Carrying the Rancher's Heir

by Charlene Sands

  But she wasn’t completely down-and-out and she wouldn’t give up. Which probably made her a bigger fool than he was.

  When the orchestra started playing again, Tagg begged off with Jackson and the mayor. He headed her way and her silly heart pounded in her chest. Once he reached her, he smiled and it was a killer. “Dance with me?”

  “You just want a rescue from the mayor’s rambling.”

  “I want to dance with the most beautiful woman here. And,” he said with a wide grin, “you’d be saving me from the mayor’s incessant rambling.”

  She gave him her hand. “In that case, consider yourself saved.”

  Her cold shoulder had melted the second he took her into his arms. Her breather was over. She’d missed Tagg.

  They stepped to soft mellow music on the grass away from the dance floor, just the two of them with no crowds and no one looking on. It’s how Tagg liked to operate. It was his MO. He was a loner and she had barged into his life, turning it upside down.

  “I can’t wait for this bash to be over.” He nuzzled her throat.

  Callie weaved both her hands through the bottom layers of his hair. It went thick and silky through her fingers. “People are starting to leave already.”

  “That’s a good sign.”

  He touched his cheek to hers and brought her tight up against him, her breasts to his chest. They meshed like two parts of a puzzle. Everything below his waist was stiff and hard. Oh, how she’d missed him.

  “I’m feeling tired,” she said.

  He pulled back, his eyes narrowing to slits. “For real?”

  She shook her head and shrugged. “I could play the pregnant card to get us out of here.”

  “The way you’ve been playing it all week with me?”

  “You deserved it.”

  Tagg heaved a sigh. “Maybe. But you’re not getting away with that tonight.”

  He brought his lips down to hers and kissed her with enough tenderness to dissolve any remaining doubts she held inside. “This dress is coming off you by my hands tonight.”

  Callie tingled from head to toe. She couldn’t wait. Her bones ached for him and other parts of her anatomy throbbed. “I’m feeling suddenly faint, Tagg.”

  “Then let’s get the hell outta here.”

  He took her hand and led her to the car. He didn’t give her a chance to say goodbye to his brothers. But Clay had seen them leave and so had Jackson, both of them watching with knowing looks on their faces as Tagg hightailed it out of the house.

  “I’ll buy you another dress, honey.”

  Tagg had been a little too eager to get her naked. He’d ripped the delicate fabric on her shoulder trying to shove it down her arms. The sound of tearing material only added to the thrill of making love with him again. The days apart, sleeping next to him and not allowing herself to touch him or be intimate with him had worn on her just as much as it had on him. The one thing that they had together, the one thing that never ceased to be fantastic, night or day, was making love.

  Tagg never disappointed. He was a man who did things until they got done right. And he’d done it right twice tonight. She lay quiet and peaceful in the aftermath of their love-making. The intoxicating scents of man and sex filled her senses. She rested her head under Tagg’s shoulder and ran her hands through the scattered hairs on his chest. An overhead fan circulated the warm pre-summer air, cooling the beads of sweat from their skin. Tagg tangled his fingers in her hair and absently stroked through the strands, his once heavy breaths slowing to a steady rumbling.

  This was the time Callie liked best. The time when she felt like nothing in the world could separate them. The time when, after a satisfying night together, sharing bodies and souls, Callie found the most hope.

  Tagg rolled her onto her back gently and came up over her. She looked into his eyes. They were so clear, so astonishingly blue-gray, a color unique to him. When she thought he’d kiss her again, he surprised her by touching a hand to her belly, just over the bulge that they’d both created. His fingertips swirled circles around and around her navel ever so tenderly, his eyes raking in her bare body but coming back to land on her stomach. “Do you think it’s a boy or girl?”

  “I don’t know,” she said quietly. “Either would make me happy. What about you?”

  Tagg flopped back on the bed. He looked at the ceiling. “Doesn’t matter.” The careless words would have hurt, if he hadn’t said them with such passion. Then he blew out a deep breath. “I just want a healthy kid.”

  Callie smiled. He’d been imagining the child in his life, the same way Callie had. A little girl, all ruffles and frilly lace, or a boy in blue with wagons and scooters getting into all kinds of trouble. Callie let out a little laugh.

  “What?”

  “Just thinking. What if we have a tomboy? What if she’d rather wear your hats and boots and ride your prize mares up on Red Ridge instead of scooting around on a hot pink tricycle with all the fancy bells and whistles?”

  Tagg chuckled. “I’ve been imagining a lot of things, but that’s not one of them.”

  Callie’s throat constricted. She barely got out the words out. “You’ve been imagining our baby?”

  Tagg didn’t answer for a little while. Then on a long pull of oxygen, his throat tight with emotion, he confessed softly, “Yeah.”

  It wasn’t just his duty anymore. It wasn’t his honor at stake. It wasn’t that he was protecting his child from the evil villain, Hawkins Sullivan. It was more. That one little word, that admission filled with a mix of wonder and excitement, told Callie something powerful. Something wonderful.

  Tagg wanted this baby.

  Tears welled in Callie’s eyes. She’d been doing that a lot lately, filling up with tears, but this time it was different. This time, she had a good reason. She did a happy dance in her head. If it were possible, she fell even more in love with Taggart Worth tonight. And for the first time in a long time, Callie thought that just maybe her life would turn out all right.

  Ten

  Callie lay in bed at daybreak the next morning, drinking in the luxury of Tagg’s comfortable mattress. She sank down into the softest pillows on earth and lay there, eyes closed, feeling good about the upcoming day. This was the best she’d felt since coming to Tagg’s home. Something had changed between them last night, something remarkable. Something that gave her hope and she wanted to glory in it, to glory in the way her body ached in all the right places and the way she felt spent and satisfied and cared for.

  Early morning sounds surrounded her. Birds chirped a melodious tune. The mares’ whinnies and softly pounding hooves carried into the bedroom window. It was almost the launch of a new day, the dawn peeking on the horizon.

  Tagg kissed her forehead when he got up. “Stay in bed and rest. I’m going into Phoenix. Be back later in the day.”

  She nodded, too tired to reply. The shower went on and off. She heard Tagg’s quiet movements in the bathroom, but the temptation of catching his early morning ritual was too tempting to ignore. With blurry eyes, she watched him pad into the room, his bare body shimmering with moisture, his hair wet and slicked back from his handsome face. His chiseled jaw, set permanently tight since they’d married, seemed relaxed now, the expression on his face unguarded. He was strong where a man needed to be strong. Powerful muscles bunched on his arms and led to shoulders of steel. His slim waist and potent manhood left nothing to be desired. He had it all.

  She hummed inwardly at his raw, sexual beauty and watched him turn to pull his briefs on. She said goodbye to his perfect butt as it disappeared into jeans and then he sat down and the mattress gave from his weight. She saw his back muscles work as he tugged his feet into boots.

  When he rose Callie closed her eyes again, lest he find her ogling him.

  Her fantasy man.

  She held on to those thoughts as she drifted back into a peaceful sleep.

  Callie woke and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was past ten o’clock i
n the morning. She rose from the bed, shamelessly guilty for sleeping so long, and scurried into the shower. She rinsed off quickly and dressed. The day had almost gotten away from her. She walked into the kitchen and made herself a cup of herbal tea and boiled some eggs. The baby needed protein. She had to eat a good breakfast—there’d be no skipping meals. And as soon as she was done, she would set her little surprise for Tagg in motion.

  The idea had hit her this morning after Tagg kissed her goodbye. Once the notion entered her head, it took hold and wouldn’t let go. Callie had to do this, or at least she had to try.

  She stepped into Tagg’s office and sat down at his desk. She cleared away a space, arranging his files in one neat pile, and set a notepad down. Then she logged on to the computer. Immediately, she tapped in her password for her bank balance. She had a hefty trust fund that her father could no longer lord over, the money having reverted to her no strings attached when she’d turned twenty-five. And she had a little savings account from her time working in Boston.

  She’d already dedicated a portion of her cash to Clay’s cause. She’d been buying books and gifts for the general store, but she’d also secretly given Clay a sizable donation to help keep the facility going until they could bring in more revenue from fundraisers.

  She stared at the computer screen for a few minutes scanning over the numbers. Once she confirmed she was in good shape financially, she logged off the computer.

  She had some digging to do, but she knew where she could start. She found Tagg’s address book easily enough, in the drawer on the left side of his desk. She’d seen him use it many times. Once she found the number she needed, she dialed it on her cell phone. To her disappointment, no one answered. She left a message and then set her phone down on Tagg’s desk.

  Callie pulled out a few drawers in the file cabinets and looked through folders, but everything in there was related to business. Reports, more numbers than Callie would ever want to see, inventory files and ledgers. It wasn’t what she needed. She glanced at the door that opened into the old storage room. “Maybe what I need is in there,” she muttered.

  She’d wished she’d been paying more attention to Tagg when they were in Las Vegas. The conversation had been short and if she’d daydreamed for a second during that dinner, she might have missed something important.

  She turned the knob and the door creaked open. She’d never gone into this room before. She’d never had the need since Tagg hadn’t accepted her offer to work with him. He didn’t want her invading his space. He didn’t want her to get too close. Callie hoped to change that. Excitement stirred within her. If only she could pull this off. If only she could do this for Tagg.

  Callie strode inside too fast and the musty scent of old papers and dry Arizona dust hit her immediately. She sneezed and sneezed again. She waved her arms to circulate the air, but that only managed to give the dust more life. She turned to shield her face and saw something on a bookshelf that caught her eyes. She wandered over and sucked in a breath when she viewed the two photo frames sitting there. They were sandwiched in between Tagg’s framed rodeo champion belt buckles.

  One was a photo of Heather sitting atop her horse in full Rodeo Queen regalia wearing a shimmering Western blouse, a silver tiara on her head and a blue sash slanted across her torso. She rode a palomino, a little taller than Free, but not quite as blond. Heather was smiling, her face filled with joy. She was the woman Tagg had loved with his whole heart.

  Callie picked up the frame and stared. She couldn’t resent Heather. She couldn’t, considering the tragic way she’d died. But she couldn’t stop the envy that poured like hot liquid through her veins. She couldn’t help but wish that she had been the woman who’d met Tagg first, the woman who would have stolen his heart. Her hands shook when she set the frame back down.

  The other photo was of Tag and Heather together, his arm possessively roped around her shoulder in front of the main house. The happiness they shared in that image said it all. She’d never seen that expression on Tagg’s face before. In all the time she’d known him, he’d never once shown her that one hundred percent megawatt, the-world-is-a-happy-place-and-I-love-life kind of smile.

  Callie put her hands to her face. Tears spilled down her cheeks despite her valiant effort to stop them. Her heart broke and her envy dissolved in that moment. What she felt for Tagg was soul wrenching and overpowering. She felt his heartache in that smile. She felt his loss in the way he’d wrapped that protective arm around Heather’s shoulders. She felt his grief.

  She knew a little bit about grieving herself. She’d lost her mother at a young age and Callie had thought her life was over, too. Her mother—the woman who’d picked her up when she fell, the woman who’d smiled when Callie was sure she’d be angry, the woman who’d kissed away her little-girl troubles with love always in her eyes. Callie knew grief, and she grieved with Tagg now, for all the hurt he’d endured in his life. For losing the one person he’d loved beyond all else in the world. Callie’s tears continued to fall and she didn’t try to stop them. She needed to shed them for Tagg. Her body trembled, her head throbbed and when the well had finally emptied, Callie took a deep steadying breath.

  She pulled herself together.

  With a shake of her head she sobered.

  Life pushed on.

  Her mother’s story had taught her that.

  She’d thought the sun rose and set on Rory Worth’s shoulders and he’d hurt and abandoned her when she’d needed him most. Her mother hadn’t collapsed, hadn’t given up. She’d been strong and brave. She’d given herself another chance at happiness and had moved on with her life. She’d had a good one, too, with her father. She’d loved him and she’d never looked back. That’s what people did. That’s what Tagg would do. And Callie would help him.

  With renewed strength, she continued on with her search, her heart lighter, her hope brighter and more determined now than ever. Tagg would be thirty-two years old soon and she wanted to mark that day with a monumental gesture.

  A booming voice startled her. She spun around abruptly to find Tagg in the doorway with a scowl on his face.

  “What in holy hell do you think you’re doing in my files?”

  “Tagg? Oh, my God! You scared me!” Her back hit his gray metal filing cabinet with a thwack.

  Of course she was scared, Tagg thought. She hadn’t expected him home for hours. She looked guiltier than hell. “You didn’t expect me home so soon, did you?”

  “No,” she said, her hand to her throat. She caught her breath. “I thought you went into Phoenix. You said you’d be gone most of the day.”

  His mouth curled down. “Honey, I’m home.”

  “Tagg?” She didn’t miss his sarcasm and had the chops to look confused. “What’s wrong?”

  “What were you doing in here?”

  “I, uh…I just came in here for—” Her face flushed and she looked away.

  Tagg took her arm and led her out of the dusty room. He released her in the center of his office and pointed. “You’ve been at my desk? My files are out of order.” He glanced around, noting the drawers in the cabinets weren’t completely closed, either.

  “Yes, I know. I was looking for something.”

  “You were looking for something?” He controlled his voice, holding on by a shred. “Did you find it?”

  “No,” she said with a shake of her head.

  “I think you have.”

  “Tagg, what’s this all about?”

  She shot him an innocent look and did a damn convincing job of it, too. His fury built and he didn’t know how long he could hold it together. “I think you know the damage you’ve caused.”

  Callie’s face contorted and even with an unbecoming twist of her lips, she still looked beautiful. He cursed her for making him believe that maybe she could be trusted. For making him believe that what he was feeling for her was something more than mind-numbing sexual gratification. She’d proved him wrong on both accounts and mad
e a fool out of him to boot.

  “Wh-What kind of damage? Tagg, I’ve never seen you this way.”

  “You bring out the best in me, sweetheart,” he countered through tight lips. “Tagg?”

  “I leave and come back early to find you sneaking around in my office, rifling through my files. Not too smart, Callie. You should have been more careful.” Tagg walked around her, circling her, trying to see the real Callie and not the woman she pretended to be.

  “I wasn’t sneaking around.”

  “Weren’t you?”

  She closed her eyes briefly and then looked so damn guilty when she finally opened them, Tagg lost all of hope of being wrong. “Yes, I was being a little sneaky.”

  “You visit your father whenever I’m out of town.”

  “You know that I see my father.”

  “Have you seen him today?

  “No.”

  “So he hasn’t told you yet?”

  “Told me what?” Callie snapped. Her impatience was showing. Good. The real Callie Sullivan was finally coming out.

  “Guess?”

  She shrugged her shoulders, exasperated. “I have no idea.”

  Tagg sorted through the folders she’d gone through and came up with the Mosley Beef Conglomerate file. He shoved it under her nose, as if she didn’t already know what he was going to say. He spoke quietly now, calming the firestorm brewing deep inside. “You had no idea that I lost this account this morning. To Big Hawk Ranch?”

  “No, I… How would I know that?”

  He tossed the file down and glared at her. “I was outbid. Again. By just enough to make sure I lost the deal. This was one of my biggest accounts.”

  She looked puzzled for a moment. “I’m…sorry.” Her eyes downcast, she spoke softly, “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how it happened.”

  Her apology meant nothing. She’d betrayed him and he wasn’t going to let her get away with it. He kept an eye on her face, not letting up, not letting her off the hook, no matter how much she claimed innocence. “Don’t you?”