Page 8 of Baby for My Best Friend's Brother

I swear, if my biological clock wasn’t already ticking, it would have started as soon as he scooped up his pint-sized friend.

Now, watching him play pony to half a dozen children, my ovaries are in serious danger of exploding.

Winter nudges me in the ribs. “You should get in on that.”

My brow furrows in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you should go play with Cliff and the kids.” She lowers her voice. “I know you wish you were over there instead of making small talk here.”

I pull a face. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to me.” She wraps an arm around my shoulder and gives me a light squeeze. “It’ll be good practice. Future Mom.”

My heart skips a beat at her new nickname for me. I turn my attention back to the play happening across the yard. She’s right. I would love to be over there joining in the fun. But I feel like I should say no. I’m here for her, not to act out any fantasies.

I start to make my excuse, but Cliff looks up at that moment. His dark gaze locks with mine, and his breathtaking smile softens. He winks, and my heart races.

“You’re right.” I press a hand to my chest, as if it will steady my pulse. “It would be good practice.”

“Exactly, and it looks like fun. Plus”—she wiggles her eyebrows at me—“if you decided to flirt with my brother in the process, that might be a good time too.”

I groan good-naturedly, but don’t make any argument, because she’s right. It would be fun to play with the kids.

And to flirt with her handsome brother.

“I’ll check in with you later,” I assure her.

“Just not too soon.”

I’m still shaking my head at my best friend’s blatant matchmaking efforts as I cross the yard. Cliff, who has moved on from being the kids’ horse to being their jungle gym gives me another one of those unexpected smiles of his.

“I was wondering when you’d finally get over here,” he says. His low, husky voice warms me from within. More loudly, he introduces me to his crew. “Alright, troops. At—ten—tion!”

Within seconds, the gaggle of children line up somewhat uniformly, from tallest to shortest. It’s almost like they’re doing their best impersonation of the Von Trapp children inThe Sound of Music.

I stifle a laugh imagining each child marching forward and announcing their name at the call of a whistle.

It wouldn’t surprise me if they did. Cliff does kind of have a Daddy Captain Von Trapp way about him.

“This is Sophie,” Cliff announces. “She’s joining us on the mission. Be nice, or I’ll make you do extra pushups.”

“Yes, Captain Cliff!” they chorus.

I catch his smirk. He’s definitely proud of himself. I shake my head again. Cliff and his sister really are something else.

A little girl with strawberry blonde curls steps forward. “Do you wanna play house with us?”

I blink. “House?”

She nods solemnly. “You can be the mommy.”

“And who gets to be the daddy?” Cliff asks.

“You,” says another kid, who’s missing their two front teeth. “Duh. You both look like the mommy and daddy.”

My cheeks flush, but the kids are already pulling us toward a cluster of lawn chairs and a plastic play kitchen someone has set up in the shade.

Before I know it, I’m “baking bread” and Cliff is holding a spatula flipping plastic burgers. All the while, I’m rocking a baby doll and Cliff is bouncing a six-year-old “baby” on his hip.

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