4
Payne finished his set of deadlifts and peeked to see how Hunter was doing. Unsurprisingly, Hunter was off by himself on the other side of the gym, but his face was more relaxed than usual. Working out wasn’t a cure-all, but it couldn’t hurt, so Payne had convinced Hunter to meet him in the gym at headquarters for some exercise before they headed to the site for the night. Although Hunter still kept his distance from the other men, including Payne, he seemed to get a respite once he sank deep enough into his workout for the repetitions to take him out of himself, if only for a little while. That alone made it worthwhile for Payne.
He was gladsomethingwas working because he wasn’t having much success with getting Hunter to talk to him. From what he could tell, Hunter was experiencing the typical mood cycles that followed in the aftermath of trauma. Sometimes, Hunter smiled a little at overhearing some of the men’s ribald teasing even if he didn’t join in. Other times, his face was a stony mask. Sometimes, he seemed to pay attention to Payne’s nattering about favorite books and movies, but then he’d withdraw into himself again, and Payne knew to stop talking.
Hunter had his good days and bad days, and there was no way to predict what kind of mood Hunter would be in from day to day. Payne took stock when he saw Hunter, looking for the subtle signs that would tell him whether to back off or take a chance at burrowing a little further under the walls. The process was slow and sometimes frustrating because Payne couldn’t tell if he was helping or making any progress, but he kept trying because he felt like Hunter needed him, even if Hunter didn’t want to admit it to himself, much less to Payne.
Payne was about to change the weights on his bar so he could move on to back squats when he noticed the other guys in the room abandoning their workout equipment and flocking to the door. Curious, he glanced over and saw Alec Davis and his partner, Jon Baldwin, standing just inside the room. Payne had gotten over being star struck — well, mostly over. He still had a damned hard time not getting fluttery in the stomach and blushing when Jon looked directly at him because Jon’s default charisma setting seemed to be eleven. Still, he was used to being around Jon enough that he could be cool about it, so he sauntered over to see what was going on.
As he approached, he saw Jon was holding a bundle wrapped in a seafoam green blanket, and then he remembered hearing some time ago about Alec and Jon trying to have a baby with a surrogate mother. Excited by the prospect of a new addition to the family, he quickened his pace and used his size to worm his way past the bigger men surrounding the couple.
“Everyone, meet Alexandra Siobhan Baldwin-Davis,” Alec announced, his smile so wide it looked as though it might split his face open. Alec had one arm around Jon’s waist, and as he looked down at the baby, it was impossible to miss the love and pride in his gaze.
Apparently, Alec was one of those tough men who went gooey over babies, which wasn’t a surprise. However, when Daryl Greer held out his arms to Jon, most of his fellow mercs looked stunned.
“Can I hold her?” D-Day asked. “I promise I know what I’m doing.”
“Of course,” Jon said, handing over Alexandra without hesitation. “I’m sure you’ve had plenty of practice with your nieces and nephews.”
“You got that right,” D-Day said, taking the baby with confidence and grinning down at her. “Look at you, pretty girl! With them big blue eyes, you’re gonna have the boys all over you. Uncle D-Day’s gonna teach you how to handle ‘em, don’t you worry. Ain’t no boy gonna be good enough for our girl.”
Herc had stepped into the room behind Alec and Jon. “You’ve done it, you know. You’re not going to be able to pry her away from D-Day for an hour.”
Alec nodded. “Yeah, I warned Jon about D-Day being a smooshball about kids.”
The smooshball was totally ignoring the other mercs and the movie star in the room and was cooing to the baby about teaching her how to kick ass as soon as she could crawl. Alec rolled his eyes and gestured to the other mercs. “Jon, I’m sure you remember most of these guys. Hey, Finn, how’s it going? And Mojo, and look, there’s Pita. How’s it going, Payne? When are you going to come out to California to become a stuntman? Jon is sure he can get you on with his studio.”
“I’ve got a couple of things to wrap up here first,” Payne said, chuckling. Sometimes he was tempted to give stunt work a try, but he wasn’t sure he’d find it as satisfying as the work he did for Herc.
He peered over D-Day’s arm at Alexandra, awed by how tiny she was. He had two nephews, but he’d been overseas when they were born, so he missed their infancy. “C’mon, D-Day, give the rest of us a chance,” he said, poking D-Day’s hard bicep.
Tearing his attention away from the baby, D-Day frowned down at Payne. “Oh, all right,” he grumbled. “But if you drop her, I don’t care how fast you are, I’m gonna kick your ass from here all the way to California.” He carefully passed the tiny girl over to Payne. “Make sure to support her head.”
For such a small person, she was surprisingly heavy, and Payne settled her against his chest, supporting her head as Daryl instructed. She stared up at him with owlish interest, and he stroked her soft cheek with his forefinger, his heart melting. He’d never thought about having kids before, but holding Alexandra showed him the appeal.
“She’s gorgeous,” he said, glancing up at Alec and Jon.
“We think so,” Jon said, his smile every bit as proud and besotted as Alec’s.
“Not that we’re biased or anything, but she really is the most perfect child ever born on the planet,” Alec said, his tone teasing. He glanced at the other mercs, and then looked beyond Payne, his eyes widening. “Hey, Hunter! I didn’t realize you were here. Won’t you come over to meet my husband and daughter?”
Payne glanced back over his shoulder, seeing that Hunter alone of all the mercs hadn’t stopped his work out to come greet the new arrivals. As Alec spoke to him, however, Hunter put down the free weights he was holding and ducked his head, not meeting Alec’s gaze. “Hey, Red,” he said quietly, then looked at Jon, though he didn’t make any move to come any closer. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Baldwin.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Jon said, giving Hunter a friendly wave.
Hunter inclined his head in acknowledgement, then picked up his weights again, turning away from the others and resuming his workout. Alec frowned and looked at Herc, who shook his head slightly. Fortunately, no one else seemed to notice, but Payne saw the worry and sympathy in Alec’s expression.
Hunter sounded polite enough, but Payne heard the remoteness in his voice. Hunter didn’t want to get near the baby, and Payne had a pretty good idea why. He was tempted to carry Alexandra over to Hunter and show him it was okay, but Payne didn’t want Hunter to feel cornered or damage what little camaraderie they had developed since working together. Instead, he handed her over to Mojo, who’d been hovering nearby, waiting his turn. Quietly excusing himself, Payne left the group and went over to join Hunter. He waited until Hunter finished his reps before speaking.
“You okay?”
Hunter put the weights back on the rack, then picked up his towel and wiped his face before glancing at Payne. “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I can think of several reasons,” Payne said. “But mostly I wanted to make sure you know you’re welcome to join us. The guys gave you a hard time the first day because it’s a running gag around here to see which newbies will underestimate me, but they’re good guys, not mean spirited.”
“Yeah, I know.” Hunter swiped the towel over his arms, then glanced at the group of men. “They know him better, so let them get it out of their systems. I’ll say hello before they go.”
Payne suspected Hunter would find a way to stall until Alec and Jon left, but he didn’t want to push Hunter into something he wasn’t ready for, so he nodded instead.
