Marriage Material

“She probably needs to be changed again,” he says and stands up.

“I can get it.”

“No, finish cooking. I’ve got her.” He pulls her from the swing then leaves the kitchen.

I watch him go and think about how domestic this is. It never felt like this with the other families I nannied for. This is exciting but also easy and sweet. I didn’t expect any of this when I took the job.

I see my phone light up in my bag and I hope it isn’t one of my brothers. I told my mother what I was doing but told my brothers and dad I was babysitting for the next few days. I did this over text with them so I could be vague. When I see it’s Kent, I answer it. It’s better to answer it so he won’t show up here, because that is what he’d do if he couldn’t reach me.

“Hey,” I say as I keep cooking.

“There is a big storm rolling in. You in for the night? I know you’re babysitting.”

“Yep, I’m cooking dinner now and have no plans to head anywhere.”

“Okay,” he responds, and I’m shocked at how easy that was. But a second later he shatters that theory. “Who are you babysitting for?”

“I’m at the old Jenkins’ place.”

“Hmm. I’ve been meaning to get out there and introduce myself to the new owners. I heard they have a little baby.”

“Yeah.” I play it cool, not giving anything away.

“All right, be safe. I love you.”

“You be safe, too.” I know he’s going to be on-call all night if there’s a big storm. “Love you, too,” I tell him before I disconnect the call. I look down to see I have a bunch of texts from Franky, which is not something I want to deal with.

“You love who?” Anderson asks as he comes back into the kitchen with a wiggly Charlotte.

I see a glint in his eye and it’s the same one I saw when Franky was here. I put my phone back into my purse. I don’t want to look at Franky’s text messages while Anderson is right here. He got out of sorts earlier about him and it made me think he might be jealous. He could just be the protective type.

“My brother Kent.” I lean my hip up against the counter. “He’s actually the sheriff in Deercreek. He was calling to make sure I was in for the night. The storm must be really bad.”

“Country storms are different than in the city. I was in a few when I was younger. I have a storm cellar if we need it. I made sure of that before we moved in.”

I have to fight a smile. How can I find my brothers overprotectiveness so annoying but Anderson’s sexy and kind of sweet?

“Dinner’s almost done.”

I turn my attention back to cooking, and when it’s finished I make our plates and we sit down to eat. Everything feels so natural as we talk easily over dinner. He eats every bite and even asks for seconds. He tells me about growing up on a farm and then about how he got into coding. We talk and laugh the rest of the night. We both give Charlotte a bath and put her to bed, then we end up on the sofa together watching some television. I don’t realize how tired I am until I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.

I’m startled awake when I feel him pick me up.

“I got you, Robin. You fell asleep.”

Anderson carries me through the house, and it feels so good to be in his arms. I must have nodded off at some point without realizing it and I think I actually did it with my head on his shoulder. I’d noticed we kept getting closer and closer on the sofa like magnets were pulling us together.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” I mumble, since my bed isn’t here yet.

“I’d never let you do that. I’ll sleep there until your stuff gets here,” he says as he places me in his bed.

“I can’t take your bed,” I respond, even as I cuddle into its softness.

“It’s fine.” He brushes the hair out of my face and I know I won’t win this argument. He’s too much of a gentleman.

“The bed is big. We can share it.” I reach over and pull the blanket down on the other side of the bed. Anderson stiffens for a moment. “Really, it’s no big deal,” I push.

He’s not a small man, and I can’t imagine him sleeping comfortably on the sofa.

“Okay.” He nods before turning off the lamp and plunging the room into darkness.

It’s then I hear the rain beating against the windows hard. I roll over onto my back as he climbs into bed next to me. My eyes are heavy once again and I let them fall closed. I wish I could roll over and cuddle closer to him, but instead I turn on my side and face away from him. I need to fight the temptation to snuggle against him as the rain pounds down harder and the storm grows heavier by the moment. I hope it doesn’t wake Charlotte up. Anderson said he’s close to getting her to sleep through the night, and I’d hate for the storm to get her off track.