Page 29 of An Unexpected Match

Good heavens, had she lost her mind?

“Oh, Avery, I’m sorry. Here, let’s bring your stool closer and you can stand up here by me. I’ve already cut out a couple of cookies. I’ll get the rest in just a second. You can help, too.”

“Okay.”

The little girl’s delighted smile warmed Arden’s heart.

She did her best to ignore Brendan. To ignore what almost happened and in a room full of relatives. She knew she’d hear more about this from her aunts. She hoped the girls hadn’t picked up on anything.

At a normal debriefing session after a crisis situation, Brendan mused, he and the others analyzed the entire operation to see what they’d done right and what could have been handled differently.

In this case, he had a list of what he could have done differently. Should have done differently regarding his girls’ nanny.

Trying to concentrate on cutting the cookies and placing them on the sheet his daughter was guarding, he reflected on the different steps that led him to where he had almost forgotten that his daughters and Arden’s aunts were present and swept Arden into a passionate embrace. Which, unless he was way off base, she would have joined in wholeheartedly.

The phone calls had been a mistake. That started it. If he hadn’t talked with her each night, would he be so interested? So relaxed in her company?

Relaxed? Hardly. She had him tied up in knots.

He looked at her. She was doing her best to avoid his eyes. Scanning the room quickly, he noted her aunts did not seem unduly perturbed by the scene. They continued to talk with Hailey and Avery. And with him.

Not Arden. She was silent, which definitely was an unusual behavior for her. He missed her constant chatter.

Maybe it hadn’t started with the phone calls. Maybe it had started with that kiss. Which one? The chaste one she’d given him or the fiery one he’d been unable to resist giving her before leaving?

“Or it could have started at the interview,” he murmured.

“What?”

Arden looked at him.

He shook his head. “Nothing, just thinking aloud.”

“Oh.”

Quickly her gaze skirted away.

Great, now she wouldn’t even look at him.Nothinghad happened. Why was she acting this way?

And the reason nothing had happened, he asked himself. Not because he’d done anything to prevent it. He’d almost leaned forward and brushed her lips with his. His hands had itched to cup her cheeks. Feel the softness of her skin. He’d yearned to brush the flour from her chin and become lost in the blue of her eyes.

He shifted, glad the island counter was high enough to hide his body’s reaction. Being near Arden was causing all kinds of problems.

Focus, that’s what was needed. He was here to spend time with his daughters, not lust after their nanny.

“Okay, who wants a turn cutting out the cookies?” he asked.

Chapter Seven

Looking at the mess in the kitchen, he knew his father would have a fit if he ever saw it. But he wasn’t his father and his daughters seemed to be having the time of their lives. They’d never remember their mother, but he could give them happy memories of their childhood.

Arden was wise beyond her years, he thought as he began to relax and enjoy the afternoon with Avery and Hailey. Making happy memorieswasimportant.

Eugenia began washing the bowls.

“I can do that, Aunt Eugenia,” Arden protested, coming to stand beside her at the sink.

“I like the warmth of the water on my hands, child. Remember, Love is the cook, I always cleaned up. But you can help. Find a drying cloth.”

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