Page 45 of Consuming Logan

Logan cradled the cherubic infant like a football beneath his left arm. “Shh, princess. Uncle Logan has you.”

Gemma hiccupped her disagreement. Slowly she piped down, her little belly expanding with each staccato breath.

Darwin laughed. “Look at you,” he praised. “You have the magic touch.”

“What can I say,” he smiled. “Ladies love me.” Gemma jibber jabbered with the conversation. “Listen to all those coos of agreement,” Logan translated.

Suddenly a rumbling, wet sound erupted from Gemma Noelle’s diaper covered bottom. Where her now gushy bum rested against Logan’s forearm, a spreading warmth heated his skin.

“Yep. The message of what she thinks is loud, clear,” Dawson laughed.

“And fragrant,” Gideon chuckled.

“Yuck.” Jonah wrinkled his nose. “Gemma made a stink stink.”

All the men laughed.

“It’s probably the chicken,” Dawson sighed.

Logan lifted the little giggling baby girl away from him. “I can promise you whatever is in this diaper is not a part of any chicken I’ve ever eaten.” He had a lot to get used to before the baby arrived.

Logan’s phone chimed an incoming message. He read it and his jaw fell slack.

“Logan?” Darwin called to him. “What is it?”

“Bishop apprehended the man who attacked Ava at the clinic.” Logan’s mind reeled.

Tyson’s breath hitched. “Was he the man at the club that night? Are you still in danger? I can have a private security team for you and Ava before sunset.”

Talk about protecting an investment. Though he appreciated the sentiment, Logan didn’t need Tyson’s private hit squad.

Logan met his newfound friend’s piercing stare. “I can keep my Ava safe. Bishop believes he’s our man. He had the florist’s business card in his trailer.” Inside emotions bounced around, ping pong balls of relief and fear colliding. Ava and the baby were safe. Could the nightmare be over?

Chapter 16

Logan hated dolls. He stared at the twenty-foot tall baby, its spread arms and legs beckoning him into a creepy embrace. Alice In Wonderland must have served as the design consultant for the Baby Bundle Megastore. Mini-Cooper sized feet, a movie theater projection doubling as a diaper, and safety pins large enough to pin the north and south poles together. Seriously, what sane adult filled a showroom with Jurassic Park babies? The only reason he remained in the store; Ava wanted him to share in the experience.

Glancing at his watch, he guessed they could select a crib, stroller, and car seat in less than an hour.

“Let’s set a timer,” he suggested. “Say forty-five minutes.” Bishop hadn’t called with an update. When Ava had returned from the boutique with the brightest smile he’d seen in days, Logan withheld the information about the arrest. She deserved a day to relax and enjoy planning for their wedding and the baby.

“What, no.” Ava walked beside him, her honey-colored eyes wide with excitement. “This place is magical.”

As they passed a fifteen-foot stuffed bear with huge motionless brown eyes and a red “For Sale” sash across the belly, Logan fought the urge to mimic the sign of the holy cross. The whole Willie Wonka meets Santa’s workshop vibe made his skin crawl.

“As in opening a portal to a dark universe.” An army of employees with painted on smiles and BORG-like headsets hovered by the checkout lanes with barcode scanners in one hand and clipboards in the other.

Ava regarded him. “Really? How can you not be in love with this place, Logan?”

She practically sprouted wings and took flight. His first official duty of fatherhood and he was ready to sprint for the exit. Just tell her, he thought.

“Sweetheart, there’s something you should know,” he said slowly, not sure how to broach the subject with the spawn of cyclops in the center of the floor gawking at him.

All of a sudden Ava twisted around, a doll in hand, she lunged for him. “You’re afraid.”

He caught her around the waist. She laughed, her eyes glittering with amusement. Tossing the tiny nemesis aside, he snuggled Ava closer.

“I’d battle my demons for you,” he admitted. Her body softened in his grasp.