Puree dripped off her chin, so she grabbed a kitchen towel. She shook her head at the mess. Behind her in his playpen, Ty was chattering to his soft toys, incomprehensible baby talk.
She looked at the screen and saw Jaeger standing at her front door, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, looking hot enough to melt glass. She, on the other hand, looked like hell.
Yes, she needed to speak to Jaeger, but not when she was looking like a refugee from the Baby Feeding Wars.
The doorbell chimed again, and Piper hit the button to unlock the main door. She wanted to clean up the mess and change her shirt, but before she had time to do either, Piper heard a knock on the apartment door.
She reluctantly opened it. “Hi. I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.”
Jaeger looked at the streaks on her shirt and lifted a curl from her right breast, the ends coated in splatters of chicken and carrots. “Hi. You look like you had a food fight with Ty and you lost.”
“Close.” Piper shut the door behind him and looked at his most excellent bum in nicely fitting jeans. Apart from her grungy shirt, she was also wearing yoga pants hanging low on her hips, and she wasn’t wearing any shoes.
“Just another exciting Friday night,” Piper muttered, following him into the living room.
“That’s actually why I’m here,” Jaeger said, standing next to Ty’s playpen. The tips of his fingers brushed Ty’s dark head, and Ty grinned up at him. How could he not see the resemblance? Piper wondered. They had the same eyes, the same hair and the same smile.
“I’ve been let off babysitting duty. Shaw has tonsillitis and Linc is staying home with him,” Jaeger explained. “So I thought you might want to go to Latimore’s exhibition.”
Piper frowned, confused. Jeans, a long-sleeve cobalt T-shirt and a battered leather jacket were not what she would have expected him to wear to an opening night of such importance. “With you?”
“Nope, with my sister Sage.” Jaeger pulled an invitation from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to her. He shrugged out of the leather and tossed it over the back of a chair. “She says she’ll meet you there. She’s as big a fan of art as you are, so you should like each other.”
“But Ty...”
Jaeger bent over the side of the playpen, and Piper couldn’t help admiring his hard, tight butt as he picked up Ty and settled the baby on his hip. “This little dude and I will drink beer and watch ESPN.”
“But—”
“Piper, it seems to me that you don’t have a lot of people to rely on. I understand that Ty is your priority, but you deserve to have some fun, too. Let me make you happy. Let me do this for you.”
No, this was too much! On top of the advance and the great sex, she didn’t think she could cope with him being so ridiculously thoughtful. How was she supposed to resist him?
“Look, I admit I don’t have a hell of a lot of experience with babies, but I can now change a diaper. I’m pretty sure I can make a bottle if you tell me how. Besides, I checked in with Ceri, and she said Rainn will be downstairs because he’s studying, so if Ty starts screaming his head off, I’ll call him to give me a hand.”
Piper bit the inside of her lip, still undecided. She flicked her finger against the edges of the card. “I can’t, Jaeger. I haven’t fed Ty yet. I’d need to shower, put on makeup, a dress. Get into the city.”
Ty’s little hand reached up to grab Jaeger’s ear, then his hair. Jaeger just flashed him a quick smile and allowed Ty’s little hands to explore.
“Sage is going to start looking for you later. I knew you’d need time to sort Ty out and to give me a long lecture on what to do and what not to do.” Ty shouted, and Jaeger followed his eyes to the playpen. He frowned at the pile of toys on the floor. “You’re going to have to be more specific, dude.”
“The yellow duck,” Piper told him. “It’s his favorite.”
Jaeger picked up the duck and handed it over. Ty waved the skinny animal around, its beak scraping along Jaeger’s jaw. “Take a break, Piper. Go meet my sister, talk art, have some wine.”