It had been more than twenty-four hours since her bathroom encounter with Nick, and Taylor’s embarrassment about the whole thing had faded…slightly.
She’d never been a woman to be embarrassed by her own pleasure, but coming apart within seconds of him touching her? Not in the plan.
Taylor smiled a little as she let herself in the front door and dropped her keys on the table. Maybe he’d had a point when he’d suggested skipping the plan sometimes—the result could be very pleasurable indeed.
“Nick, you here?” she called.
He didn’t respond, but that didn’t mean much. It was one of his writing days, which meant he could be holed up in his room with the noise-cancelling headphones, or working from the coffee shop.
Either way, she knew from experience not to bug him if he was in the zone. He’d come out when he was ready.
And she had big plans for him when he did.
Taylor was in the process of removing her earrings and heading to the bedroom to change when her phone rang. She backpedaled to her purse by the front foyer and pulled out her cellphone.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Carr, this is Ken from downstairs. There’s a Ms. Young here to see Mr. Ballantine, but he’s not answering his phone. The young lady says it’s an emergency.”
“Oh!” Taylor glanced at Nick’s closed door. She didn’t know any Ms. Youngs in Nick’s life, but now that she thought about it, she didn’t know much about his life at all. And the guys downstairs were bouncers of sorts. They wouldn’t let someone up if it seemed like a weird situation.
“Sure, send her up,” Taylor said on instinct. As soon as she hung up she went to bang on Nick’s door.
“Nick. Nick, you in there? It’s important.”
Still nothing.
She knocked again, then opened the door.
“Damn it,” she muttered. He wasn’t here.
Her phone still in hand, she immediately called him, but like the guy said downstairs, he wasn’t answering. He usually put his phone out of sight when he was working, to avoid distractions.
So she texted, Get back here ASAP.
Before she could say more, there was a knock at the door, quiet but quick, as though the person on the other side was freaking out.
Taylor opened the door to a gorgeous blonde and…a baby.
“Oh! Hi,” the woman said, giving Taylor a once-over that wasn’t quite unfriendly but was telling all the same. No doubt about it—this woman had once considered Nick her turf.
Taylor looked right back, not exactly loving that the woman was so pretty. Her hair was straight and light blond, almost white, her eyes blue and friendly. She had a smattering of freckles that gave her a friendly, girl-next-door approach, but the curvy body was all Marilyn Monroe–esque.
Well done, Ballantine.
“I didn’t realize he was living with someone.” The woman didn’t smile.
“Just a roommate,” Taylor said, wondering if letting this woman up had been a bad idea. “You said you had an emergency? I’m so sorry, but he’s not here.”
The woman’s face crumpled for a second in anxious misery as she juggled the increasingly fussy baby from one hip to the other.
Taylor knew next to nothing about babies, but she could see that this one was cute. A girl, judging from the pink dress and ruffled socks. Not a newborn, but not a toddler either.
“Crap,” the girl said. “Crap crap crap.”
The baby started to cry.
“Are you okay?” Taylor asked. “Do you want to come in?”
The woman shook her head, but her eyes were watering. “I don’t have time, it’s just…I just got a call that my mom had a stroke, and I need to get out to Jersey, and this little cutie’s barely gotten over a nasty cold, and I hate the idea of taking her into the hospital with all the germs….”
“Okay,” Taylor said, understanding, but not following how this involved Nick.
Unless…Taylor’s heart stopped for a minute. There was only one reason she could think of that a woman would assume Nick Ballantine would watch her baby: if it was also his baby.
She couldn’t breathe. He would have told her, right?
Would he have, though?
They weren’t sleeping together. Were barely friends.
Oh my God.
“I don’t have anyone else to watch her,” the woman was saying. “I thought Nick—”
Crap. The woman was really desperate. It was written all over her devastated face.
Oh, man. You’re about to owe me so big, Ballantine.
Taylor had a suspicion she would regret what she was about to do, but really, what other choice was there?
Gorgeous ex-baby-mama of Nick’s or not, the woman was clearly in a tough spot, and Taylor knew all too well the heartbreaking anxiety of learning a loved one was in the hospital.
“I’m sure Nick will be back soon,” Taylor said hesitantly. “If you want, I guess I could watch her until he gets here?”
The woman visibly slumped in relief. “Oh my God. Would you? I know you don’t know me, but you’d be doing me such a big favor, you have no idea.”
She was already handing over the baby, who was still crying, but more of a fussy what’s happening? whimper than a full-on wail. Taylor had a sense that wouldn’t last long.
“She’s super easy,” the woman said, dropping the bag inside the door. “Everything you need’s in there. Diapers, toys, Cheerios. There’s a bottle in there too, but only give her that if she refuses to drink from the sippy—I’m trying to switch her over.”
The woman reached for Taylor’s phone, which was still unlocked, and entered her phone number.
“I just texted myself from your phone, so you have my number,” she said, holding out Taylor’s phone. Taylor somehow figured out how to hold that and not drop the baby.
Going well so far. You’ve got this, Carr.
“I really need to run, but I’ll text you anything else I can think of. Nick’ll know what to do when he gets here.”
“Um, sure,” Taylor said, trying not to panic.
The other woman stepped forward and made kissing noises on the baby’s cheek before giving Taylor a quick squeeze. “Thank you. Seriously. You have no idea.”
“Wait!” Taylor said as the other woman started to turn and close the door.
The woman paused.
Is this Nick’s baby?
She didn’t ask that. But boy, would she have questions for Nick when he got home.
“How about a name?” Taylor asked.
The woman let out a quick laugh. “Right. Sorry. I’m Kelsey Young. And that little sweetie you’re holding is my daughter. Hannah.”
Chapter 20
Nick was just about at the age where he remembered a time before cellphones, but not all that well.
By the time he’d gotten to college, most everyone had one, and he, like most people, had learned to rely on it. For everything.
He’d have liked to say he wasn’t the type of guy who immediately ran to the Apple Store after his iPhone met with an unfortunate demise on the floor of the gym, but…
Well, he was exactly that guy.