Page 18 of Juniper Hill (The Edens 2)

I gulped. Either he had really tough feet or he was really pissed. Given the tension in his jaw, probably the latter.

“Sorry.” I glanced down at Drake, willing him to stop. Please stop. Five minutes. Then you can scream until dawn. Just stop for five minutes.

“Is he sick?” Knox fisted his hands on his hips.

“He has colic.”

Knox’s broad chest rose as he drew in a long breath. He ran a hand over his stubbled jaw before crossing his arms over his chest. God, he had a lot of muscles. The scowl on his face only added to his appeal.

Old Memphis always wanted to come out and play dirty when Knox was around. She wanted to tug at the long strands of hair that curled at his nape.

Please stop. That one was for me, not Drake. There’d be time to fantasize about Knox later, like when Drake was eighteen and headed off to college. I’d lock this mental image away for a time when my kid wasn’t screaming and I hadn’t been crying. When I’d slept for more than two hours in a row.

“Does he always cry?” Knox asked.

“Yes.” The truth was as depressing as it would have been to lie. “I’ll shut my windows.”

Knox dropped his gaze to my son and the expression of pain that crossed his face made me want to climb in my car and drive far, far away.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

To Knox. To Drake.

Another depressing truth. That apology was all I had to give.

Knox didn’t say another word as he descended the stairs, then crossed the space between the garage and the house, wincing at a few steps on the gravel, before disappearing into his house.

Apartment hunting just got bumped up the to-do list.

“Damn.” I stepped onto the landing, letting the cool air soothe the flush of my face. “Baby, we need to get this under control. We can’t get kicked out. Not yet.”

Drake let out another cry and then, like he could sense my desperation, sucked in a hitched breath and closed his mouth.

I froze, letting the night air slip past us into the apartment. I held my breath and counted seconds, wondering how long it would last.

Drake squirmed and let out a whimper, but then his eyes drifted shut.

Sleep. Please, sleep.

His chest shook with the aftershocks of such a massive fit. The hitches racked his tiny body, but he snuggled deeper into my arms and gave up the fight.

“Thank you.” I tipped my head to the stars. Each was a jewel scattered on black silk coated in diamond dust. There were so many out here, more than I’d ever seen in my life. “Wow.”

The light in Knox’s bedroom turned off.

Was this karma’s doing, putting me next door to a man so fine? Was this her test to see if I truly had changed?

A year ago, I would have batted my eyelashes and donned my sexiest dress with six-inch heels. I would have flirted and teased until he paid me the attention I craved. Then, when I’d tired of the game, I would have worn my ruby-red lipstick and left streaks over his entire body.

That lipstick tube was somewhere in New York, in a box with my sexiest dresses and six-inch heels. Maybe my parents had tossed that box in the trash. Maybe one of their assistants had stowed it in a storage room where it would collect dust for years.

None of it mattered.

I had no need for lipstick, not here.

And I suspected that Knox wasn’t your typical man. He probably would have laughed at an attempt to turn him into my personal toy. I liked that about him.

A yawn forced my eyes away from the heavens and I retreated inside. Rather than risk laying Drake in his crib and waking him up, I took him to my bed, blocking him in with some pillows. Then I curled up at his side with my hand on his belly.