by Starla Kaye
She dashed at a tear that had slipped free. “Pity party time is over.”
Before either of them could move, the bell on the shop’s door jangled. Kendra flinched, a silly reaction. But something seemed…. She shoved the strange feeling aside. “Time to get back to work.”
“Wash your face again and get your smile back,” Alexis advised. “I’ll go handle the customer.”
Kendra drew in a steadying breath, putting a hand to her still flat stomach. She’d wanted changes in her life. And, boy, did she have them!
“Oh my God!” Alexis squealed.
Kendra shot out the bathroom and hurried into the store area. What had made her friend cry out like that? “Alexis, are you okay?”
“Better than okay.” Alexis stood between Carson and Shane, grinning from ear to ear. “Look who I found wandering the store! A couple of handsome cowboys.”
Kendra gaped at them in disbelief. Her heart raced. She had to be dreaming again.
“Wh…what are you doing here?” she whispered. Her hand went to cover her stomach.
Both men followed her action. Carson nodded in clear understanding, smiling with calmness, with his usual gentleness.
Shane’s face drained of color. His gaze had landed where her hand lay. “Are you…?” He swallowed hard, and then again. “Carson thought….”
She glanced at Carson, confused. “How could you know? I didn’t say anything.” But she was pleased that he’d figured it out.
He shrugged. “Male instinct? Will you buy that?” He nudged Shane into movement. “How about damn good guess?” Then he admitted, “Truth? You sounded scared.”
Shane stumbled and recovered. A hint of red spreading beneath his beard-stubbled face. He walked toward her; his eyes shining. “You’re really pregnant?” Poor man looked so hopeful, so in awe. Impossible as it might be from only knowing him a short time, she loved him. Both of them, but in different ways. Carson had been a wonderful lover, but she thought he would make an even better friend and uncle. Well, maybe love wasn’t the right term…yet. But she had strong feelings for Shane, deeper than she’d ever experienced for any other man. And she’d done a lot of thinking about the man she’d thought she’d loved these last few months.
She sniffed back another tear as Shane started toward her. This big, troubled cowboy was the one winning her heart. She didn’t doubt for a second that he would be a great father. She sensed that he would die trying.
“I know you don’t love me….” She began, wishing she hadn’t started that way.
“Darlin’, I don’t know how I feel.” He pulled her into his strong arms, his expression serious. “Confused, yes. More than a bit scared, hell yes.”
“I understand,” she said, but a little less frightened now. “Thinking about having a baby is pretty unnerving.”
He tensed. “But you are having it, right?”
Once more she settled a hand over where her baby lie growing inside her. “Never any question about it.”
Relief spread over his face and, again, she felt something special…warm just at him being there.
He cupped her face, making her meet his eyes. “You probably won’t believe me, but I’ve missed the hell out of you.”
She started to answer, but he smoothed his thumb over her cheek, distracting her. “That scares me as much as being a father. I’ve not let myself get close to a woman in a long time.” He grimaced. “Other than for sex.”
When she tried to shift back, he held her to him. She gave up trying to get away. “I know our arrangement involved one night,” she said, hearing the sadness in her tone. “And we had sex.” She sighed, remembering. “Great sex. I’ll hold the memories to me forever.”
He stiffened. No doubt he felt guilty for her situation. When she’d first realized her condition, she’d been annoyed with him. That had lasted maybe two days. After that, she’d just been happy.
Carson and Alexis were nearby, but they weren’t who mattered now. It was her precious baby and the father of her child she wanted to focus on. Maybe he needed to know what she’d been thinking.
She held his gaze and smiled. “You’ve given me a special gift, Shane. A baby I can carry. A child who will belong to me the rest of my life.” She added quietly, “I won’t ever be alone again.”
He stood there silent, studying her with concerned eyes. She wished that he would say something.
He appeared speechless, though he tried to speak, but he closed his mouth again. She drew in the scent of him that she’d never forgotten. “You didn’t come after me when I left that day.” She hesitated. “And you’ve never tried to contact me.”
Carson walked closer and cleared his throat. “I believe I mentioned a time or two what an idiot he can be.”
She glared at Carson. “Don’t call him that.”
To her irritation, both men laughed.
“Darlin’, he speaks the truth.” Shane lightly shoved Carson away. Then he focused only on her, his expression intense. “Will you give this sorry cowboy a chance to prove himself? I sure would like you in my life.”
He touched her stomach with a shaking hand. “And I do want the little one, too.”
“That’s not much of a proposal, cowboy,” Alexis protested. “If it was one.”
Shane gave her a scowl, but went down on one knee. “Make an honest man of me, darlin’.”
“That still leaves a lot to be desired, as far as proposals go,” Carson commented with a snort.
Kendra fought back tears. Shane had admitted he didn’t know how he felt about her. Yet he would marry her anyway. He’d take her back to Kansas to his ranch. She would like that, but to go this way would be wrong.
She drew in a shaky breath and held his cautious gaze. “I won’t take this as that kind of proposal.” When his brow furrowed and hope faded from his expression, she gave him a reassuring smile. “I think we need to see where this takes us. This sharing a tiny, beautiful life together.”
His broad shoulders relaxed beneath his leather jacket. “You’re a wise woman. Far smarter than this cowboy.” He took one of her hands and squeezed it. “Will you at least come share our home? Be patient with me while I try to get past my issues, try to be a man you might want to marry someday?”
She glanced at Carson and his tight jaw told her that her answer meant a lot to him, too. Alexis had teary eyes and struggled not to cry, sentimental slob that she could be at times. Romantic, too.
Love and romance. What Kendra had always wanted but never had time for. This baby had been a wake-up call. She needed to adjust her priorities. She could sell her part of the shop to Alexis, not a problem. And she could create her sculptures anywhere and find a way to sell them in a new place. What she couldn’t do anywhere else other than on a ranch in Kansas was give this heart-wounded man a chance to love someone—someones, she and their baby.
She pulled off Shane’s hat and planted it on her head. “I’ll want a hat of my own. A horse, too.”
He blinked at her. “Are you saying…?”
“That I’m going to your ranch? Yep. That I’ll help you figure this all out? Yes.”
His eyes glistened and he slowly climbed to his feet. “You won’t regret this, I promise you that.”
Carson lightened the moment. “You’ll be bringing that pink grass skirt, won’t you? That crazy coconut bra, too?”
Shane shot a glower at his friend, but Kendra laughed. “Maybe. But I’ll only wear them when I think you guys deserve a treat.”
It took a second for Shane to calm down, then he pulled her into his arms. He hugged her so hard that she squeaked. Even then he didn’t release her. “I’m pretty sure I love you already.”
She smiled, “Serious lust, more like. You’re a very passionate man.” She waggled her eyebrows. “I can live with that.”
“It might be a whole lot more than lust,” he protested his brow pinched.
“We won’t rush this, Shane. I want you to be very sure and I’m willing to wai
t however long it takes for you to figure it out.”
When he still frowned and his eyes mirrored irritation, she went on her toes to kiss him, whispering, “Because I’ve decided that I already love you.”
Alexis stepped next to them again, tapping Shane on the shoulder. “This is a special woman, cowboy.” She pointed to Kendra’s stomach. “That baby is special, too. They deserve the best.”
He nodded, determination in his expression. “Yes, ma’am.”
Kendra saw her future filled with everything she wanted: a loving man, good friends, a home back in Kansas, and a baby. Maybe many kids…at least two or three. Even if this pregnancy had been a fluke and they had to adopt the rest. That didn’t matter to her, and she figured she could convince Shane it didn’t matter either. He just needed people who belonged to him that he could love and be loved by.
Alexis hadn’t finished tormenting him, though. She jutted out her chin and asked, “Do you have a white hat? Ride a white stallion? That’s all Kendra has ever talked about. A cowboy like that, carrying her off into the sunset…or to a lifetime of love.”
He shook his head and studied her with a raised eyebrow. “More of your fantasies?” He grinned that crooked smile she liked so much. “Like the wicked….”
Kendra put a finger to his mouth and watched his eyes dance in amusement.
He nibbled at her finger, and then held her hand. “This poor old cowboy only wears black hats, pretty darn dusty. My horse is black. Are those deal breakers?”
“I’ll make an exception, but only because I love you.” And one of these days he will realize he loves me, too.
Glancing at Carson, she saw the uncertainty in his expression. How could she leave him out? She loved him as well, maybe a little differently. “So, white hat? White stallion?”
He blinked and appeared to pull in a relieved breath. “Nope. Deal breakers?”
Shane smiled at her, gave a slight nod.
She eased away from Shane and motioned Carson over. “Get over here. We’re in this together, aren’t we?”
His eyes mirrored the depth of his emotions, his love for them. “Damn straight, sweetheart.” He strode cowboy-proud over, then wrapped his arms around her and Shane. “Ready to go home with us?”
She looked from one handsome man to the other. “Damn straight, cowboys.”
~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
Starla Kaye wears many hats professionally and as a writer. She is the community coordinator for a Midwestern accounting firm, a gerontologist by degree who volunteers with an active group of senior adults and a multi-published author on-line, in e-book and Print-On-Demand book form. She dabbles in writing romances of many sub-genres: contemporary, historical Western, medieval, sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, and Regency. To date she has published 20 novels, 33 novellas and 7 anthologies.
You may visit with Starla at:
http://starlakaye.com
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