Page 49 of Rancher to the Rescue

“I got the bottle if you want diaper duty,” his gruff, sleepy voice tugged at her heartstrings. She couldn’t afford to let him get to her.

“Diaper duty it is,” she said, doing her best to hide her disappointment at the sleeping arrangement. He must have taken the loveseat with Hutch.

She flipped the nightlight on and caught sight of his shirtless, muscled back as he stretched his arms out and then shrugged into a cotton t-shirt. The color black had never looked better on a person, she thought.

Miss Peabody barely looked up from the suitcase that had been strategically placed close enough to the bed for Prudence to keep watch. Lot of good it did, because the minute Prudence closed her eyes, she was out last night. Adam must have taken the midnight feeding.

How? She was scratching her head as to how that man could go days without sleep. They’d been together three nights now and he couldn’t have had more than a couple of hours here and there.

Prudence needed a straight eight with no interruptions, but nine was better. She didn’t even have to sleep that last hour. She liked waking up slowly, staying in bed and under the covers as long as possible before starting her day. Getting up leisurely was generally out of the question while she was working. Lazy days were made for the times in between jobs.

The diaper change took a couple of minutes. By the time she was finished, Adam had returned with the bottle. She couldn’t deny they made a good team. Getting right out of bed for this kiddo was worth it.

She smelled the baby’s blanket. “I expected her to be pretty rank by now.”

“I gave her a sponge bath last night,” Adam said.

“What? How?” She must have slept like a rock. But, really, no surprise there. Still, she felt guilty for not being there to help.

“I’ve had to take care of abandoned baby animals. This isn’t much different,” he stated.

“You’ve definitely gotten the hang of this…” She searched for a word other than ‘parenting’ and came up empty.

“Once I got over the fear that I’d break her in half on accident, I saw the similarities. I threw her clothes in the wash,” he said.

“How’d you manage that?”

“Wrapped her in a towel.” He smiled at the baby and Prudence could clearly see how easily he was bonding with Angel.

But then, the kid was special.

“You did great. She smells amazing and her clothes are clean,” Prudence said with a little bit of awe in her voice. He deserved the praise.

“While you give her the bottle, I’ll run downstairs and see what’s for breakfast,” he said.

“I feel like a slacker here.” Prudence was only half-joking.

“You’ve been incredible with her,” he quickly countered. “I don’t know how I would have gotten through that first night without you.”

The truth was that she had him to thank. She doubted she would be alive without him. Someone was after the baby, and she would have ended up collateral damage. The words got stuck in her throat, along with a few others. Words like, I missed you last night, and, kiss me again, wouldn’t help her ability to keep an emotional distance from him.

The baby was another story. It was impossible not to fall for this little nugget. A little voice in the back of her mind picked that moment to tell her she’d fallen hard for Adam too. The voice was getting louder by the minute despite all her efforts to quash it.

By the time Angel finished the bottle, the dogs had been fed and taken out. Prudence brought the baby down as Adam let his mother in the backdoor.

“Good morning,” she practically chirped. Her eyes sparkled when she greeted Prudence and the cheesy grin on her face gave away that she was thinking that Prudence and Adam were a couple.

Prudence hated to be the bearer of bad news…

Correcting his mother would only call more attention to their non-relationship. And she didn’t have it in her heart to be the one to wipe the smile off Mrs. Firebrand’s face.

“May I?” she asked, looking at Angel with such appreciation.

“Of course.” Prudence handed the baby over. “I’d tell you how to take care of her, but with nine sons under your belt, you don’t need a novice like me piping in.”

Mrs. Firebrand’s eyes lit up. “It has been a long time since I had one of these in my arms.”

She seemed to bite her tongue rather than give her son a hard time for not giving her a grandbaby already. Based on Adam’s tense expression, Prudence had guessed right.