Page 82 of Snow, Ice, and Spice
“Oh, yeah. This is a great arm workout,” he says. Tori laughs. He flashes a confident smile and I can’t help but laugh too.
Millie hollers for Tori to come over to the bar. She grins and points at a trio of cocktail glasses.
“Wow, did she order that all for herself?” I ask.
Tori chuckles. “Probably.”
She walks off and I catch a handful of my aunties and cousins gazing adoringly at Theo. Can’t say that I blame him. He looks equal parts adorable and sexy holding a baby while decked out in a suit.
“You’re making half of my family swoon by the way you’re holding my cousin’s baby,” I say to him.
He frowns. “No way.” When he looks around the room, his brow lifts. “Okay, maybe you’re onto something.”
The longer he stands there holding Evelyn, the more I start to swoon too. Seeing this burly hockey player cradle a baby is definitely having an effect on me.
And then my brain does something weird—something it’s never done before. I reimagine this moment with Theo holding a different baby—ourbaby.
The image only lasts a second in my brain before it disappears.
My heart races and my skin goes hot. What the hell? I’ve never, ever imagined having a baby before. Not with anyone I’ve ever been with.
I glance at Theo once more. He makes a silly face at Evelyn, who starts to smile. Underneath the nerves crackling inside of me, I feel…warmth. And comfort.
What the…is this what people mean when they say their ovaries are bursting?
Just then Peter returns with a pacifier in his hand. “Found it!” he announces, his dark brown hair mussed. I notice a few tiny beads of sweat along his brow. Poor guy must have flipped his car inside out hunting for that pacifier.
He frowns like he’s confused when he sees Theo holding Evelyn.
“Millie went to get a drink,” Theo says.
“Oh. Thanks for watching Evelyn,” Peter says.
“No problem.” Theo hands a content Evelyn back to her dad. She happily takes the pacifier right as Millie returns, cocktail in each hand. Tori follows behind holding a glass too.
“Can I add you to my list of possible babysitters?” she jokes to Theo.
For the next few minutes, they chat and laugh. All the while I stand there and steal glances at Theo, struggling to figure out why the hell my brain just imagined a future and a family with him.
Chapter27
Theo
“You okay?”
Maya nods at my question, despite the deer-in-headlights expression on her face. She’s been quiet the last few minutes while we’ve been chatting with her cousin Millie and Millie’s husband.
My gut tells me she’s not okay. This isn’t like her, to stand around and go quiet in front of her family. I know I’ve only hung out with her family a couple of times, but it was clear how comfortable she is around them, whether she was joking or laughing or bickering or calling her brothers out on their overprotective act.
But something’s off with her right now.
Millie and Tori get pulled into a nearby conversation with some other relatives and Peter leaves to change Evelyn.
“Hey, you wanna get some air?” I ask Maya.
Again she nods without saying a word. I notice the panicked look in her burnt umber eyes has dialed back a notch before I lead her out the side entrance of the restaurant, which opens to the outdoor seating area. All the tables and chairs are covered in nylon tarps with a dusting of snow on them. I take her to the far end and lean against the wooden railing, then pull off my suit jacket and drape it over her shoulders.
I scoop her hand in mine. “You sure you’re okay?”
