Lindsay stood up to look behind her and four seats back, she saw a man trying to quiet an upset infant. She quickly hurried down the aisle and stopped in front of the man with the crying infant. “Is there something I can do to help?” she inquired, looking down at the handsome, but frustrated man. In his arms, he was holding a crying baby approximately two months old, who was refusing to take hold of the nipple of the bottle in front of him. Casey Pennay looked up at her and his jaw dropped, surprised to see a woman who reminded him of his oldest brother’s wife standing beside him. But what shocked him the most about her was his body’s instantly response to her beauty. He was confused by his body’s reaction, since he’d never reacted this way towards Mariah, as he thought of her as a sister. First, his heart began hammering in his chest; his mouth became dry, as if he had a bunch of cotton balls in it, and had a hard arousal pushing on his pants zipper. Luckily for him, Austin’s blanket covered that part of his body. He figured she was there to complain about the baby’s crying and he forced himself to swallow. “Not unless you have some other way to feed him other than this bottle,” Casey replied coldly.

“Excuse me?” Lindsay didn’t understand why his anger was directed at her.

“Austin won’t take the bottle. My sister was nursing him.”

“Where’s your sister now?” she inquired, looking around the plane to find the child’s mother.

“My sister, Alexandra and her husband, Clayton, were killed recently. Clayton’s sister had been taking care of the baby until I could arrive to get him. She had a year old daughter who she had been nursing, so she was able to feed him, but she couldn’t keep Austin. I was hoping if he was hungry enough, he would take the bottle, but he proved me wrong.” He was frustrated at the situation, knowing the people around him were tired of listening to Austin’s crying.

“I’m so sorry for your lost.” Lindsay understood his sorrow of losing his sister and her husband. Lindsay’s husband, Bryon, had been dead for almost two years now and she still hurt from the lost. “May I try to feed him?”

“You believe you can get him to take the bottle when I couldn’t?” he shouted angrily at her.

She smiled at him. “No, I was going to nurse him,” she responded pleasantly.

“What? Is this some kind of joke? You think my situation is funny?” he asked in a huff.

“No, of course not. I’m only trying to help. I’m Lindsay Haggard. May I sit?” she asked, pointing to the empty seat by the window.

“Yes,” he replied, watching the young woman closely. For some reason her name seemed familiar, but he knew he hadn’t ever met her before, as he would’ve remembered if he had. “I’m Casey Pennay, and this is Austin Wilson.”

Lindsay processed slowly passed him and the second seat, which had the infant’s car seat sitting in it. She sat down in the seat next to the window and put her purse on the floor. “Could I have the baby?” The man frowned at her. “Please.” She could tell the man was unsure of her and her offer to help.

Casey stood and handed her the crying infant as she reached out to take him. The sensation of the infant in her arms was almost too much for her and her heart began thumping in her chest and her breasts aching to feel the baby’s mouth on her nipple. How she’d missed nursing and taking care of a little one. When Casey continued to stand there watching her, she grinned at him. “I promise I won’t steal him.”

His eyes had been on her breasts instead of listening to what she had been saying. “What?” His eyes jerked to her face in time to see her blush. “I’m sorry for staring,” he muttered, feeling like an idiot at getting caught staring at her breast like a teenager.

She didn’t say anything to him regarding where his eyes had been. “You can sit back down, I’m not going anywhere with him.”

“Oh.” Casey sat down, but didn’t remove his eyes from her.

Lindsay covered herself with his blanket before positioning the baby in her arms. She reached under her blouse to unhook her nursing bra, and then put the baby to her breast. He started suckling as soon as his mouth touched her nipple. She smiled in relief, even though she felt the other breast leaking, but with any luck, the breast pad in her bra would soak up the excess before it could leak out onto her blouse. She would wait to change the pad until after she was done feeding the baby.

When the cabin became quiet other than the sound of the blissfully nursing baby, the people around them applauded and the man’s face turned red from the embarrassment.

How could she nurse Austin? He didn’t understand how this was possible. “How can you nurse him? I didn’t think you could do that unless you had a baby.” His eyes watched her closely.

“I have a fifteen month old daughter who I’ve just weaned to a cup, but my milk hasn’t had time to dry up yet. Didn’t matter if it was breast milk or not, she still wouldn’t take a bottle either.”

“Where’s your daughter? Is she up front with your husband?”

“I’m returning home without her. I left her with my in-laws for a week’s visit. Now that she drinking from a cup, I can leave her with them.” She didn’t explain about Bryon because sometimes it made people uncomfortable when they find out her husband was dead. “Once you get home you’ll have to check into finding someone who can be his wet nurse.”

“There are people are willing to do that?” He was shocked at her comment.

“Check with an organization called La Leche League. Some infants are allergic to all types of formula, and the group help get breast milk to babies whose mothers aren’t able to nurse for one reason or another. Maybe they’ll know someone who could help you. Do you have any other family that will be able to assist you with the baby?”

“Yes, I have three brothers and a sister-in-law. My oldest brother’s wife wants to adopt Austin, but my brother doesn’t want to raise someone else’s child. My other two brothers aren’t married and can’t take him. My sister and I were very close, and I feel it is my responsibility to take care of him.”

“I can understand that. I assume there’s no wife at home?” she asked, even though she hadn’t seen a wedding ring.

“No,” he replied, wishing this woman could be his wife, but knew that wasn’t possible.

“Who is going to take care of him while you’re working?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t had the opportunity to check into it,” he replied sadly.

She moved the baby to her other breast to finish feeding him, then looked up at the man. When she noticed him intensely staring at her breast again and she loudly cleared her throat.

His eyes jerked upward. “Sorry,” he replied, his cheeks turning red.

She didn’t respond. She hadn’t been attracted to a man for a long time, but for some reason his gaze had excited her. She would have liked to have stay and talked to him, but it was time to get back to her seat and the man who may be her sister’s husband.

When the baby fell asleep, she pulled him away from her and quickly covered herself. Then she put him to her shoulder and began patting his back. After the soft burp, she put him in his car seat, and sat back down. “It can all be overwhelming.” She picked up her purse, opened it, and pulled out a business card. “If for some reason you should need to talk or ask any questions, please don’t hesitate to call me.” She reached over and gave him her card. “I work from my home, so don’t be afraid to call any time, day, or night,” she said pleasantly, wishing she could tell him how he made her feel.

“Lindsay Haggard, Novelist,” he read. “I knew your name seemed familiar, now I know why. I saw some of your books at my sister’s house when I packed up her belongings. I didn’t notice at the time, but what kind of novels do you write?”

“Romance,” she told him, fighting to prevent from blushing, but wasn’t successful. For some reason talking to this man on the subject of romance had embarrassed her. Maybe it was because she was attracted to him.

Casey noticed her blush and wondered what had caused it. Was she attracted to him too? “Won’t your husband mind a strange man calling you in the middle of the night?”

“No,” she replied, feeling bad for not telling him about Bryon.

“Do you mind if I talk to him to make sure it’s okay with him?” The last thing he wanted was to cause trouble for this woman since she’d save the day for him.

Lindsay knew she had to tell him the truth. “Mr. Pennay, I have to be honest with you concerning my husband.”

Casey’s first thought was she was an unwed mother and she had had her baby without the benefit of having a husband, he was instantly embarrassed for mentioning he wanted to talk to her husband. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, looking away from her.

“No, I want to tell you. Bryon died shortly after I found out I was expecting Nicole.”

He quickly turned to look at her. “I’m so sorry,” he said, then a puzzled look appeared on his face. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

She gave him a weak smile. “Sometimes when people find out my husband died while I was pregnant, they feel uncomfortable. With strangers who I’ll most likely never see again, I usually don’t mention he’s dead. I’m still wearing my wedding ring so when people see it, they just assume I have a husband in my life.”

“I see.” A quick thought came to him regarding Austin. “You said you work from home.”

Her eyes were observing him closely, and when he seemed engrossed with a thought, she sensed he had come up with some sort of strategy. “That’s right,” she replied slowly, nervous about his expression.

He beamed at her. “Would you be able to take Austin?”

“What?” she squawked, shocked by his question. This wasn’t at all what she thought he was thinking. “I’m not going to take your nephew. He should be with family, not some stranger.”

He put his hands up to calm her. “I don’t mean for good. Just until I can find someone else to help me with him.”

“Mr. Pennay . . .,” she started, but he interrupted.

“Please call me Casey,” he told her.

“I know you want what’s best for your nephew, but I can’t help you. I have a book deadline to meet and don’t have much time to complete my book. That’s why Nicole is with her grandparents, so I can work without any interruptions. I’m sorry, but I can’t take care of him even if I wanted to.”

“I know I don’t have a right to ask you, but I’m begging you. I’ll come to your place, I’ll do the housework, cook your dinner, and do your laundry. Anything! Please,” he begged, his hand reached out and clutched her hand. “I’m desperate.”

His sad eyes are what did her in, as she just didn’t have the heart to tell him no again. “How soon do you have to return to work?”

His face lit up with a sexy grin as he lifted her hand and kissed it. “Thank you.”

She quickly pulled her hand away from his. “I haven’t said I’ll watch him yet.”

He continued to smile at her. “I’m in business with my brothers, one is the President, and the other is the Vice President. My job is to keep the company running smoothly, which isn’t hard to do, so I can come and go as I please.”

“If we set up some sort of arrangement, we might be able to make this work,” she told him, trying to think what he could do to help her with her book.

“What did you have in mind?” he inquired, trying not to let her know that his mind was in the gutter. For he was thinking about taking her to bed, so she could take care of his other needs as well as taking care of Justin.

“Do you know anything about of the Internet?” she asked, realizing what it was that he could do to help.

His mind snapped back to the real world. “Enough to work my way around on it. Why do you ask?”

“Since my husband’s death, I’ve been having trouble writing. It’s as if I have a mental block or something. In my case, I think it is more of an emotion block. If you could help me with my research so I can finish my book before the deadline, I’ll help you with Austin.”

An ornery thought entered his head as he again thought of sex with her. “Should we move in together?” he asked, laughing when he saw her scandalized expression. “I take that as a no.”

“I probably should have Austin with me twenty-four seven, but I don’t think you and I will have be together that much.”

“It would make things easier on all of us if we lived in the same house,” he verbalized softly, still thinking about having her in his bed.

“You mean it will be less trouble for you,” she said, with hostility.

“All right, it will make things easier for me. Someday I’m going to have full charge of Austin, so I have to be ready so I know what to do once it’s just me and him.”

Lindsay nodded. “I’m sorry for my comment. I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right.” She looked away and then looked back at him. “It probably would make more sense if I moved in with you.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked, not caring where they lived, but the thought of them in bed together set him aflame.

“Your place is going to be his home. It’s best to have him settled in one place. We haven’t any idea how long our association is going to be, but I’d say he probably could be weaned to a cup somewhere around nine months, six months at the earliest, and a year at the longest.”

“What about your daughter? How is she going to take moving into my home?”

“As long as she’s with me, I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

The plane’s captain announced they would be landing at Kansas City in ten minutes.

“I need to get back to my seat, I’m sure your nephew should be fine for a couple of hours. The man I was sitting next to wants me to meet his wife, so I don’t want to lose him in the bustle of leaving the plane.”

Casey watched as Lindsay stood, but prevented her from passing him. “Why does he want you to meet his wife?”

“Not that it is any of your business, but he thinks I maybe one of his wife’s sisters.”

“That’s a new one,” he replied sarcastically, letting out a loud snort.

Lindsay looked at him, surprised by his comment. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re a beautiful woman. I’m sure a man would try to find any way he could to be able to get involved with you.”

“He said I looked like his wife, not that he wanted to take me to bed.”

“And you believed him? I think you look enough like my sister-in-law to be related to her too, but you didn’t hear me feeding you such a line.”

She sat back down in the seat and looked at him with bewilderment. “What is your sister-in-law’s name?” she asked, thinking that maybe she could be one of her other sisters.

“Mariah Clemmens.”

Lindsay laughed. “I don’t believe this.”

“What’s so funny?” His facial features scrunched up, indicating he didn’t think anything concerning their conversation humorous.

“What is your brother’s name?” she asked with a slight smile.

“Which brother’s name do you want?”

“The brother who’s married to the woman who looks like me,” she answered with a grin.

“His name is Evan Clemmens, but I don’t why you want to know that.”

She was confused by the different last names. “If he’s your brother, why don’t you two have the same last name?”

“My sister and I had a different father than our two brothers.”

“Would you believe he’s the man I was talking about?”

“What?”

“He’s sitting just a few rows ahead of us?”

“Evan is on this plane? I don’t believe it.”

“If the man I was sitting next to earlier was truthful regarding his name, he is.”

The flight attendant announced everyone needed to return to his or her seats and buckle their seatbelts.

“I need to be back to my seat.”

“I need you for Austin.” Casey grasped her hand. “I don’t want to lose sight of you once we land.”

“You have my card in case we get separated and my cell number is on it. I’ll turn on my phone as soon as we land.”

“Fine,” he said grumpily, unhappy about her leaving him alone with Austin.

As she passed by him, she smiled at him, then stepped out into the aisle. He watched as she turned and started down the aisle. His emotions were jumbled as she disappeared from his sight, as he hadn’t ever had a woman affect him quite like this before. What did it all mean? Was this what Mariah had meant when she talked about love at first sight? Could he be falling in love with Lindsay? Impossible! Maybe they could get to know each other, then maybe it would lead somewhere for them, but then maybe he just needed to get laid.

When Lindsay returned to her original seat, Evan reached over and seized a tight hold of her hand. “I was afraid you weren’t going to return.”

She smiled at him. “I was just a few seats behind you. Besides, there aren’t too many places I could have gone to on this plane.”

“I know, but still I want you to meet my wife.”

“Do you have a brother named Casey?”

Evan looked at her, confused as to where this question had come from. He couldn’t figure out how this woman could know anything regarding his brother. “Yes,” he replied slowly, “why do you ask?”

“Austin was the infant you heard crying earlier.” Lindsay grinned at him. “He and Austin are sitting behind us.”

Evan stood up and looked behind him. Sure enough, he saw Casey looking back at him. He smiled and waved at him, then he sat back down. “I didn’t know he was returning this soon,” he said, baffled to why Casey was on this flight. “Why was the baby crying? Is he sick or something?” He wouldn’t want to take on the responsibility of caring for a sick child, no matter how much Mariah wanted him.

“No, just hungry.”

“Didn’t Casey have a bottle for him?”

“He did, but Austin is a breastfed baby, who hadn’t ever had a bottle before and refused to take it. Some babies are like that, while other breastfed babies don’t mind taking a bottle once in a while.”

“Did Casey inform you my wife wanted to adopt Austin?”

“Yes, he did,” she said, but didn’t elaborate, thinking she would let him tell her the rest if he wanted her to know.

“Did he also tell you that I said that I didn’t want him?” he asked, even though he figured Casey had told her.

She nodded. “Yes, he did.”

“Mariah and I’ve talked recently. If Casey will let us, we want to adopt Austin.”

“You shouldn’t be telling me this. You need to talk to your brother.”

“I will as soon as I can.”

The plane landed, taxied down the landing strip, then finally stopped next to the terminal. As soon as the flight attendant announced they could start disembarking, people stood and started taking their carry-on luggage down from the overhead compartments. Lindsay waited until Casey came up the aisle with Austin in his carrier before she stepped out into the aisle in front of him, with Evan following right behind her.

Evan turned to look at his brother. “Casey, I didn’t know you were on this flight. I thought you would still be in Oklahoma.” His eyes showed his bafflement.

“I finished my business faster than I thought I would,” he replied melancholy.

“What about the funeral?”

“There wasn’t one,” he said sorrowfully.

“What?” Evan was surprised to hear that. “I thought they were going to be buried in Flagstaff.”

“Clayton’s sister refused to help pay for their burial. So I decided if we’re paying the entire bill for both of them, I’d bring them home and buried them next to our parents.”

Evan touched his brother’s shoulder. “I think they would like that.”

“I’m glad you think so, I wasn’t sure. I wanted to call to check with all of you, but there wasn’t enough time.”

“Casey, we need to talk.”

Casey looked at his brother with misunderstanding. “What do we need to talk about? By your comment, I assumed it was okay with you that I was bringing Alexandra and Clayton home to be buried. So what else do we need to talk about?”

“I meant regarding us adopting Austin.”

“You told me you didn’t want the baby. Your exact words were, ‘I don’t want to be a father, to someone else’s kid.’ Isn’t that what you told me?” he asked heatedly.

Evan nodded. “I know what I said, but Mariah wants him. I love her and I want to make her happy.”

“I don’t know. I’ve just found out today Austin won’t take a bottle.”

“So, I’m sure he would if he was hungry enough,” he replied innocently.

“What do you want to do? Starve the baby until he decides he better take a bottle or else,” Casey said angrily.

“Of course not. It wouldn’t take him long before he would take the nourishment from a bottle.”

Casey shook his head at his brother’s words. “Did you hear him screaming earlier on the plane?”

“Yes. So?” He didn’t understand what the big deal was. The baby would have to take the bottle if he was hungry enough.

“Did you enjoy listening to him scream?” he asked nastily.

“No, of course not.”

“He isn’t at the age you can sit down and rationally discuss the situation with him. Austin is a baby who is used to nursing and that’s what he needs,” he insisted.

“I don’t see what the problem is.”

Casey shook his head at his brother’s ignorance, but then had to smile. He couldn’t blame Evan for his stupidity, as he’d learned quite a bit on the subject of babies himself since taking custody of Austin. He looked in front of him to the woman who had offered to help him with the baby. If Evan and Mariah took Austin to live with them, then he wouldn’t have a reason to see her and he really did want to get to know her better.

“Casey,” Evan called to get his attention.

“What?” Casey’s eyes returned to his brother’s face.

“You didn’t hear a word I said,” he said, then looked where Casey had been staring and smiled. So his baby brother was interested in Lindsay. Maybe he should tell him that she might be Mariah’s sister.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I asked if you were going to tell Mariah no, because I’m not going to.”

“Evan,” he pleaded, hoping he could make his brother understand. “For right now I think it would be best for Austin to stay with me.”

“Fine,” he said hatefully, turning away from Casey.

Casey put his hand on his brother’s arm. “I’m not saying you’ll never have him. I just think for now Austin should live with me.” When Evan didn’t response to his comment, he tightened his grip on his brother’s arm. “Evan, you’re my brother and I love you. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you or Mariah. Alexandra was my sister; I just want to do what’s best for her son.”

Evan stopped and turned so quickly that Casey bumped into him, nearly dropping the baby in his carrier.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked furiously, looking at his brother’s heated expression.

“We may have had different fathers, but Alexandra was my sister too. I loved her just as much as you did,” Evan said, with rage and fire in his eyes.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that the way I did. I know you, Chandler, and Morgan loved her as much as I did, but I was named Austin’s guardian and I don’t want to screw it up. Let’s get our luggage and get out of here. We’ll go to your place and have a family meeting.”

Evan shook his head. “Let’s not do it today. We’re all tired. First, we need to bury our sister and her husband. Once that is all taken care of, we’ll have a family meeting and make plans for Austin.”

“Fine,” Casey replied angrily, but he wasn’t about to let his oldest brother make all the decisions regarding Austin.