Baby on Board by Dahlia Rose Page B

give it a little more time to see where this was heading.
    Ivy didn’t want to lead him on. She enjoyed his company and he was an
    attractive man, but if the feelings weren’t there she couldn’t force it either.
    “Yes, and tomorrow I get to taste those lips again,” Reese said. “I’m
    on a stake out tonight so if you need me shoot me a text, okay?”
    “I will. You be careful, Reese,” she said worriedly. His job was
    dangerous and she certainly didn’t want to see him hurt in any way.
    “I definitely will. I have a date with a hot nurse tomorrow,” Reese
    answered.
    She hung up with a smile. He did have a way of charming her to
    pieces. No, she wouldn’t count Reese out quite yet. It was certainly better
    than pining for what she couldn’t have. With her glass of iced tea in hand,
    she went upstairs and stripped out of her uniform for a shower. Ivy
    hummed while the cool water flowed over her skin. After the heat of the
    day and driving home in bumper-to-bumper traffic, she wanted to refresh
    her heated skin. By eight o’clock, Ivy was settling into a quiet evening at
    home with some TV and leftovers for dinner. There was even a piece of
    carrot cake in the fridge she planned to enjoy before bed. That would just
    have to wait because around nine her phone rang again and this time it
    was Rafe on the line and his voice was frantic.
    “Ivy, please, can you come over?” Rafe asked. “Bonnie has a fever. I
    think it’s a fever, and she’s coughing. She almost threw up… Jesus, can
    you come? She’s crying and I can’t comfort her.”
    She could hear the panic in his voice and the baby crying in the
    background. He’d only been a dad for a short time and even seasoned
    parents got scared. She could only imagine how he felt.
    “I’ll be right over,” Ivy said without hesitation. She hung up the

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    Baby On Board Dahlia Rose

    phone, stuffed her phone into the pocket of her cargo shorts and slipped
    into her sandals. Ivy took her house keys off the counter and made sure to
    lock up before she jogged over to Rafe’s place. She pressed the doorbell
    and he swung the door open. She didn’t know a military haircut could
    look tousled, but his sure did. He held the crying baby, bouncing her in his
    arms.
    Rafe stepped aside and let her in, begging, “Tell me what to do.”
    “Give her here and get me the thermometer we bought at Target,” Ivy
    said calmly. As he rushed upstairs she sat on the sofa with Bonnie in her
    arms. The baby rubbed her nose and sniffled. “Okay, sweet girl, what’s
    going on with you tonight, huh? Why are you making Daddy scared?”
    Bonnie’s whimpers were the only answer and Ivy knew a cranky baby
    when she saw one. Rafe came back with the digital thermometer and Ivy
    took it from him. Making sure it was on, she waited for the readout to say
    zero before she pressed it gently against Bonnie’s ear. The beep signaled
    the reading was complete and she looked at the number.
    “She has a slight fever—one hundred point five,” Ivy told him.
    “Oh, God, Oh, God, I’ll get her stuff so we can go to the ER,” Rafe
    said and began to look around. “Where are my keys?”
    “Rafe, calm down. She doesn’t need to go to the hospital,” Ivy said
    gently. “She probably just has a stuffy nose and look at her gums. They’re
    red and swollen. She’s teething.”
    “Teething?” he repeated the word.
    Ivy nodded. “Yes, as in her teeth are coming in and this is all normal.
    Now, what we’ll do first is give her some baby Tylenol to ease her pain
    because her gums are hurting and it will help lower her slight fever. Then,
    we’re going to give her a cool bath and put the humidifier in her room to
    clear her nose. She’ll get a bottle and we’ll sit with her and comfort her
    until she falls asleep. Then, tomorrow, you’re going to buy teething rings
    that can be cooled in the fridge so she can chew on them.”
    He nodded. “Okay, I can do that.”
    “Yes, you can,”