I replace it. “I’ll keep looking. Might take a minute. What time are you done? I could give you and Lucy a ride.”
She arches an eyebrow. “No bookstores in Brooklyn?”
“Not owned by my teammate’s fiancée,” I reply.
“I’m off in ten minutes.”
The checkout process is mercifully swift. The clerk—a woman who looks barely out of her teens—leans on the counter with that bored confidence people mistake for poise. Her gaze flits over the small mountain of books, then settles back on me, holding just a moment too long.
She likes what she sees, but I don’t bed women that young or naïve enough to think that after one fuck that I could possibly want more.
“I’d ask if you found everything,” she says casually, “but I imagine you did.”
“Yes,” I reply, swiping my card and placing it back into my wallet.
Her smile flickers, as if she’d hoped for more. I fold the receipt neatly into my pocket.
Lucy stirs in the office, and a soft sound escapes her, then her head lifts—those sleepy eyes blinking as if she’s confused about her surroundings. They lock onto me instantly.
“Faulker,” she mumbles, voice heavy with sleep, which is not like her.
“Hello, Lucy,” I whisper as I walk around the counter, not asking or needing permission to do so, and I gather her up.
She exhales and buries her forehead in my collarbone. Instinctively, I shift her weight—one hand firm at her back, the other cradling her legs. She’s too warm. A mild fever.
“We’ll go to the car,” I tell her. “You can rest.”She nods once, completely surrendered.
I push the door open with my shoulder and step into the sunlight just as Hildy rounds the corner, startled by the sight of me carrying Lucy. She glances from Lucy to me, then to the bag in my hand.
“She woke up,” I say quietly. “I’m quite sure she’s got a fever.”
Worry threads through Hildy’s calm façade.
“I’ll take that,” she says, easing my bag from my grasp. “I’ll grab my things and meet you outside.”
“Mommy, I need Axel.” Lucy whimpers.
Mommy.
Hildy leans in to brush Lucy’s hair back and kisses her forehead. “I’ll be right there.”
Lucy watches her go, then settles again, cheek pressed to my shoulder. “I feel yucky.”
I adjust my hold and continue toward the car, pace steady, careful not to jostle her. She smells sweet still, like she does, but warm.
By the time we reach the BMW, her breathing has evened out again, small and steady against my chest.
I unlock the back door, ready to get her settled, already recalculating the rest of the evening.
Some plans can be postponed.
This isn’t one of them.
Hildy attempts to lift Lucy, and something inside me snaps. “Not happening,” I growl, the words spilling out before I can catch them.
As we step into thehouse, I realize how counterproductive that was, but it pales in comparison to the scene unfolding before us.
“Hey, Lucy, what’s going on, girl?” Hank asks, his girlfriend hovering beside him.
