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Surreptitiously, she glanced down to check her buttons. Though her breasts were uncomfortably full and pushed against her smocked top, she was covered and decent.
“Rowdy!” A gravelly voice called from the front of the house.
Jenna turned toward the sound, a sense of relief flooding her. She was probably being silly but Dax’s gruff voice was a welcome sound.
“Back here, boss.” Rowdy aimed a wink in her direction and stepped to the doorway. “I’m showing the lady her quarters.”
“Her what?” Dax appeared behind Rowdy, a scowl on his face.
“She talks prissified. Called her room quarters, like this was the Taj Mahal or something. Pretty little thing, though,” he said as if she wasn’t standing right there.
Dax’s scowl deepened. “Where’s her stuff? I told you to help her.”
Rowdy pushed off the doorway, seemingly undisturbed by Dax’s bluster. “I was just about to get it out of the car.”
“Go on then. I’ll help you in a minute.”
“No problem. I can handle it.” With a final flicker in her direction, Rowdy strode out of the room.
Dax’s gaze followed him for a minute before he turned his attentions to Jenna. “Everything all right? You getting settled?”
Other than not liking his ranch hand, she was delighted.
“I haven’t been here long enough to get settled, but your home is lovely.” Although it needed a thorough dusting. “The English garden decor in here is wonderful.”
“English garden?” Bewildered green eyes blinked around the room. “Is that what you call this stuff?”
His clueless response made her want to laugh. In his black cowboy hat, sheepskin jacket and a pair of scuffed boots, he didn’t exactly fit the image of a man who would be comfortable in an English garden or a room filled with soft colors and ruffles and baby things. Perhaps a nanny had occupied this suite.
“Thank you for thinking of the crib.”
“Might as well get some use out of it. Baby need anything else?”
Dax stepped to the crib and gazed down. His shoulders relaxed as though looking at Sophie melted the tension from him. When he reached down and placed his wide hand lightly on the baby’s chest, something warm and tender moved inside of Jenna.
The notion puzzled her. She hadn’t wanted Rowdy to touch her baby, but she felt differently with Dax. Maybe because those rough rancher hands had brought Sophie safely into the world.
“She breathes so softly,” she said, moving to his side, intuitively understanding his reason for touching the newborn. Hadn’t she done the same thing dozens of times over the past few days?
Dax turned his head, bringing his face close to hers. “Like a whisper.”
Jenna stared into those green, green eyes, the funny, unsettled stirring coming back in full force. Dax made her uncomfortable, too, but in a far different way than she felt with Rowdy. He was short-spoken and puzzling, but she would trust him with her life. A tiny smile quivered on her lips. Indeed, she had already done that.
Dax looked at her for another long, curious moment before moving to the window. He pushed aside the taupe draperies and looked out. “Wonder what’s keeping Rowdy?”
Footsteps thudded down the hall. “That must be him.”
“Slow as Christmas,” Dax grumbled, relieving his ranch hand of a giant carton and a suitcase.
“You wouldn’t believe all the junk she crowded into that trunk. Women and their stuff.”
Dax made a harrumphing noise in the back of his throat. “Typical.”
Jenna wasn’t sure what he meant, but from his darkened expression she decided not to ask. She did, however, want to ask about the little boy.
As soon as Rowdy disappeared for another load, she did.
“Rowdy said your son had a bloody nose. Where is he? Did you take him to the hospital?”
Dax made a face as though the notion was ridiculous. “He’s all right. I sent him to wash his hands.”
A small boy poked his head around the corner. Except for a pair of cobalt-blue eyes, he was a miniature version of his father. “I falled off the merry-go-round. My shirt’s all bloody.”
“I told you to change clothes.”
Gavin’s face puckered. “I forgot.”
The child looked so small and worried, Jenna crouched in front of him. “I’m Jenna. I’m going to be your new chef.”
“I’m Gavin Matthew Coleman.”
“A handsome name for a handsome boy. From all that blood on your shirt, I’d say you must be a brave boy, too.”
“Noah said I was going to die. He’s my friend. I was kinda scart.”
Dax made an impatient noise. “No one dies of a bloody nose.”
