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L eo Halligan watched as Ella Staunton Hawes slid her pert little butt onto the leather kitchen stool, Mia tucked snugly on her lap. His baby daughter, Mia.

Swallowing a groan, he moved to the other side of the island, putting some distance between himself and the all-too-cute Ella.

This was a bad idea.

One he shouldn’t even be contemplating; one he should nip in the bud right up front. And he would have except for just one small complication—the one she was currently holding in her arms. Mia.

Mia giggled, and it was the most precious sound he ever could or would hear.

And the fragile bubble of hope that he could convince his sister, Joey, that Ella wasn’t the right person for the job, popped.

His almost daughter was known to be a slow burn when it came to strangers, yet from the first time Ella and Mia had met, no such barrier had existed.

After trialing four potential nannies over the past few months and finding none of them suitable, he was getting a bit desperate.

Not so desperate that he’d choose just anyone ; whomever he employed to care for his daughter had to be perfect.

Trouble was, Ella Staunton Hawes was a bit too perfect, and in ways that had nothing to do with her possible nannying skills.

And that was the problem.

Finding the right nanny had to be his priority.

So far, he’d bumbled along, learning to care for his daughter as he went, his family right there by his side all the way.

They’d been beyond great, helping out, even when he’d insisted he didn’t need it.

With three weddings to plan, they didn’t need to be constantly coming to his rescue.

But he wouldn’t rush into anything, he had to get this right, for both him and his daughter, even if it took trialing at least another hundred applicants.

What if Ella really was the perfect nanny, though?

More than once, it had been suggested that perhaps he was the problem; the reason so far no one had been deemed suitable.

And while he knew he was overprotective of his baby girl, he only had to watch his parents and siblings interact with his daughter to know they were just as protective of her and would be equally diligent in finding the right person to care for her.

Which was exactly why he was sitting across from Ella Staunton Hawes—she with the beautiful eyes, double-barrel dimples, and double-barrel name.

His family all thought she’d be perfect, and he had to admit their arguments were sound.

For starters, she wasn’t a complete stranger.

For the past couple of months, she’d been living there on Lazy H—specifically in the cottage that had formerly been his sister’s home As was the way of his family, the Halligans, Ella had been included in family gatherings and had formed a strong friendship with his sister and his soon-to-be sisters-in-law—and of course, there was her special bond with Mia.

His family considered it a bonus. And it was. And there was Benny, her two-year-old son, Benny, who would be part of the arrangement and was a great playmate for Mia.

What was not to love about that deal? It sounded perfect.

And would have been, except for the fact that since he’d first locked eyes with her—that intriguing blend of gray with tawny highlights, alight with teasing laughter—he’d not been able to get her out of his head.

But living under his roof, sleeping just down the corridor?

If he employed her.

He speared a glance across at her toddler son, hair dark, where his mother’s was tawny, who sat in his daughter’s highchair, awkwardly engrossed in mastering the use of a crayon clutched in his little fist, the result being a swirl of blue scribbles, some of which had actually made it onto the paper before him.

He could hardly fault Ella’s parenting skills. The kid was always clean and cared for. Happy. Even as Leo watched, the toddler lifted his head and immediately stretched a hand to his mother. “Mama, more pease.”

A request she smoothly fulfilled by exchanging the blue for a red, prompting a reminder to say thank you , all while the other hand deftly returned the squeaky toy his daughter had dropped and was reaching for.

He noted she’d ensured the coffee he’d prepared had been placed out of Mia’s reach.

Not every applicant had been so diligent, a fact that had appalled him.

He cleared his throat. “So, this, um position… I guess I’ve heard bits and pieces about how you came to know Nash’s mother—Melanie.

Do you mind if I ask more about that?” Nash, his sister’s fiancé, had recently reconnected with his mother Melanie, who’d moved out to Montana to be with them and their infant daughter, Ruby.

Melanie had invited Ella and Benny to come with her.

He’d heard their version of events, but he was keen to know hers.

“Not at all.” Exchanging red for yellow, she said, “Benny and I were down in Texas, and I needed work, however I had no one to leave Benny with—well, no one I trusted or knew well enough—so I was in a bind. Melanie stepped in to help me one day when Benny was tired and upset, and I was juggling holding him and trying to buy groceries. I would have been okay, but she was kind. Afterward she suggested coffee, we talked, and she offered me a job cleaning her house and said I could bring Benny.” She paused and sent a meaningful look his way.

“At the time I had no idea what had gone down between her and Nash, nor what she’d been forced to sacrifice, but I did guess something had happened.

Melanie seemed to really enjoy playing substitute grandmother to Benny, so it worked for us both—our friendship developed from there. ”

He nodded, mesmerized by her voice. Her accent.

Certainly, a very strong British influence, though he’d never been able to nail it down exactly.

But beyond the round vowels, there were hints of flatter American pronunciation, and something else he couldn’t identify.

Whatever it was, he could listen to her all day, but curious as he was, he was also aware this wasn’t a date.

And surely there was some kind of moratorium on how many personal questions could be asked in a job interview?

Pulling himself together he continued. “You didn’t hesitate when Melanie invited you to come to Montana? ”

“Not for a moment. I’d moved to Texas because my mother’s family originally came from the Dallas area—

“Moved from?”

“Europe, France; though my mother was born in America and raised in England. However, to finish answering your question, I had no relationship with the few relatives left in Dallas so there was nothing to keep me there. And I knew Benny would miss Melanie. He had few enough people in his life who genuinely cared, and I didn’t want him to miss that. ”

She had nobody. Alone with a child? That brought back painful memories of Hope, the mother of his child, who had also been alone with a baby to care for.

A familiar mix of guilt and anger rose to the surface.

He should have tried harder to find her.

Not that he could have changed the outcome.

Cancer still would have taken her, but at least they could have shared the first months of their child’s life together.

Instead, by the time he found Hope it was almost too late, and he’d discovered at the same time that he had an almost six-month-old daughter: Mia.

The baby, currently sitting on the lap of the woman responsible for his wayward thoughts, was why he could not follow his instincts where Ella was concerned. Twice he’d failed women in his past; but he was damned if would fail his daughter.

“Your family turned you away? That’s rough.

Family, for all us Halligans is the most important thing: it comes first, and I can’t imagine turning any family member away.

” His eyes flicked to Benny, who wore a tiny frown of determined concentration on his otherwise baby-smooth forehead. “Especially a child.”

Her laughter surprised him. “I know. Don’t forget I’ve seen all you Halligans in full flight.

” Her smile melted into something more wistful.

“I’ve never experienced anything like it before.

The children of this family are truly blessed, and I’m.

ahh , well, very grateful Benny has been showered with some of that. Included. ”

There was something in her tone, a certain wariness. “There’s a problem with that, or am I reading more into what you just said?”

Her expression was wry, “Was I so obvious.” She sighed. “Yes and no. I love that he’s getting to experience family interaction like this—it was exactly what his father and I hoped for him—but I can’t help but worry about what will happen when we move on.”

“You’re planning on leaving?” That put a whole other slant on her potential employment. He didn’t want Mia to get attached to someone who had no plans to stick around.

“Eventually we’ll have to move on, Leo. Even if you decide I’m the right caregiver for Mia, you won’t need me forever.”

A painful twist tightened his gut. His brain, slow to keep up, floundered to fathom the reason.

The woman had been in his home for approximately thirty minutes.

Most of that time he’d been hoping for a reason to find her an unsuitable nanny for his daughter.

Yet the moment she offered him even the scantest possibility, he’d near panicked? It was ridiculous.

This wasn’t going to work.

Then Mia bopped herself on the nose, dropped her lip and lifted her face to Ella who gently kissed the child’s nose, following with an equally gentle tweak that instantly had Mia’s smile back.