“You’re not kidnapping her, are you?” I paused my jog, sweating and full of endorphins.
The man, who was carrying a blonde toddler with one hand and pushing a stroller with the other, startled. I recognized the little girl, but not him, which was unusual for the people in our ritzy neighborhood.
“You scared the shit out of me.” He let out a relieved breath. “I think if I were going to kidnap her, I’d have chucked her in the car and driven off. Harder to do that with a stroller she doesn’t want to sit in.”
I laughed and he relaxed a little more. “You know what? Fair enough.”
He raised a questioning eyebrow, forcing me to notice his gorgeous blue eyes and tidy dark blond hair. “Why do you think I’m kidnapping her?”
“Well, I know Lucy, but I don’t knowyou.” The girl was my neighbor’s daughter, and while I knew her from waving as I ran by on my jogs when the family was outside, I wasn’t close with her or her parents. My boyfriend wasn’t really into talking with the neighbors, but I always tried to be friendly. When the stranger didn’t offer his identity, I prompted him. “Gonna tell me who you are, stranger?”
“Sorry. Nathan Malone. I’m Ava’s older brother.” He held out his hand and I shook it, noting the lack of calluses. He probably did some sort of office work to have hands that soft. “I’m assuming you know my sister?”
“We’ve met a few times. Charlotte and I are friends, so I know her better, but Ava seems sweet.”
Charlotte and Ava’s history was a tangled web, but I knew the gist of it: Ava had been the unwitting mistress to Charlotte’s husband, and when the whole thing had blown up, the two of them had become friends, and the husband had very quickly become an ex for both of them. Now they both had loving packs of their own. Charlotte had moved out to a ranch not too far from the city and was expecting triplets pretty soon.
To say I was jealous that fate had dumped a pile of amazing scent matches into Charlotte’s lap wouldn’t beentirelyinaccurate.
I was happy for her, and I’d accepted my packless existence.
Mostly.
I’d been dating my alpha boyfriend for ten years, but Tyler wasn’t a scent match, and he was in no hurry to bond meormarry me. What did a girl have to do to get a ring or a bite around here?
“And what’s your name?” Nathan asked, bouncing Lucy when she fussed, then kissing her chubby cheek.
Be still my ovaries.
“Madison. I live right there.” I pointed to the house a couple of lots down.
Lucy wriggled, demanding to be put down, forcing Nathan to hold her hands. He was certainly tall enough to be an alpha, though his scent was muted and I struggled to catch it. Blockers, probably. I was usually on the daily dose ones when I knew I’d be running around buying product so I didn’t get my scent all over the merchandise, so I understood why some people kept their scent under wraps.
“Did you want to join us for a painfully slow walk?” Nathan asked.
“Sure. I’ve got to cool down after my run, anyway.” I adored winter in Vegas, mostly because I could get outside without melting into a puddle. Summer was for AC and my home gym, but winter was for working up a sweat in the great outdoors. If suburban Vegas could count as that. “Want me to handle the stroller?”
“That would be great, since I haven’t developed the ability to become an octopus yet.”
I took over pushing duty while he walked hunched over, Lucy marching down the sidewalk with his assistance. “How are you enjoying being an uncle?”
“It’s grown on me a lot. I used to live life on the road, but I moved here recently to avoid missing too much of this little gal growing up.”
That statement set off fireworks in my chest. I’d probably seen him a few times when he popped by, but not long enough to find out who he was. “That’s cute as hell.”
“Ava and I don’t have much family. Lucy has a flip-ton.”
I couldn’t help smiling at the swear modifier. Did he not normally swear, or was it because he was around little ears?
“But I’m committed to competing for the position of favorite uncle.”
“She has so many. I have to imagine that’s some stiff competition, sir.”
Nathan laughed. “Don’t I know it. Keeps me on my toes though.”
“So what did you do before you ended up here?”
“I was a junior architect. And don’t let the junior part fool you. It takes a billion flipping years to become a senior architect. I did a ton of traveling around the world with my mentor, and it was amazing, don’t get me wrong, but it’s nice to have a homebase again.”
