Summer Kisses (12 page)

“My doctor said that Nathan had too much gas, which caused painful cramping.”

Jill handed Derrick the baby so she could scoot in closer and hear what the woman had to say. “What did you do?”

Derrick held Ryan in the crook of his arm and smiled at his pitiful scrunched-up face.

“There are lots of things you can try,” the woman told Jill, “like keeping your baby’s arms close to his body and rocking him gently. Some babies are more comfortable if they are on their stomach and then you can gently rub their back. If all else failed, I used to turn on the radio or even the vacuum cleaner.”

“The vacuum cleaner?” Derrick asked.

She nodded. “Some babies are calmed by steady, consistent noises.”

“It’s true,” the curly haired lady said. “My baby loved the wind-up swing. If that didn’t work, I sometimes took her on a car ride until she fell asleep.”

Derrick watched Jill’s features soften. He could only guess she was relieved to know others had been there, done that…and they had survived.

“The most important thing,” one of the women added, “is not to take the crying personally. Take deep breaths and try to relax. I know it’s not easy, but you don’t want to lose yourself in the process. It will get better.”

Jill’s shoulders relaxed as she released some of that built-up tension the women were talking about.

“And don’t be afraid to accept or ask for help from friends and relatives.”

Derrick wanted to toss in an “amen” but he remained quiet.

“The doctor will tell you if your baby is colicky,” a woman said as she gave Jill a gentle tap on the arm. “When is your next appointment?”

Jill reached for Ryan and Derrick obliged by handing him over to her. “He goes for his first doctor’s appointment tomorrow.”

“Stay right here,” the woman said. “I’m going to ask my husband to scribble down my number so that you can call me if you ever have any questions or problems.”

The woman was off and running before Jill could protest.

Fifteen minutes later, Jill waved goodbye to her new-found friends while Derrick helped Sandy pack the dirty pot and unused cups and plastic spoons into the trunk of her car.

“I got a text from Chelsey. I can’t believe Jill fired her,” Sandy said. “We’re short employees as it is.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Chelsey is back on payroll before the end of the day,” he said.

“I hope you’re right. I also hope you realize that this is all your fault.”

“What did I do now?”

“Firing Chelsey had nothing to do with Ryan being brought to the park without her permission and everything to do with Chelsey flirting with you and
you
flirting back.”

Derrick shut the trunk and let out a long hearty laugh. “You must not know Jill as well as you think you do. She hates my guts.”

Sandy sighed. “I know Jill better than most and I know what I saw today.” Sandy peered into his eyes. “If you hurt her in any way, I will do everything in my power to help her keep you away for good.”

“I understand. But like I said, you’ve got it all wrong.” He turned toward Jill and watched her lay Ryan in the stroller and rearrange baby blankets until she seemed satisfied. When she finished, she looked his way and their eyes met. The corners of her mouth lifted, her face lighting up as she expressed pleasure and something else he hadn’t notice before.
Could Sandy be right
?

Once a week, Derrick and his brothers all met for a game of basketball, playing at his indoor basketball court at his home in Malibu. At the moment, Derrick stood beneath the basket and called for the ball…again. But Brad was a ball hog and instead of passing it like any good teammate would do, his brother dribbled the ball down to the three point line and took another shot.

“Air ball!” his sister Zoey yelled. Both of his sisters, Zoey and Rachel, had offered to take care of his place while he was living at his new apartment. Zoey enjoyed standing at the sidelines, hackling them whenever the opportunity arose.

Playing defense, Derrick ran back to the other end of the court and called “switch!” But he might as well be playing with his sisters because his teammates were not paying him any mind.

Fresh off the bench, his older brother, Lucas, a real life rocket scientist, went in for a layup and scored two points for the other team.

When Derrick finally had the ball and was dribbling down court toward the net, his other sister, Rachel, entered the basketball court and yelled, “Breakfast is ready.”

Within seconds the court was deserted. Derrick stopped at the three point line. “Hey! You people can at least wait for the play to be over, can’t you?”

Brad grabbed a clean towel from the pile near the door and wiped his face. “Go ahead. Take a shot. I’m watching.”

Derrick bent his legs, set his shoulders, and despite the fact that he’d been playing for the past two hours, he took his first
and
last shot of the day.

His form had never been better. The ball swished through the net.

Smiling, he turned toward the door, but Brad had already joined the others. Not a single solitary soul had seen his magnificent shot. If they weren’t related, he would have nothing to do with the lot of them.

He made his way to the kitchen where Zoey and Rachel stood behind the stove cooking omelets, while four of his brothers sat at the table eating.

“The usual?” Zoey asked when she spotted him. Zoey and Rachel, although not the youngest of the brood, were still Dad’s little girls—the spoiled brats of the family.

“Thanks, but I’ll pass,” he told her. “I had oatmeal before I came. I think I’ll head back to my apartment to get some of my things.”

Zoey set the spatula on the granite counter top. “You’re not moving back home yet, are you?”

No, he wasn’t going anywhere. “Why? Would that be a problem if I was?”

Jake took a swig of his orange juice and then said, “I think Rachel has a hot date tonight with Jim Jensen.”

“She better not,” Derrick said with a smile.

Everyone became quiet.

A worried frown crossed his sister’s face. A wave of heat swept through him as it dawned on him that Jake was serious. Jim Jensen was a rookie quarterback just picked up by the Condors. The kid was just waiting for Derrick to crack a rib or take a bad fall so he could sweep in and take his place as starting quarterback.

“He’s never done anything to you,” Zoey said.

“That’s right,” Rachel agreed. “Why do you hate him?”

“The man doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder,” Derrick said, “he has a boulder, for God’s sake.”

Rachel plunked a hand to her hip. “And?”

“And he’s a player, a snake charmer, a rat. Stay away from him,” Derrick said. “You can do better.”

“And if I decide
not
to take your advice?” she asked.

Derrick was tired of this. He’d come home today to get away from it all, to give Jill a break—a chance to spend a day with Ryan without feeling as if he was spying on her. Mostly, he’d been afraid of leading her on in case there was any truth to what Sandy had said about Jill having feelings for him. He liked Jill and he wanted to be her friend. Without taking his eyes from his sister, he rubbed his stubbled jaw. “I’m going now. Jensen is not allowed in this house—
my
house.”

“You’re being childish.”

He pointed the same finger at Rachel. “I mean it.”

Before she could protest further, Derrick exited the kitchen and made his way across the marble foyer and out the door.

Back at his apartment, it was eleven o’clock by the time he climbed out of the shower. His knee gave, but he managed to get a hold of the bathroom counter and stop himself from going down. Determined to ignore the pain, he stood on one leg in front of the sink and dried himself with a clean towel. Catching a glimpse of shades of color around his eye, he stopped to take a closer look at his reflection. The bruising from the hit he’d taken last week was fading, but there was still enough color to make him look like he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in months. His brothers all figured he’d deserved what he got. Aaron had told his siblings to ask Derrick what had happened if they wanted answers, but not one of them had asked him. They just figured he was guilty. Hell, he wasn’t going to tell them he’d kissed Maggie. His family already treated him like the black sheep. It was obvious they preferred Aaron over him.

What did he care anyhow? He would do it all over again if he had the chance. Someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, Maggie would come to her senses and see that they were meant to be together. Until then, he had Ryan and Jill to keep him occupied.

Jill, he realized, was pretty much the opposite of Maggie—quiet and sort of shy at times, although she definitely had her moments. Maggie was capable of using words to slice through the air and put people in their places while Jill seemed to think long and hard before speaking, worried about offending. When her hormones weren’t spiking, she was sensitive and sweet, which summed her up perfectly: sweet and unassuming—that was Jill.

He finished towel drying his hair. A glint of silver right above his ear caught his attention. When the hell had he grown a gray hair? He wasn’t even thirty, for God’s sake. He leaned in closer to the mirror, got a good grip on the little bastard, and plucked it out of his skull.
Ouch
!

He was feeling on edge, he realized. His life felt as if it was off-kilter. For starters, Maggie had been avoiding him ever since the kiss in the courtroom. She hadn’t returned his last two calls. His mom was angry with him for upsetting Aaron. His sisters and brothers had been favoring Aaron ever since he moved back to town. Jim Jensen’s name kept coming up, which was not amusing. His knee wasn’t getting any better either. And now Jill might have a crush on him when all he wanted to do was get to know his son and be her friend.

He opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the cream he used to relieve muscle and joint pain and rubbed some into his knee. He washed his hands and then hopped on one leg to his room and pulled on a clean pair of basketball shorts. His next stop was the kitchen. He filled a plastic bag with ice, hopped to the couch, and then plopped down and placed the ice on his knee. He laid his head back on the sofa and shut his eyes.

Twenty seconds hadn’t passed before he heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

For a moment there he figured whoever had been at his door had gone away, but then the door creaked open and Jill poked her head inside. “Hi there.”

He lifted his head. “Hi.”

She looked at his knee. “Are you okay?”

“Just a little too much basketball with my brothers this morning.”

“Mind if Ryan and I come inside?”

He waved a hand through the air and said, “Be my guest.” Then he tried to push himself up from the couch.

“Don’t move,” she told him. “I can manage.”

He didn’t like the idea of not helping her with the baby, but then he remembered what Sandy had said about Jill falling for him, and he decided to stay where he was.

She opened the door wide enough to push the stroller inside without disturbing Ryan. “He’s asleep,” she said with a smile. “A true miracle.”

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling back at her. She looked happy and that made him happy. “You look great.” She looked better than great. This was the first time he had seen her wearing something other than sweats. Her jeans were snug, showing off slim hips and long legs for such a short woman. Her yellow shirt contrasted nicely with her hair, which looked like three shades of brown, depending on the lighting. It was the first time he recalled seeing her hair untangled. It looked soft and shiny, full of body, the kind of hair a man liked to comb his fingers through. He shook his head, attempting to clear his wayward thoughts.

“Thanks,” she said. “I feel great.” She shut the door and set her purse on the coffee table in front of the couch. “I finally managed to catch up on my sleep yesterday. It’s funny, but ever since I talked to those women at the park I’ve felt different…better. When I called the doctor last week, the nurse told me it was perfectly fine to let Ryan cry sometimes, so when you didn’t show up this morning, I let him cry while I took a shower and did my hair. I’m even fitting into my old jeans, which is why I’m here.”

“Those jeans look amazing.”

When she laughed, her eyes sparkled right along with her straight white teeth.

“I didn’t come looking for compliments,” she told him, “although I appreciate them all the same. I came to tell you thank you and to apologize for being so rude yesterday. My actions were uncalled for and I’m embarrassed. You’ll also be glad to know that I apologized to Chelsey and she’s back on the payroll.”

“I’m glad. She’s a very enthusiastic employee.”

She nodded. “I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate all you’ve done.”

“Don’t give it another thought. Under the circumstances, I think you’ve handled everything going on around you, me included, quite well.”

“Look at me,” she said. “I’m doing it again, blabbing on about myself when you’re sitting there in pain. It’s that knee again, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean again? How could you know about my knee?”

“I noticed you were in pain the first day I met you, the day my water broke and you scrambled to get out of the car.”

“We’ll definitely have a few good stories to tell Ryan when he’s all grown up, won’t we?”

Her blush was followed by an awkward bit of silence before she asked, “What can I get for you?”

“If you could grab me a glass of water and that bottle of ibuprofen over there on the counter, I would appreciate it more than you know.”

While she busied herself in the kitchen, he watched her through new eyes. She was a ball of sunshine. A little extra sleep had literally transformed her.

“Here you go.” She handed him the water and then opened the ibuprofen. “How many do you want?”

“Two would be great.”

She handed him the pills, and then waited while he downed them with the water before she took the glass from him and returned it to the kitchen. “Another reason I came,” she said from the kitchen, “was to see if you wanted to come with me to Ryan’s first appointment with the pediatrician.”