Their Inherited Triplets, page 6
Taken aback, Lulu paused. “That’s no reason to spy on me.”
“I wasn’t spying,” Dan continued quietly. “I just wanted to make sure you’re safe.”
Sam couldn’t blame him for that.
And neither, as much as she wanted to, could Lulu. “Well,” she said finally, “as you can see, I am.”
“Uh-huh. It still doesn’t explain why you’re here now,” Dan said.
“I would think that would be obvious.” She pointed to Theo, Andrew and Ethan who were all still playing happily with their toys.
Dan turned to Sam. “So the word in town is true? You’ve just become legal guardian to three little ones?”
“Yes.”
He turned back to his sister. “What do you have to do with this?”
She tensed. “I’m here, helping out.”
Dan lifted a curious brow.
“By...um...nannying,” she concluded reluctantly.
Her brother eyed her pajamas, which were quite chaste compared to some of the things Sam had once seen Lulu in. And would like to see again.
“Do Mom and Dad know you’re now working for Sam?”
It felt more like working with, but whatever, Sam thought. It was clear they were going to have to renegotiate their deal, anyway.
Meanwhile, Lulu wasn’t about to quibble over semantics. “What do you think?”
Dan squinted. “That you were probably afraid to tell them about any of this, never mind your sleeping over, for fear of what they’d say.”
Lulu turned to Sam, clearly feeling that was out of line, even if Dan was family. “Would you deck him for me?”
“No.” Although he wouldn’t mind taking her in his arms again.
Her eyes lit up like firecrackers on the Fourth of July. “Why not?” she demanded, looking both confused and incensed. “You’ve never had trouble defending my honor before!”
True, Sam thought, but this was different. They weren’t a couple now, although for parts of the previous night and this morning it almost felt as if they could be again. And because, as the primary caregiving adults in three vulnerable little boys’ lives, they had to be adult about all this. She especially had to not care about what others thought, as long as the two of them knew what they were doing was right. “Because there are better ways to resolve conflict,” he said wearily.
Lulu flushed again, for an entirely different reason this time, it seemed. Temper dissipating, she turned back to her brother, contrite. “Okay, sorry for overreacting.”
He lifted a hand, understanding. “It’s okay, sis. I know you have a lot going on.”
Lulu regarded her brother intently. “Why did you want to talk to me, anyway?”
Dan relaxed as peace returned. “I wanted to tell you there was some news about your hives. The driver of the tractor trailer hauling the off-road forklifts was apprehended last night in Missouri.”
Lulu bit her lip. “And the bees?”
“We don’t know where they are yet. The two vehicles apparently split up. The guy who loaded the beehives into the refrigeration truck said he thought it was a legal transport.”
Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. “What about all the honey that was stolen?”
“The jars are in crates, on the same truck as the beehives. He thought those were authorized to be removed, too.”
Appearing distraught, Lulu moved closer to Sam. It was all he could do not to put his arm around her and hug her close. Figuring that was the last thing she would want him to do in front of her protective older brother, he remained where he was.
“Did the officers believe him?” she asked in a low, quavering voice.
Dan’s brow furrowed. “Not sure, but the guy is cooperating, so there’s a chance we might recover your bees yet.”
“Thank heavens.” Looking like she needed a moment to compose herself, Lulu went back into the ranch house without another word.
* * *
Dan declined to stay for breakfast. Intuiting Lulu’s brother had a few more things he wanted to say, man-to-man, Sam walked him to his squad car.
“You and Lulu an item again?” Dan asked casually.
Sam shook his head. “No.” But after last night, I wish we were, Sam thought. And how crazy was that?
The lawman slanted him a warning glance. “You know in addition to her usual impulsiveness, Lulu has baby fever...”
“She’s also the next and last guardian on the list for the kids. She wants to be involved in this.”
“You break her heart again,” Dan warned, “friend of the family or not, you’re going to be dealing with all five of her brothers. You get that?”
Sam nodded.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
“So how is it going with the kids?” Dan asked.
Sam gave him the recap of the first eighteen hours.
Dan blinked, then offered empathetically, “I’m off at eleven. If you’d like, Kelly and I could round up our kids and come over this afternoon to lend a hand.”
His wife was not only a preschool teacher, but mother to triplets, too. Sam spread his hands, for once open to any assistance offered. “Actually,” he said sincerely, “if Kelly would like to visit, whatever tips she can give us would be great.”
For the first time since he had arrived, Dan smiled. “I know she’d be glad to help,” he said. “As would I.”
Kelly, Dan and their triplets arrived shortly after noon, with a picnic lunch and a large box of toys their children had outgrown. Two-year-olds Theo, Andrew and Ethan were immediately taken with four-year-olds Michelle, Michael and Matthew.
Who had lots of questions.
“Are these your babies, Aunt Lulu?” Matthew asked.
“No.” Looking gorgeous in a pair of coral shorts and a sleeveless white linen blouse, her hair swept up in a clip on the back of her head, Lulu knelt and lined up toy cars and trucks on the floor next to a play garage. Briefly, regret flashed in her long-lashed eyes. “I’m helping to take care of them,” she explained, “but they’re staying with Sam.”
“So you’re their daddy,” Michael concluded with furrowed brow.
“Guardian,” Sam corrected gently. Although I’m beginning to think I’d like to be more than just that...
Oblivious to the overemotional nature of his thoughts, Michelle sized up her aunt Lulu, then Sam. “Are you having a romance? ’Cause if you are,” she added helpfully, “then you could get married.”
Sam watched Lulu tense, the way she always did when the subject of her and marriage came up.
Kelly blushed. “Sorry.” The lively preschool teacher lifted a hand. “She’s been obsessed with love and weddings and marriage since...”
“Forever,” Dan chuckled.
Michelle beamed. “Our mommy married Dan so he could be our daddy. They could show you how to fall in love. Then you could become a mommy like you want, Aunt Lulu,” she finished sincerely.
So it was true, Sam thought. Dan hadn’t been wrong in his analysis. And Lulu hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said she had wanted this forever. She did have baby fever. Enough to skew her judgment? Cause her to behave as recklessly as she had before they’d broken up? Only to regret her overly impulsive actions later? He sure as hell hoped not. Their first breakup had been excruciating enough. And now Theo, Andrew and Ethan were involved.
Seemingly aware of the delicate nature of the circumstances, Kelly took charge. “I think Sam and Aunt Lulu can figure out their own situation, honey.”
“Let’s show the boys the rest of the stuff we brought for them to play with,” Dan said, digging into the big box of toys.
The kids immediately became enthralled, as everything old became new again.
Which was good, because it was only a few minutes later that the small moving van from Houston arrived.
“Where do y’all want this?” the workers asked. The crew boss opened up the back to reveal about twenty cardboard moving boxes, various toddler riding toys, a trio of toddler beds, a bureau, an oversize rocker-glider and a matching footstool.
Sam looked at Lulu, once again very glad she was there. “What do you think?” He had no idea where to put all this stuff.
“If it were me, I’d put the boxes containing Peter and Theresa’s belongings in a storage area like...”
“The attic?”
“Yes. And then clear the large bedroom next to yours and set up a nursery for all three boys in there. Maybe figure out where to put the playroom stuff later.”
Sam considered the suggestion. “Downstairs, off the kitchen, where my home office is now?”
“That would certainly be practical. You could toddler-proof the space and keep an eye on them while you prepare their meals. Maybe move your home office upstairs to one of the spare guest rooms you aren’t really using. Where it’ll be quieter.”
Sam nodded gratefully. “Sounds good.” He offered to pay the movers a little extra to lend a hand with the reorganization efforts. Two hours later, with Dan and Kelly still downstairs supervising both sets of triplets, he and Lulu remained upstairs, unpacking the nursery linens.
“You really don’t have to help me with this,” Lulu said. “Now that the beds are assembled and put in place, I can get it all set up from here. So, if you want to hook up the stuff in your new office space—” which was at the far end of the hall “—or go downstairs and work on the new playroom area...”
Why was she suddenly in such a hurry to get rid of him, now that the movers had left? Sam could only come up with one reason.
“Afraid what Kelly and Dan will think if you’re alone with me for too long?”
“No.” Her cheeks lit with embarrassment, she swooped down to pull pillows, mattress pads and sheets out of boxes.
Aware that everything but the possibility of making love to her again had temporarily left his brain, he lifted his brow. “Uh-huh.” He watched her deposit the appropriate stack of linens on the end of each toddler bed with more than necessary care. “Then why didn’t you tell anyone in your family that you were going to be the boys’ nanny, at least temporarily?”
“Maybe I didn’t have time.”
He let their glances collide, then linger. “And maybe things haven’t really changed since we were together before.”
Looking adorably flustered, she whirled away from him and went back to the bed against the far wall. “I know what you thought back then. And apparently now, too,” she said, her emotions suddenly as fired up as his. “But I was never ashamed to be with you.”
“But you were reluctant to tell them just how serious we were about each other. Isn’t that right, darlin’?” He paused to let his words sink in.
Her upright posture emphasized the soft swell of her breasts. His body hardened in response. “You may have been twenty-one,” she mused, “but I had just turned nineteen...”
“Which was old enough to go to Tennessee with me for spring break.”
“Yes, but my parents didn’t know that.” She bent to put on the first mattress pad and gestured for him to do the same. “All they knew, or know even to this day, was that I was going to go with Theresa to visit Graceland and Dollywood and Gatlinburg, and then enjoy the music scene in Nashville...”
He tore his eyes from her sensational legs and the sweet curve of her hips, recalling, “They had no idea that you were going to be maid of honor and I was going to be best man at Peter and Theresa’s elopement.”
Cheeks turning pink, Lulu moved around to the other side of the bed to snap the elastic hem into place. “They wouldn’t have approved.”
He imagined they would have approved even less if they’d known she was deliberately keeping them in the dark. He finished putting the mattress cover on the second bed, then stood. “Are they going to approve of you nannying here?”
Lulu drew a deep breath. “If you want the truth...”
He did.
She put on the top sheet, then the quilt. “Probably not.”
Finished, they both headed for the remaining toddler bed. Her head bent—to avoid his gaze, he imagined—she worked swiftly and methodically. He would have helped had she not edged him out with her hips.
Folding his arms, he moved around so he could see her expression. “You know you can’t keep being here a secret from them, don’t you?” Laramie County was a close-knit community, where families watched out for other families. Which meant that word would spread quickly.
Finished, Lulu punched the pillow into place. “I wasn’t planning to.”
“What’s going to happen if they do express their displeasure?” he said, goading her. “Will just the thought of disappointing them make you run away again?”
She marched toward him, unafraid. “I never ran away.” She poked a finger in his chest. “You were the one who threw down the gauntlet, forcing us to call it all off.”
He went toe-to-toe with her and lowered his face until they were nose to nose. “For good reason, Lulu. I wasn’t going to hide how I felt!”
“But you did,” Lulu whispered, tears gleaming in her eyes. “We both did,” she admitted in a choked voice, filled with the kind of heartache he, too, had experienced. “For a long time after that...”
Suddenly, Sam knew, he wasn’t the only one who had been carrying a torch for the last ten years.
The next thing he knew, she was all the way in his arms. Her face turned up to his, and in that instant, all the pain of the last decade melted away. Their lips fused. A helpless sound escaped her throat and she pressed herself against him, yielding to him in a way she never had before.
And damn it if he wasn’t giving his all to her, too. He gathered her even closer, let the kiss deepen, all the while savoring the sweet womanly taste of her, her fiery temperament, her warmth and her tenderness. Whether or not they’d be able to work it all out in the long haul was still questionable, but there’d never been anyone else for him. Never would be, he knew...
* * *
Lulu hadn’t meant to let her feelings slip out. It wasn’t surprising they had. She’d never been able to be around Sam and keep her guard up for long. He had a way of seeing past her defenses, of giving what was needed, even when she didn’t exactly ask for it.
And what she needed right now, she thought as she sank even deeper into his tantalizing embrace, was his strength and his tenderness, his kindness and perceptiveness. She needed to know if there was still something really special between them, or if their all-consuming feelings for each other had faded.
True, they hadn’t made things work when they’d had a chance. And there was no way they could go back and undo any of those mistakes, much as she might wish.
They could, however, find a way to forge a new path, one that gave them both what they needed and wanted, she thought as his tongue swept her mouth and mated ever so evocatively with hers. What she wanted right now, she realized, pressing even closer, was a second chance.
For him. For her. Maybe even for the three kids that were legally in his charge and emotionally in hers.
Who knew what would have happened if not for the sounds of a delicately clearing throat? The sight of her sister-in-law in the doorway?
“Sorry to interrupt,” Kelly said, her cheeks flushing. “But the kids are all getting hungry. Would you all be up for taking them into town for pizza?”
Chapter Six
“You really think this is going to work?” Sam asked Lulu at seven thirty that evening. He lounged against the bathroom wall, smelling like soap and man and brisk cologne. He also needed a shave. Although, truth be told, the rim of evening shadow on his jaw made him look rakishly sexy.
Trying not to think about how much she wanted to kiss him again, never mind how intimate and somehow right this all felt, Lulu squirted bubble bath soap into the big soaking tub in the master bathroom. As she turned on the warm water, she reflected how much better the triplets’ second day at the ranch had gone, compared to the first. It gave her hope the boys might settle in after all. That with a little time and a lot of love and effort, she and Sam could handle this.
And if they could handle the boys’ adjustment, what else might they be able to handle? she wondered. A real, enduring friendship? An affair? One thing was clear: the hot kiss they’d shared earlier was still resonating within her. And maybe him, too, if the veiled looks he’d been giving her were any indication.
With effort, she forced herself back to the matter at hand. “You heard what Kelly said at dinner. A familiar routine is crucial in helping kids to feel safe and happy.”
He cocked a brow, his gaze drifting over her lazily. In the same casual tone, he returned, “And the second thing is making kids want to do what they need to do.”
“Right.” Lulu smiled. Hence, the stop at the discount superstore on the way out of town to let Ethan, Andrew and Theo all pick out new bath toys. The boys had ridden back to the ranch with their treasures clutched in their little arms. And now that Sam had removed the packaging for them, it was time to play.
He walked back into the bedroom, where the triplets were enthusiastically climbing up onto the storage bench at the foot of his bed, and from there, onto the mattress. “Who wants to put their toys in the bubbles?” he asked.
“Me do!” Andrew said, hopping over to the edge and leaping unexpectedly into Sam’s arms.
“Me first!” Theo dropped down and scooted over to the edge of the bed, putting his feet over the side of the mattress and onto the wooden bench, then down onto the floor.
Ethan held out his arms joyously and waited to be scooped up. “Me, too!”
“Okay, fellas,” Sam said, once they’d all been ushered into the bathroom. “Let’s see which new toys like the bath the most.”
Andrew dropped his rubber whale and dolphins in. The creatures shimmied but remained upright. Theo added his waterwheel, sieve and cup. Ethan added his three boats. Sam nodded approvingly at them. “Looking good,” he said.
