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Sven

S ven was enjoying the rare sleep-in on a rest day, only to be awakened by a knocking at his door. One look at his alarm clock told him it was nine in the morning. He wasn’t expecting anyone. His housekeeper wasn’t in until the next day. Rolling over, he tried to fall back to sleep. Until the knocking on the door continued.

He groaned, sat up in his bed, and pulled on shorts and T-shirt before making his way downstairs to answer the door. He should have moved into Rolling Hills next to Cash and Conner, then he would have a gate to keep the bunnies out. Not that he brought any back here, but he’d had a few find him in the past.

A yawn escaped his mouth as he ran a hand through his messy hair. Soon, he was at the front door, and through the frosted glass was the silhouette of a woman. Great, another bunny had found him. Maybe it was time he took a page out of Cash’s book and stopped all this messing around.

He could just not answer it, but then the knock sounded again. He observed the woman’s silhouette, deciding what he should do. Then he heard another sound and watched as the woman bent down and appeared to be rocking something by her side.

He was intrigued and decided to open the door.

As he swung it open, he saw a woman who looked vaguely familiar. She was pretty, with long dark hair and pretty brown eyes, but those eyes looked tired. He was pretty sure they’d hooked up. The longer he looked, the more he thought she might be the woman from the gala last year who had been acting strange. Then he followed her hand down to what she had been rocking.

It was a baby carrier. His heart dropped. What the fuck was about to happen?

“Can I help you?” he asked, hoping and praying this wasn’t what he thought it was.

“Ummm . . . yeah . . . I’m not sure if you remember me. I’m Stacie. Umm, we, umm . . . met . . . a while ago.”

“I remember, Stacie,” he lied. “What can I do for you?”

A cry rang out from the baby carrier next to her, and she bent down to pick up the bundle.

While Sven’s knowledge of babies was minimal, he could tell the baby wasn’t brand new.

He eyed her and the baby carefully, already knowing what was coming, but he was still praying he was wrong.

“This is Winnie,” said the woman as she bounced the baby on her hip.

“I don’t understand.”

“She’s yours.”

The world stopped. It was like the whole universe scratched a record.

“That’s not possible,” he said barely above a whisper.

“I assure you it is, but I’m okay with a paternity test if it would help.”

Sven just stood there, staring at her and the little girl in her arms. She had a head full of dark curly hair, but she had his almond-shaped blue eyes and his lips.

She was his.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but the baby went from fussy to a full cry.

“She’s hungry,” said Stacie as she tried to comfort the crying baby.

“Come in,” Sven said, still stunned, taking her coat and throwing it over the staircase banister.“Do you need to heat up a bottle or whatever?”

“If I can,” she said, bouncing the babe in her arms.

“Right this way,” he said, guiding her into the kitchen.

While part of his brain still told him this was merely a ploy to get in, this was different. He could feel it in his bones.

She pulled out a bottle from the side of the diaper back and headed into the kitchen.

Once she got the bottle warmed up, he showed her to the couch so she could feed the baby.

“What was her name again?” He watched the baby peacefully drink from the bottle.

“Winnie.”

“Winnie,” he said with his eyes glued to the little girl.

“I’m really sorry to just show up like this, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

She was on the brink of tears, but he never knew what to do with crying women, even though he was really good at charming women and even bringing them pleasure. Comforting a crying mother, though, was far out of his comfort zone, let alone the crying mother of his child. His child... Fuck .

He had a million questions running through his head. How did she know it was his? When did it happen? What is she like? Could he hold her? When did they meet? How could he help? How did she find him?

But all that came out was “What did you want?”

That was the wrong thing to say because the tears streamed down her cheeks.

Fuck .

“I don’t have anywhere to go. I lost my job when I got pregnant. Believe it or not, no one wants to hire a pregnant shot girl. I lost my modeling contract when I got pregnant, and I tried as hard as I could, but I can’t live like this. I can’t raise her like this,” she said as she wiped her tears and glanced down at the baby.

“I’m so sorry . . .”

He needed to say more, but he was at a loss.

“I was just wondering if you could help. Just until I can get back on my feet.”

“Of course, I’ll help in any way I can.”

She wiped tears as the baby pushed away the bottle. He watched in awe as the previously crying infant took in her new surroundings. She was so little, and her eyes were so big and so blue. Her little baby fingers were wrapped around her mother’s finger, and something about those little bitty fingers pulled at his heart.

Then that little baby looked right at him and smiled. It wasn’t just a smile; it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. His heart just about shattered into a thousand pieces at the sight.

He had a baby.

He was a father.

His mouth fell open, and all the breath left his body.

And he was going to be there for her. He was going to be a good father. He was going to be the father he always hoped his own father would be.

“Do you have a place to stay?” he asked.

The woman shook her head. “I’m staying at a motel down on Fifth Street, but I’m almost out of money.”

“Stay here, please, you and Winnie... Can I hold her?”

She nodded and handed her to him.

As he held her, she looked up into his eyes and just smiled. She didn’t cry or seem scared of him. He took her hand, and as she wrapped her tiny finger around his, he felt the whole universe dissolve around him. This baby was his. There was no question about it. Tears pooled in his eyes. What was he going to do?

“Are you sure? We can’t just stay here?”

He was only vaguely aware she was still here and talking. All his focus was on the little baby on his lap. His daughter. Fuck. He had a daughter.

Somehow, he pulled his eyes off this darling little girl and glanced at her mother. “Yes, you can. I have plenty of room. You two can stay here until we figure this all out.”

His eyes fell back to the little baby in his arms.

“Hi, Winnie,” he said in a quiet voice.

This darling little girl in his arms gazed up and smiled. His spinning universe came into focus. This little girl was at the center of it.

His attention turned to the woman. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out. I want to help.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

Next thing he knew, he was in a sketchy motel, helping this woman collect her things. He looked at the dingy little crib in the corner and the way they had been living, and he was racked with guilt. How had he let this happen?

“Why don’t we stop by Target on the way home, and we can get everything we need to set up a nursery for her at my house?”

“That’s too much,” said Stacie.

“No, it’s not. I wish I would’ve known about this sooner. I could’ve helped you in any way I could. Now we can get you back on your feet, and I’ll spend time with this little one,” he said, giving his daughter a tickle under her chin.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a burden.”

“You are the mother of my child. I’ll take care of the both of you,” he said as he picked her up.

Stacie walked around the room, packing her bags and getting everything ready. As Sven held this beautiful little girl, talked to her, and made her smile, his heart fell more in love than it had with anything before.

His phone in his pocket started ringing. He switched the darling little girl to his other arm and reached for it. His dad was calling. It only took the name Peter Olsson on his caller screen to snap him right back into reality.

What the fuck was he going to do?