Call Her Mine (Harmony Pointe #1)- Melissa Foster Page 0,29

“There’s a chance she’s not yours, but who would leave a baby on someone’s porch if she wasn’t sure he was its father?”

“That’s why my bet is on her being Ben’s,” Aurelia said, averting her eyes from Ben.

“It is?” He hadn’t even gone there in his mind yet.

Aurelia nodded, finally meeting his gaze. “It makes sense, Ben.”

“Maybe,” he admitted. “I don’t know what makes sense in this situation. For all I know she’s trying to nail me as the father so I’ll pay her off.” He pushed to his feet, unable to sit still with that thought rattling around in his head again.

“You could be right, but I doubt it.” Piper put the bottle down and lifted B to her shoulder, patting her back. “If someone wanted money they’d blackmail you about the baby, not give her to you.”

All he knew was that he wanted two things at that moment—to have Aurelia beside him and Baby B in his arms. He’d wanted Aurelia for so long, wanting her closer made perfect sense. But the emotions he’d already developed toward the baby were harder to understand. They didn’t fit into his view of himself or his future, and that threw him off balance.

“I’m on the verge of the biggest deal of my life, and I just made my feelings for Aurelia clear after years of wanting her.” He turned to Aurelia and said, “You, wanting you. This timing sucks.”

“Years . . . ?” Aurelia said softly.

He nodded. Needing something to do, he grabbed the towels from the duffel bag and layered them on the floor.

“What are you doing?” Piper asked.

“Getting ready to change her diaper. She’ll poop in about a minute. I swear she’s a shit machine.”

“She goes a lot,” Aurelia said as she dug through the duffel bag and withdrew wipes and diapers.

“Okay, first of all, this”—Piper waved her finger between the two of them—“this is the stuff Dumb and Dumber is made of. Why would you bring towels to Aurelia’s apartment? She lives here. She has towels.”

“I don’t know,” Ben snapped. “I didn’t think about what I was bringing. I just shoved everything I could possibly need into the bags so we weren’t stuck without something.”

“Have you ever heard of a changing pad?” Piper asked with a hint of amusement. She kissed B’s cheek and said, “It looks like Auntie Piper will have to go shopping because Bachelor Ben is a numbskull. I don’t know what Aurelia’s excuse is, but I’ll get you all set up with proper baby stuff.”

Ben glared at her.

“Just because we don’t have experience with babies doesn’t mean we’re stupid,” Aurelia said. “It just means we’ve come upon a situation in which we have no experience.” She grabbed a bag from the counter and dumped a pile of books on the couch beside Piper. “Give us a day and we’ll know everything there is to know about babies.”

Ben couldn’t hide his shock at the pile of baby and parenting books. “You said you couldn’t do this . . . ?” And then you went out and bought these books?

“Yeah, well . . .” Aurelia sighed. “That wasn’t about the baby. I had intended to tell you how I felt about you—not quite in the same way you showed me—but you were standing there wearing nothing but a towel, and my brain went blank.”

Ben grinned, suppressing the urge to exclaim, Hell yeah!

Piper thrust the baby into his hands and said, “This is getting to be way too much information for me. What’s your plan, Ben? When do you get the paternity results?”

“No idea. Soon, I hope.” He kissed B’s cheek, inhaling the sweet baby scent he was becoming overly fond of. “Tomorrow we’re going to see the yoga instructor. I have to find out who the mother is.”

Piper arched a brow. “‘We’re’? You know you’re asking a lot from a woman whose tonsils you just inspected with your tongue.”

“Can we please not talk about that?” Aurelia said. She looked at Ben, and her cheeks pinked up again.

Piper held her hands up and said, “Right. Well, Ben, I think you’d better get this shit under control before Sunday, when we’re going to see Mom and Dad at Willow and Zane’s for dinner.” Willow and Zane were hosting a family dinner since their parents, and Bridgette and Bodhi, would be back in town. “I’ve got some free time tomorrow. Why don’t I babysit so you can track down that yoga chick? I’ll swing by the baby store tonight