Free His Best Mistake by Kristi Gold Page B

Lucine O’Brien’s genetic block. And he couldn’t discount Leah’s Venezuelan heritage on her great-grandfather’s side, either.
    He continued to marvel at his daughter’s features and recognized that every new dad most likely felt the way he did—that their kid was flawless. But as far as he was concerned, Carly was the portrait of perfection. Perfect face. Perfect hands. Perfect sweet disposition.
    Without warning, Carly screwed up her face, stuck out her bottom lip and let out a scream that could rival a car alarm. Feeling helpless, Kevin held her against his shoulder and rocked the chair rapidly, patting her back. And when that didn’t work, he got up and paced the room.
    Thankfully, he saw Leah appear, bottle in hand, and saying, “That’s her hungry cry.”
    “I gathered that,” Kevin replied as he took the bottle and sat back down in the rocker.
    Miraculously, the minute he stuck the nipple in Carly’s mouth, she fell silent, aside from some serious sucking sounds. Yeah, she was definitely hungry.
    Leah hovered above them, watching Kevin’s every move. “Make sure you keep the bottle tilted up so she doesn’t get much air in her tummy. A gassy baby is not a happy baby.”
    “Am I doing it right?” he asked.
    “Yes, you are.”
    “Do you plan to watch me until she’s done?”
    “I do.”
    Talk about the consummate mother hen. “I promise I’m not going to screw this up, so in the meantime, why don’t you go put the whirlpool to good use?”
    “I don’t think that’s such a great idea.”
    Frustration hit him full-force. “Listen, Leah, I supervise ten junior reporters and I have a master’s in journalism. I’ve even rebuilt a transmission and I made my mother a curio cabinet in high-school shop class. I’m capable of giving a baby a bottle on my own without—”
    “I meant I’m not sure taking a bath is a great idea. I might never want to get out.”
    Okay, so he’d engaged in some severe conclusion-jumping. But in light of her attitude, and lack of trust in him, who could blame him? “If you’re not out in thirty minutes, I’ll check on you.”
    “That won’t be necessary.” Leah bent and kissed Carly’s forehead. “I’ll be back in twenty.” When she looked down at where her palm rested on Kevin’s forearm, she jerked her hand away, as though she’d touched a radiator.
    Her reaction prompted Kevin to say, “It’s going to happen.”
    She pulled her arms tightly around her middle. “I don’t know what you mean.”
    “We’re going to touch each other every now and then, even if it’s only when we hand the baby to each other. You don’t have to make such a big deal of it and act like I have some communicable disease.”
    “I’m not making a big deal of it, and I won’t, as long as you understand that’s the only touching we’ll be doing.”
    She sounded to Kevin as if she might be trying to convince herself. “Understood.”
    She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “I’m going to take my bath now. Again, I won’t be long.”
    “Take your time. The towels are in the linen closet and Mallory stocked the shelf with aromatherapy stuff. Use whatever you’d like.”
    She began backing to the door. “Be sure to burp Carly after she’s finished. I’ll be back in time to put her to bed.”
    Once Leah had left the room, Kevin regarded Carly, who had already drained almost half the bottle. She paused long enough to smile at him.
    “What’s so funny, kiddo? Me giving you a bottle or your mom putting me in my place?”
    She reached up again and this time tweaked his nose. He took her hand and kissed it softly, watching as her eyes closed briefly and slowly opened again.
    Several times he’d heard his siblings talk about the joys of parenthood, but he’d never given it much thought until now. He never would’ve believed that holding a baby would be so satisfying. That he could feel such strong emotions for a child he’d only recently met. At least now he