“He's good. He wakes with me in the mornings, so he's an early bird,” Ryan gruffed. It'd been a long night. Brady woke every couple hours with one issue or another. Diaper change. Burp. Feed. Repeat.
“That's good for him. Early riser. Keep that up,” Mr. Connors said, his deep voice booming throughout the house. He crossed his large arms over his broad chest. The former career military man left nothing to the imagination. He told it like he felt it should be.
Sean waltzed into the room, coffee mug in hand. Mr. Connors' stature grew in height, if that was possible. Son-in-law and father-in-law's relationship was tolerable at best. The two only had one thing in common that kept them from constantly going at each other's throats. Beth. Well, add Mrs. Connors, who tended to keep her husband in check.
“My daughter?” Mike barked.
“My wife is sleeping,” Sean retorted, unperturbed by Mr. Connors. “Instead of coming through my front door like a bulldozer, why don't you walk in like a normal person so you don't wake her? She needs her rest.”
“I'll walk in how‒”
Jill interrupted her husband. “I'm sorry, Sean. Mike's too excited to have his daughter depend on him again.”
Mr. Connors glared his wife's direction for giving up his secret. Though Ryan didn't understand why. Everyone knew Mike's only daughter was his world, second only to his wife.
“She should be staying with us since you have to work.” Mike tried a different tactic.
Ryan smirked. This was fun to watch. Pure entertainment.
“No, she shouldn't. She needs to be here until after she has the twins,” Sean said calmly. How his brother maintained his patience, he didn't know. Something had changed. Sean normally couldn't tolerate his father-in-law's overbearing personality. “I'm not moving her around from house to house. She can barely make it down the stairs. But we did discuss taking you up on your offer to stay at your place after the babies are born. We'll need the help since I can't close the office for weeks after the girls arrive. So for the first few weeks, we'll stay with you.”
“Oh, terrific,” Jill said excited.
Mike's chest inflated further, if that was possible, and he grinned as if he'd just won a secret battle against his son-in-law. Ryan snorted, then tried to cover it with a cough. Sean sent a shooting glare his direction.
“Good.” Mike nodded. “Of course we'll help with my grandbabies.”
“My daughters,” Sean challenged and trumped.
“Stop it now,” Jill demanded. “The two of you need to get along. For goodness sake, Beth is giving all of us a gift. We're going to make our family larger by adding two miracles into our fold. It's about damn time the two of you quit the pissing contest over Elizabeth and realize she loves both of you to her core.” She eyed both men, daring them to argue, then turned to Ryan. “Now, give me that baby to burp.”
Ryan chuckled. “All right.”
“I probably won't get to have a grandson since Beth has made it clear she's finished having children after the twins. This will be the closest I get,” Jill said, snatching Brady from his arms and placing him over shoulder. She turned back to her husband and Sean. “Am I clear about you two and your fights?”
“Sweetheart,” Mike pleaded.
“Am I?” she demanded.
“Yes, Jill,” Sean said, chuckling.
“Yes, ma'am,” Mike conceded.
“Good.”
The front door opened and closed. A moment later, Lynn walked into the kitchen and stopped. Yeah, the room was filled with oversized former military alphas. Any normal woman might be intimated. Instead, Lynn busted out laughing. “Well, isn't this a scene.”
Ryan smiled. Man, she was something else.
Jill cocked her head to the side.
“Lynn, these are Beth's parents, Mike and Jill Connors.” Ryan motioned to the couple. “Mike and Jill, this is Lynn, Brady's nanny.”
Mike's brows shot up. “This is your nanny?”
“Michael,” Jill yelped.
Ryan knew what was going through Mike's head. Same thing that went through everyone's mind when he made the same intro. Hot nanny. Single guy. Two plus two equaled Ryan banging the help. He wished. Wait, what? Fucking Mark.
“Hello.” Lynn held out her hand. “What branch did you serve?”
The brilliant woman read Mr. Connors so quickly, Ryan was surprised she hadn't given herself whiplash. And Mike knew it too.
“That was very observant, young lady.”
She shrugged. “I have former Green Beret brother and cousin. I can spot you military men hiding out in plain sight. You all have your tells.”
“I like her,” Jill approved, patting Brady's back and rubbing small circles.
Mike huffed, but the corners of his mouth turned up.
“Sean?” a soft, shaky voice said from upstairs.
Sean and Mike rushed to the steps, practically pushing one another out of the way to get to Beth.
“Honey,” Sean said, taking the steps two at a time.
“I need help downstairs,” Beth quietly said.
Lynn set her bag down on the counter. “He just ate?”
“Yeah,” Ryan answered, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He hadn't had a chance to down a hot cup of joe yet. “Jill's working out the gas bubble.”
“He let it out a minute ago,” Jill said. “I'm now taking in the newborn scent.”
How did everyone else get the baby to burp but him? What the hell, did Brady have a magic button he wasn't aware of?
“It's the best aroma in the world. Isn't it?” Lynn asked.
“Oh, nothing like it,” Mrs. Connors' agreed.
Ryan loved the natural flow of conversation. Sean and Mike. Jill and Lynn. Everyone combined. It was comforting to have these wonderful people around. They all loved one another deeply, except maybe Lynn because she wasn't family and had only been around a few weeks. But she managed to fit.
“Jill and Mike will be here during the days until Sean gets home from work to keep an eye on Beth,” Ryan explained. “I know we discussed it, but Beth's pregnancy has quickly become difficult for her to be able to go into the office any longer.”
“I understand,” Lynn said, holding out her hands for his son. Brady looked perfect in her arms. And his son was well aware of who held him. As soon as the baby was in her warmth, Brady sighed and fell asleep. It was perfect. Natural. Alluring.
Fuck, he needed to stop. Lynn was getting to him. He was seeing her in a light he had no business envisioning. If he didn't stop, he knew what would happen. He'd act on the thoughts and ruin his own life while he was desperately trying to grasp the reins.
A smack upside the head jolted him.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Sean growled as he helped Beth pass by him. “Put your damn tongue back into your mouth and get ready for work.”
“Idiot,” Mike murmured as he held Beth's other hand.
Why argue? He was an idiot.
13
Lynn knew how to handle military men. She considered herself an expert. She came from a family where all the men proudly served the country. But Mike Connors was on an entirely different level than any serviceman she’d ever encountered. Good lord, how the hell did Beth, Jill, and Sean tolerate the man?
Oh, Lynn had no doubts of his love for his girls. He made no bones about it. But he also made it clear he didn’t like Sean or Ryan. How did he think his daughter got pregnant with those twins he was jumping out of his skin to get his large palms onto?
After Ryan left for work, without speaking another word to her, she found herself needing to adjust her and Brady’s routine around Mr. Connors. Which ticked her off. Beth and Jill scolded the man, who stalked around the large house like a caged bear, but that didn’t phase him.
He was stressing Lynn out. It was difficult enough dealing with a newborn who was starting to fight the strict schedule she’d managed to work out, let alone deal with a man who took up a decent amount of space, hovered over her sh
oulder, and murmured obscenities the entire time about the Millen brothers. Probably was a good thing Beth couldn’t hear her father. Jill seemed to blithely ignore him.
Not only did she have that issue, but Lynn also worried about Ryan. He wasn’t normally quiet with her. They’d greet each other every morning like two good friends. They’d discuss Brady. Ryan would assure her what time he’d be home. She’d inform him if she planned an outing. Their relationship was at the point where Ryan would mention a football game or other sporting event and ask if she’d like to stay and watch it on television that evening. She never turned him down. She liked hanging out with him and Sean and Beth. But this morning was awkward. Whether or not it was because of the Connors, Lynn wasn’t sure. She’d noticed Ryan staring at her with a look she couldn’t decipher. At one point it looked as if he was about to address her but stopped short. Instead he turned away, grabbed his duffle bag, and left for the day. She’d spent the next hour wracking her brain to figure out if she’d offended him or done something wrong. And that pissed her off.
She was in the middle of preparing bottles for the next twenty-four hours when Mike stalked into the kitchen to pour himself another cup of coffee. He complained the entire time about the brand and how the coffee was horrible and how his son-in-law was a cheapskate.
Lynn spun on him. “If you hate it so much why the hell are you drinking it? Just to bitch? Convenient. Is there anything Sean does right?” She waved to the house. “It looks as if he’s taking good care of his wife. He’s providing for her. He clearly loves her. All I see is a man who caters to her. Hell, I bet if he could strap her to his chest and carry her around that way, he would. So what exactly is your problem?” She was just getting warmed up. “He’s giving you two granddaughters. Though you seem to have an issue with that as well. You don’t have a problem with your daughter’s pregnancy and the two babies, just the father? Do you know how lucky she is to have him? No, you don’t do you?” she snapped. “Cause your head is too far up your stubborn ass to admit your daughter is well taken care of by someone other than you.”
Yeah, she sort of vented out of her own personal frustration. Mike stood stunned for a moment then a slow grin donned his handsome features. For an older gentleman, he was quite gorgeous.
“You,” he pegged her, “I like.”
She rolled her eyes. “So?”
“I don’t like anyone.”
“Obviously,” she drawled.
He sighed and ran a hand down his face. “I don’t have a problem with Sean, well, except for the fact he stole my baby girl out from underneath me.”
“Um, have you noticed she still depends on you? Like right now,” she pointed out.
Mike smiled, his eyes crinkling, showing a distinguished look that was striking. “Yeah. She’s my only child. My little girl. Jill had so much difficulty getting pregnant with her. We knew she’d be our only one, and for her entire life I was the only man at the center of her universe. It’s hard to suddenly give that up to a man who’s too damn good at taking care of her. Fuck, he’s perfect for her. It’s bullshit.”
Lynn barked out a laugh. “Most men would love that.”
“Yeah, but I can’t punch him for anything he’s done wrong,” Mike grumbled. “Though I could knock out his brother.”
“Ryan’s a good guy,” she defended.
“He’s an idiot. Getting a woman knocked up, not knowing it. Suddenly has a baby on his doorstep.” Mike took a sip of his coffee, his brow raised in a challenge.
Lynn took the bait. “You don’t know the whole story. You have no right to judge. And he’s doing his best.”
“You sleeping with him?” he inappropriately asked.
“Michael!” Jill yelled from the other room.
“That is none of your business,” she snapped.
“If you’re not, it’s only a matter of time,” he said unconcerned. “That one isn’t a good one like my son-in-law.”
Jill appeared in the doorway. “Michael, that’s enough. You have no business speaking to her that way. Lynn, I apologize for my ignorant husband.”
“Don’t you apologize for me. I know exactly what I’m saying,” Mike huffed.
Jill walked up to him, grabbed his ear, and pulled him out of the room yelping for his wife to let go, that she was hurting him. Okay, so she liked Mrs. Connors. Mike? Not so much. She didn’t like the man speaking ill about Ryan. He didn’t know the situation. And why the fuck did she feel defensive towards Ryan? Damn it. Smacking her head, she knew why. She was growing attached.
Not good. Not good at all.
***
Over the next few days, Lynn managed to adjust to the Connors early morning arrival, Mike’s obnoxious self-righteous demeanor, which kind of grew on her, and their invasion of the house. The benefit of having them there was the way they took to baby Brady–though Mike denied it. Jill loved getting her hands on the newborn, and Mike cradled him like a football when Brady grew cranky. Apparently the baby loved that position because it settled him down immediately.
Beth was miserable. Lynn felt for her. She couldn’t imagine having two tiny humans inside her body at once. Ryan remained distant and hadn’t invited her to stay after she was officially off the clock each day. That disappointed her. She loathed the fact she hoped he’d want her to stick around after he got home. She missed talking and laughing with him, which sent her into a self-hatred tizzy for allowing herself to get moony over a man.
Today she packed Brady into her car and headed over to the Murphy home to visit her brother. Russ had called the day before and mentioned in passing that Courtney wanted to see Brady. Lynn wasn’t an idiot. She knew a hint when one was blatantly tossed her direction.
Lugging Brady and his items up the front steps, she stopped and spun. She glanced around the yard, the street, her surroundings. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck and arms stand on end. That uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, like something awful was about to happen, assaulted her. A panic sensation of needing to get into the Murphy house overwhelmed her. She was about to pound on the door when it swung open. Idiot stood before her, looking deliciously evil in his biker-type getup. All sixth sense warnings washed away instantly, replaced by utter irritation.
She huffed. “Good God, couldn’t they hire a Brit doorman?”
He laughed. “I’m sure they could. But they like to scare away the riffraff, not offer them tea and crumpets.”
“They have a lot of riffraff knocking on their door? Huh? Maybe that stems from their employees,” she snarked.
“Maybe.” He shrugged. “The Mrs. of the house is awaiting with bated breath for your arrival,” he mocked, bowed and motioned her inside.
She really did not like him.
Lynn awkwardly entered the home as she struggled with the baby gear. Russ appeared from down the hallway with the two children dancing around him. “Hey, sis.”
“Hi.” She smiled, flopping the oversized diaper bag on the floor with a thud.
“Whatcha got in there, sweetcheeks?” asshole asked. “Bricks?”
“Yeah, I was hoping to hone my brick tossing skills. I need a target. You'll do,” she quipped.
Jerk leaned into her ear and whispered, “I like you a lot. You have spunk. I'd really like to bend you over and fuck that smartass right out of you.”
Again, she'd always been one of those react first women. Graced with long arms, she spun and tossed a punch that nailed him straight in the nose despite the fact he was at least six inches taller than her. But the jerk laughed it off.
“I like you even more, Lynn.” He sauntered away.
“Russ, I had no idea your sister would come into my home and assault my staff,” a delicate voice said from behind her.
Lynn practically dropped the baby. She flushed to see Mrs. Murphy gliding down the hallway after her children.
“I'm sorry, Mrs. M,” Russ said, his eyes blazed furiously. “Lynn can be‒”
“Russ,” Courtne
y interrupted, “don't apologize. I'm sure Derk said something to warrant her anger. Lord knows he's ticked me off a time or two.”
Jackass cackled from the kitchen, clearly listening to the convo.
“Is that my cousin?” Courtney's eyes lit up. She was on top of Brady before Lynn could address her. She snatched the carrier and took him into the living room. “How is he? How's Ryan? He hasn't stopped by lately,” she asked while pulling the baby out and cooing softly.
Lynn, Russ, and the children followed.
“He's doing okay,” Lynn said. “Still adjusting, but I think with the change in work schedule and hiring me, he's doing better.”
“Good.” Courtney nodded, bouncing a now swaddled and cradled Brady. “How's Sean and Beth?”
This is where things got a bit dicey. There was always an underlying current of negativity when the topic of Courtney came up in the Millen home. And it didn't stem from Ryan. It came directly from Sean. Neither brother explained the hostile tone or the origination, but it was definitely clear something was amiss in their relationship. Russ also never spoke of the tense family dynamic, but he wasn't one to gossip‒and he was loyal beyond comprehension when it came to the Murphy family.
“They're doing well. Beth can't work any longer, so she's staying home,” Lynn answered. Hopefully that small amount of info wouldn't get her into trouble.
“Is she all right?” Courtney asked, her voice riddled with concern.
“She is,” Lynn rapidly assured. “She's further along in the pregnancy and now it's painful for her.”
“Poor thing,” Courtney said softly. “I should stop by and visit her.”
Russ visibly stiffened.
“Courtney,” Mr. Murphy warned, silently sliding into the room. Where the hell did he come from? And how had he managed to get by her without a sound? That skill was terribly frightening. It’d always bothered her when Russ did it. Why did men find that annoying skill so self-amusing?
“Derrick,” Courtney pleaded. “I want to see her.”
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