I didn’t know why I was making such a big deal about it.
I worked at convincing myself of that while I climbed from my car. Ryder was already there, striding up to the back passenger door and opening it.
I stalled out for a fraction of a beat.
This dark, casual mayhem that stirred the air and sent it skittering across my flesh.
Midnight.
He dipped in, unbuckled Kayden, and pulled him into his tattooed arms.
God, why did a man snuggling a baby have to look so good?
But even contemplating that was dangerous, so I started for the tailgate to grab our things. Only Ryder snagged me by the wrist as I started to pass. “Leave it. I’ll get everything once we get you settled inside.”
“I’m not incapable of carrying in a few bags, Ryder.”
He smirked one of those smirks that danced through my insides.
“Clearly. But why would you go and do that when I’m here to do it? Use me up, Dakota.”
He had the audacity to wink.
“You’re asking for it.” I forced lightness into my voice as I yanked a little to free myself from his hold. The connection was just too much. “I’m going to get used to this pampering, and you’re never going to get rid of me. Lugging around that kid is getting tough. He’s heavy.”
I rambled it as I turned to move up the walkway that wound around the front of the house to the five steps that led to the porch.
Ryder followed close behind.
That energy vibrated.
Entrancing.
Hypnotic.
Our footsteps thudded softly across the planks.
Ryder edged around me when we got to the door, and he held Kayden in one arm while he worked the key into the lock with the other. Wrangling all of that, he still managed to glance back at me with that sly expression on his face. “Who said I wanted to get rid of you?”
Doing my best not to choke on his words, I scoffed out a tease, giving into the playfulness he seemed to have gotten lost in as he held the door open for me to enter.
“I’ll give you until tomorrow morning for you to be hauling us back to my place and dumping us on the doorstep. He looks harmless now…” I drew out.
I cast a soft glance at Kayden held in the safety of the man’s arms as I stepped passed them.
Affection inflated my chest.
Chuckling, Ryder rubbed his hand over my son’s back. “You act like I don’t know a thing about this tiny tornado. Think I can handle it.”
“You are begging for trouble.”
Okay, the one who was really begging for trouble was me.
“Guess I am, aren’t I?” The mumble was so quiet I wasn’t sure if I imagined it, and Ryder angled around me and headed for the stairs. “Come on. Let’s get you two settled so you can get some rest.”
He bounded upstairs and I followed. His room was on the left, and two additional bedrooms were down the hall to the right. Ducking into the first one, he flipped on the light. “Why don’t we set you both up in here tonight, and tomorrow we’ll get Kayden situated in the room next door. I don’t want him to freak out when he wakes up in an unfamiliar place.”
My stomach twisted with an onslaught of too many things.
The fact that he was always so thoughtful. I mean, what man would think of that?
It got all knotted with the fact that Ryder was talking like we were going to be here for a bit.
“We won’t be staying more than one night, Ryder, so this is great, thank you.”
He laid Kayden down in the middle of the massive bed that took up half the room. The covers were a satiny sheen of black. Not surprising since that’s what most of his house was decorated in.
Then the ground shook when he shifted around, tall and dark as he erased the space between us, and he backed me into the wall. Eyes flashed as he angled down, words harsh and jagged. “You’ll stay here as long as needed, Dakota. Until we know you’re safe, and I won’t let you go a second before that.”
I’d probably only been asleep for an hour when I woke, needing to pee. The room was still hedged in darkness, the only light a wedge of it slanting through a gap in the drapes that covered the window. I tossed off the covers and stepped onto the worn, wooden floor.
Kayden was asleep in the portable playpen we’d brought, and I leaned over it to check on him. He was face down the way he loved to sleep, his glowing bear tucked under his arm, his back rising and falling with each steady breath.
Relief left me on a sigh, the dregs of the fear I’d felt earlier at home easing more.
As long as he was comfortable and safe, then I couldn’t complain.