Hammer used Deacon as shield, and when Solene drew too close, gave him a not-so-gentle nudge forward.
Deacon stumbled. “Son of a—”
“Here,” Solene snarled, though her hands remained careful as she placed the little girl in Deacon’s arms. “Hold Fiona.” She returned to the melee on the brightly colored play mats, separating the dueling redheads.
He froze as an adorable, grubby toddler stared up at him with wide blue eyes. Hammer’s laughter wasn’t helping.
Fiona patted his cheeks, her hands soft and tiny. “You’re pretty.”
“That’s what they all say.” He started to relax, in his element charming the ladies, be they three or—he considered Solene—thirty. Then again, everyonebutSolene found him delightful.
The adorable Fiona giggled, batted her eyelashes at him, and told him all about her brother, the mean destroyer of blocks, and her stuffed animals. He nodded, taken by her innocence, wondering if he’d ever been that pure. The little girl smiled until Hammer stepped closer, then she tried to hide in Deacon’s shirt.
“You’re scaring her,” he told his friend.
“I have that effect on women.” Hammer’s expression turned sly. “Kind of like your effect on Solene.”
“Aren’t you the comedian today?”
Hammer shrugged. “Well, funny beats depressing, and the news I found out isn’t going to make anyone happy.”
Deacon sharpened his attention. “Oh?”
He and Hammer had been dragged into a mess of epic proportions a month ago. A mystery woman had dropped a baby on Noel’s doorstep, claiming Noel had fathered him in Mexico. So of course, Noel tried to blame Deacon and Hammer for fathering the kid. Just because they’d all been in Sinaloa at the same time didn’t mean Deacon had been stupid enough to screw a woman without protection.
Not that it would have mattered anyway.
Hammer glanced from the little girl to Solene and back to Deacon. “I’ll tell you when we get back.”To Noel’s placewent unsaid.
Somehow Ice—Noel, he had to remind himself—had become their leader.Christ.Just thinking that made Deacon want to wash his brain out with bleach. He had no problem taking orders from his handler because Big Joe didn’t boss him around. He provided guidelines and support while Deacon took charge. Deacon’s assignments—his targets—were of his own choosing. Deacon prized the notion of control.
Still, Noel wasn’t a bad guy. Cold, meticulous, never failed in his missions. And now in love and supposedly retired. Crazy.
Deacon still had a hard time believing the ice man had decided to settle down. Mr. Bullseye now wanted nothing more than to plant tomatoes and play footsie with his hot girlfriend.
“You still buying that Noel’s going to quit the biz?”
Hammer shrugged. “Never would have thought, but he looks good with Addy. He’s all calm and shi—stuff.” Hammer cleared his throat when Fiona blinked her big blue eyes at him. “Point is, we need to be talking about this somewhere else. Somewhere more…secure.”
The big guy ducked as a foam ball flew past his head.
“You think?” Deacon snorted. “Gee, Hammer. Maybe we should makeyouthe brains of this operation.” He cradled Fiona, missing the feeling of a baby in his arms. He’d never have admitted it out loud, but he liked caring for Noel Jr.—what he and Hammer called the mystery baby at the crux of their current dilemma.
“Did someone say brains?” Solene asked from behind him.
He forced himself not to start, because no one took him by surprise. Except Solene, apparently. The woman had somehow gotten beneath his skin and no longer constituted a threat to his combat awareness. On a physical level, he could handle anything she threw at him. But on an emotional one? She scared him to death.
He didn’t know what to make of her. For a solid month, he’d done nothing but fantasize and obsess over her. He couldn’t understand it. He had looks, money, savvy. Women threw themselves at him without him having to try hard at all.
But Solene didn’t fall for any of his lines, his charm, or his looks. As gorgeous as she was, he knew his physical appeal wouldn’t be enough to snag her. Like him, she often had the opposite sex throwing themselves at her. Surely, she had to feel their chemistry. God knew he couldn’t look at her without getting hard.
This close, with her breath on the back of his neck, he had to force himself not to react as she rounded and took the girl from him. She handed Fiona off to Annie, who’d just gotten off her break, before saying something about leaving for the day, a few hours shy of her regular six p.m. quitting time.
“Great.” Hammer blew out a relieved breath. “Can we get something to eat now? I’m starving.”
“Why are you here?” she asked and, with a nod at Deacon, added, “Isn’t Prince Charming enough to guard me from whatever it is you’re still worried about?”
“Yes and no.” Hammer held up a huge hand to forestall her questions. “Look, we got some new info to share. Time to head back to central to discuss it.”
