Red Hot Rancher

by Maureen Child

  And Emma knew, with everything in her, that if he wasn’t with her, she’d spend the rest of her life with a gaping hole inside. When he finally lifted his head and stared down at her, Emma could only stare back, lost in those cool, blue eyes.

  “Well, this is fun. Hi, Caden.”

  Emma jolted, but he didn’t let her go. Just turned his head and said, “Hi, Gracie. Madison.”

  Blinking hard and fighting for a few remaining brain cells to fire, Emma shifted a glance to her sister and the grinning redhead standing beside her.

  “Hi, Caden,” she said, then stuck out her right hand. “And you’re Emma. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “I’ll bet,” Emma said, shaking her hand and sparing her sister a quick look.

  Gracie shrugged. “Are you two going to stay out here and grope each other or are you coming inside? I’m putting some fresh coffee on.”

  “Sold,” Caden said and when Emma would have moved away from him, he kept one arm around her shoulders, pinning her to his side.

  All of them went into the house and while Gracie and Madison headed for the kitchen, Emma and Caden followed the sound of Molly’s excited squeal to the great room.

  Frank was on the floor, making mooing sounds and Molly was braced against a pile of pillows, clapping her hands in delight.

  “Well, hello, Frank.”

  Emma laughed as her father looked up. “Hey, Caden, good to see you. Emma, our girl here about said ‘cow’ a minute ago.”

  Emma laughed. “Dad, she’s not going to talk at five months.”

  “Can if she wants to. This baby girl is a smart one.”

  “Is she?” Caden walked over, crouched beside Frank and let the baby give him a thorough inspection. When she finally gave him a toothless grin and babbled a stream of sounds, Caden laughed and Emma’s heart stopped.

  He reached out, picked her up, and Molly patted his cheeks. “Well, you’re a beauty, aren’t you?”

  Caden shot a look at Emma and just like that, everything in her dissolved into a puddle of goo. What was it about seeing a strong, sexy man being kind and gentle with a baby? It plucked every heartstring and tightened every nerve until her body felt like it was burning up. Her gaze met Caden’s and what she saw there fired up her hormones and sent them into a wild dance of anticipation.

  This was her cowboy, Emma told herself. And she would never give him up again.

  Nine

  “Well?” Dorian glared at his assistant—What was his name? “What have you got?”

  The younger man swallowed hard, looked down at his notes, then spoke quickly, words tumbling over each other. “The investigator made it out of the airport last night finally.”

  “I didn’t ask you for his travel plans, did I?” Dorian felt his temper inching higher and higher. “What did he find?”

  Tim—that was his name—Tim, cleared his throat nervously, walked to the desk and timidly set down a sheet of paper. Dorian glanced at it.

  “He’s got her address, phone number, email. She lives in some tiny town near Kalispell.”

  Dorian scanned the paper, hardly listening.

  But Tim kept talking. “Her family has a small ranch, nothing special. Her father’s been in a bad way for a while and her sister’s been running the place—”

  Finally, Dorian lifted his head and speared little Tim with an icy glare. “What makes you think I care about any of that? I only worry about backstories in my movies. All I need is the information. I’ve got it now, so get out.”

  “Yes, sir.” Tim turned and scuttled across the room and out the door, shutting it quietly after him.

  Dorian’s temper was developing a life of its own. He heard his own thundering heartbeat in his ears and could actually feel his blood pressure rising. He had about five days before the shit hit the proverbial fan. So this woman...he checked again. Emma Williams. Had better do exactly what he told her to do.

  * * *

  “Well, I like her.”

  Gracie laughed shortly. “Of course you like Emma, Mad. You like everybody.”

  “I try to, yes.” Madison shrugged and leaned against the wall by the front door. “Why live your life grumpy?”

  “Is that a clever way of telling me I’m crabby?”

  “I said grumpy.”

  Gracie nodded. “A fine distinction.”

  “It is,” Madison said with a smile as she straightened up. “And actually, you were pretty nice to Emma tonight at dinner. Oh, and thank your dad for me. That spaghetti was terrific.”

  Gracie smiled, too. “His specialty.” She glanced toward the great room. “Now that Caden’s gone home and the baby’s asleep, he’s probably nodding off in his chair.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Madison said, stifling a yawn. “I’ve been up since three when the Porter’s dog went into early labor.”

  “Lots of baby news around here,” Gracie muttered.

  “And speaking of babies, Molly is adorable.” Madison grabbed Gracie’s hand and squeezed. “I saw you with her. You’re crazy about that little girl.”

  Sighing, Gracie thought it was just a shame sometimes how easily Madison could read her. There was simply no point in trying to hide things from the woman. “Okay, yes. She’s a cutie and yes, I’m nuts about her. Happy?”

  Madison laughed, then clapped one hand over her mouth to quiet the sound. “Sorry. Don’t want to wake your dad. But yes, I’m not unhappy. Now, I’m going home to give you and Emma a chance to talk.”

  “We already did.”

  “And yet,” Madison pointed out, “there’s still so much to say.”

  Gracie shook her head in amazement. “You’re really pushy sometimes, did anyone ever tell you that?”

  “Only you,” she said, then reached out to give her a hug. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe you could come to my place for dinner.”

  “That sounds great.” Gracie opened the front door for her. “Be careful, the roads can be icy.”

  “Yes, Mom.” Madison’s laughter trailed after her as she hurried out to her truck.

  Gracie stood in the doorway until Madison was on her way, headed down the drive. Then she locked up, and threw a quick look at her dad, asleep in his chair with an open book on his lap and his glasses sliding down the end of his nose. A wave of love for him crashed over her along with that niggling worry she couldn’t shake. What would he say if he knew her secret? What would he think of her? What would it change?

  She did as she always did, buried those fears deep and tucked them away behind the secret she protected. Taking a deep breath, she walked down the hall to the kitchen because a cup of hot tea sounded perfect. When she entered the big square room, though, she stopped dead. Emma was sitting at the table, scrolling on her phone. She looked up when Gracie came in.

  “Hey. I like your friend Madison.”

  Whether she told herself it didn’t matter or not, Gracie was glad to hear that. Lips curving, she admitted, “Mad just said the same thing about you.” Picking up the teakettle, she grudgingly offered, “I’m making myself some tea. You want some?”

  “Thanks, Gracie. Yeah, I would.” Emma sat back in her chair and watched her move around the kitchen.

  Familiar tasks freed up your mind for other things, Gracie told herself. Which meant she could think about her sister. She’d really missed Emma all the time she was gone. And she’d been so busy letting her hurt feelings and anger drag her around for the past several days, she hadn’t really taken the time to admit that it was good to have her home.

  Muffling a groan, Gracie rolled her eyes and thought it was really frustrating to have to admit that Mad had been right. Again.

  “Oh, my God. No.”

  Heart suddenly racing, Gracie spun around. Emma’s voice was horrified and when she looked at her sister, Gracie could see
real fear stamped on her features. “What’s wrong, Em? What happened?”

  She didn’t speak. She just stared at her phone, eyes wide, mouth open as if waiting for a shriek to slip out. A sheen of tears glimmered in her eyes. Gracie’d never seen her big sister like this and she didn’t like it.

  “Emma.” Gracie hurried over to her. “What is it?”

  Emma looked at her. “Oh God, Gracie, I don’t know what to do.”

  Gracie dragged a chair out and plopped down, then bracing her forearms on her thighs, she leaned toward her big sister. “You’re scaring me.”

  “I’m scared, too.” Emma pulled in a long, shuddering breath and twin tears streaked along her cheeks unheeded.

  “Talk to me, Em. Tell me what’s going on.”

  Shaking her head, she handed over her phone. “Here. Just read this. Then I’ll explain.”

  Ms. Williams. You will return my daughter to me or you will be charged with kidnapping. I expect to hear from you immediately. Dorian Baxter

  Stunned, shaken and mostly confused, Gracie looked at her sister. “His daughter? Kidnapping? What the hell, Em? Who’s Dorian Baxter?”

  “Molly’s father,” Emma blurted, snatching the phone from Gracie and turning it off, as if that could make the email disappear.

  “You kidnapped Molly?” If she had said she was a notorious bank robber with a château in France as a safe house, Gracie wouldn’t have been more surprised.

  “No, of course not,” Emma said, shaking her head. “I mean, not really. Legally maybe, but not—Oh, God. What am I going to do?”

  Gracie didn’t know what to think.

  The fear on Emma’s face was real, though, and it was contagious, because Gracie’s stomach started spinning in sympathy. “Tell me what’s happening and maybe we can figure it out.”

  Panic shining in her eyes, Emma nodded and reached for her hand. Holding on, she said, “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you can’t let Dad know. I couldn’t bear it if this whole thing made him sick again and—”

  So she wasn’t the only one with secrets, Gracie thought. Nor the only one worried about upsetting their father. Strangely enough, that knowledge made her feel closer to her sister. “Agreed. Just talk.”

  Emma did. Gracie sat quietly—it wasn’t easy because there were plenty of times she wanted to curse and a few times she wanted to apologize for giving Emma such a hard time since she came home. Her heart hurt for her sister and for Molly and for the baby’s mother. But she didn’t say a word, just listened. The more she heard, the worse it got. Emma’s grip on her hand tightened and Gracie squeezed back in solidarity.

  When Emma finally finished talking and silence dropped down on the kitchen, Gracie was as scared as Emma. “I don’t even know what to say. This is all—”

  “A mess?” Emma asked. “Yeah, I know.” Jumping up from her chair, she stared out the window at the darkness beyond. Her reflection stared back into the room and Gracie’s gaze met Emma’s mirrored eyes.

  “He doesn’t even really want her, does he?”

  “Of course not,” Emma said, biting her lip. “I don’t know why he’s doing this. He didn’t give a damn about Terry or Molly, so what’s changed?” She whirled around to look at Gracie. “Nope, doesn’t matter what changed. I won’t do it. I don’t care what happens to me, I’m not giving Molly to that man. I just won’t.”

  “Damn straight you won’t.”

  Emma and Gracie both jolted and turned around to face their father, standing in the doorway. Frank Williams was furious and Gracie couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him with his temper boiling. His usually placid features were a thunderstorm and his eyes were flashing. Under the overhead light, his gray hair was rumpled from his nap, but his features were set like an ancient warrior about to go into battle.

  “Dad,” Emma said quickly, “I never meant to hurt you. I mean, I know you thought she was your granddaughter, but I didn’t know how to tell you the truth and—”

  “Dad, maybe you should sit down,” Gracie interrupted Emma.

  “I don’t need to sit down,” he said, biting off every word.

  Gracie blinked and threw a quick look at her sister. She looked as confused and surprised as Gracie felt.

  But Frank was still talking so they both paid attention. “As for Molly, she is my granddaughter and I’ll fight anyone who says different.”

  Gracie looked at Emma again and saw tears coursing down her sister’s face. Her own heart turned over in sympathy. Gracie had assumed Emma’s life was perfect, unlike her own. Instead, her sister had been worrying in silence, hugging her secrets close, just as Gracie was. And rather than seeing past her own anger long enough to actually talk to Emma, Gracie had kept them at odds when they might have been helping each other. If she could have kicked her own ass, she would have.

  But right now, she had other worries. “Dad? Are you okay?”

  He looked at Gracie. “Stop watching me like you’re waiting for me to keel over. I feel fine. I’m just mad as hell is all.”

  “Okay...” He did have fire in his eyes and his shoulders were squared, his spine ramrod straight.

  “I wanted to tell you before, Dad,” Emma was saying, “I just didn’t know how.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” he ground out and walked to her. Pulling her in for a hug, he kissed the top of Emma’s head and said, “That baby belongs with us. I won’t see her go to a father who doesn’t deserve her. Especially not to a man like that one. Damned if I will.”

  “But she’s not my daughter.” Emma’s voice broke. “I don’t know what we can do.”

  Frank looked from one to the other of his daughters and said, “She may not be your daughter, but she’s our family. We love her and when it all boils down, love is the only thing that matters.”

  Gracie’s heart lifted and tears stung her eyes as she moved across the kitchen to join the group hug. This was what she’d needed to hear all along. This was what she needed to believe. She should have trusted that her father would be the man to see clearly right down to the heart of the matter.

  “Caden’s taking me to Kalispell tomorrow to talk to his lawyer.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Frank said.

  “It is good,” Gracie chimed in, looking into Emma’s eyes to reassure her. “Max will know what to do.”

  “That’s right, he will. And if he for some reason can’t come up with a plan, don’t you two worry,” Frank said softly, holding them both. “We’ll figure this out. Together.”

  * * *

  The next morning, Emma was at Caden’s ranch just after dawn. She hadn’t been able to sleep and after trying most of the night, she’d given up and headed to the only man who could, hopefully, untie the knots in her stomach.

  They’d be meeting with his lawyer in a few hours and Emma’s nerves were strung so tight, it was a wonder her body wasn’t throwing off sparks.

  Caden opened the door and she only stared at him for a long minute. His chest was bare, his jeans on but unbuttoned and his hair was still damp from his shower. Instantly, her mouth went dry and heat rushed through her body.

  “Emma, what’re you doing here? I was going to pick you up in a couple hours.”

  “Couldn’t sleep,” she admitted and slipped past him into the house. She dropped her black shoulder bag on the entry table, then turned to face him. “I’m all tangled up inside, Caden.”

  He closed the door, then leaned back against it, folding his arms across his chest. He looked her up and down slowly and his gaze felt as hot as a touch. Straightening up, he moved to her, laid both hands on her shoulders and she felt the fire of him slide deep within her.

  “You’re smart, beautiful and brave,” he said softly. “And Max is a damn good lawyer. So stop worrying.”

  “I can’t,” she said. “My mind keeps spinning and—”

&nbs
p; He grinned. “Then let’s give it something else to think about.” He kissed her and instantly, Emma’s mind emptied.

  His mouth claimed hers, his tongue twisting with hers, his breath sighing into her lungs. She slid her hands up and down his bare back, her fingernails scraping his skin. He dropped his hands to her butt and squeezed, pulling her in so tight, she felt his erection pressing against her.

  Anticipation rolled through her. Excitement. Eagerness. She wanted him. This was why she’d had to come to him. He was the only man in the world who could turn her fears and nerves into blistering hot desire.

  “Jacket off,” he muttered when he tore his mouth free.

  “Okay.” She slid it off and let it drop to the floor.

  “And the shirt,” he ordered. “Take it off, but be sure to wear it a lot after today. I like it.”

  Emma tipped her head to one side. “You know I don’t take orders, right?”

  One corner of his mouth lifted. “You do today.”

  He wasn’t wrong. There wasn’t a woman alive who could stand in front of a half-naked Caden and say “no.”

  She smiled even as her breath came faster, harder. The red, scoop neck, long-sleeved shirt was alongside her jacket in seconds.

  “Now the boots. And the slacks.” He watched her strip right there in the foyer and his eyes gleamed with a dark heat that fired everything inside her.

  Lastly, she stepped out of the black lace panties that had gotten a low whistle from Caden, and she was naked in moments. Then she was in his arms and while her mind was quiet, her body was burning.

  He grabbed her, lifted her and swung around to plant her back against the closed door. The wood panel was cold against her skin, but couldn’t dampen the fires licking at her bones, her blood, her soul.

  Emma hooked her legs around his hips and watched as he freed himself from his jeans. She reached down to curl her fingers around the thick length of him and watched his eyes glaze over. Then he growled and in an instant, he was inside her, filling her. She tipped her head back against the door and stared at the ceiling as he drove her past sanity into a world that revolved only around the two of them.