Protecting His Kidnapped Family - Leslie North Page 0,15
miles, past flora and fauna and all kinds of things that at a different time, in a different place, Serena would have been eager to study and photograph. As it was now, she just longed to see some signs of peaceful civilization again.
At least Noah seemed to have moved beyond his initial freak-out and had settled into fatherhood nicely. She gave him a side glance and didn’t miss the small smile on his lips as he gazed down periodically to check on Gracie. She also couldn’t help but noticing the comfortable way he held the baby against him now, the earlier tension gone. Noah might not have a lot of experience with kids, but he was a natural, if the way Gracie was responding to him was any indication.
Finally, a couple hours later, the baby started fussing and Serena stopped to check her watch. Yep. Feeding time again. They found a secluded spot just off the path and she took Gracie to feed her. Afterward, she handed the baby back to Noah to burp her while she got out supplies from the knapsack.
“Does she always take to new people this way?” he asked, holding the tiny girl over his shoulder and rubbing her back like Serena had shown him. “She seems quite comfortable with me.”
“She likes you,” Serena said, hiding her smile. “You can hand her back to me, if you want. She’s going to need—” Before she could finish her sentence a long, loud, wet squelching sound came out of Gracie, and it wasn’t from her mouth. Noah’s eyes grew comically big as he stared at Serena and she couldn’t help but laugh this time. “—a diaper change. C’mon, hand her over. Unless you want a crash course in that today too.”
While she changed Gracie, Noah looked anywhere but at them, having taken one glace at the old diaper’s contents and gagged. Serena shook her head and snorted. “Look at silly Daddy. He’s a big tough SEAL and can’t stand one stinky diaper.”
“I can stand it just fine,” he said, though his queasy tone suggested the opposite. “I just need to strategize our next moves, that’s all.”
“Uh huh. Sure.” She finished cleaning Gracie off and disposing of the soiled diaper in the plastic bag she’d tucked into the knapsack, then got her changed and ready to roll again. “All right. I’ll take the sling again, if you want. My turn.”
He handed the thing over to her—a bit reluctantly, she noted—and they were off. This time to distract herself, Serena started a game for them while Gracie napped once more. “What are you going to do once we’re out of this jungle? Me, I’m going to take a nice hot bath, then bathe Gracie before dressing us both in the softest, most luxurious jammies and then sleeping for twelve straight hours, not counting feeding, of course. What about you?”
Noah scowled straight ahead, not looking at her. “I’m going to work and keep working. I’m on a mission here and that’s to keep you and the baby safe.”
“Jeez.” She gave him a look. “I was just trying to have a little fun. What’s your problem now?”
“Nothing’s my problem,” he said, daring a glance over at Gracie. “You need to hold her up higher. She doesn’t like to be slouched down like that.”
Serena frowned, but looked down at Gracie and noticed that she did look a little uncomfortable—so she gave her back to Noah, even as she was wondering who died and made him the baby expert already. Then just as fast as that idea came into her head, another followed on its heels. He’d liked carrying Gracie. He’d not wanted to stop. Huh. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. At first glance, it was good news. Noah was Gracie’s father and they should bond. On the other hand, up until yesterday it had just been the two of them against the world. Serena wasn’t entirely sure she was ready to give all that up yet, especially to a man who’d breezed in and out of her life in one night, only to crash back into it again a year later. Literally. When she looked over at him once more, he was watching her closely, his blue eyes stormy as if he was going through the same battle inside himself. Before she could ask him, though, he strode on ahead of her, tromping through the rainforest with heavy footsteps.
“Come on, we need to keep moving if we’re going to reach