Found: One Baby

Michelle turned away, but not before Thad thought he saw a glint of empathetic tears in her green eyes. She cleared her throat. “Speaking of Russell, maybe you should try to find whatever it is he signed and make sure those papers state what he thinks they do.”

“Good point.” Legal jargon could be as confusing as medical terminology. “You want to come over with us, help me search?”

Surprise mingled briefly with disappointment in her eyes. “You’re taking the baby tonight, then?”

“I figured I’d keep William at my place tonight since you had him all day.” Thad gazed at Michelle. She looked like she’d just lost her best friend. “You can stay over, too.” The invitation was out before he could think.

She took it completely the wrong way. The droll expression was back on her face. “Uh, thanks, but…no.”

He held up one palm. “I’ll be the perfect gentleman.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you would be.”

She fit the crocheted cap on William’s head and helped Thad bundle him up in a blanket. When that was done, she picked up the diaper bag and Moses basket, while he held the door for both of them.

Together, they strolled down the front walk and across the street. Thad led the way up his front porch, wishing he’d thought to turn on the lights before he’d gone over to Michelle’s home.

“So, my rep is that bad?” Thad shifted William to one arm while he unlocked the door and hit the lights.

“Or good.” Michelle preceded Thad inside in another drift of orange blossom. For the first time he realized how disorderly his home was.

“Excuse me?” he asked in confusion.

“It all depends on how you look at it,” she explained.

Thad switched on more lamps, wishing he’d thought to vacuum or dust in the past month, instead of sitting around reading medical journals and working out at the hospital fitness center in his spare time.

“Please continue,” he prodded her.

She looked him straight in the eye. “You’ve got a reputation for dating around, not sleeping around.”

“Good to know,” he said.

The sparkle was back in her eyes. “Isn’t it?”

Thad figured it wouldn’t hurt to flirt. Especially since she’d started it. “As long as we’re on the subject, want to know what your rep in the community is?”

DID SHE WANT to know?

His goading look was all the provocation she needed. “Well, I guess now I have to know.”

Thad put William over his shoulder and gently patted his back, then turned his attention back to her. “Ice princess.”

Okay, that hurt. A little. Especially since she’d done nothing to deserve it.

She made her eyes go wide. “Really?”

“Mm-hm.” Thad stepped closer, still patting William on the back. “Word is, you’ve been asked out by at least twenty guys—”

“I think that’s a small exaggeration,” she said.

“—and said no to every single one,” Thad finished smugly, leaving no doubt that he’d been investigating the details of her romantic life, or lack thereof, too.

She shrugged, aware her pulse was racing, and defended herself. “Well, that’s because I won’t go out with someone if I don’t see hope of anything…happening.”

A smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, he leaned down so they were practically nose to nose. “How can you know if you don’t go out with them?”

“I just do.”

He let his gaze drift over her slowly, before returning to her eyes. “See, I don’t buy that,” he told her with lazy male confidence. “I don’t think you can begin to know someone unless you spend one-on-one time together. You’ve got to take a risk—”

Michelle smirked. “Well, I hear you’ve done plenty of that.”

“—to reap rewards.” He sneaked a peek at the baby on his shoulder. He grinned when he realized that William was sound asleep again. He walked over to the Moses basket and gently laid the baby down, covering him with a blanket.

Trying not to notice how naturally Thad had taken to being a daddy figure to the abandoned little boy, Michelle rocked forward on her toes.

The thought of Thad reaping rewards with any other woman bothered her more than it should. Marshaling all her defenses, she asked sweetly, “How’s that method working out for you so far?”

“I haven’t hit pay dirt yet.” His gaze slid past the delicate hollow of her throat, to her lips and then her eyes. “I will.”

She took a deep breath, dropped her gaze. Then found herself remembering the way he’d looked, shirtless and just out of bed, that morning. Flushing, she tore her eyes from the masculine contours of his chest. “Sure you will.”

“Make fun all you like,” he said. He stepped closer. “You need to take more risks.”

His words hit a chord. She’d heard the same from others, too. “Just see if you can find the papers,” she instructed irritably, deciding Dr. Thad Garner was the last man she would ever get involved with.

Thad sighed. “Wish me luck. That attic is a mess.”

“IT’S NOT THERE,” Thad reported in frustration a short time later.

He’d only been up in the attic twenty minutes, Michelle thought. She removed the bottle she’d been heating from the bowl of warm water. “Are you sure?”

Thad looked at William, who was lying patiently in his Moses basket, eyes wide open, trying awkwardly to get his thumb to his mouth. “I checked through the most recent boxes.”

Which meant Thad hadn’t checked through everything belonging to his brother, Michelle deduced. “Maybe it’s in an older box,” she suggested, wiping the outside of the bottle dry. “Do you want me to go up and look?”

Thad glanced at her clothes. “It’s kind of grimy up there,” he warned.

Michelle tested the bottle on the inside of her wrist. “Not a problem. You’ll have to feed William, though.”

“He’s ready to eat again?”

“Yes, he is.” Michelle handed Thad the bottle of formula.

Thad smiled, as if he relished his first chance to give William a bottle.

“You know, we could probably just wait and ask Candace Wright.”