“It went that badly, huh?”
She bristled. “I didn’t say it went badly.”
“You didn’t have to. I’ll be right back.” He set out in the direction of Ethan’s office.
She stopped him with a touch to his arm. “Please don’t.”
“He’s my partner, Olivia. I won’t put a rift in our relationship simply to solve my current child-care problem.” He closed his hand over hers. “Nor will I jeopardize your relationship with him, either.”
How sweet. And really thoughtful. But completely unnecessary. “Ethan’s not opposed to me helping you out.” She tugged her hand free from beneath his. “He merely suggested I take a day to think it over.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
He was taking Ethan’s side in this? “I appreciate your predicament, Connor, I really do, but my brother will come around eventually. He’s already halfway there.”
“I still want to discuss this with him.”
“I don’t see why it matters.”
“Because Connor understands the value of loyalty and friendship,” Ethan said, maneuvering around her to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his longtime friend and partner.
Her brother’s creepy stealth was going to get him decked one day. Probably by her.
And there they stood. Two superior male specimens. Nearly the same height and build, Ethan’s dark to Connor’s light, the solidarity in their long-standing friendship evident in their similar stances.
She frowned at them both.
“Whatever this bro code is between you two—” she flicked her wrist from one to the other “—it doesn’t change the fact that Connor needs a temporary nanny for his daughters. And I’m available.”
Both men looked at her, then at each other. Something passed between them before Ethan lifted a shoulder. “It’s up to you, Con.”
Olivia breathed a sigh of relief, ready to celebrate the win-win, until she realized Con hadn’t given his answer.
“Well?” she asked him.
Another glance at her brother, then... “Let’s try it.”
Yes. “Well, then. If you have no objection, I could go over to your house this morning.” When he started to speak, she added, “It’ll be easier for the girls if I learn their routine while your sister is still around.”
He went silent again, his eyebrows drawing together.
Reminding herself she wasn’t in charge, yet, she took a deep breath and forced her words out more carefully than before. “I didn’t mean to overstep. I merely assumed you would want me to start as soon as possible.”
“I don’t have a problem with you heading over to my house this morning.” He slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Actually, it’s not a bad idea. I’ll call Avery and let her know to expect you.”
“Excellent.” Olivia hadn’t seen Avery in years. It’d be nice to catch up. “I’ll call you when I’m through and we can iron out the details of my job duties.”
“Good enough.”
She turned to go.
“Olivia?”
She looked over her shoulder, and nearly tripped. The impact of Connor’s golden eyes sliding over her face was like a physical blow. It didn’t help matters that Ethan had gone unnaturally silent, watching them interact with those all-seeing Ranger eyes. “Yes?”
Connor angled his head. “Do you know where I live?”
“Uh...no.”
Lips twitching, he rattled off his address. Why did that sound so familiar?
This time, when she turned to leave, neither man tried to stop her. They did, however, follow her into the parking lot, neither speaking, both watching her closely.
Refusing to be intimidated, she climbed into her car. Ethan’s earlier warning knocked around in her brain. Be sure this is what you want to do.
Oh, she was sure. Very sure.
Chapter Four
Standing beside Ethan in the parking lot, Connor watched Olivia zip away in a sporty red BMW. The car was a perfect fit for the woman she’d become—sophisticated, chic, with an unexpected kick under the hood. The cheery wave she tossed through the open sunroof made him smile.
Thinking of her with his girls felt good. It felt right.
For an alarming moment, he teetered between past and present, wondering if he’d made a mistake hiring Olivia.
Ethan clapped him on the back. “Your daughters will love my sister. She’s a natural with kids.”
Connor remembered the way she’d interacted with the girls in the park yesterday, how easy she’d been with them and how quickly she’d been able to tell them apart.
Olivia seemed the perfect solution to his childcare problems, and a good fit with his daughters. Still, Connor couldn’t rid himself of the notion that he’d just made his life more complicated rather than less. “Hard to think of your sister as a high-powered banker rescuing companies from financial ruin.”
“Surprised all three of us when she chose a business career instead of pursuing medicine.” Ethan slipped his hands into his pockets, stared out over the parking lot as if lost in thought. “The Scotts have been doctors for three generations.”
The Mitchells had been in the profession nearly as long, with one glaring exception. The first doctor in Connor’s family had been a woman. The rest of his cousins were ranchers, an even longer family tradition than medicine.
“With Olivia’s love of kids, I thought she’d go into pediatrics.”
“And with your trauma experience I thought you’d join Ryder in the E.R. when you left the military.”
Although his shrug was casual, Ethan’s face went blank, like a switch turning off.
Connor didn’t press. He never did. But he couldn’t help wondering what had happened to his friend on that last tour of duty in Afghanistan.
“Doesn’t matter why,” he said aloud. “You’re stuck with me now, treating nothing more complicated than runny noses, an occasional spider bite and a broken bone or two. Riveting stuff.”
Ethan laughed, as Connor knew he would. They saw worse, sometimes much worse, but nothing compared to what his friend had encountered in a war zone.
“Speaking of broken bones.” Ethan shook his head. “Robbie Anderson is in Exam Room 2.”
Again? “Which one this time?”
“Left tibial shaft. The kid was lucky, though. It’s a stable fracture and the fibula wasn’t damaged at all.”
“I suppose that’s something.”
As they reentered the building, Ethan added, “There’s considerable swelling, so I’ll have to splint the leg first, see about a cast later. Tasha’s prepping him now.”
Good. A former search and rescue coordinator, the nurse knew her way around broken bones.
“You take 1.” Ethan jerked his chin at the closed door farther down the hallway. “The patient specifically requested you.”
Not quite sure what he saw in the other man’s eyes, Connor reached for the chart in the door holder.
Chuckling softly, Ethan disappeared into Exam Room 2.
Alone