulder. “You’re back.” She put the bottle of bubble bath on the sink, then straightened, a flush on her cheeks.

“And ready for bath time,” he said as a joke, only it came out husky.

Her gaze slid down his chest, then back up again.

Their eyes met.

She pushed past him, heading to the playpen. “I’ll get Nathan ready.”

It wouldn’t have taken much to pull her to him. Nor would it have taken much to put her against the door and kiss every inch of that creamy skin. Only, he didn’t. He followed her, watching her dart a nervous look over her shoulder as she picked Nathan up. For a couple of seconds, the sexual stimulation of pursuing Gemma called to something inside him.

With effort he put the feeling aside. “He likes a bath, does he?”

Relief that was no doubt due to the change of subject crossed her face as she began undressing the baby. “He loves it. He cries whenever I take him out.”

She looked away and placed a special cap on Nathan to protect his ears before swinging him toward Tate, a determined angle to her chin. “Here we go. One little boy.” She went back into the bathroom. “I’ll just check the water’s still the right temperature.”

Tate followed her, his eyes drawn once more to her slim figure leaning over the tub.

“Just right,” she said, straightening.

Hell, yeah.

“Your clothes might get wet.”

“No problem.”

A frisson of awareness entered her eyes. It was for the best that Nathan squirmed and insisted on his full attention right then. He eased his son into the warm, sudsy water and got down on his knees on the fluffy bathmat, fully aware of Gemma moving out of touching distance.

But his son wouldn’t be ignored. Tate was soon engrossed in games with Nathan. “This really is fun,” he mused, half to himself.#p#分页标题#e#

“You sound surprised.”

He looked up. “I didn’t know it could be like this,” he admitted, startled to feel his chest squeeze tight with emotion. He quickly looked back down at the water, not wanting her to see just how much this was affecting him.

“It’s awesome, isn’t it?” she said softly, as if she knew exactly what he was feeling.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, but he didn’t look up. “Awesome.”

More playtime followed, and as much as he was enjoying it, he was beginning to realize how tiring an infant could be. It must have been hard for Gemma to juggle a job as well as look after a baby all by herself. In spite of his animosity toward her, he had to admit to a growing admiration for her.

“That water will be getting cool now,” she said eventually, unfolding a towel.

Tate felt the coolness of the water and nodded. Then he reached for the plug.

“Don’t!”

His hand stopped. “What’s the matter?”

“The sound of the water going down the hole frightens him.”

He couldn’t hold back a small laugh. “That’s cute.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you heard him screaming his lungs out,” she teased, holding up the towel.

Tate picked up Nathan from the bath, and she engulfed the child in the fluffy material and then handed him back. “You can finish off the job, while I tidy up in here.”

“I’m not sure who’s getting the better deal here,” he drawled, trying not to show his lack of confidence in his parenting abilities. Her eyes said she was enjoying this.

“You have to learn to dress him sometime.”

He looked down at his son then back up at her. “I’ll pay you a thousand dollars to do it for me.”

She gave a tinkling laugh, and the sound did crazy things to his pulse. “Not on your life.”

His eyes locked on her mouth…

And her smile froze…

She twisted toward the bath. “I’d better clean up in here.”

He paused before moving toward the bedroom. “I’ll shut the door so he won’t hear you emptying the bath.”

“Thanks.”

He closed the door behind him on the way out, took a breath to let his pulse settle, then looked down at his son. “Okay, sport. Let’s get you sorted.”