Page 19 of One Baby Daddy
“It’s the bulging biceps, isn’t it?”
With the hand that’s not holding her fork, she squeezes one of my arms. Like a total douche, I flex just in time, giving her rock-hard contact.
“Oh, those are bulging, aren’t they? Impressive, Holmes.”
“What about you, do you have any muscles under your scrubs?”
Lifting her arm, she makes a flexing motion and squints, as if she’s really trying to flex her muscles. “Give it a squeeze, but be careful, I’m very muscular.”
I pinch her cute little arm with my index finger and thumb, my giant sweatshirt adding a layer of cushion. Just to tease her some more, I pull my hand away and shake it. “Damn, Adalyn. You’re a female version of the Hulk.”
She dusts off her shoulder. “It’s all the IV bags I lift on a daily basis. Patients need their fluid, and thankfully everyone involved benefits from it.”
I chuckle. “IV bags, huh? That’s all it takes? What the hell am I doing in the gym then?”
“Who knows, come work with me for a day, you’ll get a workout.” She places a piece of cake in her mouth and slowly removes the fork, her lips smoothing across the metal tines. Full and plump, decorated in buttercream frosting. Her pink tongue peeks out, licking the tip of her lips, her eyes closed briefly before they open and make contact with mine. Stunned, she shyly smiles and turns her head back to the box of cake as I clear my throat, embarrassed I was caught staring.
“So you said you have brothers?”
She nods. “Seven of them and one sister.”
Seven?
Holy shit, that’s a lot of testosterone in one household. Her poor mother. Two daughters. Two against seven.Shit.
“Seven brothers? How was that?”
“It had its ups and downs. No one messed with me but no one wanted to date me either. I ended up going to my senior prom with my brother, Shane, which can we say was absolutely humiliating, especially when my mom was gushing to take pictures.” She sighs. “But they made it special for me. All of them pitched in, got me a beautiful gown, my hair and makeup done professionally, and they all picked out a corsage for me to wear. It was as magical as taking your brother to prom could be.”
Hell, I couldn’t imagine going to prom with a sibling, that would be . . . devastating.
“Did you at least get to dance with any other guys while at prom?”
“Yup.” She places a small piece of cake in her mouth. “With Shane hovering a foot away, arms crossed, making sure there was nofunny businesshappening.”
I’m trying really hard, but fuck, a chuckle pops out of me. Her eyes laser in on me, and I hold my hand up to apologize. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. That must have been a total nightmare for you, but comical for someone to watch on the outside.”
“I can laugh about it now, but at the time, when word spread Shane wasn’t allowing guys any kind of alone time with me, the dance requests slowed down. I ended up kicking my brother in the shin ‘accidentally’ after that when we were dancing. And I might have done it multiple times.”
“Ooo, the shin is a good payback.”
“I figured as much. The next day he had black and blue bruises up and down his legs but showed no remorse for what he did. And of course, my other brothers worshipped him and his cock-blocking ways.”
“Brutal.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
I nod. “Twin brothers. They’re in college right now. They both play hockey but clearly aren’t as good as me.” I smirk.
Picking up on my humor, she says, “Well, is anyone really as good as you?”
“Can’t say that I’ve found anyone.”
She points her clean-licked fork at me. “Confident and cocky, I like that.”
“Nah, it’s all show. Inside I’m just a giant teddy bear looking for someone to spoon me.”
A harsh laugh releases from her mouth. “Oh, that is a good line. Do you get a lot of girls to fall for that?”
