Page 64 of Letting it Ride

I’ll have to make a trip to the mall this weekend to replace everything I left behind. At least I had my phone with me when we got stranded, and my wallet. All I have to replace is beauty supplies. My clothes weren’t anything irreplaceable, either, although the bikinis were new.

As I drift off to sleep, I’m making a mental list of things to get done before I have to go back to school on Monday.

It feels like I’ve barely been asleep for a minute ortwo when pans clang together in the kitchen. What the hell is Annika doing?

She pushes open my bedroom door, and daylight spills in from the living room.

“Do you have eggs?” Annika asks, talking way too loudly for what seems like a very early morning hour.

“What?” I pull my pillow over my face to block her out. “Why are you awake? Why do you not have coffee in your hand?”

There is no reason to be up early today, so I want to sleep as long as humanly possible.

Annika’s footsteps retreat to the kitchen and then return. I’m about to chuck a pillow at her when the smell of coffee rouses me enough to reconsider.

“Give,” I demand. That’s about the longest sentence I’m capable of this early.

Annika does not, in fact, give. “I’ll put it in the bathroom for you.”

I want to murder her, but I’d have to get out of bed for that, and if I’m getting up I’m going for the coffee before I turn to crime. It’s not lost on me, even in my barely-conscious state, that this is literallyexactlywhat I did to Cam yesterday.

Maybe if things work out between us, we can invest in some kind of magic service that bringscoffee to you in bed.

Hold on.I’m still half asleep, but not completely. I shouldn’t be stuck in a dream world. And that’s what it is, right, to imagine Cam and I living together?

Jesus, I need caffeine.

24

CAM

“Take this,” Josie says the second the door opens, shoving a baby at me so fast I almost mistake it for a flesh-colored bulldog.

Maybe not the most attractive analogy, but its pudgy face is screwed up in a wail, and it looks about as happy to see me as a guard dog.

I’m already regretting this decision as Josie disappears through the front door in a sweep of black, shiny hair.

But Addie is also being saddled with a child, although hers isn’t screaming just yet. Its frown is one of suspicion. Clearly, the more intelligent of the twins. The one I’m holding seems to be well aware he’s beingleft in the care of two people who don’t know the first thing about babies.

At least, I don’t. I’m hoping Addie knows something, or this is going to be a really,reallylong day.

“Jasper is in Maddox’s office. He mostly hides from the twins, but he might need to be let out. Have fun!” Chris waves to us.

“Bye!” Addie calls to Chris as she makes a beeline for the door, hurrying after Josie.

“Why’s Jasper hiding?” The Dalmatian hasn’t seemed scared of anything since they brought him home from the shelter.

Addie grins at the child she’s holding. With blue eyes and pale hair, this one is a replica of Chris, while the one in my arms has Josie’s coloring, with dark hair and eyes and tan skin. “I think he’s scared of kids.”

I eye the baby in my arms. Same, Jasper. Same.

The child in my arms—I mentally name him Thing One—has ratcheted up his volume. How can baby lungs make so much noise? Thing Two looks like he’s preparing to add his voice to this symphony.

I hold Thing One at arm’s length. “Well, what do we do with them?”

Addie looks at me. She’s shifted Thing Two to her hip in what looks like a practiced move. “Play with them, feed them, change them. And then put themdown for naps when they get cranky.” Her lips quirk in an amused style. “Leo and James aren’t too much for you, are they?”

I don’t know if Leo is Thing One or Thing Two. And yes, clearly, I’m in way over my head. I should have started my childcare career with one baby. Or a cat, or a pet rock. After all, I couldn’t even keep a plant alive.

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