Baby on Board (8 page)

pieces. No, she wouldn’t count Reese out quite yet. It was certainly better

than pining for what she couldn’t have. With her glass of iced tea in hand,

she went upstairs and stripped out of her uniform for a shower. Ivy

hummed while the cool water flowed over her skin. After the heat of the

day and driving home in bumper-to-bumper traffic, she wanted to refresh

her heated skin. By eight o’clock, Ivy was settling into a quiet evening at

home with some TV and leftovers for dinner. There was even a piece of

carrot cake in the fridge she planned to enjoy before bed. That would just

have to wait because around nine her phone rang again and this time it

was Rafe on the line and his voice was frantic.

“Ivy, please, can you come over?” Rafe asked. “Bonnie has a fever. I

think it’s a fever, and she’s coughing. She almost threw up… Jesus, can

you come? She’s crying and I can’t comfort her.”

She could hear the panic in his voice and the baby crying in the

background. He’d only been a dad for a short time and even seasoned

parents got scared. She could only imagine how he felt.

“I’ll be right over,” Ivy said without hesitation. She hung up the

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phone, stuffed her phone into the pocket of her cargo shorts and slipped

into her sandals. Ivy took her house keys off the counter and made sure to

lock up before she jogged over to Rafe’s place. She pressed the doorbell

and he swung the door open. She didn’t know a military haircut could

look tousled, but his sure did. He held the crying baby, bouncing her in his

arms.

Rafe stepped aside and let her in, begging, “Tell me what to do.”

“Give her here and get me the thermometer we bought at Target,” Ivy

said calmly. As he rushed upstairs she sat on the sofa with Bonnie in her

arms. The baby rubbed her nose and sniffled. “Okay, sweet girl, what’s

going on with you tonight, huh? Why are you making Daddy scared?”

Bonnie’s whimpers were the only answer and Ivy knew a cranky baby

when she saw one. Rafe came back with the digital thermometer and Ivy

took it from him. Making sure it was on, she waited for the readout to say

zero before she pressed it gently against Bonnie’s ear. The beep signaled

the reading was complete and she looked at the number.

“She has a slight fever—one hundred point five,” Ivy told him.

“Oh, God, Oh, God, I’ll get her stuff so we can go to the ER,” Rafe

said and began to look around. “Where are my keys?”

“Rafe, calm down. She doesn’t need to go to the hospital,” Ivy said

gently. “She probably just has a stuffy nose and look at her gums. They’re

red and swollen. She’s teething.”

“Teething?” he repeated the word.

Ivy nodded. “Yes, as in her teeth are coming in and this is all normal.

Now, what we’ll do first is give her some baby Tylenol to ease her pain

because her gums are hurting and it will help lower her slight fever. Then,

we’re going to give her a cool bath and put the humidifier in her room to

clear her nose. She’ll get a bottle and we’ll sit with her and comfort her

until she falls asleep. Then, tomorrow, you’re going to buy teething rings

that can be cooled in the fridge so she can chew on them.”

He nodded. “Okay, I can do that.”

“Yes, you can,” she said calmly, looking at the tension ease from his

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shoulders. “First, Tylenol.”

They went through the steps that Ivy laid out and soon Bonnie was

comfortable and even happily babbling while they bathed her. By the time

they got to the bottle, her eyelids were drooping and she fell asleep being

rocked in her daddy’s arms while he sat in his recliner. He leaned his head

back and closed his eyes and soon she heard a soft snore. Ivy grinned as

she looked at him. He’d worked himself up just as much as the baby had.

She got up and took the sleeping baby from his arms and took her to her

room. Making sure the humidifier was on, she tucked the baby in. Ivy

clicked on the Disney princess color changing nightlight and turned off

the light switch. She looked up and gasped in delight. Rafe had somehow

managed to put glow-in-the-dark stars and a moon on the ceiling. That

was how much he loved his daughter. He’d just found out he was a dad

and he pulled out all the stops to make sure her room was perfect. It was

the small things that endeared him to her. Ivy went downstairs and tapped

his shoulder gently.

Rafe sat up with a start and looked around. “Where’s Bonnie?”

“She’s okay. I put her to bed,” Ivy answered. “If her fever comes

back, she can have one dropper of the Tylenol in four hours.”

“I don’t know what I would do if you hadn’t been home,” he said with

a sigh and ran his hand over his face. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. I know how hard it is on a parent when their child is

in pain. I used to work in the pediatrics ward before Walter Reed,” she

explained. “Anyway, Bonnie is fine. If her fever climbs to over one

hundred and two and does not go down, then you worry. For now, she’s

just teething, but you can take her to the pediatrician for your own peace

of mind.”

“Where are you going?” Rafe asked.

Ivy chuckled. “Home. The crisis is over.”

He reached out and took her hand. “Stay for a little while. I haven’t

seen you in days.”

“You’re taking care of Bonnie, and I have work,” Ivy reminded him

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but sat down on the sofa. “It’s two different schedules.”

“I figured you’d at least call at some point,” Rafe said.

“Why?”

“Because you left on a date after I came over with steaks and… Shit.

Never mind.” He stopped but then added, “I saw him kiss you when he

brought you home.”

“Wait. Were you spying on me?” Ivy demanded. “And for your

information, I kissed him back. Stuff like that happens after a date.”

“I happened to be looking outside when you came home—”

“Spying.”

“I wanted to break his face for kissing you,” Rafe said harshly.

Ivy looked at him with surprise. “Why ever for? It’s not like I’m in the

league of women you hang out with or ever will be. Donna and her double

Ds are more your style…”

He was out of the chair in an instant and pressing her against the sofa.

Nose to nose, she looked up into the dark, intense blue-green of his gaze.

Ivy forgot to breathe and her heart pounded against her chest.

“Enough with Donna and her fake ass breasts. There is no league to be

in because since I first kissed you, I can’t get you out of my head,” Rafe

murmured.

“That’s because you feel I’m unattainable. Trust me, I’ll bore you

quickly and then you’ll move on,” Ivy said in a rush.

“Damn it. I’m not some kind of player who collects women as

trophies!” Rafe’s eyes narrowed.

Without another word, he took her lips in a kiss and she moaned

instantly. The heat and desire that swamped her was unlike anything she

could possibly imagine. Rafe pulled her against him and Ivy wrapped her

legs around his waist. He moaned in response against her mouth and took

the kiss deeper. Ivy felt as if she was melting from the inside out. He was

ravenous; Ivy could feel it in his every touch. He cupped her breasts and

she arched into his hands, letting the sensations take her away. The cargo

shorts she wore were short, and she felt his fingers trace around the edge

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before slipping between the fabric and her skin.

“Rafe, don’t,” she whispered against his lips.

He moved his hand and cupped her through her shorts. His eyes met

hers and she felt as if she were drowning in the depths of his gaze. “Let

me show you how I can please you. You need this.”

She pulled away. “Why do I need it, huh? Because it’s poor Ivy who

needs a pity roll in the sack? Or maybe it’s you who needs release and

why not give it to my plain Jane neighbor?”

He ran his hand over his head and sighed. “And we’re back to that?

Can’t you see past what you think I am or how I see you? You’re not

plain, Ivy, you are gorgeous. If you haven’t figured out yet how much I

want you, it’s your damn self-esteem getting in the way. You let people

like Donna and Grace play against it. I don’t know if you were teased in

high school or what, but it’s time to get over it and see that a man likes

you for who you are.”

Ivy narrowed her eyes at him as some of his words rang true and they

hurt. “I do have a man who likes me for who I am. Reese does,” she

lashed back at him.

A look of anger passed over Rafe’s face as he pushed away from

where he knelt. “Don’t bring that man’s name into anything having to do

with us.”

She stood, her hands clenched at her sides. “There is no
us
. You call

when you need something and I help you. What the heck do you do for

me? Oh, a few kisses, that’s right. You feel I should be bowing on the

ground in front of you because you kissed me.”

“I came over to make you dinner,” he pointed out.

“And I had a date,” she shot back. “Did you want me to cancel and

stay home with you?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation.

Ivy threw her hands wide. “Why, because you kissed me once? You

invited Donna and Grace and practically all the other women from the

neighborhood to your party, but left me out. Yeah, I know it sounds petty,

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but I don’t care. You ran to me when you found Bonnie on your doorstep,

not them. Then Donna comes to my house and instead of standing up for

me, you warn me off of bitch slapping her. How am I supposed to know

you have any interest in me whatsoever?”

“I didn’t invite you because I know it’s not your thing,” Rafe

explained. “Donna and her friends are the kind of girls those guys like.

They play it loose and free. If I’d invited you and one of these guys

touched you, I would have broken the arm that reached out to you.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” Ivy asked. “It’s because of Reese,

right? You saw him with me and now you think you want me too.”

“I don’t think. I know. And you want me too,” Rafe said. He stepped

forward and took her by the shoulders, pulling her against him. “Tell me

he makes you feel like this. Tell me the fire in your belly ignites when he

kisses you.”

“It does and more.” She looked up at him and spoke with defiance in

her voice.

“Liar,” he said huskily.

He kissed her again and this time it was so sweet and gentle it almost

ruined her resolve. Rafe lifted his head and ran his thumb across her

bottom lip. “I’m throwing my hat in the ring for you, Ivy.”

“I’m not some prize to be won,” she snapped. “You just want what

you can’t have.”

“I’m going to have you, there is no doubt about it.” A slow smile

spread across his face. “Get used to it.”

“I’m going home.” Ivy pushed away in frustration.

“You’ll be back,” he grinned.

Ivy threw her hands up in the air. “I give up. You’re hopeless and so

full of yourself. Remember what I said about Bonnie.”

“I will. I’ll remember how you taste too,” he teased.

Ivy didn’t comment. She just left and closed the door silently behind

her. She was walking back to her house when Donna stepped out onto her

porch. She gave Ivy a cool glance.

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“You were in there a long time,” she commented.

“I didn’t know I had a time limit,” Ivy replied. “Or that you were

spying for that matter.”

“You need to know when to back off. Men like Rafe don’t go for

women like you,” Donna said casually. “I mean, look at you, sweetie,

you’re not that spectacular.”

Ivy gave her an evil smile. “If you didn’t blow up the fun bags I could

say the same about you. I don’t think men wonder what’s going on in your

head. You’re accustomed to being a trophy for them.”

“At least I’m a prize babe, not a ribbon.” By that point, Donna had

made her way down the porch and was practically nose to nose with Ivy.

“Rafe is out of your league, honey.”

“Tell him that…honey,” Ivy said. “Now, step back, I need to go home.

I’ve got a date tomorrow night and I need my beauty sleep.”

Donna laughed. “No problem. I don’t know what good that will do

you. Just remember that Rafe is mine. I can make life in this