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When I switched the lamp off and turned back toward her, she ran a hand up my chest and pressed herself into my body. This had the potential to become one hell of a mind-blowing night.
CHAPTER16
QUINCY
Juniper’s cry over the monitor woke me up with a jolt.
A millisecond later, I registered that I was entangled with a naked Knox. In spite of the baby’s cry, which so far was still halfhearted and quiet, I took a couple of seconds to savor the moment and the warmth and the memory of earlier.
Knox was an incredible lover. It’d been a long time since I was with anyone besides Mitchell, but I had enough guy experience to know that Knox was extraordinary at sex. I grinned at the thought, knowing he’d go all shy if I told him that, but then he’d secretly want to thrust his chest out like a champ.
Juniper’s cry intensified, so I made myself roll away from Knox to go feed her.
“Where you going?” Knox’s question was slurred with sleep and adorable.
“Juniper’s hungry,” I whispered. I rolled back toward him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Go back to sleep.”
“I can get her.” His voice was clearer, like his daughter’s fusses had registered.
“I’m on tonight,” I reminded him. “Nothing changed just because youboinkedme.”
He hesitated, then asked, “Are you sure?”
“Duty calls. Go back to sleep, sexy boss.”
He groaned as he laid his head back down. “Yell if you need help.”
“Yep.” I wouldn’t need help, but I would need a blanket, I realized as the chilly night air hit my naked self.
With a quick glance around the moonlit room, I remembered all my clothes were in the living room and none would make for fast dressing. I knew what would though.
I rushed out to the living room, picked up Knox’s flannel shirt, and slid my arms into the sleeves. It was big on me, as I’d hoped, hanging to midthigh. I buttoned a couple of buttons and rolled up the extra-long sleeves. As Juniper leveled up another notch, I grabbed the throw blanket off the back of the sectional, then hurried in to her.
“Hey, sweet pea. I’m here. I got you.”
After a quick diaper change, I carried her on my hip to the kitchen to mix up one of the premeasured bottles we always kept on hand, distracting her from her immediate needs by quietly singing a goofy song.
“We don’t want to wake up your daddy,” I told her as I finished prepping the bottle.
Within minutes, we were snuggled into the glider in her room, the blanket over us. As she drank, Juniper stared up at me by the light of the llama night-light with her alert, intelligent gaze, as if she worshipped me for putting an end to her hunger. Just like it usually did, my heart dipped with love for this baby. I soaked in the sacredness of the wee hours with a tiny, quiet human, as I had with my half-siblings all those years ago.
Not much time had passed before her lids drooped shut and her drinking became lazy, sleepy. I leaned my head back and let my mind drift to her daddy. Her endearing, hot daddy, who I now knew was a generous, attentive lover. One night with him was not enough, even with the second round of mattress gymnastics earlier.
A spike of panic jabbed at me. Was giving in to our attraction the stupidest thing I could ever do? I could hear Cynthia’s accusation ringing through my head, insinuating I was trying to force myself into Knox and Juniper’s family.
It wasn’t true, I reminded myself. I had my future lined up. Nannying for Juniper was a temporary thing, and I was fine with that. I loved that I got this time with that darling girl. I didn’t hate the time with Knox either, but we weren’t in a romantic relationship. I wouldn’t let myself fall for him. It was only a crush, a two-sided crush that made for magical sexy times.
Breathing more easily, I studied Juniper to determine whether she was ready to return to her crib. I’d learned if I stirred too soon, she’d pop back up more wide-awake than ever and take an hour or more to go back to sleep. As much as I enjoyed this time with her, tonight she had competition. Six-foot-two-with-eyes-of-blue competition.
After giving her a couple more minutes, I gently removed the bottle from her mouth and set it aside, mostly empty. I got up and laid her in the crib without a sound, then tiptoed to the door and pulled it closed.
I paused in front of the door to my room, a moment of self-doubt trickling in. Should I go back to Knox’s room? Or would that be weird? Would he misinterpret my rejoining him as me thinking this was more than it was?
I blew out an impatient scoff at myself. I was being ridiculous. There was no way we’d get confused about what we were doing. I was leaving in two and a half months.
Besides, I could absolutely give him something to think about besides the future or whether I should be back in my own bed. I could distract him from any questions running through his mind.
I ignored my door and crossed the house to his end of it. I opened his door and crept back into his room. He didn’t stir. As I carefully crawled under the blankets, I held my breath, torn between wanting to let him sleep in light of his early alarm and waking him up for act three.
