Call Her Mine (Harmony Pointe #1)- Melissa Foster Page 0,14

kissed the baby’s temple the same way he kissed hers, and her heart melted every single time.

“Seems like you’re getting pretty attached.”

Ben’s brow wrinkled. “Why? Because I’m trying to keep her happy?”

“Peanut?”

“Look at her. She’s as small as a peanut.” The baby started crying, and he stood up and paced with her. “Trust me, I’m not getting attached. The last thing I want is a baby that needs constant attention just to stay alive. I’m on the cusp of one of the biggest deals of my life. Barrister Hotels is an international conglomerate of boutique hotels. It requires my full concentration, and once the deal goes through, I’ll be traveling internationally for the next several months. I’m nowhere near ready for this type of commitment.”

Aurelia knew all of that, and it was one of the reasons she’d finally forced herself to move away. But seeing him with B and hearing him talk so affectionately, she’d wondered if he’d momentarily lost sight of all of that. It was silly of her to think Ben Businessman Dalton would put anything before business in the long run.

“I’m just doing what anyone else would do in this situation,” he said. The baby cried louder. “Shh. It’s okay.” He touched his lips to the baby’s head again, and then he looked at Aurelia and said, “I’m trying to keep my shit together until we figure out the bottom line.”

The door opened and Vic breezed in, closing the door behind him as he said, “Good to see you, Ben, Aurelia. Aurelia, I was sorry to hear about your grandfather passing away. How’s your grandmother holding up?”

“Thank you. She’s doing well,” she said, wincing as the baby’s cries escalated.

“I see Ben’s still adept at making girls cry.”

Ben gave him a disapproving, serious look and said, “You have no idea how loud this baby can cry. Thanks for seeing us so quickly.”

“And covertly,” Vic reminded him. “How long has she been crying like that?”

“Just a few minutes,” Aurelia said. “She cried earlier, but she’d had a diaper blowout.”

“And she cries so hard it seems like she stops breathing,” Ben said.

“But she doesn’t,” Aurelia explained. “Her cries taper off and she goes silent for a second or two, and then she wails again.”

“That’s common.” Vic put his hands on his hips, brows knitted. “When’s the last time she ate?”

Ben looked at Aurelia, like she had the answers.

“A few hours ago,” Aurelia said. “Actually, she cried then, too. It was shortly after we found her.”

“She’s probably hungry,” Vic said. “When they’re this young, they eat every few hours. You’d be smart to carry a bottle and diapers with you at all times.” His gaze ran over Ben’s tousled hair, thicker-than-usual scruff, and damp T-shirt.

When he glanced at Aurelia, she realized she was still wearing Ben’s shirt, which hung halfway down her thighs, and the front was wet from bathing the baby. She picked up the hem of the shirt and tied it in a knot at her hip. “We haven’t showered. The morning’s been a little crazy.” The second the words left her mouth, she regretted them. We haven’t showered sounded very much like they’d slept together. She quickly added, “We fell asleep watching a movie last night. As friends, not . . .”

Ben chuckled.

“No judgment here,” Vic said. “Most new parents look disheveled and sleep deprived for the first couple months.”

“We’re not her parents,” Ben reminded him.

“We’ll see about paternity soon enough,” Vic said. “Where’s your baby bag?”

“Oh shoot. I forgot it,” she said, and looked at Ben. The guilt in his eyes was palpable, but she should have remembered. He’d had his hands full with the baby.

“No worries. You’ve only had a few hours with a baby. You’ll learn these things.” He pressed a button on his phone and spoke into it. “Britt, can you bring me a new-parent pack and a bottle of formula, please?”

When he was done, Ben said, “Hopefully we won’t need to learn too many baby rules. This is so screwed up.”

“There are worse things in life than being handed a beautiful baby girl. She’s a lucky one,” Vic said. “Her mother cared enough to give her to you, her supposed father. Thousands of infants suffer far worse fates.”

Ben’s shoulders rounded, and his hands spread over the head and back of the baby, like he was trying to protect her from those worse fates.

There was a knock at the door, and Vic blocked whoever it was from coming into the room as he retrieved