life was going at the moment. With all the added expense of caring for the three children she was responsible for, she’d had to push her catering business to the max. She was bidding on everything from a ten-year-old’s birthday party to the local bank’s grand opening. Some jobs she got, some she lost.
And while getting jobs meant staying alive, she was left with the question of who took care of the kids while she worked. Dina’s grandmother was always glad to help out, but the triplets were too much for the older woman to take care of on a regular basis, and paying Jamie to babysit pretty much ate up any profit Dina was lucky enough to make.
It had been a hard three months, adjusting to life as a single mom, so was it any wonder she’d sued for child support the moment she found out who the babies’ father was?
A splash of water and a screech of outrage caught her attention. Gladly letting her thoughts slide away to be examined later, Dina stepped over the threshold into the cottage’s one bathroom. The triplets were in the tub, Connor hanging over it, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he tried to deal with all three wet, slippery babies. Puddles gathered on the floor and under the knees of his slacks.
“Don’t take the ducky from your sister,” he said and relieved one baby of the duck in question.
A howl of outrage followed and Connor said quickly, “Here, um, which one are you? Sam? Sage? Have a boat.”
Dina laughed softly, enjoying seeing someone else fight the battle of the bath for a change. Sadie loved the water, Sage spent bath time trying to escape it and Sam would fall asleep sitting up in the warm water if you weren’t careful. Sadie splashed again and laughed in delight when Connor yelped as the water hit his eyes.
“Okay, little girl, no fair splashing when I’m trying to get hold of your brother.”
Sadie babbled at him while Sage climbed up Connor’s chest, a wet, wriggling mass eager to be out of the tub. Connor grabbed one towel, wrapped it around the tiny boy, and said, “Stay right there.”
Then he turned his back on Sage to reach for the next baby. Sadie scooted out of reach, so it was Sam who was the next one out and wrapped like a burrito in a soft, dark blue towel.
Dina just watched. Sure, she could grab the boys and lend Connor a hand, but this was more interesting. She wanted to see how he reacted to the nightly ritual. If he’d fold or rise to the occasion.
While Connor reached out to grab Sadie, Sage dropped his towel and ran past Dina into the hallway, giggling all the way.
“Wait! Come back here!” Connor lifted Sadie, wrapped her up and swung around. His gaze met Dina’s and he said, “Well, thanks for the help.” Frowning, he looked past her into the hallway, swinging his hair out of his eyes. “Where’d he go?”
She shrugged and smiled wider. Couldn’t help herself. “Where he always goes. To the toy box in their room.”
“Great,” Connor said, holding onto Sadie while she squirmed, trying to get back into the water. Sweeping Sam up into his arms as well, Connor stood and faced her.
He was dripping wet. His white shirt was soaked through and plastered to what looked like a very impressive chest. Water droplets rolled down his face and clung to his hair. She smiled again. How could she not?
“Did you enjoy the show?”
“Oh, a lot,” she assured him, still grinning. “But the show’s not over yet. There are still three naked babies to diaper, put into jammies and settle down for bed.”
He shifted the two on his hips. “And you think I can’t do it?”
“I know you can’t,” she said, leaning against the doorjamb, folding her arms across her chest. “Not on your own.”
Sadie squirmed; Sam grabbed a handful of Connor’s hair and tugged. “Wanna bet?”
From the other room came Sage’s high-pitched squeals and the sound of a little truck being pushed across the floor. Dina bent down, picked up the discarded towel and tossed it over Connor’s shoulder. He’d had a rough go of it, but he was still standing, and she had to admire him for that. Still, she had the feeling he was about done.
“Absolutely,” she said, enjoying the harried expression on Connor’s face. She’d known him less than four hours, but she knew that harried wasn’t a look he often wore. This was a man who ruled his world. He was used to people jumping to do his bidding. Now he had to deal with three babies who were used to calling the shots. He was in so much trouble. “What’s the bet?”
A slow, seductive smile curved his mouth and Dina’s insides shivered in response. Maybe betting with Connor King wasn’t the smartest move she could make.
He hefted both babies a little higher and then said, “When I win, we sit down with a glass of wine and talk about where we go from here.”
“And when I win, you write a check and disappear?”
The smile on his face faded away and Dina thought she’d gone too far. But what did he expect? She’d known him just a few hours and he’d crashed into her home, her family and taken over as if he had the right—which he didn’t. Not from where she was standing.
He took a step closer and she kept her gaze on his. Still holding the babies close, he said, “It won’t be that easy, Dina. I’m not going anywhere, so you’d better get used to it.”
“And if I can’t?” she asked.
“I’m willing to bet you can.”
Dina really didn’t want to be impressed, but she was.
When the triplets first came to live with her, she’d been completely lost and practically hopeless at caring for them. She hadn’t done much babysitting as a kid and none of her friends had children, so she’d had zero experience. But she’d consoled herself with the fact that most first-time moms were as lost as she herself was. Since she didn’t have any choice but to jump in and do the best she could, Dina had learned as she went. She hadn’t so much gotten the babies into a routine as she’d gotten herself into one. She’d had to learn from scratch—and fast—how to take care of three babies, and she’d made too many mistakes to count.
Then Connor King arrived, jumped into the fray like a natural and handled it all. He’d seemed so darn sure of himself, she’d stood back, prepared to gleefully watch a disaster unfold. Instead, he’d taken charge, as he probably did in every other aspect of his life, and gotten the job done. Sure, he was a little harried, but he’d done it. Babies were bathed and dressed and tucked into their beds with a story read by Connor, complete with sound effects that had them all giggling.
And honestly, that’s what irritated her the most. The babies liked him. She was here day in and day out and one visit from a handsome stranger and all three of them were won over. What happened to loyalty to good old Aunt Dina, she wanted to know.
As she watched from the nursery door, she felt a small niggle of worry as Connor moved from crib to crib, smoothing his hand across the babies’ heads, each in turn. He was taking a moment—what he probably thought was a private moment—to really look at the
