Daring Wes: Cade Brothers Series

by Jules Barnard

  It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that he loved her. That he’d been fucked up these last few years because he loved her so damn much and losing her had messed with his head. But he didn’t.

  There was no doubt they were attracted to each other. The sheets went up in flames when they were together, but he didn’t know if she loved him. And his pride took that moment to rear its head, preventing him from putting himself out there.

  “Wes, we are right back where we left off. Golf is number one, and I’m… God, what am I to you? Number three? Four? What would the baby be to you?”

  “I told you already. You’re everything to me.” It was the closest he could come to how he truly felt.

  “But I’m not, don’t you see? And I never will be. I don’t want to take away your chance at the tour. You’ve done so well, and I care about you enough to want this for you. I promise I will never keep your child from you, if you want to be a part of his life.”

  “Her life.”

  “Her?”

  “We’re having a girl.”

  She sent him a confused look. “You don’t know that.”

  He shrugged. “It’s a hunch. Anyway, there’s no way in hell I don’t want to be a part of our daughter’s life. Or yours.” He leaned forward until their heads were mere inches apart. “You’re mine, Kaylee.”

  * * *

  Kaylee couldn’t imagine loving anyone the way she loved Wes, so in some ways, he was right. She was his. And if everything went well, she was having his child. But she’d learned to put her needs first, and not simply set them aside so Wes could pursue his wants in life. The tour was his dream, not hers. And if she let him, he’d run over everything she held dear—friends, family, a job where she made a difference. Club Tahoe had given her back what she’d lost. She wasn’t throwing it away for Wes’s convenience.

  And that was how she knew the two of them would never work out. She and Wes weren’t going in the same direction, and he expected her to make all the compromises.

  “Kaylee, I’m fucking tired as hell. I’m sorry for getting drunk after you told me about the baby, but don’t make any decisions until we’ve had a chance to talk things out. And don’t think I didn’t notice you moved the hide-a-key. That thing has been there for over a decade.” His tone turned dark. “I’ll leave if it’s really what you want. For now. But I’m coming back.”

  He turned and walked toward his car before she could tell him to not bother. A part of her wanted Wes in her life so badly… But that was the part she needed to ignore. Because that way only led to pain.

  She blinked back tears. Her throat was dry from all the crying she’d done this week. He thought there was more to talk about, but there wasn’t. She’d made up her mind.

  Ending things was the right thing to do. It had to be. Now she just needed to live with it.

  Chapter 31

  Kaylee wouldn’t see him, and it was driving Wes insane. He’d gone by her house multiple times to talk to her, but she’d said the same thing each time—that it was over between them, but that she wouldn’t keep their child from him. Not that he ever thought she would. That wasn’t Kaylee. She was loving, and she’d always wanted what was best for children.

  Fuck, she’d wanted what was best for him too. And he’d been a dick. He wasn’t sure exactly how he’d managed it this time, but he was fairly certain he had.

  Which made this entire situation so damn frustrating. Because what was right for him was being with her.

  Levi, Emily, and Bran sat across from Wes in the Fireside Lounge, spearing him with blazing looks.

  “You fucked up,” Levi said.

  Emily shook her head slowly. “If she leaves, Wes, so help me… You don’t even want to know the kind of pain I will bring to your life.”

  Levi glanced pointedly at Emily, then back to Wes, as though saying, Do you see what I mean?

  “Dude,” Bran said, “fix it. Whatever you did, just fix it. Take it from me, you don’t want to lose this chance.”

  Bran’s words held weight, which might have slipped past Levi, but not Emily. Her gaze swung to Bran. “What do you mean, take it from you?”

  Bran ducked and swigged his beer. “Nothing.”

  “I don’t want to lose her,” Wes said, helping Bran out. Bran obviously didn’t want the others to know he’d gotten a girl pregnant in high school. For whatever reason, it seemed Wes was the only one he’d confided in. “I’m trying to make things right, but she’s being stubborn as hell. Says we’ll never work out. That it’s just like before. But it isn’t. I was an ass before, always thinking of myself, so caught up in my goals, I didn’t know what was going on around me.”

  Levi raised an eyebrow. “You sure you’re not doing the same thing?”

  Was he? The tour wasn’t his main priority, but his actions sure as hell made it so. And he’d not reacted right when she’d told him she was pregnant. In his defense, what man would under the circumstances?

  But Levi might be onto something. Wes wasn’t showing Kaylee all his cards, when she had just as much to lose as he did. If he wanted a chance with her, he needed to open up.

  Wes hadn’t fully told Kaylee how he felt about her. That he wanted to be with her. That he loved her… God, he could see them together forever. Which was damn scary if he considered it, but not as scary as losing her again. He wasn’t sure how a person found their soul mate at the age of twenty, but he had.

  Now he just needed to convince her of it.

  Chapter 32

  The past few weeks, Kaylee sensed Wes making it a point of being around her more. Oh, he’d been traveling too, but the time between his tournaments stretched out longer and longer. He seemed to be waiting until the very last second before he had to be somewhere.

  Not that it changed anything. She was moving on.

  Okay, she wasn’t really moving on. She missed him. But she had to think of the baby too. Kaylee was now fourteen weeks pregnant and past her first trimester. She wouldn’t be comfortable until the baby was born healthy, but it was a relief to know she’d made it past the period when she’d lost their first child.

  She told her parents about the baby, and her mother was ecstatic. The woman couldn’t wait to be a grandmother. Her father, however, was furious and wanted to do bodily harm to Wes. Kaylee was unmarried, and her father still blamed Wes for getting her pregnant the last time. She couldn’t fault his logic. It was only natural that her dad hadn’t forgiven her ex-boyfriend/baby daddy.

  Now that the shock of the pregnancy had worn off, Kaylee was thrilled about the baby she never thought she’d be able to have. Wes was around, so that helped her not feel alone. In fact, he was beside her in the waiting room at her doctor’s appointment. He’d insisted on going, and she saw no reason not to have him there.

  Wes checked his watch. “They’re late.”

  Kaylee dropped a hand to her small belly. She was starting to show a little. Goodbye, pants that fit. She could get away with looping a rubber band through the top buttonhole and hooking it to the button to give her extra space, but pretty soon she’d need to invest in maternity clothes. “Yep,” she said calmly, flipping the page of a fashion magazine.

  Ten minutes later, he checked his watch again. “Why aren’t they calling us in?”

  She turned to him, and he flinched. She might be giving him a death stare. “Do you want to be here or not?”

  “Yes, I want to be here,” he said. “But it’s rude to make us wait… Isn’t it?”

  “Babies don’t arrive when you tell them to. And my OB/GYN is very busy. She often has a long wait.”

  Wes stared at her. She could tell he was deciding how far to push it. He scratched his jaw. “As long as you’re happy with the doctor.” Smart man.

  She smiled and settled back in her seat. “I am.”

  * * *

  By the time the nurse called Kaylee’s name, Wes had tipped his head back and taken a catnap. The doctor was forty-five minutes late, but Kaylee
didn’t seem to care, thus Wes didn’t care. And that was what he’d realized. If Kaylee was happy, he was happy. Therefore, he slept.

  But he was awake now. Due to Kaylee’s history, they’d offered another ultrasound to give her peace of mind that the baby was all right. Wes was going to see his child for the first time, and he was ready to jump out of his skin.

  His kid. With Kaylee. He was excited and terrified. What if something was wrong with the baby? What if Kaylee went through pain like she did with the miscarriage?

  What was he thinking? Yes, she’d go through pain; childbirth was a bitch. Which was why he found himself in a perpetual state of anxiety.

  They walked through the office to another room, where they waited fifteen more minutes—but who was counting—until the doctor came in.

  “How is everyone doing?” she asked, closing the door behind her. Wes introduced himself, and she shook his hand.

  “I’m feeling better,” Kaylee said once the introductions had been made. “No more morning sickness.”

  “This is around the time when that typically goes away. You’re taking the prenatals?”

  Kaylee described the vitamins she was taking, and the doctor seemed pleased.

  “Why don’t we start with a measurement, and then we’ll do the ultrasound.”

  Kaylee lay back on the examination table, and the doctor took out a measuring tape. She measured from Kaylee’s pelvic bone to a spot above her belly button. “Your uterus is the size it should be for fourteen weeks. Let’s take a look at the baby, shall we?”

  The doctor oozed clear, goopy stuff on Kaylee’s belly and brought out a wand. The images that popped up on the screen were a blur of shapes Wes couldn’t decipher. He started to sweat, panic rushing through him. Was something wrong with the kid?

  And then the doctor pressed a button and the sound of a fast-beating heart filled the room.

  Kaylee’s eyes glistened and she reached for his hand. It was the first time she’d let him touch her in weeks, and he didn’t take the moment for granted. “That’s our baby.”

  Wes breathed in nice and slow. There was no way he’d break down in the doctor’s office over hearing his child’s heartbeat. He could count on his hand the number of times since childhood that he’d felt close to tears, and almost all of them were since Kaylee had come into town. He’d become a sap, but he’d take it if it meant being with her. “That’s really our daughter’s heartbeat and not Kaylee’s?”

  The doctor smiled. “The child’s heartbeat is much faster than the mother’s. That’s your baby, all right. Though I’m not sure if you have a her. Could be a boy. It’s too soon to tell.”

  Kaylee wiped the corner of her eye and grinned. “Wes is certain it’s a girl.”

  The doctor moved the wand around on Kaylee’s belly. “The baby is in a good position. I could take a look, though any guess I make might not be accurate. Would you like me to try?”

  “Yes,” Wes said. He turned to Kaylee. “If it’s okay with you?”

  Kaylee nodded.

  “Well,” the doctor said after a moment of moving the wand in small increments, “I’m not seeing any little boy parts. It looks like Wes might be right, though we won’t know for sure until around eighteen or twenty weeks.”

  Wes’s ribcage expanded so much he thought his chest would explode. He was having a girl. He didn’t care what the doctor said; he was certain. A little girl with the woman he loved…

  Wes would make things right with Kaylee, no matter what it took. He had to prove to her that he would take care of her and their child and make them happy.

  Chapter 33

  Wes had listened to his child’s heartbeat, and then he was off to his next tournament. He almost didn’t want to go.

  More and more lately, Wes found himself glued to Kaylee’s side, much to her confusion and annoyance. But dammit, he was desperate to be a part of Kaylee and their unborn child’s life.

  He found any excuse to swing by Club Kids, and brought Kaylee lunch every day he was in town, which she didn’t seem to mind. Her appetite had expanded exponentially. If Wes got anywhere near her food, she gave him the evil eye.

  Lesson learned: never come between a pregnant woman and her food if you value your limbs.

  Halfway through his latest tournament, his buddy Tom invited him to go out for drinks. Wes wasn’t big on drinking during a tournament, but Tom had insisted.

  They’d just sat down at the bar and ordered beers when Tom started laying into Wes.

  “I need a hookup.” Tom scanned the bar, his gaze landing on a short blonde in the corner. “Too tense out there on the course. Be my wingman tonight?”

  Fuck. The last thing Wes wanted was to flirt with a woman so his friend could get laid. And why should he have to?

  “Not tonight.” Or ever, he thought.

  Wes had a kid on the way. He wasn’t in the same place as Tom anymore. Which was a shocking realization. He wasn’t interested in the lifestyle his buddy led, and that Wes had led mere months ago, though even then he’d been getting tired of it.

  Ever since Kaylee had come into town, Wes had stopped chasing women. He’d been training and busy, but really, it was like he’d become a compass needle pointed only at Kaylee. All else had faded into the background. She was the only woman he wanted, and it wasn’t just about sex. Though he definitely wanted to have sex with her if she ever let him back in her bed.

  Wes loved Kaylee. She was his equal—the woman he’d throw down for. The woman who told him he was being an ass when he was being an ass. And for some reason, a smackdown from Kaylee was worse than from anyone else.

  He laughed when Emily, the velvet hammer, gave him a hard time, or when his brothers were up his ass. But if he upset Kaylee, he couldn’t take it. He had to make things right as soon as possible, because the last thing he wanted was for her to be unhappy.

  “No?” Tom said. He shook his head. “How quickly they forget. I got your golf course on the tour, which got you the sponsor’s exemption. That’s the only reason you’re sitting here right now.” He stared back at the blonde and the group of women she was with. “I think you owe me, don’t you?”

  Wes didn’t mention that he’d played damn well, and that was the reason he’d made it past the Tahoe Invitational. He sensed a threat when he heard one. “How long have you been a dick?”

  Tom huffed out a breath. “Excuse me? You want to rethink your words? Don’t forget, I’m in with the tour organizers. One word from me, and you’d get pulled just like that.” He snapped his fingers.

  Could he? Wes wasn’t so sure, and he honestly didn’t give a shit.

  He rose from his chair and tossed down cash for his unfinished beer. “I’m heading back to the hotel. Enjoy your night.”

  Tom stood abruptly. “I won’t forget this, you know,” he called as Wes made his way to the exit.

  Wes strode out of the bar where he hadn’t wanted to be in the first place. And when he reached the hotel, he considered leaving the whole damn tournament. Which was insane. Or maybe not.

  His brothers were right. It didn’t matter how many sandwiches Wes brought Kaylee when he was in town. He was still gone most of the time. Which meant he was putting the tour ahead of his family with Kaylee, the same way his father had put the club ahead of Wes and his brothers.

  He had a chance to be a real father, and what was he doing? Placing work ahead of the most important woman in his life and his future child just so he could dick around the pro tour circuit in the middle of the pack.

  Could he qualify for the tour full-time? Win a tournament? Possibly. But then what would he have? Success would be hollow if he missed raising his daughter. And if he didn’t have Kaylee.

  Wes put in a few phone calls then packed his bags.

  He knew where he wanted to be. And it wasn’t here.

  * * *

  When Wes arrived in Lake Tahoe, Kaylee wasn’t home. He dropped his luggage off at his place and headed for the club. It was a
fter hours, and he couldn’t imagine where she might be, but he hoped one of his brothers would know before he ruined the surprise by calling her.

  He didn’t need to look far. And it wasn’t one of his brothers who helped him out.

  Wes walked into the Fireside Lounge and scanned the tables. Kaylee sat at the bar across from Emily, who was bartending, but only for Kaylee, it seemed. They were at one end of the bar, and the regular bartender was helping the rest of the customers at the other end.

  Wes released a heavy sigh. Nothing like not knowing where the pregnant mother of your child was at nine o’clock at night. Not that it was late, but yeah, he just needed to know she was okay.

  He started toward them, and Emily looked up. She held up her hand discreetly, staying him.

  Kaylee took what appeared to be one of several orange shots, and Emily said something quietly in her ear. Kaylee nodded, and Emily hurried over to Wes.

  Emily must not have told Kaylee that he stood in the lounge, because she didn’t look back.

  “What are you doing here?” Emily said in a hushed voice, glancing toward the bar.

  “What am I doing here? Why are you giving my pregnant girlfriend shots of alcohol?”

  “Girlfriend?” She quirked her eyebrow.

  He sighed and motioned for her to continue. As far as Wes was concerned, Kaylee was his girlfriend.

  “It’s orange juice, not alcohol. Orange juice has folic acid in it, which is good for the baby.”

  Wes shook his head. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Emily grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the lounge and into the lobby. “Kaylee can’t drink, but she didn’t want to be alone tonight, so we’re improvising. Now why are you here? Shouldn’t you be on some golf course across the country?”