He rummaged through the paper bag the girl had left and extracted a small pile of freshly laundered, carefully folded baby clothes, two clean baby bottles, and several disposable diapers.

“Looks like we have all the essentials here. I’m going to the office to get Timmy’s file, and see if I can track down Tilly. You two guys stay here in case she has a change of heart and comes back.”

“You’re leaving me here? With the baby?” Megan knew less about babies than she did about cooking. Babies were scary. They cried and drooled and did embarrassing things in their diapers. How had this happened to her?

Pat gently set the baby on the kitchen floor, shrugged into his leather jacket, and grinned at her.

“It isn’t as if I’m locking you in the house with Godzilla. You and Tim will get along fine. If he cries just change his diaper or give him a slug of milk. He can’t walk yet, but he can crawl. Maybe you should put Tibbles in the outdoor hutch before the Bruiser, here, grabs a hunk of bunny fur.”

Megan gave him a dazed look and nodded. “You won’t be gone long, will you?”

“What a wench. We hardly know each other, and already you can’t get enough of me. Love at first sight, huh?”

He tweaked her freckled nose and smiled as he closed the front door. She had a terrible temper, he thought, couldn’t cook, and she didn’t know squat about babies, but damned if she didn’t look good in his kitchen. All that outrageous hair and eyes the color of a stormy ocean, sort of gray – green, with curly red lashes, and there was an electricity to her. Yessir, he wouldn’t mind playing doctor with Megan Murphy.

Megan touched the tip of her finger to the tip of her nose. He’d tweaked her. On the nose. It was the sort of thing someone would to to his child… or his rabbit!