Temptation - Brenda Jackson [27]
“You’re good with her, Sheila.”
She glanced over at Summer and smiled. “Thanks.”
“I wonder who her real parents are.”
“I wondered that as well. But I’m sure Zeke is going to find out,” Sheila said.
Summer chuckled. “I believe that, as well. Zeke comes across as a man who’s good at what he does.”
Sheila held the baby up to hide the blush on her face. She knew for a fact that Zeke was good at what he did, especially when it came to kissing a woman.
Zeke let himself inside his home with a bunch of papers in his hand, closing the door behind him with the heel of his shoe. He’d been busy today.
He dropped the papers on his dining room table and headed straight to the kitchen to grab a beer out of the refrigerator. He took a huge gulp and then let out a deep breath. He’d needed that. That satisfied his thirst. Now if he could satisfy his hunger for Sheila Hopkins the same way…
Twice he had thought of dropping by her place and twice he had remembered why he could not do that. He had no reason to see her again until it was time to open the paternity test results. Considering what he’d discovered with those other two TCC members, he felt confident that the test would prove there was no biological link between Brad and Sunnie. But he was just as determined to discover whose baby she was. What person would abandon their child to make them a part of some extortion scheme? It was crazy. And sick. And he intended to determine who would do such a thing and make sure the authorities threw the book at them as hard as they could.
His thoughts shifted back to Sheila as he moved from the kitchen to the dining room. He had a lot of work to do and intended to get down to business. But he couldn’t get out of his mind how he had opened his eyes while stretched out on her sofa only to find her staring down at him. If he hadn’t had the baby sleeping on his chest, he would have been tempted to reach out and pull her down on the sofa with him. And he would have taken her mouth the way he wanted to do. Why was he torturing himself by thinking of something he was better off not having?
He drew in a deep breath, knowing he needed to put Sheila out of his mind. He had been going through various reports when the phone rang. He grinned when he saw it was Darius.
“Homesick, Darius?” he asked into the phone, and heard a resounding chuckle.
“Of course. I’m not missing you though. It’s my wife. I’m trying to talk Summer into catching a plane and joining me here—especially since there’s a hurricane too close to you guys for comfort, but they’re shorthanded at the shelter.”
“So I heard.”
“She also told me about the abandoned baby. How’s that going?”
He took the next few minutes to bring Darius up to date. “I know Bradford Price and if he says the baby isn’t his then it’s not his,” Darius said. “He has no reason to lie about it.”
“I know, that’s why I intend to expose the jerk who’s out to ruin Brad’s good name,” Zeke said.
Six
Three days later Sheila sat glued to her television listening to the weather report. It was the last month of hurricane season and wouldn’t you know it…Hurricane Spencer was up to no good out in the gulf. Forecasters were advising everyone to take necessary precautions by stocking up on the essentials just in case the storm changed course. Now Sheila had Sunnie to worry about, and that meant making sure she had enough of everything—especially disposable diapers, formula and purified water in case the power went out.
Sunnie had pretty much settled down and was sleeping through the night. And they were both getting into a great routine. During the day Sheila had fun entertaining the baby by taking her to the park and other kid-friendly places. She enjoyed pushing Sunnie around in the stroller. Sunnie would still cry on occasion when others held her, but once she would glance around and lock her gaze on Sheila, she was fine.
Sheila had put the baby to bed a short while ago and was ready to go herself if only she was sleepy. Over