First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

“Jesus Christ,” Jake said, scanning the contents. A moment later, Ian felt himself being grabbed by the arms on either side and hauled toward the back kitchen.

“Aidan’s got a plane waiting,” he managed to choke out after a minute or two.

“Then what the hell are we waiting for?” Jake barked. “Let’s GO! Shane – cover for me, man, I’m taking Ian to the airport.”

*

Lexi yawned and stretched, feeling pleasantly drowsy. Her breasts, heavy with milk, ached like crazy. Looking at the clock, she started to panic. It was nearly six a.m. and she’d put the baby down around midnight. He was nursing about every two hours – how had she slept through two feedings? Oh, God, what if something was wrong?

As quickly as she dared, she slid her feet over the side of the bed and began to pad quietly across the lush carpet toward the crib at the far side of her room, holding her breath. In the brief three seconds or so it took to get there, her post-partum hormones had managed to convince her that her baby was in mortal peril – or at the very least starving - and that she had to be The Worst Mother Ever.

Relief flooded her as she looked down and saw the crib was empty. Then fear gripped her again an instant later. Where was her baby? Oh, God, someone stole her baby in the middle of the night while she was in bed sound asleep, selfishly dreaming of how the baby was conceived....

Worst. Mother. Ever.

Lexi gripped the rails and forced herself to breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Aidan must have come back late last night. Yeah, that was it. He’d checked on them, like he always did, and fed the baby from the milk she’d pumped and stored in the fridge. He was probably in the living room right now, rocking the baby and watching infomercials. So help her, if he ordered one more gadget from QVC...

The thought of nursing made her overly-full breasts ache more as wet circles formed across the front of her nightgown. She hoped the baby was still hungry as she pulled a light robe over her gown and headed for the kitchen.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee, bacon, eggs, and toast met her the moment she opened the bedroom door. Immediately her fears melted away. Aidan was here. The man was nothing less than a saint. He was going to make some lucky woman very happy, she thought, her emotions now definitely on the up side of the roller coaster. Maybe he would finally ask out that private duty nurse that came by every afternoon. She was very pretty, soft-spoken and gentle. And Aidan definitely had eyes for her. She’d have to talk to him about taking her out very soon. Maybe tonight, since she’d gotten so much sleep...

Lexi froze as she neared the kitchen and heard the quiet humming in a deep, bass tone. She knew that voice, it called to the very depths of her soul. She knew that song, too - it was an ancient Irish lullaby, the one her grandmother used to sing to her.

Taking small, hesitant steps, Lexi made it to the archway. Her hand flew to her mouth as she blinked, once, twice, three times. She pinched herself lightly, sure that she must still be dreaming.

The broad, muscular back. The jet black hair, so shiny it looked blue, longer than she remembered, extending beneath those strong shoulders. The narrow waist, the gorgeous backside hugged by faded blue jeans, the heavy, corded legs.

Ian.

As if he sensed her presence, he turned around. There, safely ensconced in the crook of one elbow was her son, looking perfectly content, sampling his tiny fist. Two pairs of identical blue eyes looked at her with keen interest.

“Perfect timing,” Ian said softly, never taking his eyes from her, shifting the baby up toward his shoulder gently as if he had plenty of practice. Of course he has, she thought suddenly, a bitter taste in her mouth. This isn’t his first.

“How –“

“Later,” Ian said huskily, his eyes dipping to her chest. “My son is hungry.” Ian looked pretty hungry, too.

A million questions floated around in her head, but the sharpening ache in her breasts overrode them. She forced her numb legs toward the padded rocking chair and sat down, untying the top of her gown. Ian brought the boy to her, reverently placing him in her arms as he knelt before them. His face filled with awe as he saw his son snuggle into her, his tiny mouth searching until he latched on, his pudgy little fists on either side of her breast like he was holding on for dear life.

As the baby’s powerful tugging began to ease some of the ache, Lexi studied the man before her. God, how she’d missed him. He was even more breath-taking than the pictures in her mind, the ones she’d locked away and brought out to get her through the next minute, the next hour, the next day.