Desiring the Enemy

Chapter 5

This wasn’t the welcome Hunter expected he’d find when he got home. Although he probably shouldn’t have been surprised, given the current circumstances in the house.

The lights were on, and Hunter’s eyes immediately landed on his brother. Dressed in only a pair of sweatpants that hang low on his hips, Jaxson cradled his crying son, Neil, to his bare chest. He rocked back and forth, obviously attempting to calm the child, but Neil didn’t seem to be in a cooperative mood. Hunter had a feeling this drama had been unfolding for longer than a few minutes.

The usually immaculate kitchen was anything but. There were two full bottles of milk on the marble island. A breast pump lay discarded next to one, with small puddles of milk around it as though someone had attempted to pour the milk into a bottle with one hand while holding on to a squirming baby.

The other bottle was equally surrounded by a mess, except this time it was in a powdered form, and Hunter guessed the haphazardly opened tin of formula milk was responsible for that. It was also probably responsible for the milk in a cup where a pacifier floated, abandoned like Jaxson’s dignity. A bottle of water, an orange cut in two with one half pressed, bottles of medicine, and toys completed the disaster.

Hunter felt a chuckle bubble up his throat, and he forcibly swallowed it down when Jaxson suddenly turned and caught sight of him. The fact that his brother hadn’t immediately been aware of his presence was very telling of Jaxson’s state of mind, and Hunter supposed he should be feeling concerned and maybe a little sympathetic. Still, he couldn’t help the words that fell from his lips.

“Were you carrying out an experiment on which milk tastes better?”

Jaxson’s jaw clenched, the bags under his eyes giving away just how tired the man was. “He rejected Chloe’s milk. So I thought the formula might work.”

The urge to chuckle tickled the back of his throat again. Of course, he wasn’t surprised Jaxson’s son was so fussy about milk. Still, he swallowed down his humor, sure it wouldn’t be appreciated. Instead, Hunter nodded as though that made perfect sense. After all, he knew nothing about babies, so he couldn’t judge. “And Chloe is…?”

“Sleeping.” Jaxson sighed heavily and shifted his son in his arms so the child’s head was now on his right bare shoulder. “She was exhausted to the point of tears. I thought I could handle him for a few hours while she rested.”

Hunter looked at the mess again, now noticing the stroller near the archway with a baby blanket half falling out. More baby toys littered the floor, and if he wasn’t mistaken, Jaxson’s shirt was on the floor close to the fridge, in what must have been a puddle of puked milk. He cringed. Yeah, things were obviously not going as planned.

Again, Hunter had to hold back the laughter. The whole situation was quite funny, the longer he took it in. Jaxson was able to command a room full of suits and get them to agree to his ideas. His brother was tenacious and had built a reputation as someone not to be messed with. People feared him, and they didn’t even know how good he was with a gun. Yet a one-month-old baby seemed to have brought the man down to his knees. What wasn’t funny about that? “You are doing an excellent job.”

“Oh, shut up!”

Chuckling, he dropped the car keys and wallet on the closest counter and then walked over to the sink to wash his hands and forearms. Once he was satisfied the club germs were no longer clinging to his skin, he wiped them and then faced Jaxson. “Here, let me take him.”

Jaxson stopped rocking and gave him a dubious look. “You want to take him?”

Hunter huffed as he pulled his T-shirt over his head, leaving him in his relatively cleaner vest. “Don’t look so surprised. I love my nephew. You look like you are about to fall over. I wouldn’t want you to be holding him when your legs give out.”

His brother shook his head but walked over and carefully transferred Neil into Hunter’s arms. “I could respond to that, but I would rather not,” he said when he was finally free and rolling his shoulders like a man who had just walked out of a boxing ring. He looked beaten.

Hunter ignored his brother and looked down at the bundle of agitation in his arms. Neil’s face was scrunched up and red as he let his lungs voice his displeasure. “Jeez, buddy, that is not a look to get the ladies,” he said calmly as he quickly positioned the baby so he was lying face-down over Hunter’s forearm in a belly hold with his head in the crook of Hunter’s elbow.

Either it was the new position or magic, but Neil went quiet, making Jaxson narrow his eyes at his son as though the boy had betrayed him. Hunter bit the inside of his cheek and fought not to laugh.

After a beat, Jaxson’s eyes met his. “Do I even want to know how you did that?”

Hunter grinned. “Abigail gave me some tips with Arlo.”

“Figures.” Jaxson shook his head and walked over to the double-door fridge for some water. Once he’d had half a bottle, he focused back on Hunter. “I was surprised you went out tonight. I thought with the office you would stop your partying ways.”

Hunter dropped his gaze. “I just needed a minute of fresh air,” he said. He expected his brother to press him for more, but Jaxson must have been more exhausted than he thought, because the man just granted, looked at his son one more time and then announced that he was going back to bed and Hunter should wake him when Neil slept or when Hunter was ready to sleep.

He nodded and didn’t say anything as Jaxson dragged himself out of the room like an old man. Once they were alone, however, Hunter chuckled softly and looked down at the little guy in his arms. “Buddy, you know… If you are hoping to have siblings, you should probably go easy on your parents.”

Neil sniffed, but otherwise kept quiet. Hunter studied the boy’s still-wet eyes that were now drooping. Yeah. He wouldn’t be awake for long after all that crying, he thought with a smile. Deciding they would be more comfortable in his room, Hunter grabbed the bottles and diaper bag he found near the stroller and started for the stairs as he spoke softly.

“So, here’s the deal… If you behave, I will tell you a bed time story about this beautiful angel who stole my jacket. What do you say? I can tell you about her, and then we can discuss how we will find her. Deal?”

Hunter didn’t expect an answer, but he took Neil’s silence as one and smiled. “Yeah. We will find her. I bet she has one hell of a story.” Because something told him there was more to the girl than what meets the eye, and he couldn’t wait to discover everything there was to know.