Monty sat in his chair thumbing through a magazine. The moment she entered he looked up. “Hey, girlie-girl, feel like taking a ride with me?”
“You mean like run an errand?” He’d probably been waiting for her to bring the car home.
“No. Like sit on a horse and saddle. I’ve missed my horses. Plus the visiting occupational-therapy nurse gave me the okay to ride again today.”
“That’s great and I’d love to.” There was still plenty of light left, being mid-July. “In fact I’ve wanted to ride again since Cole took me. Let’s do it!” Lizzie let Gretchen know what they planned, and, other than looking a little surprised, she switched on the baby monitor on the kitchen windowsill in order to keep tabs on Flora while she slept.
Monty’s gait was strong and balanced now, even though he still relied a little on his hand-carved walking stick. The intricately designed wooden cane went well with his dungarees and cowboy hat, too. “I figured you might want to go, already had Jack saddle up Zebulon and O’Reilly for us. We won’t do anything strenuous, just enjoy the evening air.”
“Sounds great to me, and dibs on Zebulon.” Though she expected the ride would conjure up all kinds of heady memories from the afternoon with Cole on the ridge trail.
A half hour later, when she’d been right about her hunch, they’d ridden to a huge corral where the new mothers and calves were kept separated from the grazing steer. Lizzie was proud of the fact she’d remembered everything Cole had taught her about riding, and was handling Zebulon as if she knew what she was doing. For a city girl, she thought she could get used to riding horses.
Monty sat watching the calves nurse for a while, smiling. “I never get tired of my ranch. I especially love the spring when the calves drop, and the summer watching them grow. Makes me know the Circle M will continue on.”
Lizzie kept her wondering thoughts, about who would carry on after Monty got too old, to herself.
He made a clicking noise with his mouth and the horses immediately knew it was time to move on. She tightened the inside of her thighs and Zebulon quickened the pace and caught up with Monty and O’Reilly. They continued on, side by side for a while longer, in silence.
“When I was in the hospital in Cheyenne, I was treated like a specimen.” Evidently Monty had gotten tired of the quiet. “All these young doctors trotted in every morning and they talked about me and my condition, like I wasn’t there.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not my point. I didn’t mind that. What I’d forgotten was that the University of Wyoming Hospital is a teaching hospital. They’ve got a three-year family-medicine program that is supposed to be one of the best in the country. Doctors there learn how to do everything, even surgery, just like Trevor does. That’s where he did his residency. I know it’s not a fancy job like Cole’s but it’s just as important. I also know you’re a city girl, but I was thinking Wyoming could use more good doctors like you. And that way Flora could grow up in the wide open instead of cooped up in some city apartment surrounded by cement.”
No wonder the speech therapist had released him last week; he’d just said more words in one go than he’d said the whole rest of the time she’d been at Circle M. Plus he seemed to read her thoughts about Flora growing up in wide-open spaces.
“Why, Tiberius Montgomery, are you trying to influence my decision?”
“I’m trying to talk some sense into you. Couldn’t get through to Cole, but maybe you being a mother and all, well, maybe you’ll think about it.”
“Cole’s gone to great lengths to open some doors for me, but please understand I am honored that you care. And, more importantly, that you think I’m a good doctor.”
Maybe she’d gotten too syrupy for Monty or something, but he made that clicking sound again, and both horses picked up speed trotting back toward the ranch and the stables. End of conversation.
Besides thoroughly enjoying the evening ride, regardless of his flighty attitude, Lizzie was flabbergasted that Tiberius Montgomery had given her career any thought. As they dismounted and the stable guy walked off with the horses, an odd niggling, way in the back of her mind, made her promise not to disregard Monty’s heartfelt and practical suggestion. Maybe he was on to something.
Walking back to the house she let down her guard and imagined a life with Cole, living in Wyoming, raising Flora together. Her head swirled at the possibility of being his woman. Loving him. Watching him flourish as his fatherly skills grew. Then she stumbled on a rock and nearly fell to her knees. As usual, whenever she got her hopes up about something, the universe had a way of knocking her off balance.
It had been a senseless fantasy anyway. Cole couldn’t love her, he was too busy with his career to settle down, and he’d never move home again.
*
Saturday morning Lizzie was having a fit in her bedroom. “How can I leave my baby?” Those large, pleading eyes nearly broke down Cole’s resolve, but there was too much at stake for her to back out now.
Nearly out of patience, Cole paced. If Lizzie couldn’t get it through her head that this small sacrifice of twenty-four hours would be worth her entire future, there was nothing more he could do.
He reached for Flora, removing her from Lizzie’s clutches. “Finish packing. I’ll take her for a walk.” Without giving her a chance to respond, he left with a beaming baby, because Flora always brightened up when Cole held her, and headed for the door. Flora really liked Cole, and Lizzie could tell by his demeanor whenever he held her that the feeling was mutual.
“I’ll be back in twenty minutes to get your bags, and we’re leaving. Understand?” He gave Lizzie a stern stare, made sure she knew he wasn’t horsing around, then, looking at little Flora’s happy blue eyes watching his every move, he made a silly face and snorted like a pig as they left. It worked; the baby smiled and squealed, her arms around his neck. “Want to see the horsies?” he asked in a voice a full octave higher than usual. Flora sucked her fist and pumped her feet in answer. “Okay, then. Let’s go.”
*
A half-hour later both Lizzie’s and his overnight bags were in the trunk of Cole’s car and they set off for the airport in Cheyenne, barely speaking a word. He could read her, though, and she was one big ball of fear, separation anxiety and maybe a touch of excitement. He had to admit he was nervous, too. Part of what he was doing felt wrong, as if he’d found and trained a prized mare and turned her into a show horse. Yeah, that definitely didn’t feel right, but wasn’t it for the greater good? Her greater good?
The thought of not seeing Lizzie every day hit hard. Regardless of whether she got a residency after tonight or not, by summer’s end they’d both go their separate ways. He sighed and stepped harder on the gas pedal, nearly hitting eighty on the speedometer.
Lizzie spent the entire drive thinking of things to make calls to Gretchen for, to remind her about caring for Flora. She reached for her phone once again as they parked at the airport, and Cole leaned across the car to stop her. “I think you’ve covered everything Gretchen needs to know.” He forced Lizzie to look at him for the first time that morning. She connected with his eyes, apprehension coloring her expression. “Flora’s in good hands. You know it. Now relax and think about rewriting your future tonight.”
All she could muster was a nod along with a quivery breath, but at least some of the anxiety fizzled from her gaze.
Forty-five minutes later they boarded their plane and settled in for the three-and-a-half-hour flight. Cole planned to quiz Lizzie part of the time, but as soon as he began she tossed him a glance that begged to be left alone.
Truth was, if she didn’t have her routine down by now, cramming for the test would be of little help, so he let her be with her thoughts. Closing his eyes, he faced a fact he wasn’t prepared for. What happened after tonight? Or after Trevor and Julie came back to the clinic? Had he done such a great job of shaping up Lizzie that he’d lose her?
The lose part had never been meant to be a part
of the equation. This exercise had been a test of his teaching skills. Could he take a young doctor with potential who’d been rejected by all the most prestigious hospitals in the country and turn her into the doctor everyone wanted? His success was supposed to be a feather on his cowboy hat, not an aching, gaping hole in his gut. After spending nearly every day and evening with Lizzie for the past month, he’d grown accustomed to being around her. He looked forward to seeing her serious yet hopeful face each morning and to watching her concentrate each evening in the library as she puckered and smoothed those delicious lips while she read and thought.
What would a day be like without looking into those extraordinary green eyes?
He couldn’t go there. Not now. Because right now he needed to work on his act: the guy who was indifferent to her leaving. The guy who only wanted her placed in a resident program so he could get back to business as usual. Busy days in the cardiac clinic at Johns Hopkins, envelope-pushing cardiac procedures, nonstop travel around the country, hell, around the world. Why not? Once she was gone he’d have his old life back.
But since meeting Lizzie, Cole wondered what kind of life that would be.
CHAPTER NINE
LIZZIE HAD AGREED to be ready by 6:00 p.m. and, because her entire future seemed to depend on this blasted event, she didn’t want to mess up. Cole had put so much time and effort into making her hirable—even down to scheduling an in-suite mani-pedi at the hotel—she couldn’t let him down now.
She’d never been in such a beautiful hotel in her life and she felt like a princess in the huge marble bathtub, the bubbling bath gel smelling of lavender and vanilla, and her toes barely able to reach the end of the tub. She wanted to stay here all afternoon, but knew she couldn’t. Wow. Was this how Cole was used to living?
He’d thought nothing of tossing down his credit card to pay for both hotel rooms at the ornate and luxurious Monaco hotel. Until that moment, she hadn’t been sure—and sure as hell hadn’t been about to ask but had hoped anyway—if they’d be roommates or not.
She’d thought she’d walked into a royal palace when they’d first entered the classic beaux arts building with its sparkling marble floors, crystal chandeliers, grand winding marble staircase and Tiffany stained glass windows. Every bit of history had been preserved yet the lobby was modern and inviting and beyond everything else, due to armloads of flowers in several huge vases, colorful. A girl from Southie, Boston, she’d never had a fantasy come close to the reality of this hotel. Dreams like those were for people who lived in the Back Bay, the upper class of Boston.
Lizzie lay back in the tub and dunked her hair and face under water, suspending herself in time and space. Cole came to mind, as he often did, now. His handsome, all-guy face. His sturdy hands, and how they felt on her shoulders. His lips, soft as a butterfly one moment and demanding the next. The way he heated her up from the inside out with one smoldering glance.
She sat up, the water running down her hair and over her face. The little fantasy from yesterday returned. What would it be like to be his wife, loving him, sleeping with him every night, waking with a smile on her face every day? What if she seduced Cole tonight, to force him to see how good they could be together, to prove she had as much to offer as he did? She’d surprise him with her love, drive him crazy with total passion for him. But she’d know when to leave him alone, too. Yes, they’d be so in touch they’d know without saying what each other wanted. She’d be that kind of wife for him. She dreamed. Plus, they’d be a force to be reckoned with as lovers, and parents. The two of them raising Flora to be…Flora!
Then it hit her: she hadn’t thought about Flora in…how long? More proof she was a selfish and terrible mother. She stood up, water falling away, panic replacing the calm she’d just enjoyed. She climbed out of the tub and draped herself in the extra thick and soft bath towel, searching for her cell phone.
Gretchen hadn’t called, true, but Cole had probably put the fear of God in her about only calling for an emergency. She speed-dialed and waited.
“Everything’s just fine, Elisabete.” Gretchen had never called her Lizzie like Monty and Cole. The relaxed sound of the woman’s voice poured over Lizzie, automatically helping her calm down. “She’s taking her afternoon nap.” Baltimore was two hours ahead of Cattleman Bluff; of course it would be nap time for Flora.
“So everything’s okay, then?”
“She’s as good as gold.”
“You’re not just saying that, are you?”
“I’ve never been good at lying, Elisabete. Please trust me with your precious baby. I’m giving her all of my attention. Even Tiberius is helping.”
The reassuring words and the sudden sense of family back home put a smile on Lizzie’s face. Her little fantasy about Cole returned. She glanced at the crystal clock on the ornate mantle above her hotel-room fireplace. She needed to speed up if she planned to be dressed and made-up by six. And what was she going to do with her hair?
“I’ll never be able to repay you. Thank you so much,” she said.
“Darlin’, you’ve brought new life back into this family. We love Flora. Now, go and knock ’em dead.” Wasn’t it interesting how Gretchen naturally considered herself a part of the extended Montgomery family? If Gretchen could, why couldn’t Lizzie?
Lizzie hung up, grinning and planning to do just that. But in all honesty, there was only one person she really wanted to knock dead in the figurative sense tonight, and that was Cole Montgomery. She was on to his dirty little plan to get rid of her, but she had a surprise in store for him. Tonight, she’d make him an offer he couldn’t possibly refuse…unless ice water ran through his veins. And she’d kissed him enough to know that wasn’t the case. Tonight she’d make him want her, no matter what it took.
*
Decked out in his tux and black dress cowboy boots, Cole knocked on Lizzie’s hotel room door at one minute to six, then waited. He’d already made a few calls to various hotel rooms, setting up plans to meet with several residency administrators during the gala cocktails in the Paris foyer. They’d have to wait to see who they’d be sitting with for dinner in the ballroom. Fingers crossed they’d be near the recruiters from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and New York Presbyterian Cornell campus since he hadn’t been able to contact them so far this afternoon.
The door opened and a vision straight from heaven stood before him. She seemed a little taken aback by seeing him, too. Maybe it was the boots and the Western-styled tux he’d taken out of storage before the trip.
Lizzie’s dark hair had been piled in high ringlets on top of her head. Her full brows highlighted those amazing eyes that she’d colored and lined with make-up. Wow. Her skin looked creamy and he fisted his hands inside his pockets to dampen the urge to touch her all over. The ice-blue evening dress fit like a glove, and the choker-style necklace looked perfect on her long neck, the aquamarine stone dangling just below the delicate notch of her throat. If he concentrated, and he definitely was, he could see the faint beating of her pulse there.
She stood watching him taking her all in, waiting with an eager, open gaze. Well? He could practically hear her thought.
It required great discipline to speak. “Are you ready?” He couldn’t very well let on how overwhelmed and turned on he was by her beauty. Or how his skin practically vibrated with desire. How easily he’d slipped into the most basic of all reactions of a man to a woman. It wasn’t the purpose of this night. No, her wow factor was meant for the old tired-eyed doctors recruiting for next year’s internal-medicine programs on the East Coast.
But he couldn’t ignore the immediate disappointed expression she bore from his silence either and he had to let her know how great she looked. Where had his manners gone? “You look fantastic. I’ve said it before—that dress was made for you.”
She let out her breath. “Whew. Thanks. I don’t recognize myself. And by the way, you look sexy as hell.”
He stood a little taller, liking that she though
t he was sexy looking, and he could think of a million more things to say about how great she looked, too, but this wasn’t a date or a mutual-admiration-society meeting. It was business. He couldn’t think of tonight in any other way. Tonight was all about the business of getting Lizzie a job. “Got all the names memorized?” Back on track, even though her appearance distracted the hell out of him.
“Yes,” she said, turning to pick up her clutch bag, immediately clicking into the purpose of the night. Except he noticed the fine, sequined lace covering the backs of her shoulders and the triangle-shaped cutout area revealing her skin at the center of her back. What would it be like to touch Lizzie all over?
She glanced up, a message in her gaze: touch me, I won’t break. He swallowed and pushed down the desire.
“All you have to do,” she said, turning back and straightening to her full height, “is mention the hospital program they’re from and I’ll remember the name.” She glanced at him, narrowed her eyes and nodded. “I’m ready for this, but wish me luck anyway.”
She sounded breathy and he lost his train of thought for a moment, thinking of how that breathiness might feel blowing gently across his chest, then on reflex he cupped her upper arm and kissed her cheek. “You’re beautiful.” He’d meant to wish her luck, but it’d come out wrong.
There was a question in her eyes when he pulled back and he mentally scrambled to cover as he canted his head. “Good luck.”
She tucked her lips inward and nodded, seeming suddenly nervous, or disappointed. “I had something else in mind.”
“For?” Her dazzling appearance had made him suddenly stupid.
“For wishing me luck.” She moved toward him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard, her lips already parted.
He sank right into the kiss, could have chucked the whole night for the chance to stay here and seduce her. But that wasn’t the kind of man he wanted to be for her. He wanted to help restore her faith in men, not add more evidence to her case against them. He broke off the kiss, but not before her smoldering gaze begged him to take her.
Father for Her Newborn Baby (Cowboys, Doctors...Daddies) Page 12
