Free The Christmas Baby by Eve Gaddy Page A

sister. She’d told Mark she couldn’t have children. Which could only mean…“You and Jack are adopting a baby? No kidding?”
    She nodded, that blissful expression that women get when they talk of babies settling on her face. “We finished the paperwork last week. Now we just have to wait until they call us.”
    “That’s great, Ava.”
    “There was a time I thought I’d never be a parent. But Jack changed my life. And even though Cole’s a teenager, I’ve had him to practice on,” she said and laughed.
    “It seems to me that babies are a lot different from teenagers.”
    “I’m sure you’re right.” Ava peered at him closely. “So how are you doing with Will? The truth, not just the line you feed everyone.”
    “Better. Since Faith’s been with us, he’s stopped crying constantly. And sometimes I think he’s actually starting to like me.” He was a good kid. He’d taken to sitting in Brian’s lap and snuggling against him while Brian read the paper. He seemed even happier when Brian read stories to him, which he’d been trying to do every night.
    “I’m sure he loves you, Brian,” Ava said and patted his hand.
    Brian wasn’t, but he kept his mouth shut.
    “I’m so glad it’s working out for you and Faith,” Ava continued. “I don’t know her very well but she seems so sweet. And Gail says it’s obvious she’s crazy about Will.”
    “She is sweet,” he said. Very sweet. Pretty. Sexy. Damn it, he had to get rid of these thoughts.
    “What’s with the funny look? You’re not thinking about—” She broke off as Faith came into the kitchen and the moment was lost.
    Good. He didn’t need a lecture about how he should keep his hands off his son’s nanny. Like he didn’t know that.
    Later, he wound up squeezed onto the sofa beside Maggie Barnes while they ate dinner. Maggie was with the Aransas City police department, though she wasn’t on duty today. “How’s your little boy doing?” she asked. “He sure was screaming when I pulled you over.”
    “He spent about the first week with me crying all the time but he’s calmed down now. He’s doing all right.” He looked around and spied his mother with Will on her hip talking to Mark, Cat and the baby. “I don’t think my mom’s let go of him since we got here.”
    “I can’t blame her. He’s a cutie.”
    “Is that why you only gave me a warning?” he asked, falling into an easy flirtation. Maggie was a very attractive redhead. She might be just the person to take his mind off of a certain blonde. He turned his head and saw Faith seated some distance away. She had Lily in her lap and a guy someone had mentioned was a single friend of Jack’s seated beside her, trying to ply her with food and drink.
    “Could be,” Maggie said, smiling. “Or I might have just been in a good mood that day.”
    He and Maggie continued to talk. Brian tried to ignore Faith and her newfound friend, but without much success. Now the guy was holding Lily so Faith could eat. Didn’t the joker know not to hold the baby like that? What if she fell off his lap? Why would Faith let some strange guy hold Lily?
    Disgusted, he focused on the woman beside him. “Are you off duty tomorrow night? Or Saturday night?”
    “Why?”
    “Have dinner with me. You pick the night, whenever you’re off.”
    A smile played around her mouth. “I like you, Brian. You’re a nice guy.”
    “I sense a but coming on.”
    “I’m a cop. Which means I notice things. And one of the things I noticed while you’ve been sitting here flirting with me is the pretty blonde with the baby over there who keeps staring at you when she thinks you’re not looking at her. And I also noticed that you, my friend,” she tapped him on the knee, “keep staring at her when you think she’s not looking at you.”
    Brian started to deny it but Maggie laughed and shook her head. “I make it a policy not to date a man who’s hung up on another woman. So, no, I’ll have to take a