“Dinner at my house, your coffee date, and then your date, date on Saturday,” Jessica said, counting them off on her fingers.
“I don’t consider your house and the coffee meet-up actual dates.”
“They sound like a date,” Alex teased.
Charley rolled her eyes playfully. She knew she wasn’t going to win this debate.
“I still can’t believe how you guys met,” Bailey said, laughing.
Charley felt the heat creep into her cheeks. “It’s not like I planned it.”
Alex shook her head slowly, a grin spreading across her face. “That is the most ridiculously romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It did not feel romantic at the time,” Charley muttered. “At the time, it felt embarrassing.”
Bailey waved that off. “Nope. Doesn’t matter. Stranded on the water and rescued by a hot SEAL? That’s romance novel material.”
“That’s what I told her!” Jessica teased.
Charley snorted. “You guys are ridiculous.”
Alex’s smile softened as she reached for her drink. “For what it’s worth, Charley, you got lucky. Pierce is a really good guy. Quiet sometimes, but solid, loyal, and protective.” She tipped her head. “The kind you want in your corner.”
Charley’s chest warmed at that, because she already knew it. She’d seen it for herself. Still, hearing Alex say it made something soft settle inside her.
Her gaze drifted again toward the table where Pierce was sitting.
At the moment, he had Ace and Alex’s baby girl cradled against his broad chest like he’d been born knowing exactly how to hold a baby, one big hand spanning almost the entire length of her tiny back while the other adjusted the little blanket tucked around her legs. The sight of all that hard muscle and quiet strength wrapped around a sleepy infant should not have been as distracting as it was, but Lord, it really was. She could never tire of looking at that. She had remembered watching him at Ray and Jessica’s house during the cookout when he was holding someone’s baby.
There was just something unfair about a man looking that rugged while bouncing a baby with patient, careful hands. It did things to her—embarrassing things.
And then, because apparently her brain had chosen chaos tonight, her thoughts slid right back to their date. To the beach. To the way his voice had gone rough and quiet when he admitted he wanted kids of his own.
Oh boy. Nope. Not yet, Charley.
Way too soon to be standing here watching a man hold a baby and mentally assigning him to some imaginary future family photo.
Bailey’s grin turned sly. “Where did you just go?”
Charley snapped her eyes back to her. “Nowhere.”
Alex followed the direction of her earlier glance and smirked. “Mm-hmm.”
“I hate both of you.”
“No, you don’t,” Bailey said cheerfully. Then she nudged Charley with her elbow. “Heads up, you’re being watched like a hawk.”
Charley frowned. “What?”
Bailey tilted her head toward the table.
Charley looked over and nearly laughed.
Sienna was standing beside her chair with both little hands planted on her hips, staring straight at Charley with the kind of dramatic impatience only a child could pull off. Her tiny face was set in a deeply offended expression, like she had personally been wronged by the amount of time the adults had wasted talking instead of giving her the attention she was clearly owed.
“Oh no,” Charley said, laughing. “I guess I'd better get over there before I get in trouble.”
Alex laughed. “Too late. Look at that face. You’re already in trouble.”
