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Chapter 13

Rina

I t's late—or early—depending on how you look at it. Stella woke up again nearly half an hour ago and I heard Keelan shuffle down the hall for his turn at the nighttime feeding.

But it's been impossible to shut my eyes since then.

I grab my phone off its place on the charger and open my email. Might as well get some work done while I'm up.

I type out my proposal for Keelan's image rehab. It includes all the things he fought me on, but it's what he'll need to do if he wants to get back in the team owner's good graces.

What he doesn't know is that he's at risk of losing the captaincy if he doesn't do something drastic. His actions haven't been taken lightly.

I shoot him the email requesting his digital signature and not even a minute later, there's a knock on my bedroom door.

I sit up, pulling the covers over my body. "Yes?"

He opens the door. "You're supposed to be asleep." He crosses his arms and leans on the door frame—not wearing a shirt.

"We have a deadline, Landry. You might not be worried about your job, but mine is hanging on the line, and I've worked too hard to give it all up now. You have, too."

He's quiet. The moonlight streaming through the slits in my blinds bask over him in a beautiful glow.

"What?" I ask when he stays quiet.

"You put in there that I need to date someone."

I swallow. "Yes. It's my recommendation that you distance yourself from the whole situation with Redmond by showing the public that there's nothing going on between the two of us."

He shifts uncomfortably. "And is that what you want? For me to distance myself?"

He reaches into his pocket and takes out a red lollipop—Keelan's personal vice.

I eye it. "Why are you always eating those?"

"You're changing the subject, Rina." He walks in further and leans against the wall, watching me.

"I need you to do whatever it takes so that neither of us loses our jobs, Keelan."

He pulls the lollipop out of his mouth and looks at it. Then he does this thing where he looks directly at me as his tongue laps the treat in his hand seductively before he sucks it back into his mouth.

My mouth goes dry at the sight of it—that tongue.

"My dad used to give me a lollipop after every game he played. He told me that by the time I was done eating it, he'd be done getting ready, and we could go home. And he was. Every time."

He pulls it out of his mouth and sucks it back in again.

"But… why red ones?"

A grin pulls at the corner of his mouth. "I'll give you one guess, Your Majesty."

I watch him, my body heating up from how close he is. And how alone we are.

I have a feeling I know exactly why red ones…, but I don't want to assume and feel like an idiot.

"Because cherry's your favorite flavor?"

He pushes off the wall and comes up to my bed. "Nope." He places a hand on the bed and leans in. "Guess again… beautiful."

I'm pretty sure if it wasn't so dark in my room, we'd both be able to see that I am currently the color of said lollipop. The room suddenly feels like a sauna.

My eyes trail down the length of his body. "Is it because Red Dye number 40 turns you on?"

He chuckles, low and deep. "No, Rina. Red dye doesn't turn me on."

He's so close now I can almost taste the cherry lollipop myself. He always has a damn lollipop hanging out of his mouth.

I pull it out of his mouth, and it pops past his lips. "You know these give you cavities," I say, rolling the stick around in my fingers.

"These are all-natural and packed with vitamins." He licks his lips.

"Is that so?" I say, eyeing the lollipop between us.

"Mmhmm," he hums.

I look at him and slowly slip the lollipop past my own lips, wrapping my tongue around it and sucking gently. I close my eyes as I do, a small moan escaping my throat.

When I open my eyes, Keelan's have dropped down to my lips.

"Tastes pretty good," I admit.

A single growl escapes his chest. "I can think of something that tastes even better."

I swallow the sweet taste before giving it one good lick and slipping it back past his lips.

"Suck," I tell him.

He does, and my body heats with each pull of the lollipop I'm still holding. He closes his eyes as his tongue laps up the candy.

And for a moment. I want to forget professionalism. Forget what might happen come tomorrow. Right now, I want Keelan and that tongue in a way I shouldn't.

And I almost give in, if not for the sound of the screaming baby that stirs in the next room.

He chuckles, taking one final lick of the lollipop before backing away from my bed.

"I think that's your cue, Titi Rina."

He heads to the door and opens it wider for me to walk through.

"Right," I say, putting the lollipop back into my mouth and pulling the covers off of me.

If there's one way to pour ice over hot coals, it's to share a house with a baby who finds it hard to sleep. I'm almost out the door when he reaches for my wrist.

"If you want me to sign off on the plan, I will. Just know, I'm not happy about it."

The baby cries louder.

"Sign it, "I tell him.

He reaches for the lollipop, snatching it from my mouth and popping it back into his. "Whatever you say, Your Majesty."

I leave him behind as I open the door to Stella's nursery. When she hears the door creak open, she goes from long, desperate cries to whimpering little sobs, and it breaks my heart.

"Stella," I coo. "What's the matter, sweet girl?"

The baby sucks in air between sobs, and I reach for her and tuck her little head under my chin. She still has that overwhelming new baby smell on her head, and I can't help but take a giant whiff of it as I sit down in the nursing chair and rock her.

She shifts uncomfortably like something is bothering her. And instinctively, my hand starts softly patting her back. After a few moments, Stella lets out the world's deepest belch a three- month-old has ever burped, and she immediately calms down, resting her little head on my chest as her breathing grows deeper.

Keelan appears at the door, eyes wide, mouthing "damn!"

I crack a smile over Stella's head, and Keelan looks at her with eyes that scream proud uncle.

He loves his niece. That much is evident. He's been a doting uncle, insisting on making her bottles because Stella loves her bottles at a precise temperature, and if it's even a little bit off, she'll let us know she's unhappy.

And it's true. I've already messed up two bottles and she responded by crying her dissatisfaction.

"Did you take care of your sister when she was this little?" I whisper to him in the dark.

He nods. "She burped just as loud too."

I try not to chuckle too loudly and stir the now-sleeping child. I give her a few more rocks in the chair before I get up and walk her back over to her crib.

I do my best to keep pressure on her chest as I do so she doesn't stir. And I succeed in getting her to stay asleep.

Keelan comes up behind me. His hand rests lightly on my shoulder.

"You're a natural," he whispers into my ear.

I turn my face to look at him—a thousand unsaid things passing between us.

He doesn't know how deeply I long for this. He doesn't know that even being here next to him, a sleeping baby in front of us, is unexpectedly breaking my heart.

But the way he looks at me. The way his eyes dance over mine—like he wants to know—like he wants to understand.

It breaks me.

I turn to him, my back to the crib, and he drags his hand from my shoulder, down my arm, and to my waist. The lollipop is gone now. And he licks his lips as he looks at me.

"Rina," he whispers into the dark.

"Yeah?" I croak in response.

"Come to my bed."