Mam’s hand clasped my arm, and she breathed, “Oh, Donovan.”
I held Rosie’s hand in mine and took Ma’s with my other, and together we got to our feet, all the while my lungs felt as if they were about to burst.
Imogen had the top of her head tucked into Jen’s neck, clutching the raggy doll I’d given her to her chest. My lips quirked when I noticed she was wearing one of the outfits I’d bought: a little blue-and-white chequered top with tiny straps that tied over her shoulders paired with matching shorts. A big, white, stretchy bow covered her hair.
Her eyes met mine and locked. She lifted her little head and cocked it to one side, studying me sagely, as if she were a wise old woman sizing me up.
I gave her The Grin and The Dimple.
Her beautiful rosebud lips stretched into a smile, and she gave me the exact same dimple right on back.
“Hey,” I blurted, my heart melting all over the floor.
She stared at me with owlish eyes for a while, and then something beautiful happened. Imogen turned to Jen and touched her face gently before her elegant little neck swiveledback to me, and she leaned outward and stretched her arms in my direction with a silent instruction for me to come get her.
Mam let out a quiet sob.
Rosie inhaled sharply.
Aislynn sighed happily.
Tears sprang into my eyes.
An invisible force propelled me forward, and as if my girl was made from the finest, most precious porcelain, I carefully took her from Jen and gathered her securely in one arm.
She wriggled her little diaper-covered butt, finding a nook she liked, clasped her soft hands tightly around my neck, and studied my face curiously.
Something warm and right slid through my gut.
Imogen released my neck with one hand, grabbed a fistful of my shirt, then pressed her cheek right up against mine, and in a soft, sweet baby voice, she babbled, “Baba.”
My throat went tight, and I inhaled her sweet, clean scent, squeezing my eyes closed to help me breathe through the myriad feelings hitting me from all directions. I was in danger of breaking down because I realized something. Even though I never knew my daughter existed, I’d missed her. It was like a part of me knew she was out there somewhere, needing me, and that was why my soul could never settle.
I cracked my eyes back open, met her steady gaze, and greeted her with a quiet, “Hey.”
Imogen reached out and patted a soft little palm against my cheek, studying me with her all-knowing gaze. After a beat, she tucked her forehead under my chin like it had always been her special place, and we’d just lost track of each other for a while, and then she sighed contentedly.
In that moment, with my daughter’s tiny head tucked under my chin, and her solid little heartbeat thumping against mine, I was certain of one thing.
We belonged to each other.
CHAPTER 11
ROSIE
I’d fucked up.
In spite of all my bravado and self-imposed rules, I’d only gone and slept with Donovan O’Shea, though thankfully, not in the biblical sense.
It was pretty much a given that I was a sucker for a hot guy with bright blue eyes, muscles, and ink. It was another given that I’d been fighting the urge to pounce on him since the moment he’d whispered dirty things to me in the bathroom at his brother’s wedding, but contrary to popular belief, I wasn’t a complete idiot.
There was also the small fact that his daughter slept just feet away from us in the hotel room, her tiny, deep breaths alerting me to the fact that after days of asking myself if I’d slipped into an alternate reality, she was very there and very real.
My body instantly became aware of Donovan pressed tightly against my back by the scorching heat of his skin burning against mine. His muscular arm was locked possessively across my waist, and our legs were entwined together like vines. His deep breaths pulsed against my neck, sending tiny, pleasurable shivers through my body that awoke something inside me that had lain dormant since the last time he held me this way.
I wanted him, and it wasn’t just about the way he made my body feel.
It was so much more.
