The Baby Arrangement (9 page)

He placed a finger over her lips to silence her, as if he didn’t want the moment to be lost.  His finger stayed in place a moment longer before gently tracing her lips and moving to her cheek, her jaw, and carefully winding its way around to her nape.  Slowly, as if giving her time to stop him, Derek drew her head up to his as he lowered his mouth to hers.

The kiss was soft; gentle.  He waited a heartbeat to see if she was going to pull back and didn’t fully relax until Kayleigh wrapped her arms around him as she shifted to get closer.  He couldn’t say who took control of the kiss first; one minute it was a sweet exploration and the next it seemed to be that they were each intent on devouring one another. 

His hands carefully explored her; his brain still functioning enough that he was mindful of her injuries.  But he found himself to be trembling.  For all of the women he had been with, for all of his skill in the bedroom, this moment seemed to come out of nowhere and Derek wanted to savor every moment and make it perfect for Kayleigh.

She had done something to him in these last two weeks; she not only saved him with Emery, but she seemed to show him how much he was missing in his life.  Some would say that she saved him from himself.  His mind was going to linger on that thought for a minute, but she sighed and pressed herself closer and Derek was lost.  Two weeks suddenly lost all meaning; it seemed like he was waiting for her his whole life and he couldn’t wait any longer.

Slowly he broke the kiss and raised his head, his breathing ragged.  “Stay with me tonight.”  There was a fear that she was going to say no; that she was suddenly going to remember her reasoning as to why she didn’t want to get involved. Derek silently prayed that she had been waiting for him as much as he’d been waiting for her.

Wordlessly, Kayleigh rose to her feet.  Standing before him, she held out one shaky hand; her eyes never breaking contact with his.  “Yes.”

Derek wanted to whoop with delight, but figured that might break the spell.  Silently, he, too, rose.  He leaned in and cupped her face before kissing Kayleigh again.  Hell, he could go on kissing her all night, but if he was going to do that, he wanted to do that in his bed.  Scooping her up into his arms, he carried her to his bedroom.  He was about to shut the door, but stopped.

“What’s the matter?” she asked softly, sensing Derek’s hesitation.

“I want us to be able to hear Emery.  The monitor’s out there and I want to make sure we hear her incase she needs us.”

If Kayleigh hadn’t been sure about wanting Derek before, that statement made her certain.  There was so much more to him than she had ever imagined; so much more than what she thought she knew from their first meeting.  Derek’s passion for his business was a given; it was his passion for the people that he cared about that was quickly becoming his most endearing quality.

Laying her gently on his bed, Derek could only stop and stare. He didn’t bring women to his home; he certainly never brought one to this bed.  Knowing that Kayleigh was the first had him suddenly feeling nervous.  Would she read too much into this?  Was she right in her declarations of a week ago that this would be a bad idea?

“Derek,” she whispered, her eyes showing her own uncertainty.  “Please.”

Any thoughts of turning back vanished.  He was destined for this moment and rather than focus on the reasons why this may not be a good idea, all he wanted to do was embrace the reasons that it was.  With one knee on the bed, he pulled his shirt over his head.  Earlier Kayleigh had changed into a pair of flannel pajama pants and another classic rock t-shirt.  She shouldn’t have looked so damn sexy, but she did.

One large hand trembled slightly as he reached out and skimmed a hand under the t-shirt.  “
Have I mentioned how much I enjoy your variety of pajamas?”

Unable to help herself, Kayleigh let out a laugh.  “Oh, yeah; I’m sure.”

He chuckled with her.  “What’s that supposed to mean?’

“Not too long ago, I had a rather detailed education on the importance of sexy lingerie.  Right now I’m feeling a bit sorry that I didn’t pay more attention.  This was certainly not what I had hoped to be wearing the first time you and I…” She stopped herself before she admitted any more.

“So you have thought about you and I making love,” he said huskily and watched her nod.  “Good; I’m glad I’m not the only one.”   His hand continued its journey and Derek found that he liked making her squirm.  Her body was so beautiful, so perfect, that every move was a turn-on.  She sighed his name.  “It wouldn’t matter to me if you were wearing lace or flannel; I want you, Kayleigh.”

And then he poured everything he had into proving it to her.

****

Emery woke up a little after midnight.  Kayleigh went to get up but Derek stopped her.  “I’ll go get her.”  She was momentarily stunned.  “Do you even know how to change her?” she asked with a chuckle. 

He shrugged.  “I guess we’re going to find out.”

That had Kayleigh on the verge of jumping up, but she felt suddenly shy of doing so while completely naked.  Sensing her unease, Derek pulled out one of his shirts that would easily pass for a dress on her
and placed it on the bed.  “You get her bottle, and I’ll take care of her.”  Leaning down, he kissed her softly before heading up to get his niece.

They met up in the kitchen, but when Kayleigh went to take Emery into the living room as had been their ritual, Derek took her by the hand and led her back to the bedroom.  She looked at him questioningly, but followed.  Together, the three of them sat in the bed, semi-under the blankets and
lay close together while the baby ate.  Kayleigh’s heart ached at what they were doing.  In a perfect world this wouldn’t be a temporary situation; this would be their reality. 

Her.  Derek.  A baby.

This would be her home and there would be no threat of it coming to an end at any moment.  Tears began to well in her eyes and when Derek saw that, his gut clenched.  “Kayleigh?  Sweetheart?  Are you okay?  Are you in pain?”  He made to take Emery from her, but she held the infant close.

She shook her head and wiped away a stray tear.  “I guess it’s all just catching up with me.  These last two weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind and then with the attack today and being here with you tonight…”  She stopped and looked up at him.  “I think the lines of fantasy and reality are starting to get blurred.”

Derek understood that more than she knew.  It was getting too easy to get used to having her here and pretending that this little family was really his.  Kayleigh made him want it to be true.  He didn’t want to think about what was going to happen when Brian got back; didn’t want to imagine what it was going to be like to come home at the end of the day to an empty house.  Would he go back to working seemingly endless hours?  Would he and Kayleigh even continue their relationship or would everything come to an end once Emery moved out?

He didn’t want to think about it.  For right now, this moment, Derek Sloan had it all.  He pulled Kayleigh close and kissed her head and together they sat in silence until Emery had fallen back to sleep.  Derek took the baby back up to the nursery and he found that he was relieved to find Kayleigh waiting for him back in the bed.  On some level, he feared that by the time he got back, she’d have her own pajamas back on and saying that she wanted to sleep in her own room.

Silently, he stalked across the room and stripped before climbing back into bed beside her.  She instantly moved into his arms and Derek thought that this was as close to heaven as a man could get.  He’d take every moment of it while he could because he had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before it was nothing more than a memory.

For three days and three nights, it was bliss.  Kayleigh found herself walking around singing for no reason and sometimes would actually pinch herself to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming.  Life was perfect.  Emery was happy and content, Kayleigh herself had a perpetual smile on her face and Derek?  Well, from the way that he greeted her every morning when he woke up and every night when he came home, she felt pretty confident in saying that he was pretty damn happy, too.

It wasn’t something they openly discussed, but Kayleigh had moved into Derek’s bedroom.  Her things still remained upstairs in the bedroom across from the nursery, but she wasn’t sleeping up there any longer.  Every night, after Emery went to sleep, Derek made love to her.  It was as if he would patiently wait all day, but once the baby was down for the night, he could no longer hold back.

Kayleigh loved that about him.

They would make love for hours and then seemingly talk for hours about their lives, the business and just whatever came to mind.  Kayleigh was certain that her sleep time had been cut in half if not more, but she had never felt more alive. 

On a whim, she took Emery on a little shopping trip to the mall.  The baby had a small growth-spurt and that was the original reasoning for needing to go, but once they got there, Kayleigh decided on a little shopping of her own.  Valentine’s Day was only two weeks away and she was fairly hopeful that she’d be spending it with Derek.  Although he said that he didn’t mind her funky sleeping attire, she was hoping to do exactly as Carol had said and break out of her comfort zone and buy something racy to wear for him.

After a quick stop in the baby department to get a couple of new outfits for Emery, Kayleigh placed her purchases in the basket under the stroller and walked determinedly to the lingerie department.  Just being there had her feeling weird.  She kept glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching her or mocking her choices. 

Yes, because everyone in the store cares about your underwear
, she muttered to herself.  The simple silk nighties drew her in first, but then she remembered how her friend had called them tame.  Maybe to her, but for Kayleigh, they were a big step. 
Be daring!
Her inner voice prodded. 

Moving on to the next rack she found ones that were a little slinkier, a little sexier and before she could change her mind, she found one in her size and put it on top of the stroller.  It was primarily red silk, but the bodice was all sheer lace.  There was a slit in the side which, to her, seemed ridiculous since it was already fairly scandalously short. 

Walking through the last of the racks, she decided that while the nightie was for Valentine’s Day, she might try and build up to it by buying just some frilly underwear to surprise Derek with tonight.  While she always wore what she considered to be very feminine undies, she never wore something that was overly sexy.  Like a thong.  Feeling very naughty, she grabbed a black one and then found a sexy matching push up bra and put them both under the red silk to hide them from people walking by.

The image of Derek’s reaction had her practically racing from the store to go home and try them on.  He might say that it didn’t matter what she was wearing, but Kayleigh had a feeling that might change once he saw her in these skimpy little items.  As much as she loved them and was proud of herself for buying them, she secretly hoped that Derek would take one look at them and rip them from her body.

Her.  Little Kayleigh Mitchell.  Sex kitten.  She smiled at the nickname.  Who knew?

****

Funny thing about being happy, sometimes it’s short-lived.

Kayleigh had Emery bathed and ready for bed a little earlier than usual.  She herself had taken a shower and had moisturized her body in her favorite scented stuff in anticipation of the night to come.  Her new underwear felt very decadent on her and while she always enjoyed their time eating together, tonight she couldn’t seem to wait to be done with it.

A glance at the clock showed that it was almost six-thirty.  Derek would be home any minute.  He hadn’t called her like he usually did on his way home, but Kayleigh just figured that he had forgotten.  Dinner was cooking at the table was set.  She had lit a fire in the fireplace and now all she needed was for Derek to come home.

The sound of a car door slamming had her heart rate kicking up.  “Here we go,” she said with a hand on her nervous tummy.  Would he like the way she set up a romantic evening?  Would he be pleased by her new purchases?  The sound of a second car door brought her out of her own thinking as she walked toward the front door and came to a halt as it opened. 

Derek walked in and one look at his face and Kayleigh knew that something was wrong.  She was just about to speak when she caught sight of someone behind him. 

Bri
an.

The prodigal son had returned.

****

Kayleigh felt as if the world beneath her fell away and she almost fainted.  Derek sensed it and immediately came to her aid and wrapped an arm around her waist and led her into the kitchen.  Emery was in her infant swing and Derek cursed the fact that all of this was happening now.  He took in the fire in the fireplace and the scent of whatever it was that Kayleigh had prepared for dinner.  He would have given anything for it to not end like this.  Now.

Ever.

Her eyes frantically searched his, willing him to say something, anything!  “Kayleigh
Mitchell, this is my brother Brian.”  Was all he said as his brother strolled into the kitchen.

“Wow, nice set up,” Bri
an said, but his tone was smarmy and Kayleigh had a feeling he wasn’t referring to the décor.  “So, is this her?” He motioned toward Emery.