Temporary Dad. Laura Altom Marie

he suspected she was hanging with the wrong crowd. Grounded her when, sure enough, he’d caught her guzzling beer down by the river.

      He’d even been there to rub her back when she’d thrown up those beers a few hours later in the apartment’s rust-stained toilet.

      He’d covered college applications and tuition. Book and dorm costs.

      Through all of that, he’d never asked for any help himself.

      Never wanted it.

      But now…

      Somehow this was different.

      Helping Patti study for a test? That he could do. Dragging her home from a party? Paying her student loans? He could do that, too. But figure out how to care for three babies while launching a full-fledged investigation into Patti’s whereabouts?

      He groaned.

      If this afternoon was any indication of the fun still ahead, his sister’s latest stunt just might do him in.

      Jed sighed, resting his elbows on the kitchen counter. “Patti, where are you?”

      Ten minutes later, propping his front door open with a bag of rock salt he’d found in the coat closet, Jed did the unthinkable—knocked on Annie Harnesberry’s door to ask for help.

      “JED. HI.” Annie ran her fingers through the mess on her head. Ever since leaving her neighbor’s, she’d been hard at work on her guest bath, scraping the shoddily applied popcorn ceiling, making way for something grander. A nice, restful Scrabble game would’ve been more fun, but difficult with only one player. Hmm…Someday she’d have to see if her new neighbor liked to play.

      “Looks like you’ve been busy.” He brushed a large chunk of ceiling from her hair.

      Not sure whether to feel flustered or flattered by his unexpected touch, Annie fidgeted with the brass door-knob. “One of the reasons I chose this condo was its great bone structure. Redecorating is a hobby of mine.”

      “Great. Maybe you could tackle my place when you’re finished. We could talk tile over pizza.”

      “Maybe.” Though his tone had been teasing, something about the warmth in Jed’s eyes led Annie to wonder if he might be at least a little serious about wanting to see her again. Was that why he was there?

      To ask her out?

      Wow. She’d just made this big move designed to steer her clear of all men, yet here she was, faced with another one. Even worse, the old optimist in her, the one who so badly wanted to find that elusive pot of gold at the end of the dating rainbow, had almost said yes. After all, the guy was movie-star gorgeous.

      Not that appearance mattered in the scheme of things. Look what had happened during her first go-around with a good-looking guy. Her ex-husband, Troy, had been gorgeous. He’d also turned out to be her worst nightmare.

      “Do you like Scrabble?” she blurted, not sure why. Both Troy and Conner had hated the game that was her family’s passion.

      “Love it,” Jed said. “Sometime, when my life calms down, we’ll have to play. I warn you, though, I’m pretty good.” He winked.

      Her stomach fell three stories.

      No. No matter how handsome her new neighbor happened to be, she wasn’t—couldn’t be—interested. Yes, she’d date again because she couldn’t bear the thought of ending up alone. But not yet. Her head and heart just weren’t ready.

      “Well—” He shuffled his feet.

      From across the breezeway, Annie noticed his propped-open front door, and beyond that, the corner of a blue bassinet. “Your sister’s still not back?”

      “No. I’m really starting to freak out.”

      “I don’t blame you,” she said, squelching the urge to comfort him with a hug. At work, she hugged parents and students and co-workers, but in this situation, a hug might imply a certain affection she shouldn’t want to share.

      “The reason I’m here,” he said, shooting her a beautiful smile that did the funniest things to her breathing, “is that all hell’s breaking loose down at the station and they need me ASAP. So, anyway, I was wondering if you could hang out at my place for the next twenty-four hours? That’s the length of my shift—but I’m sure Patti’ll be back way before then.”

      “You mean you want me to babysit?” Handsome Jed Hale wasn’t here to ask her on a date but to care for his sister’s triplets.

      She should’ve been relieved, so why did Annie’s heart sink? Why didn’t men see her for her, but only for her knack with kids?

      Worse yet, why did she care?

      Hadn’t she just established the fact that she had no current interest in any man?

      “Yeah. Babysit. Oh—and of course I’ll pay. What’s the going rate?”

      Bam. Annie’s ego took another nosedive.

      Now the guy was even bringing money into it?

      Why couldn’t he just offer to take her out for a nice friendly steak dinner once his sister finally showed up?

      “Annie? What do you say? Can you help me out?”

      Noooo, she wanted to scream.

      Hanging out with kids was her day job.

      At night, she did grown-up things like scraping ceilings and glazing walls and sipping wine and playing Scrabble.

      And if she was honest…

      Dreaming of what her life might’ve been like had she met a guy who didn’t hit or take advantage of her ability to move an infant from screaming to sleeping in twenty seconds.

      What were the odds of a woman being so cursed in love?

      “I know it’s short notice and stuff,” he said, those intriguing brown-gold eyes of his eloquently pleading his case. “But I really could use your help.”

      “Okay,” Annie finally said, hating herself for being so easily drawn in by Jed’s puppy-dog sadness. She had to remind herself she wasn’t doing this for him, but for the babies.

      If she’d learned anything during her years with Conner, it was that guys with ready-made families were only after one thing. And it had way more to do with heating up formula than anything that went on in the bedroom. “What time do you want me over?”

      He winced. “Would now be too soon?”

      ANNIE LOOKED UP from her seat at the end of Jed’s black leather sofa and came uncomfortably close to keeling over in an old-fashioned swoon.

      Wow.

      He stood at the base of the stairs, dressed in plain uniform navy cotton pants and a bicep-hugging navy T-shirt with a yellow Pecan Fire Department logo on the chest pocket. His choppy, short dark hair was damp from the shower.

      He’d shaved, and the scent of his citrus aftershave drifted the short distance to where she sat. The mere sight of him, let alone his smell, implied clean, simple, soul-deep goodness. He was a fireman, charged with keeping helpless grandmas and grandpas and babies and kittens safe from smoke and flames.

      It probably would’ve sounded crazy had she tried to explain her sudden reaction to the man. But in that moment, she knew he would never hurt her—at least not physically, the way Troy had.

      “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this for me,” he said.

      “Sure. It’s no big deal.”

      “Yes, it is.” He walked the rest of the way down the stairs. “You hardly know me, yet you’re giving up your time to help me out. In my book, that makes you good people.”

      His words returned the warm tingle to her belly. She stood, not sure what to do with her flighty hands or dry mouth.