Free Daddy's Double Duty by Stella Bagwell Page A

didn’t recall it. And though they’d never visited about things out of the office, he’d never treated her with indifference. He could understand, up to a point, her wanting to be independent. But now wasn’t the time for her to worry about showing off her self-reliance. She had more than her own welfare to consider now. Maybe the only way she could think of him was as her boss, instead of a friend offering help. The idea bothered him greatly, although he couldn’t figure why it should. He’d stopped caring what women thought of him a long time ago.
    She let out a deep breath, then lifted her coffee cupfrom its saucer. “I’ll be honest, Conall. I’ve been trying to budget in my head and the cost of child care is going to take a big hunk out of my salary. I’d be crazy to turn down your offer of a nanny. At least until the babies get older and I can get my feet planted more firmly.”
    Relief put a smile on his face. “Now you’re making sense. I’ll start making calls as soon as we finish breakfast.”
    â€œThere is one condition, though, Conall.”
    He paused in the act of reaching for a second piece of toast. “Yes?”
    Her brown eyes met his and for a split second his breath hung in his throat. He was slipping, damn it. None of this should feel so important to him. Yes, the babies were adorable and yes, Vanessa’s kiss had been like sipping from a honeycomb. But Vanessa and the children weren’t supposed to be his business or responsibility.
    Her answer broke into his uneasy thoughts. “I also want to have a say in who you hire for the job.”
    In spite of his internal scolding, Conall began to breathe again. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he assured her.
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    By the time they finished the last bit of business at the lawyer’s office, picked up the babies and boarded a plane back to Ruidoso, Vanessa felt as though she’d gone around the world and back again. The excitement of becoming an instant mother had finally caught up to her, along with the fact that she had no idea of how to deal with this new and different Conall.
    The cool, aloof boss that she’d worked with for the past two months appeared to be completely gone. On the flight home, he’d been attentive, reassuring and helpful. When Rick had stirred and began to cry, he’d insisted oncradling the tiny boy in his arms and feeding him one of the bottles the nuns had prepared for their flight.
    Seeing the big rancher handle the baby with such gentleness had overwhelmed her somewhat. He was such a man’s man and she’d never seen him display much affection toward anyone or anything, except his grandmother Kate and the baby colts and fillies that were born every spring on the Diamond D.
    She’d often wondered if his hard demeanor was the thing that had sent his ex-wife, Nancy, running to other pastures. But seeing him interact with her new son had given Vanessa a glimpse of a Conall that she’d never seen or knew existed. There was a soft side to him. So there must have been another, more complicated reason for his divorce.
    For weeks now, Vanessa had told herself she didn’t want to know what had happened to end her boss’s marriage. After all, it wasn’t her business and she’d had her own heartbreaking divorce to deal with. But now that Conall had kissed her, now that she’d seen for herself that he could be a hot-blooded man with all sorts of feelings, she’d grown even more curious about his marriage and divorce.
    Trying to shove aside the personal thoughts about Conall, Vanessa glanced over her shoulder to see the twins sleeping soundly in the two car seats they’d purchased back in Las Vegas for the trip.
    â€œI doubt the twins will feel any jet lag,” Conall commented as he skillfully steered the truck over the mountainous highway toward Tinnie. “They’ve slept for nearly the