Some days Cora wondered if getting out of bed was even worth it.

She was standing at her front door with her neighbor. Rayna had her Teton Diner waitress uniform on. The Teton Diner was a throwback diner that paid homage to the fifties, which was why Rayna was wearing a powder blue poodle skirt and looked like she was trying out for a production of Grease.

“I’m so sorry,” Rayna said with guilt furrowing her brow.

“Rayna, it’s not your fault. You got called into work. Believe me, I understand.”

“I just hate to leave you hanging when I said I would watch him,” Rayna said, wringing her hands.

“I’ll give Spencer a call. I’m sure he’ll be able to watch him for me. Don’t worry about it,” she replied, trying to soothe her friend.

“Okay, but the next free night I have, I owe you dinner, wine, and girl talk. Thank you so much for understanding,” Rayna said, giving her a tremulous smile.

“Sounds fun,” Cora said and shut the door after waving Rayna off.

So much for hoping today would run more smoothly. Considering she’d had another virtually sleepless night thanks to their newest addition to the family, she was batting zero out of a thousand. As it was, if she could sleep standing up, she would do it.

Cora tried calling Spencer, repeatedly, as panic rose in her chest, and kept getting his blasted voicemail. Well, it was Sunday morning. For all she knew, her cousin was still sleeping off last night. He’d mentioned that he was heading to the club when he’d dropped them off at her car. He was a Dominant and owner of the club, to boot. She should be thankful that she hadn’t worked there last night or she would have been treated to a front row seat of Spencer getting his freak on. And really, she didn’t want to know about her cousin’s sex life any more than she already did.

Worst case scenario, she would take Milo with her to the gym and pray for the best. She hoped Matt wouldn’t be pissed and fire her on the spot. Maybe she was being ridiculous to worry about it when Garrett was offering her free daycare to work at his place. Although, if truth be told, she only had to worry about daycare for Milo on the weekends, and then again at night when she was waiting tables at the club. Part of the appeal of the job at the resort was that she’d be able to stop working at the club, or could at least pare her shifts down to maybe two nights a week.

Milo and Elmo raced around the living room. Cora could feel the start of a tension headache. What was she going to do about Elmo? She really didn’t want to leave him alone for a few hours. Not after the night they’d had. The sweet-faced pup had already managed to chew up two of her shoes—not from the same pair, of course—throw them up, and pee and poop on her floor. Then he’d proceeded to cry half the night until she brought the little guy into bed with her.

Maybe she could set him up in the bathroom so he wouldn’t get into anything.

This was why she had swollen dark circles you could park a car under beneath her eyes. She had already chugged a half pot of coffee like she was at a kegger. And, somehow, she had to find some semblance of inner peace for the two Sunday Rejuvenation and Relaxation yoga sessions she was scheduled to lead.

Come on inner peace, I don’t have all day.

She sighed. Maybe she should just cancel her classes and brave Matt’s fury. Most likely she could kiss this job goodbye if she canceled.

Nor could she take Milo with her. She’d be terrified that he would get into something and either break it or injure himself. Not to mention she would incur Matt’s sadistic streak. She’d be fired before she finished the second class.

This was just one of the joys of single parenthood. In desperation, she’d even called Sally at Teton Tykes and left her a message to see if she could babysit. But no one was answering her call.

Her best course of action would be to contact Matt, cancel her classes for today, and then maybe they needed to rework the schedule so that she only worked when the daycare was open.

At least Milo was feeling loads better now that he was on medicine. She could count on that little small miracle.

Cora had her cell phone in hand and was in the process of dialing Matt when there was a knock on the door. Spencer. She raced over to the front door. Spencer must have gotten her messages and was coming to her rescue.

Unlocking the deadbolt, she wrenched open the door with a smile on her face. That smile froze as if it had been carved into her skin, and then her body simpered. It wasn’t Spencer.

It was Garrett, and that intense gaze of his that made her feel like he was stripping her down and imagining all the naughty, decadent things he wanted to do to her.

This was the first time he was seeing her as she normally looked, not put together at work—or, hell, even with her hair brushed—but an overworked, frazzled mommy who still hadn’t gotten in a shower today.

“Something wrong?” he asked, stepping inside before she had even invited him in. His big body crowded hers in the foyer.

Great, and he could see the panic in her eyes. What she wouldn’t give for a day to sleep in and pull the covers back up over her head. To have someone else do all the worrying for her for a change.

“Yes, my sitter canceled, the daycare isn’t open on the weekends, and I have two classes I have to teach at the gym. I have no idea how I’m going to be able to do a relaxing yoga class having to take Milo.”

Garrett’s gazed traveled the length of her form in what she liked to call her I’m a mommy, ask me how daily wear—aka leggings and a tee shirt sans makeup with her hair in a messy bun. She had snot on the bottom edge of her shirt where Milo had wiped his nose, and there was a stain of indiscriminate origin on her shoulder. She knew it just screamed sex appeal.

“I can watch him if you need me to.”

“You?” She eyed him, rather bemused by his suggestion. He couldn’t be serious.

“Why not me?” He looked at her with an expression she could only think of as offended, a disgruntled alpha who had never had his talents called into question.

Cora sighed internally. She didn’t want to step on his feelings but her son could be a handful. Hell, just the last two nights she’d barely gotten any sleep, and that was the norm. Her idea of a good time would be getting to go to the bathroom for five minutes, alone. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, I know you’re a Dom and all, but have you ever babysat a toddler before?”

“Well, no, but I fought insurgents in Iraq so I think I can handle a toddler.”

Oh, he was precious. “Yeah, well, we’ll see about that. If you’re game, I won’t say no to the help.”

Cora was too tired to want to fight him, not when he clearly wanted to make himself useful. Then she went through everything he needed to know, where the snacks were located in the kitchen, what Milo could eat and what he couldn’t. Then she made sure he had the pediatrician’s on call number, her own number, and the number for the gym. And she made sure she actually had his number programmed into her cell phone.

She left him in the living room with Milo and Elmo while she got dressed. Not that her wardrobe for teaching yoga classes was all that complicated or exotic. Bright blue sports bra and gray capri yoga pants she’d found on sale a while back. She added a tank top in soft pink with Namaste in a scrawling script across the chest. Fixing her hair—actually running a brush through it—she ended up styling it into a French braid. That way she wouldn’t be constantly pushing it out of the way. She added some makeup, just a few swipes of waterproof mascara and a nude lip gloss.

She grabbed her gym bag from her closet, and did a double check that everything she would need was inside, including her yoga mat, towel, and her easy slip-on walking sneakers. She put the shoes on, then grabbed her wallet and cell phone and slipped them into the bag.

Certain she was ready, and not forgetting anything, she headed back downstairs. Garrett and Milo were in the center of the living room, sitting on the floor with Milo’s toys. Grabbing her keys and sunglasses from the kitchen counter, she asked, “Are you sure about this?”

“Yep, absolutely. We should be fine, won’t we, squirt?” Garrett said and tousled Milo’s hair. It did something to her, seeing them together, and Milo was just in heaven at the male attention. Even the big, bad Garrett looked, she hated to say it, sweet.

“We’re going to build a fort, Mama,” Milo said excitedly. His eyes danced in merriment while Elmo stood guard, curled on her sofa, watching both boy and man with interest. She wondered how Elmo had gotten up there. But that was a worry for another day.

“Well, thank you. I should be back in about three hours. Milo, please listen to everything Garrett asks you to do, all right? If you’re good, we’ll bake some cookies this afternoon.”

“Yay!” Milo danced around. Then Elmo jumped down from the couch and got in on the action, yapping at his heels. Garrett in her living room looked so out of his element that she wanted to hug him.

And that wasn’t all she wanted to do with him.