Colton Family Showdown

A shadow blotted out the faint light from the hallway. Fox held out a T-shirt. “So you don’t have to sleep in your clothes.”

“Thanks.” Here he was, seeing to the details. The shirt was soft and she could already smell the faint scent of him on the fabric.

He shuffled his feet, hooking his hands in his back pockets. “You should let me take the night shift,” he said.

“Absolutely not. You hired me for baby care and I’ll handle it.”

“You just got here,” he protested.

“There’s a first day with every job.” She smiled when he frowned. “You’ll be the first to know if I need a hand.”

He stared at her for a long, tension-fraught moment, as if weighing her sincerity. “I suppose that works.”

She slipped into the bedroom and closed the door before he could find another argument. Tomorrow she’d have her suitcase and the fresh start she’d been after would be completely underway.

Undressing, she pulled the T-shirt on over her head. The hem fell to her knees, but it was the scent of the man, masculine and clean, lingering in the fabric that put a zing in her blood. She nipped that feeling in a hurry. She might have idolized Fox and his successful breeding program, might have fantasized about a relationship with an honorable man like him, but he was her boss now. She couldn’t afford to let her hormones screw up her perfect job.

Oh, that had a nice ring to it. A real job. With pay and benefits and, for the duration of the nanny portion of the program, room and board, too. No more temporary situations that meant relocating in three to six months. She would give him two years, minimum. Take a break from the constant search for the next post.

Slipping into bed, Kelsey sighed with contentment. This might well be her best night ever. Definitely her best night in recent months.

She was well and truly safe. The Crooked C ranch had clear boundaries and if a couple of her brothers, strangers in this area, showed up asking questions, they’d be noticed and reported. Wouldn’t that be fabulous?

Tonight was better than her first night in the college dorm. Back then, thanks to keycards and security officers, she’d known her brothers couldn’t come in and make a scene or drag her back home. Walking through the campus had felt less secure, but daylight and crowds of people had been her buffer.

They’d tried to isolate her more than once during her college years. Only her quick thinking, her reputation and the self-defense classes she chose enabled her to follow her dreams. Lying here now, she realized every restless night, every uncertainty had been worth it.

She curled to her side. Still free. And staying that way. Smiling, she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep before the baby woke up again.

Fox heard the baby crying and rolled out of bed, more awake than asleep. He padded over to where the makeshift crib had been under his window. The baby wasn’t there. That’s right, he had help now. He had a nanny.

So why was the baby still crying?

He padded out of his room, following the hiccupping cries, the hardwood floors cool under his bare feet. The bathroom light was on and the guest room door was open. In the dim light he found Kelsey on the floor, singing a lullaby as she changed the baby’s diaper.

The words slowly filtered through his sleep-hazed brain and he recognized an old church hymn.

She had a sweet voice, even at a whisper. He didn’t want to scare her, but he didn’t want to interrupt, either. He leaned against the doorjamb and listened.

The baby was running out of steam and Kelsey cuddled him close as she rolled to her feet. Tucking the pacifier into his mouth, she swayed side to side, keeping his face out of the light as she sang another verse.

He could watch her for hours. Days maybe. Time slowed down, and Fox savored every precious moment until she had the baby nestled into the bed once more.

She came toward the door, and Fox stepped out of her way. She wore the T-shirt he’d loaned her over the jeans she’d arrived in. The fabric was thin enough that he could see she hadn’t put on her bra, and he averted his gaze. She was his employee twice over and being half-asleep wasn’t an excuse to ogle her.

He was suddenly aware he didn’t have anything on but an old pair of flannel pants.

“Sorry we woke you,” she whispered.

His body was more than willing to have her wake him anytime. He ignored the flash of heat. Employee. It became a chant in his head. “You look different.”

She twirled her finger in the air as if turning him around. “Go back to sleep before you can’t.”

It was her hair. Her hair was down and flowing loose around her shoulders in glossy strawberry-blond waves. “You’re good with him.”

She smiled, then pressed her finger to her lips in a sign for silence. “Sleep now, employee evaluation in the morning.”

She turned out the bathroom light and disappeared into the darkness of what would be her bedroom while the baby was here.

Leaving Fox alone in the dark hallway. If he went back to bed, he’d dream of her, assuming he could get back to sleep at all. If he dreamed of her, it would be even more awkward between them in the morning.

He returned to his room, grabbed his reading glasses and the latest veterinary science magazine.

Chapter 3 (#uf1da3bab-29d4-5b47-a4ce-dff903f1b7c4)

A few hours later, Kelsey heard Fox leave to tend the horses and dozed off until the baby started stirring. If Fox meant to take care of the infant for some time, a baby monitor would be a good investment. It wasn’t exactly her business, but DNA tests took time. Unless someone claimed the baby right away, he needed some proper baby gear just to make things run smoothly.

She rolled out of bed and pulled on her jeans. Today, once the baby was settled, she’d get to see the Colton breeding operation live and in person. Grabbing her bra, she darted down the hall to the bathroom, taking a few minutes for herself before the baby got wound up.

Perfect timing as Baby John was testing out sounds and degrees of fussiness when she returned to the bedroom. The moment he saw her he grinned, kicking his feet. He was such a cute little guy, all smiles in the morning, though he was surely hungry and in need of a clean diaper.

When he was all set, she carried him out to the kitchen and saw a note from Fox. Morning chores. Back soon. Bottle ready in the fridge.

“Well, isn’t your temporary daddy the best ever?” she cooed to the baby. When the bottle was warmed up, she found a spot in the family room to feed Baby John.

Fox walked back in just as the infant finished eating. “Perfect timing,” she said to the baby, making him giggle.

“You two are up early,” Fox said.

“It’s a baby thing,” she said. “You understand.”

“I do, actually. Baby horses and baby people keep crazy hours.” He walked over and the tyke reached for him. Fox tickled his tummy and they both grinned. “I was going to start on breakfast,” he said, his gaze still on the baby.

The man was charmed whether or not he’d admit it. “I can make breakfast,” she offered. “You fixed dinner last night.”

“Nah, let me. It serves as a nice mental transition from chores to office work.”

With a thousand questions about the horses circling in her head, she let him go. She could ask about horses at the barn or the office. Right now, she needed to broach the subject that the baby needed some additional supplies if they were going to make this arrangement work.

“Did you get coffee?” he asked.

“Not yet,” she replied. Holding Baby John to her shoulder, she went to the coffeepot to pour.

Again Fox had anticipated and poured her a cup. “Cream or sugar?”

“First cup of the day is always black,” she said.

“The better to kick it into high gear?”