Baby Lessons

insisted on squirming instead of just peering up at her and waiting patiently to be lifted, like Toby always did. But nor did she try to lick Madison’s face—Toby’s favorite thing—and that seemed like a definite bonus.
Finally, she managed to get Ella snuggled against her chest and was rewarded with a breathy little coo that gave her heartstrings a wholly unexpected tug. I did it! She breathed a sigh of relief. Hanging out with these two cuties wouldn’t be so hard. Five minutes down, seven hours and fifty-five minutes to go.
She snuck a glance at Jack, who seemed to be watching her with far less open hostility than he normally did. In fact, there was an aching quality to the way he was looking at her. It made her heart beat hard, and she almost forgot that at some point she’d have to pick up both of his daughters at the same time. Was that even possible? She wasn’t an octopus.
“There, there,” she whispered when the baby in her arms whimpered. “I’ve got you, Emma.”
“Ella.” Jack sighed and the tender expression on his face faded away.
Madison breathed the tiniest bit easier. She could handle a distant Jack Cole. The gentle, scruffy, single-dad version of him was shockingly appealing all of a sudden.
“I knew that,” she lied. “I was just testing you.”
What had she gotten herself into?
What have I done?
Jack stared at his bedroom ceiling, wide awake at three in the morning. Madison’s presence in his home was impossible to ignore. Somewhere beyond his closed bedroom door, he could hear the lilting softness of her voice as she talked to Emma and Ella in hushed tones. He pictured her delicate feet tiptoeing from one end of the house to the other every time one of his cedar floorboards creaked. Every move she made seemed to echo with sound that vibrated through him, setting his senses on fire.
He knew it was only his imagination. To Madison’s credit, she wasn’t actually making much noise. The twins were having a good night. Every time Ella or Emma starting crying, the tears seemed to stop within seconds. That was when the rhythmic sound of the rocking chair would start, lulling him to sleep right along with his daughters.
But inevitably, he’d dream about Madison and wake up minutes later in a tangle of bedsheets, gasping for air.
This was never going to work. The whole reason for hiring a night nanny was so he could get some rest, and simply breathing the same air as Madison made him feel distinctly restless.
He hadn’t had a choice in the matter, though. He’d promised Wade he would hire the next qualified applicant. Madison had been pretty vague about her experience, and Jack hadn’t asked a single question about the child she’d mentioned—Toby—who “positively adored” her. Why wouldn’t he? She seemed perfectly worthy of adoration.
Besides, Jack had already made up his mind to hire her at that point. Not at first, obviously. At first, he’d been more than a little skeptical. And yeah, he’d actually been hiding from her in hopes of avoiding ending up with a nanny who seemed to court chaos wherever she went.
It was the comment about growing up without a mother that had done him in. Not just the words, but the way she’d said them—so matter-of-factly, even though he could see how vulnerable and open they’d made her feel. Madison was a mystery he couldn’t begin to unravel, but in that moment of truth, he’d wondered if maybe his mother had been right. Maybe she really was just what he was looking for—not for him, but for Ella and Emma. Maybe she could care for his girls and understand them in a way that no one else could.
He hoped so. God, how he hoped. They deserved more than just a single father who worried every damn day that he’d never be enough for them. He wanted to be the rock his daughters needed more than anything else in the world, but he was just one person. What if something happened to him at work one day? He was a firefighter. He put his life on the line on the regular without thinking twice about it. It was his duty.
He squeezed his eyes shut tight and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyelids until he saw spots. One day at a time, he reminded himself. He just had to do his best, take each day as it came and have faith it would all work out. Hiring Madison didn’t make much sense on the surface, but it felt right. For an honest, aching moment in the coffee shop, it had even felt like destiny.
Now, here in the dark, it felt like a mistake. Had he lost his mind? Just days ago, Madison had almost burned down a barn with a hairstyling tool and now he’d given her free rein over his oven, his stove, his microwave and probably a dozen or so highly flammable household goods. She didn’t even seem to know how to dress appropriately for taking care of infants. The thought of her dry-cleaning bill was enough to give him a migraine.
And she’d looked a little panicky before she’d picked up Emma. Ella, damn it! Now she’s got you mixing them up. But once his baby had been in her arms, Madison’s whole body seemed to sigh, and Jack had never wanted to kiss a woman so badly in his life.
He threw the duvet aside and climbed out of bed. Once he took a quick look around to make sure everything was safe and sound, maybe he’d be able to sleep. He’d act like he needed a glass of water or something. Nothing out of the ordinary about that, right?
Sure. Because the only thing keeping you awake at night is fire safety. It has nothing at all to do with the fact that you’d walk through a burning building just to kiss the woman who’s puttering around your house while you lie