“Tell me you don’t have a baby in that Porsche,” she called as she stood.
“Rosie will actually be eighteen months next week,” Shep said as he reappeared, a child snuggled to his chest. “She’s officially a toddler.”
Sienna felt her mouth drop open. “Where did you get her?”
“Aisle seven of the local grocery,” Shep answered with a wink. “Near the canned peas.”
“Shep.”
He moved forward, smoothing fine, dark hair away from Rosie’s face. “Rosie is my daughter.”
“Does Cole know?”
Shep shook his head, his full lips thinning. “Not yet. Hell, I didn’t even know about her until recently.”
“You shouldn’t curse in front of a child,” Sienna said automatically.
“Thanks for the tip,” Shep said tightly. “I’ll add it to the list of things I need to learn about being a dad.” He cupped a hand on the back of Rosie’s head. “It’s a long damn list.”
“Shep.”
He groaned. “No cursing. Right.”
“Dada,” Rosie said in a tiny voice. She tipped up her face to look at Shep. “Damn, Dada.”
“I’m a bad daddy.” Shep dropped a kiss on the tip of the young girl’s nose. “I’ll do better next time.”
“That’s why no cursing,” Sienna told him, unable to hide her smile. “Hi, Rosie.”
Rosie shifted in her father’s arms, looked at Sienna, then buried her face in Shep’s shirtfront.
“She’s kind of shy,” Shep offered. “Plus she fell asleep in the car, and it takes her a while to wake up from a nap. Takes after her daddy in that respect. This is Sienna,” he explained to his daughter. “She’s a friend of your uncle Cole’s. I told you about him, remember? He looks like Daddy, only not as handsome.”
After a moment, Rosie turned to look at Sienna again, her gaze wary. The girl was adorable, with big brown eyes and dark hair that curled above her ears. She wore a wrinkled pink dress and polka-dot socks on her feet.
“Is it just the two of you?” Sienna asked.
“I brought a nanny with us from California, but she took off this morning.” Shep rolled his eyes. “Saw a bear on her run and freaked out.”
“She just left?”
“So fast it would make your head spin.”
“Jettie,” Rosie said with a sniff.
“Jessie had to go back to Los Angeles,” Shep said with a sigh. “Where there are way scarier things on the streets than bears if you ask me.”
“You need help.”
“No doubt,” Shep agreed. “But the first thing I need is for you to completely put out that fire.”
“Got it.” Sienna picked up the bucket of water she’d set to one side of the fire pit. “I was prepared. I really wasn’t trying to cause trouble.” She closed her eyes for a moment as the memory of Cole teasing about her being a troublemaker played through her mind.
Shep eyed the now empty envelope on the ground. “What exactly were you doing? I can’t imagine Cole writing love letters for you to burn.”
The wood sizzled as she dumped the bucket of water over it, a huge rush of smoke pouring into the air.
Rosie covered her ears and shouted, “’Moke, Daddy.”
