Page 66 of This Wild Heart

He grunted.

“Get any sleep last night?” I asked.

Based on the dark circles under his eyes, I didn’t even need him to answer, but he simply shook his head. “Couldn’t shut my brain off.”

“I bet,” I answered lightly. Spike wandered into the room, ignoring Parker and sniffing curiously at the bouncer. Leo was chewing on his fist, his dark gray eyes focused intently on the big orange cat peering down at him.

Parker and I traded a glance, and when Spike nuzzled his head against Leo’s foot, slowly easing his way onto the bouncer so he could curl up around the baby’s legs, my eyebrows shot up.

Then he started purring.

“Shut the fuck up,” Parker whispered.

I burst out laughing. “See? He’s a great judge of character.”

“That fucking cat still hisses at me if I look at him too long.”

I gave Parker a steady look, and he rolled his eyes.

There was a brisk knock on the door, and I narrowed my eyes. “Who’s here so early?”

“Reinforcements,” Parker answered dryly.

I sucked in a sharp breath, praying it wasn’t the cops, but when he swung open the door, and Milicent’s face was there, I let out an equally sharp exhale.

She was all business when she walked into the house, wearing a sleek black leather laptop bag over her arm, a black power suit, and shiny black shoes with a bright red sole. At the sight of the baby, she stopped dead in her tracks, assessing Leo and the cat with a shrewd look in her dark eyes.

“So you weren’t joking?”

Parker scratched the side of his jaw. “Would I joke about someone dropping off a baby at my house?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. I find that athletes have a strange sense of humor.” She set her bag down, flipping open the clasp to root inside. There was a discreet white box in her hand when she fished it out, and without removing her gaze from the baby, she held the box out to Parker. “Here you go. You swab first, and I’ll do the kid.”

I choked on my coffee.

Parker arched his eyebrow while I tried not to asphyxiate. “You all right over there?”

I managed to swallow, giving him a thumbs-up when I could breathe.

“Is that a paternity test?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Milicent answered.

I blinked. “And you just … have one? It’s six thirty in the morning.”

“I handle publicity for an entire team of professional football players,” she said, completely nonplussed. “I keep a few of these on hand at any given time.”

I shook my head. “All right then.”

“The results won’t hold up in court, but you’ll know,” she said to Parker.

His eyes met mine briefly, and then he turned back to the instructions on the back of the box. Because this was just a normal freaking Thursday for her, Milicent washed her hands in the kitchen sink, then plucked a swab from inside a sterile package, leaning down toward Leo.

Spike let out an angry sound, his ears flattening as she came closer, but Milicent simply arched her brow and stared right back. “Calm down, kitty. I’m not gonna hurt him.”

It seemed to appease the cat, but his golden eyes tracked her every move as she gently swabbed the inside of Leo’s cheek. He squirmed, angling toward the strange item in his mouth, and I grabbed his pacifier from the counter, handing it to Milicent when she finished taking her sample. He latched onto it immediately, and when I smiled, I noticed Parker watching with a muscle bunching above his jaw.

His eyes stayed on the baby for a long moment, and the haunted look in his expression caused a weighted sensation in my stomach. Not unpleasant but not good either.

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