It had been a long night. She hated to admit it, but Ross had been right. Babies were not all that easy to take care of. Little Will had managed to get more of his dinner on his face and even in his hair than into his belly. She ran a bath for him only to have Ross check up on her and declare the water too hot and tell her she could drown the baby by putting him in a bath without a tub seat. Who knew all this stuff? In the end she gratefully watched him take over. He put a plastic laundry basket in the tub and dropped Will into it since Madison hadn’t packed a bath chair. She dug through her friend’s bag and found the baby shampoo and thought all would be smooth sailing only to discover that some kids considered a hair washing to be torture. He howled as if she’d been putting acid on his skin.
Fortunately Ross was once again Johnny on the spot with a dry washcloth to cover the baby’s eyes with for the rinse off. Heck, even Beauty Belle was better with a baby than her. She trudged into the temporary nursery with a fresh diaper held gently in her mouth and dropped it on the small settee. Ross chuckled over the dog’s helpfulness. “Guess she’s helped Madison with this type of duty before.”
He bundled William up in a soft towel and proceeded to give her the post-bath demonstration. Apparently you should put lotion on the skin and sprinkle some powder in the diaper area prior to slipping a fresh Pampers on the little tyrant. The two teeth in his mouth had to be wiped with a wet cloth after the sippy cup of milk was chugged down. They placed him in his port-a-crib, turned on the closet light, and quietly left the room.
Darling was tired, and it was just eight o’clock. Her T-shirt was soaked from splashed bath water, and her hair clung to her forehead messily. Ross, in contrast, seemed fresh as a daisy. And he looked too damn good. She swore the man looked sexier dressed in faded jeans and diapering a fifteen-month-old than any tuxedo-clad male model she’d ever seen. Exactly what she didn’t need: to have a crush on a guy out of her league and very soon to be out of her life. “You want to watch TV or something?” she offered, not sure what to suggest.
“I’ve got something we could do,” he murmured, looking her up and down. She bit her lip, trying to decide if she was reading him right. Was he making a move on her?
Ross pulled her into his arms, kissed her softly, and maneuvered her against the wall. All her wicked thoughts came back, about how good he felt pressed up against her, how delicious he tasted. Mmm, to create a recipe that’s as scrumptious as he is. She ran her fingers through his shoulder-length hair. One of his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her hips into his; the other arm cradled her head, fingers lightly touching her neck. Her mouth opened, and he swept his tongue in, sending shivers down all the way to a core she didn’t know she had. Oh my. One of his hands slid from her jawline to the back of her neck and pushed her lips into harder contact with his own. The other hand gently tugged her jaw down so her mouth opened slightly. His tongue slipped into her mouth and tickled her inner lip. He swirled his tongue around and caressed hers. She tasted the heady mix of mint and man on their mingling breaths. Before she could stop herself, she let a little moan escape. Their mouths became even hungrier for each other, and she pressed her breasts to his chest. He nibbled her lip a bit and resumed the dueling of tongues deep in her mouth. The hand on her neck dropped down and gently squeezed her ass, pushing her harder into him. She felt his erection against her lower belly, and very wicked parts of her longed to pull his jeans down and stroke him. Darling rolled her hips against him and was rewarded with a wonderful growl.
He slid his hand up her loose, baby-bath-damp T-shirt and cupped her breast. This was so wrong, but she wanted more. Her breasts swelled, and her core became soaked with just the rhythm of his tongue in her mouth, sliding in and out and around. His slender fingers slid their way under her bra, and finally, he stroked one engorged nipple. The blood in her body flooded to two very special spots.
“Waaahhhhh!” cried out baby William, no longer dozing in his port-a-crib. Ross released her, growling and shoving his hands through his tousled hair. Adult playtime was over. She instantly cooled. What the hell was she doing? Another minute and she would have happily let him take her up against the wall. She’d been so out of control she hadn’t even thought about the mess her period would make of things.