Chapter 4 4
"Excuse me? Where do you think you're going?"
"I need to see my baby."
"Stefan, wait."
He stopped short, his features sharpening with anger. "I've been waiting. I've missed six months of her life. I'm not going to miss another minute."
A soft cry filtered from the hall and Stefan froze.
"Now you've done it," Alana snapped, then shifted past him and headed down the hall.
His temper defusing like a puff of smoke, Stefan followed, but she was already out of sight. He listened for sounds, following them, and stepped into a small room decorated with pink and lavender fairies. But he wasn't interested in wallpaper and mobiles, but the woman who stood near a crib.
There was a coolness about her, a reserve that hadn't been there before. He could feel a wall neatly erected between them and she was doing her best to keep it strong. Was it to keep him from her or his daughter? Things were too brittle between them right now for Stefan to make huge waves in Alana's life, but he wasn't going anywhere. He was well-known for his patience, and he'd exert some of it now. Because she still set him on fire with just a glance, it was all he could manage not to grab her in his arms and kiss the living daylights out of her.
His memory was damn good, and he pushed down the need to satisfy the hunger that had simmered for nearly a year and a half. Patience, he warned himself, his gaze sliding over her as she hung over the crib.
Everything in him went still as she reached inside. She lifted the baby, fat little legs pumping the air. The child squealed and Alana held her close. Stefan felt his heart fill and explode at the sight of his daughter.
"Juliana," he said, and Alana looked at him. "Emily told me, and…" He gestured to the name in stuffed letters hanging on the wall and held by two pink fairies. He stepped closer, his gaze moving over his daughter. Round-faced and healthy, she had dark hair like his, eyes like his, but her beauty was all her mother's. Her head tucked under her mother's chin, she stared at him with wide eyes the color of corn-flowers. Stefan had never seen anything so beautiful. And he loved her instantly.
"Hey, princess." he whispered.
Alana watched Stefan, the wariness she'd never thought to see in him coming to the surface. He faced bullets like most people faced the morning. But he approached his daughter with a gentle hesitancy that touched her heart.
"She's beautiful." he said.
"Yeah," Alana replied as he ran a fingertip along Juliana's arm. The baby simply stared at him, as if familiarizing herself with his face.
Stefan moved as close as he could, their baby between them. "Look what we made, Alana." He leaned down to kiss the top of his daughter's head, thinking she smelled of powder and innocence.
Alana's heart melted just a little. She'd been alone with Juliana so long that sharing her with Stefan felt strange…and sweet. She hadn't known what to expect from Stefan Maynard, Private investigator and bodyguard, but watching him fall in love with their daughter in less than a second wasn't it.
"I want to hold her, but I know I'll scare her," he said softly.
"She's still sleepy."
"I'm sorry if I woke her. I didn't think."
"It's okay," Alana said, watching his eyes, the way he touched Juliana, as if coaxing her into accepting him a little bit at a time. Yet when his fingertips slid up Juliana's arm tucked against her mother, they brushed Alana's breast. Heat ripped through her, and her breath snagged.
He looked at Alana, his gaze moving over her with the same intensity as it did with their child. "I'm here. I'm staying, and I'm in her life whether you want it or not."
"I know."
"You don't like it."
"Nope."
He arched a brow, stroking the top of Juliana's head and loving the sounds she made. "Then it's war, huh?" He tipped his head, catching Alana's chin and tilting her face till she looked him in the eye. "I think you've forgotten why we came together in the first place."
"We were both randy."
The corner of his mouth curved. It scared her. He looked more dangerous at that moment than he would have if he'd been armed with an assault rifle and wearing camouflage paint.
"Yeah, sure." he murmured.
He brushed his mouth over hers. She tried to retreat, but he wrapped his arms around her and held tight. Their daughter fussed and gripped his shirt. Stefan felt something new and strong rocket through him, and he increased the pressure on Alana's mouth, molding her lips to his, and wanted to shout when she responded.
The instant she did, he drew back. She was breathing a little harder, her eyes a little glassy. Victory loomed on the horizon, he thought. He had to have patience for the long journey. "Expect me in your life, Alana. Constantly." He grinned. "Daddy's home."
He looked down at Juliana, touched the top of her head and suddenly knew this little girl was the best part of his life. Yet knowing Alana was like a lioness protecting her cub right now, defensive and distrusting, Stefan didn't try to take his child into his arms. Yet they fairly ached to hold her, to feel her little body against his chest, hear her heart beat.
Instead, he said, "I'll see you both real soon," then spun around and left the room.
____________
Alana gripped the crib rail. Because her knees had melted. Her heart had stopped. She looked down at Juliana. The baby gurgled, and blew bubbles.
"That was Daddy. What did you think?"
Juliana jerked in her arms and smiled.
"Yeah, he does that to women. He's going to be a real pain, honey. What are we going to do?"
Her daughter didn't offer a solution and Alana didn't have one, either. All she knew was that Stefan Maynard could turn her inside out and upside down with a glance. And with a kiss…oh, she was useless.
But she wasn't going to marry him. So it would be best just to keep him out of her life completely. Big talk, she thought, when just now his presence turned you into a puddle.