He felt her internal muscles contract, heard her intake of breath, and when heat coursed over him, he thrust once, then twice and followed her into a deep blinding light he never wanted to leave.
* * *
At the Ninth Street entrance to Prospect Park, Jaeger pushed the handle of Ty’s stroller into her hand, walked over to the hot dog stand and ordered a dog fully loaded. God, he’d already had two bowls of cereal back at her apartment, two cups of coffee and three of Ty’s baby biscuits. She’d forgotten how much men ate. Especially ripped, fit men who burned calories like a hot rocket.
Piper leaned down and checked on Ty. As she’d suspected, he’d pulled off his beanie, both his shoes and one sock. Piper replaced his footwear and tried to tug his beanie back over his ears. Within five seconds, Ty had it off again and in his mouth. Okay, Piper decided, this was a battle she wasn’t going to win. The hat could stay off, but the socks and baby shoes had to stay on.
Piper watched as Jaeger lifted his hot dog to his mouth and took an enormous bite. She’d expected him to leave right after they made love, but after a trip to the bathroom, he’d climbed back into bed and wrapped his arms around her. Within a few minutes he’d fallen asleep.
She woke up around eight. Her bed was empty but her kitchen wasn’t. Jaeger had Ty in his high chair, making buzzing noises as he directed a spoon of yogurt toward Ty’s open mouth. Ty would not eat if his diaper was soggy, so that meant Jaeger had changed him while she slept.
Any other man, she suspected, would’ve nudged her awake, and told her Ty was awake and yelling for her—when Ty woke up he immediately demanded company. Any other man would’ve buried his head in the pillow and left her to sort out her son. Not Jaeger Ballantyne; he’d heard Ty, went to him, changed him and fed him breakfast, allowing her another hour of precious sleep.
If he ever needed a kidney, or blood, she was his girl. Hell, she suspected her heart already belonged to him, anyway. What was another organ or two?
Every minute she spent with him deepened her connection to him; what a fool she had been for thinking she could stop herself from falling for him. Maybe that was why, in Milan, she’d insisted they not hook up again. She’d subconsciously known they could never be just bed buddies.
Jaeger was a good guy. In fact, he was one of the best she’d ever known.
He deserved to know about Ty, to be the dad her father had never been.
Ty deserved to know him. It wasn’t fair to either of them to keep this a secret.
So how to tell him? And when?
Jaeger approached her and lifted up his half-eaten dog. “Want a bite?” he offered.
Piper shook her head. “God, no. Processed food and carbs and preservatives.”
Jaeger looked at his hot dog, then at her, and took another enormous bite, his eyes reflecting pure mischief. He chewed and swallowed. “Tastes damn good.”
“Smells good, too,” Piper reluctantly admitted.
Jaeger popped the last piece of his third breakfast into his mouth, and they walked into the park, her pushing the stroller with one hand. She loved this park. It was her favorite place to walk or run, with Ty or not. Both she and Ty loved being in the fresh air, and in the summer she’d spent a lot of time lounging on a blanket with Ty in the Long Meadow. She turned her head to watch Jaeger, who was looking around with interest.
“Have you been here before?” she asked.
“I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t. It’s stunning.”
“In summer it’s a riot of green, but I think it’s prettiest in fall, still pretty in winter. A little starker, a little emptier, but...” Piper shrugged, suddenly embarrassed. “I think it’s awesome. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid, so I consider it my personal playground.”
Ty shouted and Jaeger jumped, his face instantly worried. Piper laughed. “He’s fine. It’s his way of telling me he’s happy to be outside.”
Jaeger turned around and walked backward, looking at Ty. “He’s missing a sock and a shoe,” Jaeger pointed out.
Piper stopped the stroller and let out a long sigh. Jaeger bent down and lifted a tiny sock. “The sock is here. One shoe is definitely AWOL.”