Donning my coolest Wonder Woman T-shirt and jeans, I locked up my apartment and headed out. It was the night I promised to look after the twins for Audrey and Murray. Murray’s sister was having a “no kids allowed” party. Audrey was still pissed that the boys weren’t invited, but the woman was her sister-in-law. What could she do?

The day was hot and sunny, and I scrambled inside my purse for my sunglasses while still taking extra care to look around for creepy ex-husband stalkers.

That was status quo for me these days. Ever since Gabe’s last text three weeks ago and the resulting police visit, I’d been on guard. The thought of him watching me freaked me out. Jack stayed over most nights. It bothered me to trouble him to stay over, but he never said a word. Sometimes we stayed at his place, but like he said, “Your stuff is all here. It makes more sense to stay where you’re comfortable.”

Why the man would willingly stay in my shitty apartment instead of his penthouse, I’d never understand.

While I drove, I felt thankful for one thing—Wi-Fi. If the boys ever got out hand, I could always count on the Wi-Fi gods to help. Driving up the Lewis’ driveway, I had a pang of guilt for using it as a substitute babysitter, but that guilt would quickly die if things started going south, as they often did when there were two five year old boys in close proximity.

I was barely out of the car when I heard screaming and hollering and fighting. Already. Oh, heaven save me. Looking up, I hoped for a falling piano or a perfectly timed asteroid. But no such luck.

“Auntie Harper! Guess what?” Levi said in his loudest voice possible. I lamented not picking up ear plugs on my way over.

“There’s no Wee-Fee! Wee-Fee is gone!” Nicki interrupted.

“Hey, I was gonna tell her,” Levi said and punched Nicki on the arm. I hadn’t even stepped one foot into the house and they were already trying to kill each other.

“Boys, stop. I’m sure Wee-Fee will come back. Let’s go into the house and lower our voices, okay? Indoor voices, please.”

With a bit more cajoling, and after they both took several detours over the perfectly mowed lawn and well-cared-for flowerbeds, we finally headed toward the house. As we walked over the flawless pavement and stairs, I hoped Wee-Fee was just a hamster or a turtle. Or better yet, a fish. Please God, no rats or snakes or mice.

Entering their new-ish three-bedroom, three bath, two-story, I heard Audrey’s shrill voice yelling at Murray. “Are you crazy? We can’t go. We cannot leave them without it working. Are you nuts? Do you know what happened last week when the power went out for fifteen freaking minutes? Fifteen minutes of hell on Earth. We have to cancel,” Audrey told him loudly.

“It’s not the power. We still have power. Good God, Audrey, how many tablets and gaming systems did we have growing up, and we survived. They will survive one night without Wi-Fi.”

Oh, for the love of all that was holy. I sat down on the plush blue chair in their living room, asking for divine intervention. Wee-Fee wasn’t a pet. It was Wi-Fi, the master of the universe, and he’s gone. Oh my God, they’d lost their freaking Wi-Fi.

Trying my best not to hyperventilate in their living room, I took some deep, cleansing breaths. The serenity of the room helped calm me. Audrey had decorated it in layers of calming blue tones, from the paint to the carpet. The only other color in the room was her bright collection of vases on the bookshelf in the far corner. How they managed to dodge the boys’ mischief I’d never understand.

I tried my best to put on a happy face and got up to find the owners of the house. “Hi, guys. I’m here.” Cue fake plastic smile. Audrey was all done up and wearing a stunning orange, red, and white geometric print scarf dress. It was either satin or silk, and even I could tell it must’ve cost a pretty penny. I bet it had been years since my friend had dressed up.

“Harper, we’re canceling tonight. There’s no Wi-Fi. We can’t leave you here with them.” Audrey pointed her French manicured finger over to where the boys were currently swiping off all the books from the coffee table while standing on it. Good grief.

I kept up my fake good attitude. “Audrey, no problem. I’m sure it’ll come back on soon. It always does, right? You guys go have a wonderful time.” While I stayed here and got eaten alive. Part of me would have loved to jump back into my car and headed back home to wait for Jack to get off work. But I also knew that these two rarely—never—had time off without their kids.

“See? Harper can handle it. Let’s go. I don’t want to be late,” Murray said and pulled a stunned Audrey out the door as I giggled, then frowned, wondering what the heck I was going to do with two hooligans for hours on end with no Wee-Fee. I had a data plan, but I also had steep overage fees.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang, and my heart jumped, hoping that Audrey and Murray were back and decided not to go after all. I hurried to the door and opened it, unable to breathe. There stood Jack, with an armful of what looked like board games and grocery bags looped on his other arm.

What the heck?

“A little help here, gorgeous?” he said, as if I had been expecting him. Which I certainly was not. I grabbed the game boxes from him and stepped to the side as he walked in.

I just stood there, staring at him.

“You said I could come help you babysit, remember?” Jack answered, like I should have assumed he would be here.

“But you said you had to work,” I said, shocked that he showed up unexpectedly. Remembering my manners, I shut the door behind him.

“Who’s at the door? Are you sellin’ chocolate bars? I’ll take five,” Levi said, walking in from the other room. Probably looking for more things to destroy.

“Where’s the chocolate? You don’t get it alllllll,” Nick whined, hands locked in fists and chin touching his chest, ready to explode.

“Boys, there’s no chocolate,” I said and rolled my eyes.

“Hi, boys, I’m Jack. I’m your auntie Harper’s boyfriend.” He crouched down to their level and talked to them. “I brought us some games to play, okay? And I’ll make supper, too. How does that sound?” I inhaled quickly, and my heart sped up. Did he just introduce himself to the boys as my boyfriend? What the heck? Was I Jack’s girlfriend? We hadn’t talked about it.

“Well, I guess you can be her boyfriend for now, but I’m actually going to marry her when I get older and get a job,” Nick informed Jack while scratching his armpit. “Momma says no pretty woman will marry me if I’m a bum. But she calls Daddy a bum all the time and he’s married. Big people are weird.” He screwed up his face in disgust and began rubbing the top of his head, just like his dad. That made me smile. What a cutie.

I snorted at what Nick said, and Jack turned to look at me and grinned. Damn his sexy smile.

“Let’s go put these groceries away while Auntie Harper relaxes and reads for a bit. Then we’ll play one of the games I brought over. After that, you both can help me cook supper,” Jack said and stood up. Good Lord, he did not just promise them kitchen time.

“Cool! I always wanted to make supper,” Nick said, jumping up and down, unable to control his delight. Ugh. Maybe the Wi-Fi would be back on by then and they would forget all about helping to cook.

“I get to pick the first game!” Levi yelled, running to the kitchen. Well, I guess it was decided. Jack was staying. This was going to be a very long evening, but at least now I had help.

As the male folk put away the groceries, I knelt down to pick up the books the little rascals threw all over the floor. My parents would have had a serious shit-fit if I threw books on the floor.

“Harper, stop. Put those down. Please,” Jack said, broaching no argument as he placed a head of lettuce onto the counter. “Boys.” He pointed to the poor books strewn all over the place. “Who made all that mess?” They looked at each other, and you could see for one brief moment they wanted to lie and blame the other. “The truth, please,” Jack asked both of them as he crossed his arms. “I’m not mad, but I will be disappointed if you lie to me.” Well then. Strong words from a strong man who demanded respect.

“We did it,” Nick said quietly, always the valiant one, eyes cast downward and shoulders slumped.

“Thanks for your honesty. I respect that. Now, do books belong on the floor?” he asked them, still speaking in a serious, stern tone.

“No, sir,” Nick said again.

“Is it fair for Auntie Harper to have to clean up a mess you made?” Jack motioned his hand in my direction, and I just stared at him in awe. I’d never seen the boys so quiet and somber.

“No.” Levi shook his head. “’Cause she didn’t make it. We did.” Gosh, he was sweet.

“So, what do you need to do if you make a mess?”

“Clean it up,” Nick said, shoulders slumped over, looking downtrodden.

“The faster you do it, the faster we get to play the games I brought over,” Jack said, inspiring them to hurry, and they did, nearly trampling me in the process. Those books were back on the table in no time.

Hmm, he’s good at this.

“I want to slide down the big snake!” Levi screamed during their first ever venture into Chutes and Ladders. We survived Candy Land and some cherry basket game unscathed, but now it looked like the twins had their fill of sitting in one spot.

“But Levi, going down the snake is bad, remember? You want to go up the ladders, not down the snakes,” I tried to reason with him, but he wasn’t having it.

“I don’t care! I like snakes!” he yelled even louder now. I sighed and leaned back onto the plush beige carpet on my hands, wanting to see how the best babysitter in the world handled that one.

“Nick, can you grab that brown plastic bag over on the table, please?” Jack requested, and of course, Nick did it because Jack was his new hero. “Thanks, buddy. You’re awesome,” Jack said as he dug into the bag and came out with matching red capes.

“Wow! Cool!” the boys yelled simultaneously as Jack started tying the capes on them one at a time.

“There are laser belts, too. But you guys have to promise to only fight the bad guys, not each other, all right? If you guys fight one another, then the belts and capes get put away. Your decision. What’s it going to be?” he asked the current caped crusaders.

“Bad guys,” Levi said, giving us his best karate chop/ninja kick combo.

“Yeah, only bad guys,” Nick agreed, elbowing his brother.

While I was more than a little concerned for the safety of our city with those two in charge, I decided to take a picture of them for posterity’s sake. Man, they were cute. I smiled at them, but hearing them tear up the stairs, I quickly had second thoughts. “You’re encouraging them to run in the house? What if they fall and get hurt?” I turned to Jack, hands on my hips, worried look on my face.

“Harper, kids fall. Kids get bloody noses. Kids jump on beds and survive. Kids need to be kids and figure shit out for themselves. They need to climb trees and get into sticky situations and find their way out. If we micromanage every part of their day, it gives them no time to explore the world on their own and find their place in that world. Then we end up with a generation of creatively challenged individuals who constantly need to be entertained and always look outside themselves for that.”

Hmm, made sense in theory. I just wondered how it transferred to real life with tiny twin hellions.

“How do you know so much about kids?” I asked, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt.

An almost sad smile crossed his face. “Well, I used to be one. And when I was one, I took note of shit I didn’t think was right. As I got older, I realized some shit really wasn’t right and knew one day I’d be able to make it right with my own kids.” His own kids. Why did I always get this odd, butterfly, twisty feeling in my stomach every time Jack mentioned kids? He clutched my leg and pulled my arm so I’d sit down again. As I sat, his smiling mouth was too much to take.

“Well, Audrey might want to hire you. You do this kid thing really well.” I looked at him, telling him the truth. I was thankful he came over to help. These two needed man-on-man defense.

He laughed and said, “I’m just a guy who showed up to play with them for a few hours. Audrey has to stay with them twenty-four seven. She’s outnumbered and probably working on year six of sleep-deprivation. She does an excellent job with them. She doesn’t need my help.” The twins were still fighting bad guys upstairs. Jack scootched over beside me on the floor so our thighs touched. My hands itched to touch him.

He turned his head to the side, knowing my intentions by now. When I kissed him, he groaned and sighed. Smelling him and having him so close, invading all my senses, was pure torture. I wanted nothing more than to rip that dark blue T-shirt he was wearing right off him. “Thanks for coming over. And I’m sorry for being rude at the door. I was just shocked to see you.”

Jack smiled, and that’s when he gave me a much better, much deeper kiss. Holy. My arms couldn’t support me anymore, so I lay down and Jack followed. We faced each other on our sides, and he took my mouth again in a delicious kiss. A few minutes later, we heard a crash upstairs, and my body froze.

“Leave them,” he muttered and kissed down my neck, rendering me incapable of competent thought. I grabbed onto his head, sifting my hands through his hair, and completely forgot about the two terrors breaking things elsewhere in the house. I’m sure it was all in the name of saving humanity. Whatever.

“Gross!”

“Yeah, gross! What are you guys doing? Ewwww!”

I was so into making out on the floor with Jack that I lost track of time and the twins. Bolting up, I knocked heads with Jack. “Owww, shit! I mean, shoot!” I said and lay back down, hands on my head.

“Whoa, Auntie Harper said the T word,” Levi said, standing there in a now ripped red cape.

“No, she said the S word, dummy,” Nick said.

“Listen, shitttt,” Levi said. “See? Hear the T?” he asked his brother, feeling superior.

“No, stupid, sssssshit,” Nicki said. “Hear the S?” Someone save me. I was mortified, but Jack was chuckling. I nudged him with my elbow.

“Uh, boys, why don’t you go wash your hands and you can help me start supper? Hurry, Auntie Harper’s really hungry.” Jack smiled down at me, hoping I caught the double entendre.

“I’m hungry?” I said, pushing him gently with my hand. “You’re hungry,” I teased, sounding like the twins.

“I am, baby,” he whispered. “So hungry for you.” He kissed me again quickly before getting up and going into the kitchen.

Ordered to sit and read while Jack and the boys cooked, it was possibly the cutest thing in the world I’d ever observed. Jack had so much patience with them, and the boys looked up to him like he hung the moon. The boys still squabbled, and Jack allowed it to a point, then he waded in if he had to.

The warm, fuzzy feeling I got watching Jack teach and guide the boys was almost overwhelming. He just had this way with the kids. The most remarkable thing about the whole scene was that Jack appeared to be having just as much fun as the boys were. Hmm. No rushing to get done so he could watch some crappy sitcom or sporting event. Jack genuinely cared and loved spending time with them.

When I was summoned to the table, I saw a feast of spaghetti, meatballs, sauce, and garlic toast. Yum.

“Everything looks incredible, guys. Well done.” I meant it. I hadn’t eaten much today, so my stomach was growling.

The boys dug in, and Jack and I tried our best to keep the mess down to a dull roar, but they were five year old boys. Mess happened—drinks spilled, sauce dripped, and spaghetti flew. But everything tasted as good as it smelled, and I reached for seconds before anyone else.

Somehow, we made it to the end of the meal—nearly—unscathed. We cleaned up the boys, but the sauce was everywhere, so I gave up and herded them upstairs to the tub. I didn’t know why, but hearing Jack cleaning up the kitchen while I gave the boys their bath made my heart explode.

For all intents and purposes, he could have just sat down and relaxed and let me deal with the mess. I told him to leave it for me since he did all the cooking. But of course, Jack being Jack, he just scoffed and kept cleaning.

The boys somehow found pajamas, and then we started reading books. I let them take turns picking their favorite stories, and they decided that was “cool”. Gosh, they were cute when they got along.

Eventually, Jack joined us, and we shared reading duties. Again, my heart exploded watching him read animatedly to those boys. The twins were enraptured with the man and the book. I had to admit, so was I.

We read until both boys could no longer keep their eyes open. That was my favorite feeling in the world—reading a good book until my eyes closed unwillingly.

As silently as possible, we walked out and shut their door. Yay, we did it. I moved my hand up in the air for a high-five, and Jack grinned widely and smacked my hand, but then gripped it and yanked me in for a kiss. We kissed on the top of the landing for a while, holding each other. My hands examined the ridges and planes on his back and chest, his hands doing the same to me. He finally stopped and led us down the stairs to the comfy living room couch where he sat and pulled me down onto his lap.

“Thanks for cleaning up, and for showing up to save the day. I couldn’t have done it without you and without Wi-Fi.” I smiled at him, rubbing his shoulders and down his arms. The heat of his body warmed my hands. God, he was always hot, like some kind of self-sustaining furnace.

“Well, it’s actually my fault there was no Wi-Fi, baby,” he said sheepishly. His brown eyes looked guilty. Then he proceeded to tell me about his little impromptu meeting with Murray.

“You told him to do what?” I poked him in the chest, pissed at him.

“I asked him to—”

“I freaking heard you. I just don’t understand why.” I pushed him in the chest again, harder this time.

“Because I wanted to spend time with you and the boys. I wanted to show you that I meant it when I said I liked kids, and that it wasn’t just something I take lightly.” Good grief. Not this again. Why was he always pushing the idea of children?

“Jack, I still don’t want kids. Did you think that babysitting once with you would change my—” Gah. The man mentioned children more than a man in a new relationship should. It was definitely a bone of contention in our relationship. Most women I knew—it was the other way around. The woman was always trying to push kids on the man.

I thought it was odd behavior, but each and every time, I made sure to let Jack know that kids just weren’t in the cards for me. What the hell did I know about raising kids? All I’d managed to do was have a failed marriage. What if we’d had a surprise? I’d be the one looking after the kid while Gabe continued to gamble, drink, and stalk women. Or maybe he just saved the stalking part for me.

It was true that I paid off my half of Gabe’s debt, but still. Money was tight. How could I afford to pay for another person when I struggled enough with bills as it was? That’s no life for a kid—a deadbeat dad and a mother who had to work two jobs just to pay for daycare.

He cut me off. “Baby, chill. I’m not bringing that subject up again. Not for a very long time. We take this thing between us slow and steady and see where it goes. No need to make any life-changing decisions now.” He gathered my hair and pulled it to the back of my head. “Although I find it very interesting that someone who doesn’t want kids offers to babysit two, uh, extremely challenging boys,” he said and raised his eyebrows. “And she does so while wearing a Wonder Woman T-shirt.” Taking a long, slow gander at said Wonder Woman T-shirt, he ran his knuckles down the sides of my shirt, along the outer edge of my breasts. My nipples immediately responded to his touch by pebbling. Damn that man. “A very hot, tight-fitting Wonder Woman shirt,” he said in a low, rumbly voice, tracing the Ws.

Lucky for me, the Ws were extremely well-placed.