Wife and Mother Wanted by Nicola Marsh

drummed into her.
    ‘My pleasure, sweetie. You can come over any time.’ Carissa sent a pointed glare in Brody’s direction, almost daring him to disagree.
    Luckily for him, he managed a terse nod, closely followed by, ‘Thanks for spending time with Molly, Carissa. I appreciate it. Goodnight.’
    Was it? She had her doubts.

CHAPTER SIX
    B RODY dropped a light kiss on Molly’s forehead, pulled the bedclothes up and stood back, gazing at his daughter in wonder. He’d never get over the amazement that overcame him at moments like this, when he realised he’d been a part of creating a precious human life. Kids were the best—no matter how much they squawked, played up and turned your world upside down.
    And, though he’d been the eternal bachelor before Jackie fell pregnant—and had silently cursed his fate at being stuck with a wife and child when he wasn’t ready for responsibility—he’d fallen in love with Molly the minute she’d entered the world, red screwed-up face, covering of white gunk, lusty lungs and all.
    Though falling in love came at a price—namely, fear. Not a day went by when an awful, soul-destroying fear didn’t gnaw at his soul—the fear that one day he might lose his precious daughter too. And, as much as he’d told himself his fear was irrational, he couldn’t shrug it off. Molly was his world. He loved her. It should be simple but it wasn’t. The fear complicated everything: fear of losing her, fear of being a lousy father, fear of doing everything right and then having her walk outon him anyway when she was old enough to understand everything—particularly the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death.
    A cop who’d once won a bravery award, he’d turned into a coward, and it didn’t sit well with him. Not one bit.
    And earlier tonight another fear had snuck under his guard and held him up, making him want to wrestle and overcome it like a would-be assailant. The fear of sexual attraction, of wanting something he couldn’t have, had added to his burden.
    That loaded moment when Carissa had looked at him with those big blue eyes filled with wonder, her face covered in flour, her hair a messy riot of blonde curls, had acted like a sucker punch to the gut. Add to that the fact that she’d later cleaned up, looking incredible and smelling like roses, and his concentration was shot.
    For one irrational second he’d almost forgotten he was a man with responsibilities—the main one lying in front of him now, sleeping peacefully.
    Right now his number one priority was making a better life for Molly. It was the main reason he’d moved from Sydney and had settled in Stockton, alongside Molly’s maternal great-aunt.
    As for anything or anyone else—he didn’t need it.
    He didn’t do involvement.
    He didn’t do complication.
    He’d had enough of both to last him a lifetime.
    ‘I’m having a very bad day,’ Carissa said, flinging a roll of gift-wrapping on the counter, locking the cash register and grabbing the lunch bag Tahnee held out to her.
    ‘That’s what I’m here for, Carissa. Time to take a load off and tell me all about it.’
    Opening the bag, Carissa inhaled and shut her eyes in bliss. ‘Is this a banana and chocolate croissant I smell?’
    ‘Uh-huh. I thought you could use a pick-me-up after the way you snapped at me on the phone earlier.’
    Carissa grimaced and led the way into the shop’s back room. ‘Sorry about that. You caught me at a bad time.’
    ‘Bad time? Bad day? What gives, Sis? Stockton’s resident magic lady never has a bad anything .’
    As Tahnee shrugged out of her denim jacket and hung it on a peg behind the door, Carissa pondered her response. What could she say?
    I’m concerned about a little girl and it’s none of my business .
    Brody Elliott is a grouch .
    Brody Elliott is a grouch and I want to give him a piece of my mind .
    Or, better yet, how about Brody Elliott is a grouch, a social recluse and a pain in the butt, but I kind