Page 8 of The Cowboy Takes a Nanny
“Aww … Don’t be so hard on yourself, Leo. Your social skills aren’t that much worse than Benny’s—though, when he hits two next month…?”
He reached to find some level of indignation and failing miserably, his chest bubbling with an amused chuckled, but he kept it low so as not to wake Mia. “Well, there you have it. Something for me to aspire to. Looks like I’ll be coming to you for lessons, little man.”
Sensing he was now part of this conversation, Benny looked from one of them to the other, screwing his little face into some kind of feigned hilarity and barked out a false laugh. The kid was hilarious. Even funnier was that within a split second he was back to soberly munching on his carrots.
“Cute trick. I should remember that one.” Keeping his eyes on the boy, Leo lifted his hands in mock surrender. “But what? You think I’m not up to it? Seems like you and I are gonna have to have some serious talks about the Bro Code, man.”
Mia’s eyes drooped and the nipple fell from her cherub lips, abandoned. Ella moved it away from the baby’s mouth before turning to her son. “And then, my darling baby boy,” she said sweetly, “you and I will have a serious chat about why it’s never a wise move to choose a brother over your significant other—who at this point of your life, is me—your mother.”
Leo slid back onto the stool he’d recently vacated; he really should go into the office. “You’re kidding me, right? Every guy needs his brothers—how else will he know when he’s making a jackass of himself? Another guy—your brother, your pal, even your dad—will give it to you straight. Not always leaving you hanging—guessing—like girls tend to do.”
“That’s your counterargument? Well, trust me—I’m about to set your mind at ease.” Her reply was way too smooth, her tone sickly sweet. “Leo Halligan, you’re not alone. I’m here and I’m quite happy to take on the role of jackass judge. If I see you being a jackass, I promise there’ll be no dissembling, no confusion—I’ll give it to you straight.”
“Very noble of you. But then again, something tells me that role wouldn’t be much of a hardship for you at all; that you’d be well suited.”
She ignored his counter jibe. “Do you have a daily criticism tolerance level? I might need to know that. For example, how many times you can realistically tolerate being told you’ve messed up?”
“How many…?” He controlled his laughter by chewing on his inner lip. “What can I say? The level of faith you have in me is awe inspiring. Such a lift to my self-esteem. And while I appreciate such concern for my feelings, I might have to burst that fun bubble and tell you I’ve been working on that part of me. Found a program. Weaning myself off jackassism. Down to—ohhh—hopefully not more than once a day, now.”
“Really? Commendable. Your sponsor must be so proud. Though if it’s your brother Jack I won’t hold out for your graduation ceremony.”
More laughter bubbled in his chest. “You’re right to be concerned. The guy is a jackass genius. Taught me everything thing I now wish I didn’t know.”
“Ha… That, I believe.” The teasing gleam faded, eclipsed by a soft smile. “I didn’t mean anything nasty about Jack. I like him, he’s a good sport. And a good brother. Maybe just a bit,” she paused, “full-on?”
That’s when his dam finally broke and he laughed out loud, dialing it down when she shot him a quick frown accompanied by a finger pointed at his sleeping daughter. “You’re spot on. And he’s a great uncle, and a great brother. But full-on is a fair and accurate—and generous—description of my next brother up.”
Grinning, he took a swig of his now almost cold coffee. When was the last time he’d really laughed? Especially with a woman he wasn’t related to? Before she’d come into his life? It’d been a while. But damn, it felt good to just be—What? Silly? Carefree? He was a father, a rancher, and had a reputation as a tough rodeo competitor. Silly had never been in his make-up, and even further down in his vocabulary.
However, when she stood, obviously intending to take the baby up to her crib, and absently performed some kind of little shimmy to shake those skin tight jeans into a more comfortable position, his thoughts went in a completely different direction. Like, how long had it been since he’d flirted with a gorgeous woman?
Because a worrying twist in his chest more than hinted at the possibility. Had they been flirting? Or two friends having a bit of a laugh? Was he supposed to know this stuff? He refused to watch as Ella left the room, instead he watched Benny trail after her.
Nah … The kid probably had no more idea that he had; no use asking him.
Chapter Three
The next few days passed in a busy blur for Ella, her focus firmly on caring for the children and seeing that the house ran as smoothly as possible. She’d met Bea, the sturdy middle-aged woman who cleaned for Leo, but apart from giving Ella a lot of sideways and blatantly curious glances, she’d had barely said a word. Still, Ella had hopes that before her time in Leo’s home came to an end that she could build some kind of relationship with the woman. It was important to her; ingrained. The one thing her father had done right was to always respect his staff, no matter how lowly their position.
Leo had been gone during the day, so it was just her and the children, but they all seemed to be adjusting well. Though it was both sweet and kind of heart-wrenching at the same time to see Mia’s little eyes searching for her father in the places she usually found him. She was handling the transition beautifully, but Ella was constantly aware that this was a trial for Mia as well.
If Ella had harbored any faint hope that Leo was staying away because he didn’t trust himself around her, the thought was dashed when the load of materials he’d been waiting for arrived. He’d been stretching daylight hours ever since; trying to get a start on the new corrals, which meant he was gone early. But never without first greeting his daughter.
Ella’s room was adjoined to Mia’s via a bathroom so she heard Leo fussing with Mia through the open doors before he left each morning, changing her and blowing noisy raspberries on her tummy. She’d seen him do it often enough to correctly identify the sounds and subsequent giggles.
Like the coward she was, she always waited until he’d gone before she and Benny would take Mia from the crib back to their room. There the three would tussle on the bed, play hide-and-seek with bed sheets and have a little fun before going down for breakfast. It was probably a good thing Leo had already left the house because if he heard the shrieks coming from her room, he’d probably think they were all being attacked.
Ella had also taken to eating with the little ones, and have both children bathed ready for bedtime before Leo came home. Unless he was going to be away, or working late, he’d take his baby for some daddy time before putting her down for the night, and later going back downstairs for the dinner she’d left prepared for him.
He’d repeatedly told her not to bother, that she had enough to do, but she liked cooking—and surely all those expensive French cookery lessons she’d had should be put to good use in the surprisingly well-equipped kitchen.
While the children happily drummed on upturned pots with wooden spoons at her feet, Ella put the finishing touches to a beef bourguignon, ready to slip into the oven for a long slow bake, when Leo entered via the mudroom.
The set to his traffic-stopping unusually serious features, stilled her movements. The cacophony of sound at her feet produced a frown. Leaning around the counter he simply raised an eyebrow in her direction.
She forced a cheeky smile. “Please tell me that’s not hideously expensive French cookware?”
His mouth pulled in tight, and she willed him not to do that. “And if it is?”
