The Playboy's Baby(26)

He sighed. “Look, you have a point, but I need to learn to do this eventually. You aren’t going to be here to hold my hand forever, nor do I want you to be. She’s my daughter. I want to learn to take care of her. I agree with you, she deserves a father. A good one. I want to give it to her.”

Emma nodded but otherwise didn’t say anything. Seeing his opportunity, he stood and faced her.

“You can teach me before you leave. While you’re gone, if I need help, I’ll call my mother. Once she finds out about Annie, I’ll have a hard time keeping her away. And until I get used to her routine, I’ll move Annie into my room to make sure I hear her. The truth is if you thought I was going to be a horrible father, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. I’d like a chance to prove your trust isn’t misplaced.”

Emma stared at him for a long moment, eyes searching his face. Finally, she drew her brows together and poked a finger into his chest. “You have to stick to her schedule. Annie gets very fussy when it’s disrupted.”

He grabbed her finger in his fist, resisting the urge to use the purchase to pull her closer. Damn she was sexy when she looked at him like that. He’d always thought so. Now, after the night he’d had, he was hard-pressed not to bend down and taste her mouth. The look on her face made him wonder again at the passion his instinct told him lay beneath the surface.

“Fine. Write her schedule down. In fact, I’ll get up with you tomorrow morning so you can walk me through the whole thing. Anything else?”

She pulled her finger back and folded her arms across her chest. “Who’s going to take care of her while you’re at the club?”

“I’ll cut my hours back so I can be home with her more.” He’d have to cut his hours in half actually. “I have no doubt my mother will be thrilled to watch her when I’m not here.”

His mother constantly hounded him and Logan about settling down. No doubt she’d be thrilled with the idea of being a grandparent. His father worried him more.

“Besides, I work at night. Annie will be sleeping most of the time anyway.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed. “We get your mother’s approval before I leave and you have to call me every day to tell me how she is.”

He couldn’t resist the smile. “You drive a hard bargain, Em.”

Doubt filled her eyes. “What are we betting for, anyway?”

He hadn’t thought about that, but it took his brain all of three seconds to come up with an answer. He knew damn well what he wanted from her. Had for years.

“A kiss.” The words slipped from his lips before he could stop them, but once out, he didn’t want to take them back. “One kiss after you come back and see she’s all right.”

He knew he was taking advantage of the situation, but he couldn’t help himself. One taste. He only wanted one taste of her mouth. Then maybe he could get it out of his system and forget about this insane attraction.

“If I fail…well, then you can tell me I told you so and never leave me alone with her again.” He prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

Emma shook her head. “That’s not what I want for her, Dillon.”

He held his hand out. “So, is it a deal then?”

Emma stared at him. Her chest rose and fell at an increasingly rapid pace. A soft pink flush slid into her cheeks. The yearning in her eyes threw him for a loop. He’d never get used to seeing her look at him with such blatant hunger. Sweet tension spiked between them, making his jeans increasingly uncomfortable. He was hard-pressed not to pull her into his arms, for the simple need to feel her against him.

He expected her to flat out deny him. Or slap him. Or both. To his surprise, she shoved her hand into his, her gaze bold and unapologetic. “Deal.”





Chapter Six





Seated at the dining room table, Emma smiled. Across the room, Dillon lay stretched out on the sofa, feet propped on one arm, head on the other. He had both arms wrapped protectively around Annie, on his chest, both of them sound sleep.

They’d had a rough morning. He’d done what he’d promised—gotten up early with her. Despite being exhausted, he spent the morning going through Annie’s routine. Emma showed him how to do everything from warming bottles to changing diapers and made him do it all. He’d fumbled through most of it, once again completely out of his element. For a big man, he was surprisingly gentle.

Annie seemed to adore him, had been caught between smiling at his goofy faces and fussing at the new person in charge of her care. Constantly looking to Emma for reassurance, she refused to eat much lunch, and naptime became a battle of wills. Dillon conked out before Annie, who, in the end, simply laid her head on his chest and went to sleep.