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take
him.”
    “So she’s at school?”
    Her gaze sharpened. “I know you took her back
to school the other day. Maggie was more than happy to fill me
in.”
    “I’m trying—”
    “I know. But it’s not your responsibility.
It’s not your business.”
    He waited for her to say it, that he walked
away. But she didn’t. Instead, she reached for the baby, trying to
back him toward the door. He held out a hand, turning slightly with
the baby away from her. Alarm flashed in her eyes.
    “I’m not taking him anywhere, Beth. Go to
bed. I’ve got this.”
    Her gaze dropped to the baby, who’d quieted a
little, probably more in confusion than anything he’d done. “He’s
been fed, and changed, and burped. I just don’t know.”
    “We’ll figure something out. Go to bed.”
    With one last look at the baby, she backed
down the hall and closed the door.
    He glanced down at Jonas, who blinked at him
with big brown eyes. “Well. That was easier than I thought.”
    Well, it would have been if she hadn’t come
out three more times to tell him where the formula was and where
the diapers were and to remind him to wake her if he needed
anything.
    “If she comes out here one more time, I’m
going to lock her in her room,” he told Jonas as he sat on the
couch.
    But when she didn’t return, he was
disappointed.

Chapter Three
     
     
    Beth blinked at the light slanting through
her blinds onto her bed. An odd angle. She sat up, frowning, and
looked at the clock. God, it was almost five.
    Jonas.
    She shoved back her covers and kicked her
feet free. She stumbled on sleep-relaxed legs and opened her door,
shoving her hair back from her face. A glance into Linda’s room
revealed no Linda, and no Jonas. Panic rose in her chest as she
hurried into the living room, and she stopped short.
    Maddox Bradley was stretched out on her
couch, asleep, Jonas curled in a little ball on his chest, a tiny
hand fisted in Maddox’s T-shirt. Maddox’s long fingers held the
infant in place, and something inside Beth twisted, tugging her
toward the sleeping form, admiring the scruff on his jaw, the curve
of his lips. So not fair that he was better looking now than he’d
been fourteen years ago. So not fair that he was just as kind.
    Jonas opened his eyes and made a soft
pre-wailing sound. She hurried forward, making a shushing sound,
and reached for him just as Maddox came awake with a grunt, curling
his body around the baby. He looked up into Beth’s eyes as she took
Jonas, quieting him, then he sat up. His gaze went instantly to her
bare legs and she remembered too late that she just wore her
T-shirt and panties. She couldn’t exactly turn away, so she backed
toward the kitchen.
    “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to sleep so
long.”
    He looked toward the window, frowning. “What
time is it?”
    “After five.” She backed to the refrigerator
and pulled out a bottle to start warming. “You can go. I mean, I
appreciate you letting me sleep, but I’ve taken up enough of your
time.”
    Where was Linda? She should have been home an
hour ago.
    Maddox stood and stretched slowly, his shirt
riding up, revealing a delicious line of skin above the waist of
his jeans. She snatched her attention away and backed toward the
stove, where a pot of water waited.
    “He’s clean, or at least he was when I passed
out around three.” He scrubbed his hand over his eyes. “Didn’t mean
to do that, but I was up early fishing, and it was really
quiet.”
    “Did Linda come in?”
    “I didn’t hear her.” He crossed the room,
opened a cabinet for a glass and filled it from the tap, looking
for all the world like he belonged here. “You going to the movie
tonight? Quinn was telling me about this thing they do down at the
docks, showing the outdoor movie. Sounds nice.”
    Was he asking her out? “I’ve heard it
is.”
    He hitched his hip against the counter and
put the now-empty glass down, his fingers still curled around it.
“You don’t go?”
    She