Just What I Need (The Bradfords) (9 page)

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.” He squeezed her butt. “I’ve never seen you more beautiful than you are with him. And that’s saying something.”

She gave him that sweet, sexy smile that always got him right in the heart. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Who knew that I’d find grape jelly smudges on your clothes and orange paint in your hair so sexy?”

She laughed and he wanted to strip her down and take her right then and there.

“Well, you know better than anyone how I like to get dirty.”

He growled softly. “I sure do.” He slipped his hands back around to the front of the loose top she wore, running his hands up her sides, to cup her breasts.

She arched into his touch, her breathing coming quicker.

“Ahem.”

They both jumped at the sound of Sam clearing his throat.

Shit.

Sam hated any implication that his little sister had sex. Which made for a lot of fun teasing most days. But most days he didn’t have two new baby daughters in the NICU.

Mac pulled his hands from Sara and held them up in surrender. “Sorry, man.”

Sara turned to face her brother. “Hey.”

Sam gave them a tired smile. “Hey.” Then he shook his head, focusing on Mac. “But don’t apologize.”

Mac’s eyebrows rose. “We were just—”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I know what you were doing. And it’s…” He cleared his throat again. “It’s fine.”

Sara slid over to perch on the arm of the chair. She stared at her brother. “It’s
fine
?”

Sam lifted a shoulder, his eyes going to the incubator beside them. “Yeah, it’s fine. It’s great, in fact.”

“Mac had his hands up my shirt, big brother,” Sara said. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

Sam pushed himself to his feet and crossed to where his daughters slept. “Well, I interrupted before it went too far, but yeah, it’s fine.”

“Why’s it suddenly fine?” Sara climbed off the arm of the chair and went to stand by her brother.

He smiled at her. “Because he loves you, sis. Because I heard you talking and, dammit, I wouldn’t want you with anyone else.”

Mac stifled a surprised grunt. Sara turned wide eyes to him, then back to Sam. “You’re
really
sleep deprived.”

It was a joke. Mac knew that Sam knew how much he loved Sara. Sam was actually really good with Mac being married to his little sister. Even if he preferred to think that they had separate bedrooms and had never seen each other naked.

Sam chuckled softly. “I
am
really sleep deprived,” he said, pushing his hands into his jeans pockets. He focused back on the babies. “But it’s times like this that makes you count your blessings, and knowing that my sisters both have men who would walk through hell for them is definitely one of my blessings.”

Mac’s eyes widened. Wow. He hated when one of his friends got all mushy. It hardly ever happened, but there were moments—like this—when one of them said something particularly nice or insightful or sentimental and he found himself a little amazed.

He pushed to his feet. “They’re going to be okay, you know,” he felt compelled to say.

Sam looked over at him. “Yeah, I think they are.”

Sara slid her arm around her brother’s waist. “They’re beautiful.”

Sam took a deep breath, then let it all out at once. “They sure are.”

A nurse materialized in the doorway of their little cubicle. “You’re awake.”

Sam smiled at her. “Yeah. How are they?”

“Better,” she confirmed. “I didn’t want to wake you, but Dr. Carson said that you could hold Natalie if you wanted to.”

Sam stared at her, swallowed hard, stared at the babies and swallowed hard again. “Really?”

The nurse moved to the side of the incubator. “Really.”

Mac pulled Sara up against his side as the nurse handed Sam a paper gown and a mask to wear. As he dressed, she reached into the plastic enclosure and gently lifted the bigger of the two babies. Natalie was still hooked up to a lot of lead wires, but the nurse easily moved them out of the way as she withdrew the infant, wrapped her in a blanket and then motioned for Sam to come forward.

He did with clear trepidation.

Mac ran his hand up and down Sara’s back, feeling her tremble slightly as she watched.

Sam took the baby into his hands, his big palms more than adequate to hold the tiny girl. He stared down at her.

Mac felt Sara shudder and knew she was crying. He kissed the top of her head and kept rubbing her back.

The nurse pulled a rocking chair close for Sam and he started to sit, his eyes still on Natalie. Mac took a quick step forward to help guide his friend into the chair.

“Whoa, buddy, pay attention there.”

Sam blinked up at him, seeming dazed. “Thanks.”

Then his attention was right back on the baby in his arms. He cuddled her close to his body and began rocking and murmuring softly.

“Damn,” Mac said quietly.

Sara hugged him. “I know. I thought Dani had him wrapped around
her
finger, but that’s nothing compared to this.”

Mac chuckled. “Maybe all those years of juggling multiple women will come in handy now that he’s gonna have a houseful of them.”

Sara squeezed him. “Well, he’s going soft. He’s given us permission to be touchy-feely and talk about sex anytime we want.”

“I did
not
say that,” Sam said, not taking his eyes from his baby girl.

Mac and Sara looked at each other and laughed.

Things were going to be fine.

Chapter Six

I had planned to suck wine off your nipples in Italy.

Morgan’s eyes widened as she read the text from her new husband. Dirty texting was one of Doug’s many talents, but she certainly hadn’t been expecting it as she stood filling coffee cups in the Family Comfort Room on the obstetric ward at St. Anthony’s hospital.

Before she could set the cup down so she had two hands to respond, another text came through.

I guess champagne will have to do for tonight.

She picked up her phone. She was really fine with spending her wedding night this way. This is where they needed to be, and she was cool with it. But he needed to stop teasing her.

You have some things I could suck champagne off of too.
She pressed send with an evil grin.

There. If he was going to make her squirm, then he could squirm right beside her. Literally. They’d been sitting together on the love seat—ironically—all night in the waiting area. It was now eleven p.m. and her turn to go for caffeine for the group.

Meet me at the front doors.

She frowned at the message. The front doors? Of what?

What?
she texted back.

Hospital lobby. You have five minutes.

Or what?

But she didn’t really care. Mac and Sara had come down about ten minutes ago to tell everyone that Sam had been allowed to hold Natalie and that everything looked good with Ellie. Kevin was taking Dani upstairs to be with them now that she’d awakened and her vitals were good too.

The relief within the group of friends was palpable. The smiles had been bigger, the jokes had started up, and everyone seemed lighter.

Doug wanted her in the lobby? Fine. She’d play along.

Three minutes later she stepped off the elevator into the lobby and looked around. The lobby was deserted. A lone attendant manned the front desk for any late night needs, but most of the action in the hospital this time of night came through the ER.

Then she looked down.

There was a red rose at her feet.

She bent to pick it up. It looked like the ones she’d carried down the aisle. She smiled as she put the flower to her nose. The aisle. At her wedding. It seemed like that had been a year ago.

Five feet in front of her was another rose. Smiling wider with each flower, she followed a path of a dozen roses to the front doors. Outside, parked in the circular drive, was a long, black stretch limo.

She stepped through the glass doors as Doug pushed up from where he’d been leaning against the back door of the car.

“What’s going on?” she asked as they met on the sidewalk.

“We have the best friends in the world,” he answered, taking her hand.

“What do you mean?” They started for the limo.

“They pulled some strings and got the limo to come over. He’s taking us to the reception. Now that everything is good here, they wanted us to have at least some of our wedding night.”

She smiled as her heart warmed even more toward the group of people she’d come to love since meeting Doug. They really were more family than friends and she knew that any one of them would have done anything for her, no questions asked.

“That’s…sweet.”

“I think we should make an appearance, don’t you?” Doug asked, holding the door open for her.

“Sure. I’m game. At least for cake.” She grinned at him as he slid in next to her. “That cake is amazing.”

“I guess they called Tim and Lance,” Doug said of his brothers-in-law, “to get them to bring some cake over to us, but then they helped come up with this plan.”

“I can’t believe they got a limo this late at night.”

“Hell, Ben probably saved the limo company’s president’s life or something,” Doug said.

Morgan laughed and settled into her seat. This really was quite thoughtful. And it was a sure sign the babies were going to be fine. Doug would have never left otherwise, and honestly, the rest of them wouldn’t have asked him to.

“So, you mentioned something about champagne and nipples,” she said casually.

He gave her a sexy smile. “I did. And you mentioned a blow job with champagne.”

She half choked, half laughed. “Did I?”

“That’s how I read it.”

Twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of the Britton Hotel. It was the finest hotel in Omaha and had been Morgan’s work place for five years before she’d met Doug. Her ex-boss had a soft spot for both Morgan and Doug and had not only offered use of his private jet, but had insisted she have her reception in the grand ballroom of the hotel.

“Should I have put my dress back on?” she asked as they headed for the ballroom. “I feel really underdressed here.”

Doug was dressed in blue jeans and a T-shirt that read
The police never think it’s as funny as you do
. Typical Doug attire.

Morgan wore a simple cotton dress with a scooped neck and wide sleeves. She’d been planning for comfort on the plane, not a night in the hospital and then a late appearance at her reception.

“You look gorgeous,” Doug said, pushing the door to the ballroom open.

“You didn’t even look at me.”

“Sugar, all I can do is look at you when you’re near me.”

Sweet, but she turned and quickly covered his eyes. “What color is my dress?”

He paused. “Yellow.”

She dropped her hand. It was blue. “Nice try.”

“Well, when I see you, even fully clothed, I imagine you naked.”

She laughed and shook her head. That was probably true.

“Come on, let’s party.” He took her hand and tugged her into the room.

Music played—a soft ballad—candlelight glowed from the small round tables that surrounded the dance floor.

But there were no people.

“Everyone’s gone home.” Morgan didn’t realize how excited she’d been until she felt the disappointment settle in.

“Mr. and Mrs. Miller, are you ready for your first dance?” A voice asked over the sound system.

Morgan found that there was someone left—the DJ.

“How’d they get him to stay?” she asked Doug.

“Don’t know. Don’t care. Let’s dance.”

He pulled her to the center of the floor and the DJ started Frank Sinatra’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”.

“Nice choice,” she said as she moved close and tried to wrap her arms around his neck.

He grinned at her. “It fits.” But instead of folding her close, he took her into a proper ballroom dancing pose. Then started moving her around the floor with practiced ease.

“You
dance
?” Morgan asked, awed that Doug Miller, video game guru and overall never-quite-got-past-age-thirteen, could dance. And dance well.

“You forget that I grew up at fancy parties,” he told her, twirling her.

She did forget that sometimes. His father had been one of the biggest names in the hotel business at one time. Doug had grown up in the lap of luxury, with money and every comfort.

“You haven’t forgotten?” she asked as he moved them gracefully across the floor.

“’Course not.”

“I’m impressed.”

He laughed. “You’re easy.”

She gave him a saucy smile. “For you I am.”

And boy wasn’t that the truth. From the first time they’d met, Doug had gotten her to do things she would have never imagined doing.