Colton Family Showdown. Regan Black

in recent months.

      She was well and truly safe. The Crooked C ranch had clear boundaries and if a couple of her brothers, strangers in this area, showed up asking questions, they’d be noticed and reported. Wouldn’t that be fabulous?

      Tonight was better than her first night in the college dorm. Back then, thanks to keycards and security officers, she’d known her brothers couldn’t come in and make a scene or drag her back home. Walking through the campus had felt less secure, but daylight and crowds of people had been her buffer.

      They’d tried to isolate her more than once during her college years. Only her quick thinking, her reputation and the self-defense classes she chose enabled her to follow her dreams. Lying here now, she realized every restless night, every uncertainty had been worth it.

      She curled to her side. Still free. And staying that way. Smiling, she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep before the baby woke up again.

      Fox heard the baby crying and rolled out of bed, more awake than asleep. He padded over to where the makeshift crib had been under his window. The baby wasn’t there. That’s right, he had help now. He had a nanny.

      So why was the baby still crying?

      He padded out of his room, following the hiccupping cries, the hardwood floors cool under his bare feet. The bathroom light was on and the guest room door was open. In the dim light he found Kelsey on the floor, singing a lullaby as she changed the baby’s diaper.

      The words slowly filtered through his sleep-hazed brain and he recognized an old church hymn.

      She had a sweet voice, even at a whisper. He didn’t want to scare her, but he didn’t want to interrupt, either. He leaned against the doorjamb and listened.

      The baby was running out of steam and Kelsey cuddled him close as she rolled to her feet. Tucking the pacifier into his mouth, she swayed side to side, keeping his face out of the light as she sang another verse.

      He could watch her for hours. Days maybe. Time slowed down, and Fox savored every precious moment until she had the baby nestled into the bed once more.

      She came toward the door, and Fox stepped out of her way. She wore the T-shirt he’d loaned her over the jeans she’d arrived in. The fabric was thin enough that he could see she hadn’t put on her bra, and he averted his gaze. She was his employee twice over and being half-asleep wasn’t an excuse to ogle her.

      He was suddenly aware he didn’t have anything on but an old pair of flannel pants.

      “Sorry we woke you,” she whispered.

      His body was more than willing to have her wake him anytime. He ignored the flash of heat. Employee. It became a chant in his head. “You look different.”

      She twirled her finger in the air as if turning him around. “Go back to sleep before you can’t.”

      It was her hair. Her hair was down and flowing loose around her shoulders in glossy strawberry-blond waves. “You’re good with him.”

      She smiled, then pressed her finger to her lips in a sign for silence. “Sleep now, employee evaluation in the morning.”

      She turned out the bathroom light and disappeared into the darkness of what would be her bedroom while the baby was here.

      Leaving Fox alone in the dark hallway. If he went back to bed, he’d dream of her, assuming he could get back to sleep at all. If he dreamed of her, it would be even more awkward between them in the morning.

      He returned to his room, grabbed his reading glasses and the latest veterinary science magazine.