A Mistletoe Affair

Vicki picked up the ball, along with several other toys scattered along the kitchen counter, and brought Mason into the living room. Lifting an afghan with a seaside lighthouse pattern on it from the sofa, she spread it out on the hardwood floor and set Mason on it, then she plopped down next to him and rolled a plastic ball toward him.

After several minutes of playing with the ball, Mason’s mouth twisted in a frown. Seconds later, Vicki caught a whiff of something that made her stomach turn.

“Oh, you would do that after your daddy has gone to nap, wouldn’t you?”

She scooped the baby up and went in search of diaper-changing supplies. Vicki opened several doors, including a linen closet and what had to be Jordan’s home office, which was impeccable—a surprise—seeing as how the rest of the house was in shambles.

Finally, she came upon Mason’s brightly colored bedroom. Unfortunately, she didn’t find any diapers in there.

Vicki remembered the baby bag Jordan had brought in and returned to the kitchen where he’d left it on the counter. With the baby perched on her hip, she searched the bag but only came up with baby wipes and a small bottle of baby powder.

“Well, we’ll definitely need these, but we’re missing the most important thing.”

She hated to wake Jordan up so soon after he’d gone in for his nap, but if this diaper didn’t get changed soon the stench would probably wake him.

She went through the great room and down the hallway to the master bedroom. Tapping lightly on the door, she softly called, “Jordan?”

“Come in,” came a voice that was much too robust to come from someone who should have been asleep.

Vicki pushed her way through the door and frowned.

Jordan sat up with his back against the headboard, his stocking feet crossed at the ankles. An open laptop rested on his thighs and a pair of reading glasses was perched upon his nose. Make that an astonishingly sexy pair of reading glasses.

She tried to block the sexiness from her head, otherwise her impending lecture wouldn’t be nearly as effective as she needed it to be. She plopped a hand on the hip that didn’t have a twenty-two-pound toddler on it and narrowed her eyes at Jordan.

“Seriously?” she said, jutting her chin toward the laptop.

“Yeah, I know.” He grimaced. “I just needed to check one thing.”

“You’re supposed to be resting, Jordan, not working. Those are two very different concepts. It’s easy to tell them apart.”

He looked at her over the rim of his glasses and grinned. “Who knew Vicki Ahlfors was such a smart a—” He glanced at Mason. “Aleck,” he finished.

No, no, no. Her cheeks would not heat up at his teasing.

“No changing the subject,” she said, keeping her voice as firm as possible. “I didn’t volunteer to watch Mason so you can work.” The little boy shifted in her arms and Vicki caught another whiff of his aroma, reminding her of the reason she’d come in here in the first place. “Please tell me you have diapers,” she said.

“In there.” He pointed to the master bath.

Vicki cursed the deep flutter that traveled through her belly as she entered Jordan’s bathroom. There was something way too intimate about this. The discarded facecloth hanging on the rim of the sink, the bottle of multivitamins, the razor—not an electric one, a classic manual razor, the kind that required control and a steady hand.

She briefly shut her eyes against the image that tried to crop up in her head. Thinking about Jordan and his steady hands was bound to get her in trouble.

At the far end of the long vanity sat a stack of disposable diapers, along with more baby wipes, lotion and powder. She grabbed a plush towel from the wooden towel rack and gently laid Mason on top of it.

She’d just pulled off his pants when she heard Jordan say, “I can do that.”

Vicki’s back stiffened. She’d been so busy with Mason that she hadn’t heard him approach.

“I’ve got it,” she called over her shoulder.

The tingle that raced down her spine was completely inappropriate, but wholly expected. Those tingles were par for the course when it came to being in close proximity to Jordan. The new Vicki was supposed to be done with those tingles, but apparently she hadn’t gotten the memo.

Standing watch just over her shoulder as she efficiently went about changing Mason’s diaper, Jordan said, “You handle that like a pro.”

“Changing a diaper?” she asked.

“Yeah, especially with the way that one squirms.”

As if on cue, Mason immediately started to writhe around on the vanity. Vicki caught his feet together in one hand and moved her hip to block him from rolling right off the counter.

“I see what you mean.” She leaned over and nibbled Mason’s chin. “But your cute little booty isn’t getting away from me.” She looked back at Jordan. “Goodness, is there anything more adorable than those two bottom teeth that peek out whenever he smiles?”

“Nothing I’ve found,” he said with a laugh.

He finally backed away, making it easier for Vicki to get her breathing under control. His nearness was pure torture on her new quest to not be affected by him.

He settled in the doorway and leaned a shoulder against the jamb. “How’d you learn to change a baby’s diaper?” Jordan asked. “You don’t have any kids of your own.”

Vicki snorted as she glanced over her shoulder. “Thanks for pointing that out.”

“Damn. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to sound the way it did. I’m just impressed,” he continued. “It took me a while to get the hang of diaper changing.”

“I guess it’s instinctual for some,” she said. She gave the two pieces of tape a firm pat before pulling Mason’s corduroys up over his fresh diaper. “There you go, sweetie,” she said, tickling the baby’s belly. He giggled and treated her to that wide, sweet grin that was sure to break hearts.

“So did you reschedule your date with the doctor?” Jordan asked.

Vicki’s head jerked up. She met his eyes in the bathroom mirror.

“Uh...no,” she stammered, caught off guard by the subject change. “He was already at the hospital when he called earlier. He didn’t really have time to talk.”

“Oh. Well, maybe you two can find a time that works later this week.”

Hefting Mason into her arms, Vicki turned and faced him. “I doubt there will be any future dates with Declan.”

“Really?” Jordan’s brows rose. “So it wasn’t anything serious, whatever it is you had with the doctor?”

Should she tell him the truth, that before it was canceled, her date with Declan would have been her first in well over a year? And that the last date she went on—with the cousin of a friend of a friend—was so unremarkable that she couldn’t even remember the guy’s name?

Vicki considered it for a moment, but decided against mentioning it. She had no desire to be pitied, especially by Jordan.

Instead, she said, “It’s pretty obvious that Declan is too busy for even a casual relationship, let alone something more serious.”

Still leaning against the doorjamb, he crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side. “And you’re opposed to casual?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m opposed to it. But it’s not what I want.” When it came to this particular issue, Vicki decided that being vague would do her no good. “I’ve done the casual-dating thing in the past. I’m ready for something more stable...something that has potential.”

She fought against the self-consciousness brought on by Jordan’s thoughtful, probing gaze.