Chapter 38

“What?” Archer snaps. “What’s happening? Is she okay?”

I fling my seatbelt off and whip around to try and calm her down. “She’s hungry,” I say, quickly. “She ate all of the snacks I packed on the way here. Steven and Neil ate the back ups I had.”

“Fuck,” Archer hisses. He unbuckles himself and turns around to help me with Mia.

She’s so upset, wailing and kicking her tiny feet in the air. I unfasten her and bring her into my arms. She curls into me immediately. It does nothing to quell her though. She continues to scream into me.

“I wonder if the gas station market is open,” I say as I rock Mia.

Archer doesn’t even reply. He jumps out of the car and tries the door. He yanks it with an impressive force but it still is stuck shut. The inside of the store is pitch black. Mia continues to sob.

Archie throws open the back door of his car. He frantically digs through his bag. He swears and slams the door shut. I jump at the sudden noise, causing Mia to hiccup with a half sob. Archer gets back in the driver’s seat and slams his head against the headrest.

“Fuck,” he says again. “I don’t have any food. The gas station’s empty.” He look at me. His eyes are wide and nervous. “I don’t know what to do.”

I chew on my lip for a second, running through everything my mom’s taught me. Finally, it hits me. I peel the collar of my shirt farther away from me and expose my skin to Mia. She rests her cheek against my body. It quells her slightly but she’s still in visible distress.

“What are you doing?” Archer says.

“Babies usually are calmed by skin to skin contact,” I reply. “Something about the rhythm of the heartbeat. I don’t think this is enough though.”

Archer and I meet gazes. I feel heat rush up into my cheeks. Being shirtless in a car, alone with Archer sounds fun. The screaming baby makes it not fun.

Archer doesn’t even let me protest. He unzips his jacket and then takes off his shirt with it. Quicker than I can even process, Archer Hayes is shirtless in front of me again. This time, he’s close enough that I can see each of the ridges of his muscles.

He’s ripped.

His entire stomach is devoid of any fat. The planes of him are just muscle stretched underneath skin. As he takes Mia out of my arms, his biceps flex and his stomach clenches. I stare at him, mouth watering with lust and desire.

It’s entirely embarrassing.

I’m half tempted to slap myself to get out of it but stop when I realize the car is quiet. Except for the patter of the rain dripping onto the car from the under part of the gas station, it’s silent. There’s no crying baby.

I look back at Archer with shock and awe. In a surprise to both of us, Mia has calmed down drastically. She’s still slightly sniffly and making cranky little hand motions but she’s otherwise settled in Archer’s arms. He sighs and presses her closer to his chest.

“I can’t believe that worked,” he whispers.

“Me either,” Archer shoots me a look and I elaborate. “Usually it’s for babies that are still breastfeeding. The heartbeat plus the prospect of food calms them down. Mia’s well beyond breastfeeding.”

Archer cocks his head. “Then why – OW!”

His exclamation choruses through the car. He jerks backwards and pulls Mia from his chest. I settle her in my arms then try and figure out what happened to Archer. My eyes skim over his chest. When I get to his nipple, I have to laugh.

Mia seemed to think Archer was someone who would be able to give her food. She sunk her tiny little baby teeth into his nipple like she’d get milk from it. There’s tooth marks ringing around it.My stifled laughed becomes a bit louder as I fully realize the insanity of what’s happening here.

“Stop that,” Archer goads.

“I can’t,” I say between cackles. “She thought you were her mother. That’s insane!”

Archer tips his head. He cracks a quarter of a smile. “I guess I do have big pecs,” he says. He flexes the muscles to emphasize the point.

We both look at each other and break into raucous laughter. Mia even starts howling as she realizes that we are. It’s insane, all of it.

Part of it is the fact that Archer just flexed his man-tits at me. The other part of it is a bit of hysteria at the fact that I’m trapped in a car. With Archer Hayes. And we’re laughing.

Our laughter dies down slowly and then it’s silence. Mia has fully settled down in my arms. She reaches out for Archer. I go to hand her back. Archer tentatively reaches out and grabs her. He wraps her in his arms and holds out a hand.

Mia takes it tentatively and wraps her fingers around it. She looks so small tucked into Archer’s arms. Her body seems so frail and Archer seems like a giant, waiting to crush her.

But he doesn’t.

He’s a gentle giant with a kind soul. It’s something I’d never realized before about him. Most of the time he’s been fueled by rage, screaming at me for something. Solemn have I seen him so gentle. Now that he’s a bit more confident with how to take care of Mia, he’s kind. The tough exterior must be a show, some kind of preservation he’d built up.

The whole thing makes my head spin and slowly I’m lost in my thoughts. Archer looks up from where Mia sits in his arms.

“You good there, Nanny?”

I shake my head. “Sorry, yeah,” I mumble. “Just thinking.”

“What about?” he presses.

“Uh, well – you actually,” I say. Heat creeps into my cheeks. “You put this big bad wolf act on. But you’re not. Watching you with Mia made me realize that. You treat her with such grace. I truly believe you have a kind heart behind the brick walls you put up.”

After my speech, there’s a moment of silence. I’m genuinely worried I may have pushed too far over the line. I turn and look at Archer and to my surprise, see a blush creeping up his cheeks. I bite my lip to keep from gasping.

Archer smiles gently at me. “Thank you,” he says. “I’m starting to think the same thing about you.”