figured as much. Not the generation part, but the parents part. It was a long shot, believe me.”
“I wish I could give you something. You really saved my life.”
She put her cup on the table and gave him a troubled stare. “What about my thousand dollars?”
“Your thou—”
She laughed. A terrific sound. Not a trace of self-consciousness, not at all girly. She laughed like a woman ought to.
“Very amusing.”
“Couldn’t resist.” Her gaze went to the twins. Scout had abandoned her meal and was trailing egg yolk across the wooden floor.
Gray watched as the little girl picked up a broken crayon and stuck it in her mouth. “I’d better get going. I have to give them a bath, go to the market, clean up in here…. Oh, hell.” He turned to her, making himself look as pathetic as possible.
She stood up. “Stay right there.” Then she walked out of the room.
Jem had grown bored with the cereal and had moved over to the box of Lego by the staircase. Scout was still sucking on her crayon. Gray didn’t understand how parents did it. How they got anything done.
He heard the front door shut. Damn. She’d probably taken off for the hills. He didn’t blame her. What a mess. What a joke.
But then he heard the door again. Her footsteps. She rounded the bend and smiled as she neared him. “Here.”
In her hand was a cell phone.
“Pardon?”
“To call the baby-sitter.”
“Oh, right.” He closed his eyes for a moment as he cursed his own stupidity. “Thanks.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Except I have my own cell phone in my room.”
“Does it work?”
“It works.”
“Oh.” She sat again.
He went into the kitchen and grabbed the notepaper from behind the hamburger magnet on the fridge. As he dialed the agency, he walked to the dining room. A woman answered on the third ring.
“This is Gray Jackson. You were supposed to send a baby-sitter here this morning.”
“Oh, Mr. Jackson. Thank heavens. We were about to call the police.”
“Why?”
“We’ve been trying to reach you all morning, but your phone isn’t working.”
“Right. We’re on it. Now, about the baby-sitter?”
“I’m sorry, we’ve had a little emergency here. Beth Ann has gone into labor.”
“Beth Ann?”
“The woman who was going to help you today.”
He thought about that for a moment. “Can she come tomorrow?”
The woman paused for a really long time. “She went into labor to have a baby, Mr. Jackson.”
“Oh. Right. And I suppose there’s no one else who could—”
“I’m terribly sorry.”
“Sure. Thanks anyway.” He pushed the off button and handed the phone to Shelby. She seemed very sympathetic. “Please stay. Not forever, but at least for today. I’m desperate.”
“Stay? Me?”
He could see the idea hadn’t occurred to her. But it was the only solution. “I’ll really give you that grand if you agree. I’m drowning here. Going down for the third time.”
She eyed him carefully, then slowly looked around the room.
He stayed busy making a bargain with the big man upstairs.
“I can’t stand it,” Shelby said as she took off after Scout. “Let’s get them bathed and down for a nap. We’ll negotiate the rest later.”
He held back his whoop of joy, said a silent thanks and concentrated on getting Jem away from the mess on the floor and into the downstairs bathroom. What got him was that Shelby had no trouble. Scout went quietly, like a civilized four-year-old. Jem, on the other hand, squirmed like a trout and yelled as if he was being drawn and quartered.
The plain truth was, he had no aptitude for children. They scared him spitless.
He followed Shelby through the living room, rather enjoying the rear view. Not enough women these days had those kind of curves. But, and this surprised him more than anything, it was her kind eyes and gentle smile that made him damn glad she’d decided to stick around.
Aside from the fact that she knew what the hell she was doing.
CHAPTER TWO
SHELBY PUT IT in gear. First, she assessed the situation. Gray was pretty hopeless. Not that he wasn’t trying, but he was as comfortable with the children as she’d be with wild badgers. And of course, the children sensed it and acted out. Jem in particular seemed determined to rattle Gray at every turn.
She shouldn’t be amused by all the shenanigans, but she was. The twins were just too clever and adorable, and Gray? It was something to see a man like him completely discombobulated. Everything about his clothes, his hair, his manner told her he was rarely out of control. She could imagine him with presidents and movie stars. But when Jem stuck his finger in Gray’s ear, the man was shocked insensible. He stammered, blinked, his cheeks turned bright pink, and all in all he made her melt like ice cream in September.
But she’d think about that later. Much later. When she was in the car. At home. At the diner. Oh, yes. If nothing else, this excursion was going to feed her fantasies for a good long time. Which could be pretty depressing if she let it be.
“Uh, Shelby?” Gray said from behind her. “Can they do this bath thing by themselves?”
“Not entirely. You need to be there to supervise.”
He stopped in the middle of the long hallway. “Supervise?”
She held back a grin. “It’ll be okay. Just remember to breathe deeply.”
“Oh, man.”
“If you’d rather clean the house and get their clothes together, we can trade.”
“No. I can do the bath thing. I hope.”
“I have complete faith.”
As they stopped at the bathroom door he gave her a look. A suspicious look with one brow raised. “Are you making fun of me?”
She nodded. “Oh, yes.”
“Great.”
She slid by him and put Scout down. It was all so odd. She felt exhilarated. Supercharged. As if the very air was filled with electricity. She didn’t want to leave the room. But the house was a disaster area, and if there was one thing she was good at, it was whipping a place into shape.
She turned on the water and made sure the temperature was right, then plugged up the tub. When she straightened, Gray had stepped back, his face a study in trepidation.
“Jem,” she said calmly, “Scout, you two know how to take a bath, right?”
“Yes!” they said simultaneously, with incredible vigor.
“You promise to wash behind your ears?”
“Yes!”
“And wash between your toes?”
“Yes!”
“And wash your hair?”
“Yes!”
She