His Best Mistake

“Not true. I made you dinner one night at my apartment.”

She smiled. “You heated up a dinner that your sister-in-law was kind enough to prepare for us.”

Kevin returned her smile, mostly from remembrance of one of many great evenings they’d shared. “You didn’t complain. In fact, I don’t remember you issuing any complaints the entire night.” Or in the morning, when he’d made love to her again for the second time. Or maybe it had been a third time…

Leah cleared her throat, jerking Kevin back into the present. “Lack of cooking skills aside, exactly what do you know about taking care of a baby?” she asked.

Not much. “I have several nieces and nephews that I’ve taken care of a time or two.” Under direct supervision from their parents during family get-togethers, a detail he’d rather not reveal at the moment in light of Leah’s cynical look.

When Carly whimpered, Leah scooped the baby up in her arms and laid her on the bed. “Hand me a diaper and the wipes,” she said as she began to undo a maze of snaps down the legs of Carly’s footed pajamas.

Kevin looked around a few moments before Leah added, “The box is in the corner and the wipes are on the dresser.”

He retrieved a disposable diaper and a plastic container clearly indicating baby wipes. After handing the items to Leah, he sat on the edge of the mattress next to his daughter.

“Do you want to do this?” Leah asked, looking expectant.

If he even made an attempt, then he’d prove just how little he did know. “Since we’ve only recently been introduced, I’ll watch while you change her.”

“You haven’t done it, have you?”

She was too damn intuitive for her own good. For his own good. “No.”

“That’s what I thought,” she muttered as she untaped the diaper, slipped it from beneath Carly, rolled it up and tossed it into the nearby pail.

Kevin tried to concentrate on the rediapering task, but he was distracted by the baby noises Carly began to make. “Did you hear that?” He sounded as if his daughter had just recited the preamble to the Constitution.

“She started the cooing phase a week ago,” she said as she refastened all the snaps with the skill of a baby-changing artist.

When Carly smiled at him again, Kevin said, “She sure is a happy girl.”

Leah picked up the baby and held her against her shoulder. “She’s not going to be happy for long since it’s past time for her nap.”

That was his cue to leave. He stood and said, “Fine. I’ll go so she can take her nap. I’ll call you later to discuss the move.”

“I didn’t say I was going to move in with you, Kevin.”

At least she hadn’t said she wouldn’t, which meant he still had a shot at pleading his case. “Just think about how convenient it would be if we lived together.”

She laid the baby back in the bassinet then turned and sent him a wry smile. “It’s not the convenience that worries me.”

He knew exactly what was worrying her—the possible fallout from their proximity. “Listen, I have two master suites, one on each end of the house, with two bedrooms in between. One of those rooms would be Carly’s. And you’d have your own private bath, with a whirlpool tub.” Hell, now he sounded like a real-estate salesman.

“I’m sure it’s nice, Kevin, but I’m not interested.”

“Aren’t you even the least bit tempted?” He brought out the big guns—a wink.

Leah rolled her eyes, indicating he’d lost his ability to entice her. “Temptation got us into this situation in the first place.”

He couldn’t argue that point. He did intend to argue his case for cohabitation. “You wouldn’t have to be around me unless it involved Carly. In fact, you’ll be gone most of the day, which leaves only a few hours at night when you’d have to tolerate my presence.”

“True, but frankly, I’m not sure I trust you even for five minutes.”

He battled a bite of anger, even knowing he’d done nothing to earn her trust to this point. “Look, Leah, you’re going to be moving in August. That gives me less than two months to get to know my baby before you take her out of state. I can’t do that when she’s in a day care all day.”

“You can still see her before I leave and after I move to Mississippi, provided that’s what you want.”

“You mean every other weekend? Maybe a holiday or two? That’s not a hell of a lot of time for us to build a relationship.”

She sighed. “We’ll work it out later. Right now your daughter needs to sleep.”

Your daughter. That alone fueled Kevin’s determination. He’d give Leah some space and in the meantime, he’d prepare for the best-case scenario—having Leah and Carly in his home—even though he wouldn’t be stunned if she refused him. “Okay,” he said as he backed toward the bedroom door. “I’ll be in touch in a few days. Call me if you change your mind before then.”

“I’m not going to change my mind, Kevin.”

THE MINUTE her roommate breezed through the front door, Leah could no longer maintain her silence. “You’re not going to believe what Kevin did.”

Macy laid a hand across her forehead with all the polish of a practiced drama queen. “With a baby on the premises? Has he no shame?”

Leah blew out a frustrated breath. “He asked me to move in with him.”

Macy dropped down on the sofa and leaned her head back against the cushion. “Please tell me you didn’t agree, Leah.”

“Of course not.” Although admittedly, she’d thought of nothing else but Kevin’s proposition for most of the day.

“Good. For a minute there, I thought you’d lost your mind,” Macy said as she toed out of her clogs.

Leah took the chair opposite Macy and propped her heels on the coffee table. “He says it would only be temporary. Just until I move back to Mississippi in August.”

Macy frowned. “If you’re not going to do it, then why are you telling me this?”

Leah didn’t understand why revealing the details to Macy seemed so important, but it did. “I only want you to realize that it’s not what you think. Kevin wants to get to know Carly, and I can’t very well keep him from her now that I’ve involved him in her life.”

“Her life,” Macy added. “Those are the key words. That doesn’t mean you have to shack up with him. He can have her for a few hours during the weekend.”

That sounded logical, yet Leah acknowledged why that might not seem adequate to Kevin. “He also offered to watch her during the day while I’m at work.”

Macy smirked. “You must not think too highly of your kid, leaving her in the hands of a monument to bad influence.”

Leah regretted telling her roommate all the unflattering details of Kevin’s past. “He’s not an ogre, Macy.”

“No, he’s a player who probably has a revolving door in his bachelor boudoir.”

Leah fell silent a few moments before she continued. “He owns a house with four bedrooms, four baths and a pool.”

Macy perked up like a puppy awaiting a treat. “A pool? Wading or in-ground?”

“In-ground. With a waterfall and a hot tub.”