Free Autumn Wish by Stacey Joy Netzel Page B

blame her for not trusting him—he didn’t trust himself.
    Finally, she hugged the baby to her chest and faced Sam as she rocked back and forth. “She’s fine, and she will be fine, and so will you.”
    He blew out a weary breath that was a combination of relief and frustration. “I’m not so sure. If I can’t sleep, how am I going to work, much less care for her?” He swiped both hands though his hair and locked his fingers behind his head. “Nikki, I don’t know if I can do this.”
    “You can do it, Sam. You’re not even two days in.”
    “Exactly,” he exclaimed, extending his arms over his head before dropping them to his sides. “If I can’t handle two days, how am I going to handle the rest of her life? Those papers said permanent custody!”
    The weight of those words on his tired mind dropped him to the couch. A moment later, Nikki’s bare legs moved into his line of vision, then she sat next to him. Her hand covered his where it gripped his thigh.
    “You did the right thing coming to get me. Now you need to go get some sleep. I’ll take care of Ella, and we’ll talk through everything later. It’s going to be fine.”
    Her calm, quiet voice and the comforting squeeze of her fingers on his quelled the rising tide of panic. She was right, sleep first, then talk. He nodded, looked into her concerned blue eyes, and believed her promise.
    “Okay.”
    She rose to her feet, giving him room to move past the coffee table, and he headed for the stairs. His boot hit the first stair when her bemused voice carried across the room.
    “What happened here?”
    He saw her standing in the doorway to the kitchen and remembered the last time he’d been in there. Shit.
    “Turns out I can’t make coffee one-handed, and Ella’s got one hell of a kick.”
    Picturing the coffee grounds spilled all over the counter and the floor, he heaved a sigh and headed in her direction.
    “I got it, go to bed.” Nikki waved him back toward the stairs. “Go,” she insisted when he hesitated.
    Too tired to argue, he did as she ordered. In his room, he sat on the bed, intending to take his boots off. What energy was left drained out of him, and he dropped back onto the bed, rubbing his burning eyes.
    Next thing he knew, he was dreaming of long, bare legs, a green satin robe, a pair of extremely kissable lips, pretty blue eyes, and sleep-tousled blond hair. Man, she was beautiful.
    “Sam.”
    Soft and seductive, her voice took over his dreams. Mmm . Even better, she smelled like fresh brewed coffee.
    She said his name again, and he rolled over to see her sitting on the edge of his bed with a mug in her hand. A couple blinks, her gray zip-up sweatshirt and jeans, and her long hair combed back into a cute ponytail convinced him he was no longer dreaming.

 
    Chapter 9
     
    Nikki smiled as awareness chased the sleep from Sam’s eyes. It’d been so tempting to reach over and run her fingers through the unruly hair on his forehead, but the memory of his brush-off last night had kept the urge in check. She suspected it was something Eric said, but since she hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to her brother-in-law last night, she didn’t want to assume anything.
    “Good morning.”
    “Hey. Where’s Ella?”
    The low, raspy tone of his sleep-mellow voice set off a flutter deep in her belly.
    “She’s sleeping in the crib.”
    He pushed himself up to sit against the headboard and accepted the mug she handed over. “Thanks.”
    “I hope it’s okay. I didn’t know how you take it so I added a little of both.”
    He took a sip. “Usually just cream, but this is fine. Really good, actually.”
    As he swallowed a second, larger mouthful of the lightly sweetened caffeine, she noted he still looked tired, but not as wiped out as before.
    “What time is it?”
    She stood up and headed for the door. “Almost seven-thirty. I’d have let you sleep longer, but I have to go to work and didn’t know what time your daycare