Baby on Board (4 page)

skin. It was a very appealing scent. He walked into the living room just as

Bonnie was beginning to stir. When he crouched down in front of her, she

smiled and gave a squeal.

Rafe chuckled and picked her up. “How’s my baby? How’s my sweet

baby girl, hmm?”

Ivy watched him, but pushed away the softening feeling she was

having as she watched him with Bonnie. “Aren’t your guests going to

miss you?”

Rafe looked at her as he settled on the floor with Bonnie in his lap.

“Please. They really don’t care whose house it is as long as the drinks and

food are free. I had to lock my bedroom door to keep two couples from

trying to use my bed. I then had to lock Bonnie’s door because one soldier

came out with one of her teddy bears duct taped to his chest.”

“Why do you have these parties if they bother you so much?” Ivy

asked.

“Seriously, I don’t really care. They could party as long as they want

and I just sit back and watch the mayhem,” Rafe admitted. “Partying has

not been my thing for a long time, but my best friend Brody is an

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immortal college frat boy. I let him have his fun, but in the field he is a

stone cold machine. The guys need to blow off steam after being

deployed. Who am I to fault them for that?”

“Your house is going to be trashed,” she commented. “Do you want

some iced tea?”

“Yes, please. I think the only thing drinkable in my house is alcohol

right now. I put down my bottled water for only a second and when I

came back to get it, it was gone,” he said.

Ivy poured him a glass and handed it to him before sitting on the

couch. “How long were you guys deployed for?”

“I did six months back to back and then I had a three-month stint in

Somalia,” he answered.

“That’s tough on any soldier. I’ve seen some guys come back with

severe PTSD with less time in than that.” Ivy leaned forward and rested

her elbows on her thighs and looked at him pointedly. “Are you getting

help if you need it?”

Rafe gave her a small smile. “I’m fine, Nurse St. Clair, and I know if

the time comes where I need to go for help.”

She nodded. “Okay then.”

“What area of Walter Reed do you work?” Rafe asked.

“I’m on the rehabilitation floor. I work with the guys who come home

with missing arms or legs.” Ivy closed her eyes and took a breath before

looking at him again. Her job affected her more than anyone knew, but

she could see herself doing nothing else. “It’s tough, you know, seeing

these kids… I mean, a lot of them aren’t even twenty-five and they have

to deal with the pain and the loss of a limb, plus a slew of other things if

they have PTSD on top of everything else. Friday, before you came to my

house, was a hard day. One of the boys in my ward couldn’t deal with life

anymore. His wife left him because she couldn’t see herself being with a

man missing an arm. He didn’t have anyone else and everything felt

hopeless to him. He somehow got a razor, though we’re not entirely sure

where. We found him in the bathroom. The veins in his legs had been cut

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lengthwise so they couldn’t be fixed. By the time we found him it was too

late.”

“Jesus, Ivy, and then I come running to your house with my problems

after you had to deal with that?” Rafe shook his head. “I’m so sorry you

had to go through that. I’m sorry for that boy. These kids jump right into

marriage thinking their spouse will love them through thick and thin.

Most of them don’t realize that some of the spouses don’t know how to

deal with all the deployments and the injuries. Then everyone ends up

hurt. We had to watch a kid twenty-four/seven because his wife told him

she was leaving him for his best friend who was at home. He wanted to

put his gun in his mouth and we had him under suicide watch until he

snapped out of it.”

“It sucks all the way around. I wish these wars were over so everyone

could come home and get the help they need,” Ivy said. She slapped her

hand on her thigh and sat up. “So why aren’t you married? Too many

women, so little time?”

He shook his head. “We’re back to that, are we? No, it’s more like I

haven’t met the right one yet. And what about you, Nurse St. Clair, why

are you single?”

“He was there one day and gone the next,” Ivy shrugged. “To be

blunt, I have a condition called endometriosis and it might make having

kids difficult…well, not might, it will. He left because he wanted to have

kids and didn’t want to walk the rough road with me.”

“Well, he’s an ass. When you did get pregnant, that child would have

been a blessing, like my Bonnie here,” Rafe said. “Men are jerks.”

Ivy laughed. “I say the same thing all the time, but you’re disparaging

your kind.”

Bonnie was busy trying to pull Rafe’s nose and he was trying to nibble

at her hand, making her laugh the sweetest baby laughs Ivy had ever

heard. Looking at them together made Ivy’s heart ache for a child of her

own. She wanted that connection and sense of family. She had no one; she

was alone even when she had a mother.

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“I’m hungry and I know she has to be as well. I saw there was a jar of

peas in her bag,” Ivy said.

Rafe grimaced. “That stuff looks awful. She wants pizza.”

“She has no teeth. Stop projecting on your kid,” Ivy teased. “Do you

want some of what I’m having? It’s not catered like at your house but it’s

good.”

“I’m in,” he said with a grin. “I’ll feed baby girl her green goop.”

“Aren’t you planning to go back over to your house?” Ivy asked as she

pulled a covered dish from the fridge. “I hope taco casserole is okay?”

“Works for me, and no I’m not heading back there until I’m ready to

kick them out,” Rafe replied.

A knock on her door made them both look up. Ivy crossed the room to

open it.
Again
with the people at my door!
Rafe didn’t move, but since her

living room, eating area and kitchen was one big open area only separated

by a marble kitchen island, he could see the front door clearly. Ivy had to

resist the urge to roll her eyes as she opened the door and found Donna

and her double Ds on the other side, wearing a polka dot bikini no less.

The redhead’s bikini top barely covered her breasts and she had on an

extremely short pair of cutoffs.

“Well, if it isn’t Donna double…” Ivy stopped herself before the

entire nickname came out. She looked back and saw Rafe trying hard not

to laugh. “It’s for you, Rafe.”

He stood with Bonnie in his arms and went to the door while Ivy

stepped back, but not before she caught the pouty face on Donna.

“You left your own party, naughty boy,” Donna said. “I was waiting

for you to come back and then I decided to take the bull by the horns and

come get you myself.”

“I came to check on the baby,” Rafe said. “I was meaning to ask

where your boys were.”

“With their father until Wednesday, so I’m all yours. Come back to

your house and play with me, Rafe.”

Ivy rolled her eyes at Donna’s breathy voice.

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“Not right now. I’m feeding Bonnie her dinner,” Rafe said.

“Let her do that. She’s a nurse and obviously kind of…a bore. You

don’t need to spend your time over here when there’s a party at your

place,” Donna said on a loud whisper. Ivy had no doubt she meant for her

to hear it.

“Excuse me. I’m a what?” Ivy felt her anger rise. “You dare come to

my door with those plastic things barely concealed and say what? Say it

again to my face.”

Ivy was quiet and usually kept to herself, but she would be damned if

she would back down and let this woman insult her.

“Ivy,” Rafe’s voice warned softly. “The baby.”

Donna put an innocent expression on her face, but Ivy could see the

malice behind it. “Seriously, it seems they are letting anyone get a house

in this fine neighborhood anymore.”

“Honey, you’re not in a mansion in Hollywood, you live in

Maryland,” Ivy snapped. If this chick wanted fire, well, she was going to

get it. “Most people in this neighborhood work for a living. We don’t have

the luxury of living off our older ex husband’s alimony.”

Rafe chose that time to interrupt. “Donna, head back to the party. I’ll

be there soon.”

“Okay, darling. Make sure your baby is okay with this one. She

doesn’t seem to be right in the head,” Donna said sweetly.

“I’ll show you who’s right in the head,” Ivy snapped and went to step

around Rafe.

Donna seemed to decide that she’d pushed her luck and turned and

went down the steps in a hurry. Rafe closed the door before he turned to

Ivy.

“What the heck was that?” he asked.

“She was baiting me and I took the bait,” Ivy said. “I didn’t see you

saying anything in my defense when she was openly insulting me.”

“Well, hell, you didn’t give me a chance,” Rafe replied. “Sometimes

you have to rise above people like that and let them not see that they make

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you angry.”

“This coming from a man who probably never had to deal with a

damn thing in his life,” Ivy snapped. “Let me guess. You were a jock in

high school and girls like that were just dangling off your arms?”

“I was never mean or cruel to anyone. I was raised better than that,”

Rafe said. “I’m sure you were too.”

Ivy looked at him in amazement. “So I was supposed to let her just

come to my door and insult me? You don’t know how I was raised, Rafe,

don’t presume to know me.”

“I hear you,” Rafe said quietly.

“I’ll finish feeding Bonnie. You go back to your friends. They are

obviously missing you,” Ivy said angrily.

“Ivy…”

She took the baby from him gently. “I promised to watch her so you

could play host and I don’t break my promises.”

“This isn’t over,” he said quietly.

“No, it is. I see what side of the fence you’re on and it isn’t mine.”

Ivy’s voice held no emotion. “You’re the type that likes to hang out with

girls like me for the favors, the babysitting, and for the down time. But

when you’re having parties or going to dinner on the town, you want girls

like Donna on your arm. I refuse to be a second class anything. Go to your

party. Pick Bonnie up when it’s done.”

She took Bonnie to the table and sat with her in her lap, essentially

blocking him out. She felt his gaze on her for what seemed like the

longest of moments before he opened the door and stepped outside

without a word. She sighed and rested her head against Bonnie’s for a

minute. In response, she got five wet, drool-covered fingers in her face.

“Eww,” Ivy laughed. “Well, let’s get you fed.”

She had felt herself opening up to Rafe, but she promised to never

make that mistake again. It was much later when he came for Bonnie,

who, by that time, was asleep on the same blanket as before. Ivy opened

the door when he knocked and the baby bag was already packed and

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waiting for him.

She handed it to him. “She had a bottle at nine. If you want to take her

in the blanket that’s fine because you didn’t bring one. Just put it on my

steps when I’m at work. I’ll grab it when I come home.”

Rafe didn’t say a word. Instead, he pulled her against him and before

she could say a thing, his lips were devouring hers. Ivy struggled for a

minute and then warmth flooded her body. Lord, the man had amazing

lips and it was just as she imagined it would be. He teased her mouth open

with his tongue and when she gave him entry, he delved deeper into her

mouth and moaned, pulling her harder against him so she would feel his

throbbing manhood. She wanted more, but then reason flooded into her

subconscious and pushed away the pleasure of his mouth on hers. Ivy

wrenched her mouth away from him and stepped back, eyeing him

angrily.

“Why did you do that?” she asked. “What, Donna didn’t put out after

all? I’m sure there were a few others there who were willing to give you a

piece of ass before they left.”

“Is it so hard to believe that I wanted to kiss you?” Rafe asked. He