Baby Lessons

herself not to go all breathless when Jack answered. He was her boss now. Not her real boss, technically, since this was more of an undercover situation than her actual career. But still, boundaries and all that.
Not to mention the fact that she still found him wholly annoying. Why shouldn’t she? He thought she’d be such a terrible nanny that he’d actively hid from her at the Bean. Never mind that his instincts had probably been spot-on, hiding from her was just mean and, truth be told, par for the course for the cranky fireman.
There was nothing annoying about his appearance when the door swung open, though. He was wearing a T-shirt that perfectly hugged his firefighting biceps and a pair of faded jeans that looked as soft and comfy as something straight out of a dryer sheet commercial. They were the exact same shade of blue as his eyes, which yes, could have been construed as mildly annoying if Madison had been in any way attracted to his cozy, single-dad vibe. But she wasn’t.
Not much, anyway.
“Hi,” she said. “Night nanny reporting for duty.”
He looked up her and down, and a slight frown tugged at the corner of his mouth as his gaze lingered on her shimmery pink blouse. “Um, is that what you’re wearing?”
She arched a brow. “Do you have something against French fashion?”
“No. It’s just...” His frown deepened. Honestly, she’d never met such a frowny man in her life. “Never mind.”
Good. She didn’t want to get into another argument with him before she even managed to breach the perimeter of his home. “Shall I come inside now?”
“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Of course. Sure.”
Madison stepped inside as he swung the door open wide with about as much enthusiasm as someone welcoming the plague into his home. Things were going great so far. Just peachy.
She looked around and was surprised to find his cottage warm and inviting—in direct opposition to Lieutenant Cole’s general mood pretty much every time she’d been around him—and she couldn’t help but wonder if he was usually a kinder, gentler version of himself and for some reason saved his grumpier moments just for her. She was beginning to suspect the latter, which intrigued her more than she wanted to admit.
Focus.
Babies. Column. Professionalism.
She squared her shoulders and did her best to give off a Mary Poppins vibe. “Where are the twins?”
“Their room is right down the hall.” Jack led the way, and she walked alongside him, doing her best to ignore the way his heroic muscles flexed as he moved.
For about the thousandth time, Madison wished he was an accountant or an engineer instead of a fireman. Honestly, anything that didn’t involve saving innocent people from burning buildings or spending an ounce of time in the gym.
“Here we are.” He pushed a door open, revealing a cotton-candy-hued nursery that made her melt right there on the spot.
It was as pink and girly as a cupcake. She loved every inch of it.
“Please tell me you painted these walls yourself,” she said before she could stop the flow of nonsense from her mouth.
“I did, why?”
“No reason,” she said, biting down hard on her lip to keep herself from smiling at the thought of Jack with baby-pink paint spatters in his hair. Adorable.
A squealing sound came from one of the pretty white cribs that sat side by side against the far wall. Baby sounds—right, the whole reason she was here.
She walked over to the crib and peered down at the sweet infant lying on her back and playing with her feet, much like the happy baby pose Madison had done about a thousand times in yoga. She’d had no idea how on the nose those pose names could be.
“Why, hello there, Emma,” she said in her gentlest tone.
“That’s Ella,” Jack corrected.
“Totally.” Madison nodded. “Ella is what I meant to say.”
Good grief, she couldn’t even tell them apart.
Her grip on the edge of the crib tightened as the first wave of panic washed over her. What was she doing here? Was Jack really going to just stand there and watch her do her job? He was supposed to be sleeping.
She smiled at him. Go to bed. Please, please just go to sleep.
He didn’t budge. He just stood there as if he was waiting for something, and that something probably had to do with her actually interacting with one of his children.
Okay, then. She was going to have to pick Ella up. No problem. She could totally do that. She’d never actually held a baby before, but how hard could it be? It was probably no different than holding Toby, especially since Toby didn’t even have fur.
“Here we go,” she murmured, reaching into the crib. “Come here, Emma sweetheart.”
“Ella,” Jack said.
Not helping! Madison slid her hands beneath Ella’s tiny back, but trying to actually lift her felt strangely similar to trying to scoop up a wet, floppy noodle.
Not that Madison knew much about noodles, either, since apparently, she was a complete failure in the domestic realm. Gosh, why hadn’t she ever taken home ec or child development in high school?
Because you were too busy perfecting your staystitching and hemming techniques in sewing class and writing about Fashion Week for the school paper.
She’d nailed her final senior sewing project—a white faux fur swing coat. She’d actually worn it last winter to the Vogue offices and gotten loads of compliments.
The baby in her hands kicked, drawing her back to the present...to Vermont, where she was an utter failure at everything that mattered.
“It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you.” Time was ticking away, and she’d yet to heave the sweet little tot into her arms. She was going to have to just do it and hope for the best before Jack realized what a mistake he’d made and told her to leave.
As carefully as possible, she picked Ella up, being especially mindful of her soft baby head, because she remembered reading something about that once in a magazine. It was awkward at first, because Ella