Snowbound: Miracle Marriage (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 8)

This was hopeless. He just wasn’t the right person for this job.

Switching off the tap, he examined Alfie’s fingers. ‘I think they’re all right.’ Relief rushed through him and he made a mental note not to let either child anywhere near the kitchen again. Somehow he had to occupy the pair of them without any more mishaps. ‘Can you sit on the chair for a minute while I see to Posy?’

An hour later he was at the end of his tether and he picked up the phone and dialled Andrea’s number.

She arrived an hour later, dressed in a slinky wool dress and suede boots that weren’t designed for snow or outdoor life. ‘I wasn’t expecting a lunch date today. Quite romantic.’ Her eyes slid to his shoulders. ‘You look good in that jumper. Macho. Sexy. But I thought you were supposed to be looking after the kids. Who’s babysitting?’

‘Babysitting?’ Exhausted and exasperated, Daniel looked at her, wondering why he didn’t feel the same rush of lust that he did when he looked at Stella. ‘We’re babysitting. And we’re cooking lunch here. You’re going to help me amuse the kids. It will be fun. We can do Christmas things.’ Whatever they were…

Andrea gave a disbelieving laugh, as if he’d suggested she strip naked and indulge in a food fight. ‘Dan, I agreed to see you today because I thought you wanted to spend some time together. I allow myself one day off a week and I don’t intend to spend it sweating in front of a stove and playing Monopoly with kids who aren’t even mine. You said yes to this, not me. And for the record, I don’t think you should have said yes. You’re too soft.’

‘Those “kids” are my niece and nephew,’ Daniel said thinly, ‘and I said yes because my brother needed my help.’

‘Why didn’t he just pay someone to do it?’

‘Because he wanted family.’ Daniel looked at her red hair and her perfectly made-up face and tried to feel something other than disappointment. ‘Would you really have said no in my position?’

‘Absolutely.’ Her tone was devoid of sympathy. ‘You make choices in life, Daniel, and you have to live with those choices. Your brother chose to have kids. They’re his problem, not yours.’

‘Actually, I don’t see them as a problem.’

‘Really?’ One sculpted eyebrow lifted. ‘You don’t exactly look as though you’re having the time of your life.’

‘Uncle Daniel, Posy’s just been sick on the floor.’ Alfie appeared next to him, Mary and Joseph playing around his ankles.

‘I’m coming,’ Daniel said gruffly, his eyes on Andrea’s face. ‘Spend the day. I’m not asking you to have babies, just to muck in with me for one day. We could have fun.’

‘Fun is a weekend in Paris or a Michelin-starred restaurant.’ One wary eye on the kittens, Andrea backed towards the door. ‘Keep those things away from my suede boots. Dan, if you can get a babysitter, call me. Otherwise I’ll speak to you when this is over. And next time Patrick asks you, just say no.’

‘Patrick is my brother,’ Daniel intercepted the kittens before

they could escape through the open door. ‘And I love his kids.’ He just didn’t love the complexities that went with the children. It made him feel hugely inadequate.

Andrea looked at him for a moment, a strange smile playing around her glossy red mouth. ‘For a guy who doesn’t want kids, you look pretty comfortable with those kittens in your arms. Maybe you ought to stop kidding yourself.’

Daniel watched her walk back to her shiny red sports car, waiting to feel regret. Andrea was perfect for him, wasn’t she? She was intelligent, strong, and she wasn’t embarrassed to admit that she didn’t want children. She was just like him, in fact.

So why wasn’t he running after her?

Chapter Seven

HE’D invited the lawyer over.

Telling herself that she didn’t care who Daniel saw, Stella curled up in front of the wood-burning stove, sipping her second mug of coffee and staring at the mountains. The Sunday papers were strewn in front of her and she had the prospect of a lazy day doing nothing.

Despite the fact she’d had a terrible night, she should have felt relaxed and happy.

Instead, her head was full of images of Daniel and his redhaired beauty, playing with the children and having fun.

Infuriated with herself, she switched on her laptop. Another forty men had left their details and she wondered why she couldn’t be more enthusiastic.

The prospect of dating anyone had lost its appeal.

Forcing herself to concentrate, she identified two that sounded interesting.

‘Stella?’ Alfie burst through the door, bringing snow and mud with him.

‘Whoa!’ Stella sprang from the sofa and caught him in her arms before his muddy boots made contact with the cream rug. ‘What’s the rush?’ Through the open door she couldn’t help noticing that the lawyer’s car was gone.