No. Not Kelly. I’m fine. I have the baby. We don’t need anything from you.
“Perfect. She doesn’t need me. I don’t need her. Then we’re both happy. Right?” Was she driving that new truck? Had it snowed yet? Had she gotten the plow blade attached to the new truck? Was she out plowing people’s roads and drives? Was she doing it alone?
God, he hated this room.
Pregnant.
She was carrying his kid, and what the hell was he supposed to do about that? If she’d wanted his help, she would have said so. But she didn’t beg him not to leave. Hell, she hadn’t even watched him go. What the hell was that about? Did she just not give a damn?
Irritation spiking, he grabbed his cell phone, hit the speed dial and waited for Sam to answer.
“Hi, Micah. What’s up?”
What wasn’t up? Micah hadn’t talked to Sam since leaving Utah mainly because he just hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone, really. Now he’d been alone with his own thoughts for too long and needed...something. He pushed one hand through his hair, walked to the open terrace doors and stared out at the ocean. The last time he’d had an ocean view, he’d been on a different terrace. With Kelly. And that memory would kill him if he started thinking about it. So he didn’t.
“Kelly’s pregnant.” He hadn’t meant to just say it, but it was as if the words had been waiting for a chance to jump out.
“That’s great. Congratulations, man.”
He scowled. “Yeah, thanks I guess. Kelly told me about the baby the night I left.”
“You left? Where the hell are you?”
“Hawaii.” Paradise, his ass. There was too much sunshine here. People were too damn cheerful.
“Why?”
“Because it was time to go.” Micah scrubbed one hand across his jaw and remembered he hadn’t shaved in a couple weeks. “I couldn’t stay. Things were getting too—”
“Real?” Sam asked.
He frowned at the phone. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you’ve never lived an ordinary life, Micah. You went from your crap childhood to the navy to posh hotels.”
Micah scowled into the wide mirror over the gas fireplace as he listened.
“You’ve never had a real woman, either. All those models and actresses? They weren’t looking for anything more than you were—one night at a time.” Sam paused. “Trust me when I say that has nothing to do with the real world.”
God, hadn’t he thrown practically the same accusation at Kelly that last night with her?
“What’s your point?” God. Points. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. They felt like marbles in a bucket of sand.
“My point is—Kelly is real. What you had there mattered, Micah, whether you admit it or not, and I think it scared the crap out of you.”
“I wasn’t scared.” He remembered telling little Jacob that everybody got scared sometimes. That included him, didn’t it?
The realization was humbling.
“Sure you were,” Sam said jovially. “Every guy is scared out of his mind when he meets the one woman who matters more than anything.”
“I never said anything like that—”
“You didn’t have to, Micah.” He chuckled, which was damn irritating. “I’ve known you long enough to figure things out for myself. For example. When’s the last time you left a hotel in the middle of a book?”
He blew out a breath. “Well...”
“Never, that’s when,” Sam told him. “You stay six months at every place you go. This time you bolt after three? Come on, Micah.”
The man in the mirror looked confused. Worried. Was that it? Had he run from Kelly because she mattered? Because he was afraid? He turned away from the damn mirror because he couldn’t stand to see the questions in his own eyes. “Look, I didn’t call for advice. I just wanted you to know where I am.”
“Great, but you get the advice anyway,” Sam said. “Do yourself a favor and go back to Kelly. Throw yourself on her mercy and maybe she’ll take your sorry ass back.”
Micah glared at the room because it wasn’t the Victorian. Because Kelly wasn’t here with him. Because he was hundreds of miles away from her and he didn’t know what she was doing. How she was feeling. “How the hell can I do that? What do I know about being somebody’s father, for God’s sake?”
“If nothing else,” Sam said, “you know what not to do. And that’s stay away from your own kid. You grew up without a father. That’s what you want for your baby, too?”
Putting it like that gave Micah something to think about. He’d done to his kid exactly what his mother had done to him. “I’m no good at this stuff, Sam.”
“Nobody is, Micah. We just figure it out as we go along.”
“Well, that’s comforting.”
“Figure it out, Micah. Don’t be an ass.”
On that friendly piece of advice, Sam hung up, leaving Micah with too much to think about.
* * *
The first snow hit two days later, but it was a mild storm after warm days, so the snow wasn’t sticking. Which meant Kelly didn’t have to go out and clear any drives or private roads. Instead, she was cozy in the Victorian, enjoying the snap and hiss of the fireplace. She’d been staying in the cottage because she didn’t want to torture herself with memories of Micah in the Victorian. But, with winter here, she wanted the fireplace, so she convinced herself that the only way to get past the pain of missing Micah was by facing it.
With a cup of tea, a book and the fire, the setting would have been perfect. If Micah were there.
The front door opened suddenly and Kelly’s heart jolted. She jumped up, ran to the hall, and all of the air left her lungs as she stood there in shock staring at Micah. Snow dusted his shoulders and his hair. He dropped his duffel bag, slammed the front door and flipped the dead bolt. When he turned around and saw her, he scowled.
“Lock the damn door, Kelly. Anybody could just walk into the house.”
She laughed shortly and seriously considered racing down the hall and throwing herself into his arms. It was only pride that kept her in place. “Anybody did.”
“Very funny.” Still scowling fiercely, he walked down the hall, took her arm and steered her into the living room.
“What’re you doing, Micah?” She pulled her arm from his grip even though she wanted nothing more than to hold on to him. And she desperately wished she wasn’t wearing her new flannel pajamas decorated with dancing pandas. “Why are you here?”
His gaze moved over her as if he were etching her image into his brain. Then he stepped back and stalked to the fireplace. Turning around to face her from a safe distance, he said, “You know, I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“By leaving?”
“Yeah.” He sighed heavily. Shaking his head, Micah stared down at the fire for a long minute before lifting his gaze to hers. “Kelly, I have no idea how to do this.” He waved one hand to encompass the house, her, the baby and everything else that was so far out of his experience. “You know how I told you I was engaged once before? I said it didn’t take?”
“Yes.” She’d wondered about that woman in his past.
“I ended it because I didn’t care enough. I figured I was incapable of caring enough,” he ground out, and she could see that the words were costing him. “Then I met you.”
Heat began to melt the ice that had been around her heart for weeks. Hope rose up in her chest, and Kelly clung to it
but kept quiet, wanting him to go on. To say it all.
He threw his hands high, then snorted. “Hell, I’ve never known anyone like you. You made me nuts. Made me feel things I never have. Want things I never wanted.”
“Thanks.”
Micah laughed and shook his head. “See? Like that. You surprise me all the damn time, Kelly. I never know where I’m standing with you and, turns out, I like it.”
“You do?”
“Gotta have it,” he admitted, and swallowed hard. He took a step toward her, then stopped. “The last three weeks I’ve been so bored I thought I was losing my mind. I was at a hotel I’d been in before and this time, I hated it. Hated that it was small and there was no damn yard with deer and kids running through it. Hated that it was so damn noisy—but the wrong kind of noise, you know?”
“No,” she admitted, smiling. “What are you saying, Micah?”
“I’m saying—all I could think about was you. And the baby. And this place. But mostly you.”
Tears were coming and she couldn’t stop them this time. Didn’t even try. They rolled unheeded down her cheeks as Kelly kept her gaze fixed on the only man in the world for her.
“You love me,” he said, pointing a finger at her.
“Do I?” she said, and her smile widened.
“Damn right you do.” Micah started walking—well, stalking the perimeter of the room. “A woman like you...love shows. Not just the sex, though that was great, for sure.”
“It was.”
“But you were there. Every day. You laughed with me. You cooked with me.” He glared at her. “Yet, when I tell you I’m leaving, you just say, have a nice trip and by the way I’m pregnant.”
Kelly flushed. “Well, that’s not exactly—”
“Basically,” he snapped. “That was it. And I finally started wondering why you hadn’t told me that you love me. Why didn’t you use the baby as a lever to keep me here? Why didn’t you beg me to stay?”
She stiffened and tried to look as dignified as possible in her panda pj’s. “I don’t beg.”
“No,” he said thoughtfully, his gaze locked with hers. “You wouldn’t. Just like you wouldn’t coerce me to stay. You were way sneakier than that.”
“Me?” Now Kelly laughed. “I am not sneaky.”
“This time you were,” he said, and walked across the room to her. “You let me go, knowing I’d be miserable without you. You didn’t say you loved me because you knew I’d wonder about that. And you didn’t tell me I loved you because you wanted me to figure it out for myself. You wanted me to be away long enough to realize I was being a damn fool.”
“That was clever of me.” Or would have been if she’d actually planned it. She swayed, bit her bottom lip and held her breath. “And did you? Figure it all out?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” He blew out a breath, grabbed her and pulled her in close to him. Wrapping his arms around her, he rested his chin on top of her head and whispered, “You feel so good. This—us—is so good. I love you, Kelly. Didn’t know I could love. But maybe I was only waiting to find you.”
“Oh, Micah...” She held on to him, nestled her head against his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. It was as if every one of her dreams was coming true. The last three weeks had been so painful. Now there was so much joy she felt as if she were overflowing. “I love you, too.”
“I know.”
She laughed and tipped her head back to stare at him. “Sure of yourself, are you?”
“I am now,” he admitted. “And I’m sure about this, too. You’re going to have to marry me for real. It’s the only answer. I have to be here in this big old house with you. I need to be with you at Christmas. I have to help you run for mayor. And next year, Jacob and I will help you plant the pumpkin patch. I want to meet Jimmy—I think he and I can be friends when we bond over our crazy women.”
Kelly’s heart was flying. “I’ll have to give you a point for that crazy proposal.”
He grinned. “Not a proposal. Just an acceptance of your earlier proposal. Remember?”
“You’re right. So, no points.”
“No more points at all,” he said softly. “Say yes and we both win.”
Kelly laughed, delighted with him, with everything. “Of course, yes.”
“Good.” He nodded as if checking things off a mental list. “That’s settled. I’ve got to ride with you when you start plowing and—” He stopped. “Did you like the truck?”
She laughed again, a little wildly, but she didn’t care. “I love it, you crazy man.”
“Huh. You plow snow, but I’m crazy.” He shook his head and stared down at her with hope and relief and love shining in his eyes.
“I never should have left, Kelly,” he whispered, “but in a way I guess I had to, because I never learned how to stay. But I want to stay now, Kelly. With you. With our kids...”
“Kids?” she asked hopefully. “Plural?”
He grinned. “It’s a big house. We should do our best to fill it.”
God, this was everything Kelly had ever wanted, and more. The firelight threw dancing shadows across Micah’s face, making his eyes shine with hope and promise and love. “I love you so much, Micah. I’m so glad you came home.”
He cupped her face in his palms and kissed her tenderly. “The only home I ever want is wherever you are. For the first and last time in my life, I’m in love. And I never want to lose it.”
“You won’t,” she promised. “We won’t.”
He blew out a breath and said, “Damn straight we won’t. Now. For part two of my brilliant plan.”
“You had a plan?”
“Still do and I think you’ll like it,” he said, sweeping her up in his arms, surprising a laugh out of her. He sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs and held her on his lap. He frowned at her pajamas. “What are those? Dogs?”
“Pandas.”
“Sure. Why not?” Shaking his head, he said, “I’m thinking we hire a jet and fly to Florida tomorrow—”
“Tomorrow?”
“—pick up your grandmother and your aunt, and then all of us go to New York for a week. Maybe the Ritz-Carlton. I think they’d like that place.”
“What?”
He shrugged. “I’ve never had a family before. I’d like to get to know them. Have them meet Sam and Jenny and the kids, because they’re as close to family as I’ve ever known. And while we’re there, your grandmother can help you pick out that ring we talked about.”
“Oh, Micah!” Many more surprises and her head would simply spin right off her shoulders. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard and fast. Then something occurred to her. “We’d better call first, though.”
“Why?”
“I told Gran and Aunt Linda that we broke up and they were arranging for one of the seniors to fly out and punch you in the nose.”
“More surprises,” Micah said, grinning. “I’ll risk it if you will.”
“Absolutely,” she said.
“I love you, Kelly Flynn.”
“I love you, Micah Hunter,” she said, melting against him. As he bent his head to claim another kiss, Kelly whispered, “Welcome home.”
* * * * *
If you loved this sexy, emotion-filled romance from USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child, pick up these other titles!
THE TEMPORARY MRS. KING
HER RETURN TO KING’S BED
DOUBLE TH
E TROUBLE
THE COWBOY’S PRIDE AND JOY
THE BABY INHERITANCE
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Keep reading for an excerpt from THE COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS PROPOSITION by Silver James.
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The Cowboy's Christmas Proposition
by Silver James
One
Deacon Tate was a country boy at heart. He loved life on his Oklahoma ranch—driving the tractor, singing to the cows, riding his horse and stopping to watch the setting sun wash a blaze of colors across the red dirt of home. He would sit on his front porch as twilight softened the landscape, strumming his guitar while waiting for the fireflies to come out to play. He was also a free spirit. He loved life on the road, living on the tour bus, appearing in a different city every night. He fed off the energy of the crowd, absorbing their excitement through his skin by osmosis.
Fiancé in Name Only Page 16
