Tame the Beast : Small Beach Town, Single Mom Romance

Perfect, there is no one in here yet.

Oh, I am going to hand it to him so bad right now. I will give him an earful for creating this issue for me! You just wait, Matteo Loverson, the baby whisperer.

Next thing I know, that man jumps over the bar top like his ass is on fire. Literally. Jumps over it, Rambo, or was it Jackie Chan-style, and runs to us with wild eyes.

“What happened?” he asks in panic, and before I can open my mouth to start cussing him out—swear jar be damned—Mellie stops crying.

Breathe, Zoe. Fucking breathe.

His voice. That’s all that little stinker needed to stop her wailing.

Matteo snatches the car seat out of my hands, lowers it to the ground and takes a now very peaceful Mellie out of it while cooing sweet nothings to her. “What’s wrong, my little watermelon?” he asks her in that ridiculous baby voice, kissing her cheek, nose, forehead, and her little fingers as my daughter sniffs and shakes dramatically.

She actually manages to pull her bottom lip over in a pout as he cradles her.

I should consider a career in acting for her when she grows up. Look at that talent at barely four weeks old.

I should be angry at him. I should tell him to move out right this second before my daughter gets even more attached to him but with every second that she gets more settled in Matteo’s arms, her little hand resting on his peck and closes her eyes without so much as a drop of milk, my body sags. My brain sighs in relief and my heart is filling with more and more mushy feelings that absolutely cannot be there.

Who’s the one getting attached here, Zoe?

“What happened, Beastie?”

“This happened.” I point to him holding Mel. “You’ve gone and done it.”

“Done what?”

“Got her used to your arms and now she refuses to sleep anywhere else.” I don’t mention that it might not be just about sleeping in his arms. The truth is, it’s just him. She wants him nearby.

Matteo’s body relaxes and he gazes at my daughter with so much love, my heart is about to explode. This is the same way he looked at her at the hospital when she was just born. The same exact way.

“You love me, Mel?” he asks her, gently brushing her little cheek with the back of his finger. “I love you too, little watermelon.” Mellie relaxes and nuzzles into him, falling asleep that instant.

“I hate you,” I throw out his way, but both of us are well aware there is zero heat behind those words. “You are making my life harder right now.”

“Shh, Beastie, relax.”

“Don’t you dare shush me! This is all your fault! How am I supposed to be a single mom when she doesn’t want me?”

“That’s because you’re not.” His hand reaches over to my face cupping it as his forehead tilts against mine and all I can see, breathe and feel is Matteo.

“What?” My voice is breathy just like it always is when he is this close. My body relaxing more and more with each second, turning into a limp noodle in his arms.

So much for handing it to him so bad, giving him an earful and cussing him out. Who were you trying to fool, Zo?

“You are not and were never supposed to be a single mom, Zo. I am here to take on that other half of the equation, remember? And she wants you more than anyone, she simply wants me too. And I mean, can you blame her?” The bastard has the audacity to wiggle his eyebrows at me while wearing the worst smirk of all smirks.

“Wipe that smirk off your face before I do.”

“There is my beastie.” He smiles. “Threatening me with a good time.”

“How is me punching your face a good time?”

Matteo leans over, bringing his mouth to my ear, his lips touching it with just the briefest of touches. “Because I like it rough,” he says in a low husky tone, and I fail at my attempt to not be affected. He straightens, sending a wink my way while I’m hyperventilating from one little line.

Matteo places Mellie back in her car seat and moves her to the back where he was doing some sort of inventory. The next couple hours pass with him working, Mel sleeping, and me shamelessly ogling the man I was going to kick out of my house while sipping on a non-alcoholic cocktail he made me. It’s sweet but fresh at the same time, just perfect. Everything about my current set up is perfect.

So, why am I fighting this thing between us so much, again?