she demanded. “You are planning on hiring one to help you with the three little boys.”
“Yes.” He intended to call a five-star service as soon as he got home and have them send someone out. Hopefully, by tomorrow evening. “I was.”
“Well, I’m telling you there is no need for that,” she went on sweetly, “when you have me, volunteering for the position.”
Actually, there were a lot of reasons, Sam thought. Starting with the fact he had never really gotten over Lulu. Or the way their relationship had ended. Or the fact that, even now, he found himself wanting to take her to bed and make love to her over and over again.
Was she feeling the same damning pull of attraction? And if so, where would that lead them? “Why do you want to do this?” he asked.
She shrugged, suddenly holding back as much as he was. She spread her hands wide. “Well, at the moment, it’s not like I have anything else to do.”
Uh-huh. “And if I believe that, you have some prime swampland to sell me.”
“Okay.” She flushed guiltily and her tongue snaked out to wet her lower lip. “You’re right.” A small sigh. “I do have an ulterior motive.”
Now they were talking.
“I want to be there for the children in case things don’t work out with the four of you.”
“Except...they’re going to work out, darlin’,” he promised, just as persuasively.
At his assertion, an inscrutable veil slipped over her eyes. Her slender body stiffened and he took in the gentle rise and fall of her breasts.
“You seem sure of that,” she said finally.
Sam nodded. Trying to keep his own latent anger and disappointment at bay, he replied, “When I make a commitment, Lulu, I keep it.” Their eyes locked, held. Memories came flooding back.
Reminded of their falling-out all those years ago, and the reason for it, the color in her cheeks grew even rosier.
“Even if they do work out just fine with you...as their single daddy...you’re going to need loving backup for them. And what better person for that role than their next, and only remaining, named legal guardian?”
She had a point. What she was suggesting did sort of make sense. At least when it came to doing what was best for the three little ones.
“You’d have to come to my ranch,” he warned.
“Obviously.”
“And be available to help whenever, wherever, however I need you.”
He expected her to resist. Instead, she did not so much as flinch. She rocked forward on the toes of her cowgirl boots, patient and ready. “I can make plenty of sacrifices, when necessary.”
There had been a time, he thought irritably, when that wasn’t the case.
“In fact, if you’ll let me take charge of them, you won’t even have to pay me or be anything more than an admirable father figure in their lives. I’m perfectly willing to handle everything on my own.”
She was deliberately calling the shots and shutting him out. He frowned, warning her, “I intend to be a lot more hands-on than that, darlin’. And if you take this on, I will pay you the going rate.”
“Okay. Well, then, if you want, I’ll do the days while you’re out working. When you get home at night, you could take over completely in the evening.”
As much as he wanted that to be the case, he knew that might be a little much for him. Especially in the beginning, until the kids got settled in and developed a routine.
As if sensing that, she continued, “Or you could have me stay and help you until they’re all in bed for the night. And then I could still head home to my place. After all...” Lulu sighed, pausing to look him in the eye, letting him know that nothing essential would ever change between the two of them, even if two-year-old triplets were involved, “...like oil and water, you and I will never really mix.” She pivoted and headed for the barn. “Not for long, anyway.”
We could, Sam thought, with a ferocity that surprised him, if you would ever give us even half a chance.
But Lulu wouldn’t, he realized, watching her long legs eat up the ground. Not back then, when they had loved each other, and clearly not now, given the lingering animosity between them.
He caught up with her, overwhelmed yet again with the desire to sweep her into his arms and kiss her until she melted against him. Pushing the impulse aside, he retorted gruffly, “We need to think about what is right for the kids, Lulu.” Not what either of us wish could happen in some fantasy world.
She shut one barn door, then the other. Over her shoulder, she sent him a contemplative look and said, “I am thinking, Sam.” She brushed past him and headed for the porch of her small and tidy cottage-style home.
She settled on one of the cozy wicker chairs on the front porch. With a gesture, she invited him to make himself comfortable, too. “In fact, I haven’t stopped mulling over what to do since the moment I heard about the triplets being orphaned. Which is why I know in my heart that the boys need to be here in Laramie County, where they will be well cared for and loved. Not just by you or me but by the whole community.”
Sam wasn’t surprised Lulu was feeling protective. She had always been sweetly maternal. An emotion that as of late had been bestowed upon her bees.
She had also switched gears pretty quickly. From cantankerous ex slash opponent, to heartbroken business owner, to ferociously determined nanny-to-be. He couldn’t help but wonder if they were moving too fast, if they shouldn’t ask for an extra few days to think about what they wanted to do, before they gave Hiram their answer.
Able to see how Lulu might take such a suggestion, however, he said only, “You’re really willing to go all out to lend a hand, even after what happened here at the Honeybee Ranch today?” A theft that had left her devastated?
She gave him a look that said, Especially after this. “First of all, Sam,” she reflected sadly, “we owe it to our friends to do everything we can to protect and nurture their three little boys.”
Renewed grief wafted over him, too. “I agree,” he said gruffly.
“Second, it’ll keep me busy until I see if my hives will ever be recovered.” As she seemed to fear they wouldn’t be. “Third, to make this work, you’re going to need help. Lots of it.”
He leaned against a post on the porch and studied her. Aware the impulsive, reckless, romantic side of her was simultaneously the most thrilling and the most irritating. Which made him wonder just how long she would last, in what was likely to be a very challenging—and potentially heartbreaking—situation.
He sauntered toward her. “I don’t half do anything, Lulu.” A fact he’d made perfectly clear ten years before.
Her lower lip slid out in a delicious pout. She rose with elegant grace to face off with him. “Unlike me, I suppose?”
He
