Cowboy's Barmaid: A Small Town Military Romance (Lucky Flats Ranchers Book 2)

by Piper Sullivan

  “Anything else?”

  I took a deep breath. “It also said that I love you. Somewhere between scheming to get you into bed and you leaving me, I fell in love with you.”

  “Is that true?” Her green eyes looked hopeful, but wary, and I knew it would take more than a bracelet to win her over.

  “Of course it is. It may have started as a game but I fell for you. Hard. You don’t let me getaway with anything because I’m rich and good looking.”

  “Don’t forget a prince,” she grinned.

  “And a royal,” I nodded with a wink. “You call me on my shit and you put my son first. And your body has been giving me dirty dreams for a year.” I pulled her close. “I want you Sasha. I want all of you and then I want just a little bit more.”

  Big green eyes filled with tears but they didn’t fall. “I want you too Antonio.”

  My shoulders sagged with relief. “Good.” I put her hands around my shoulders and pulled her close, slanting my mouth over hers for a long hot kiss that had been at least a year in the making. “I love you Sasha. Do you believe me?”

  “I love you too Antonio. And I really do accept your apology.”

  That pulled a smile from me. “Good because I’m going to wine and dine you. Take you out and show you a good time like a real couple.”

  Her hand fell to my jaw. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Yes I do. I’m going to show you what you mean to me so that sometime in the future when I ask you to be my wife, you’ll have no doubt about how much you mean to me.” I owed her at least this much and I planned to see it through.

  “I’m starting to see,” she smiled and brushed a kiss against my lips.

  “No, but you will.” I pulled another sheet of paper from my pocket and tore it up. “We still share custody of Andreas.”

  “That’s a really good start Antonio. Thank you.”

  “No sweetheart, thank you. For everything.” I kissed her then, with everything inside of me and during that kiss I vowed that I would be the best man she knew for the rest of our lives. She would always know, as would Andreas and any other kids we have, just how much they meant to me.

  I had been given a second chance to love and planned to take it and make it work until we were both old and grey.

  ***

  The End.

  Want to read Harper and Rafael's story (featuring Grandma Eddie of course)? Then check out Daddy’s Fiancée Nanny here.

  I’ve also included an exclusive prologue in this book if you’re curious. Feel free to use the Table of Contents to help you find it.

  Nanny’s Aussie Billionaire

  Finn

  “Mr Ormond, call on line two, it’s your mother-in-law.”

  Damn! I looked at the phone, trying to decide whether to take the call or not. This was the third time this week that Jennifer had called, and it was beginning to grate. I got that she wanted to stay connected to Lilah, especially after what had happened to Erin, but I was a busy man. This was getting intrusive.

  I looked out of my office onto the Melbourne city streets. It was a view that I never tired of. An office on the thirteenth floor, with ceiling to floor windows. In between phone calls and appointments, I would often stare momentarily on that view, getting my thoughts together for the next round of negotiations.

  That’s how life played out, when you worked in one of the most prestigious finance centres in Australia. I worked long hours, rarely making it home before nine of an evening, and starting before seven. It was the only way to stay on top of the game. Sure, I was a very wealthy man, but I never wanted to rest on my laurels. Besides, work had helped ease the pain, after what had happened to Erin.

  The phone buzzed again, the red light flashing insistently. That’s right, the call. Sighing heavily, I picked up the receiver, pressing the button to connect it.

  “Jennifer.” I put my feet up on the desk. “Third time this week. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “Finn.” Jennifer’s voice sounded crackly, as if she was speaking through a tunnel. Well, she was calling from Washington, in the States. “Michael and I have been discussing things a bit further. I wanted to keep you abreast.” I frowned. What was she up to? Or rather, what were both of my in-laws up to?

  “Abreast of what, Jennifer?” I tapped my fingers impatiently on the desk. “I’ve told you everything about how Lilah is coping. I’ve said you are both welcome to come and visit any time you like.”

  “Yes, we realise that.” Jennifer paused. I strained to hear. “Only – and don’t get mad at this, Finn – we think that perhaps it should be the other way around. Lilah should come to us.” A pause. “Permanently.”

  I swung my legs off the desk, sitting upright. “Permanently?”

  I could hear the sigh on the other end of the line. “We know you do the best you can, Finn. It’s been so hard for you, since Erin died. But you work so much. Lilah is left all alone, without her mother and her father. It can’t be good for her.”

  “Now, wait a goddamn minute.” I felt a fission of fear prickle down my spine. “You aren’t taking Lilah! She’s just lost her mother, for Christ’s sake. She can’t lose her father as well. She’s only four years old.”

  “That’s exactly the point, Finn.” Jennifer’s voice was rising. “She’s only four years old. She’s just lost her mother. She needs stability – which Michael and I can provide. We are both retired now, we have the time to devote to her. You don’t.”

  “I spend time with her…” I trailed off. I knew she was right. I didn’t spend nearly enough time with her. But I was a busy man, and she had a nanny, didn’t she?

  I thought of Amber, the nanny. Twenty-three years old. American. She had been in our employ for a year now, and was doing an excellent job. Very mature for her age, she had been wonderful with Lilah since Erin’s death.

  But she wasn’t her mother. And she would leave one day, like they always did. She would go back to the States to keep studying for her degree from Harvard Law School. She was only taking a break to save up more tuition fees.

  Amber. She was an attractive girl, I had always been aware of it. Tall and athletic, she had the most amazing legs. And then there was her hair, long and chocolate colored…

  I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. What on earth was I doing? Getting distracted by lustful thoughts of the nanny! I suppose it was inevitable, that the old stirrings would return one day. It had been six months since Erin’s death, after all. But it was neither the time or the place.

  “Finn?” Jennifer’s voice was impatient. “Are you still there?”

  “I’m still here.” What was I going to say to her?

  The Morgan’s were a wealthy family in America. They had influence. If they wanted to battle for Lilah, they might win. But I was also influential – I was a billionaire, for Christ’s sake. From one of the most influential families in Australia. I could give them a run for their money. I sighed, wishing it hadn’t come to this.

  “Finn.” Jennifer spoke again. “We are going to fight for custody of her. She needs stability.”

  “What about if things were different?” I hardly knew where I was going with this. I just knew I needed to pacify her.

  “What things?” Jennifer sounded confused.

  “What about if I can give her the stability?” I rushed on, not thinking it through properly. “Just give me a little more time, Jennifer. I will call you back before the week is out.”

  “Finn…”

  “I’ve got to go, Jennifer. We will discuss this further – I’m taking you seriously. Just promise you won’t do anything before I speak to you again, okay?”

  I heard a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. “Okay. But Finn – it would have to be something that would set our minds at rest, permanently. Otherwise we will start proceedings. Lilah deserves nothing less.”

  “I know.” I balanced the receiver on the crook of my shoulder, thinking frantically. “We all want what’s best for Lil
ah. Speak soon.”

  I hung up, staring out the window. But this time I wasn’t seeing Melbourne’s streets. I was trying desperately to hatch a plan. They couldn’t take her. She was my daughter, the last piece of Erin I possessed. I loved her, and I wanted her with me.

  I thought of Amber, the nanny, again. Saving for her tuition fees to her Ivy League school. She would appreciate extra money for that purpose.

  I stood up, walking toward the windows. Outside, trams rattled east and west through the city. The trees wavered in the wind, and pedestrians were turning the collars up on their coats. It was going to be another cold winter. Melbourne was famous for them.

  My little girl needed a mother. At least for a little while, to get Jennifer and Michael off my back. And Amber needed money.

  The pieces of the puzzle were slowly slotting to place in my mind. But would Amber agree to it?

  Amber

  “Amber! Look at my dollies!”

  I glanced over at Lilah, playing in the corner of the living room. She had set up a whole doll’s tea party, complete with tea cups, chairs and pretend cakes. She had done a great job. Every one of her dolls had a chair.

  “Well done, Lilah bear,” I said, ruffling her little blonde head. She looked up at me, smiling, then became absorbed in her play.

  I walked around the living room, tidying up as I went. It wasn’t really part of my job description as nanny to clean, but I found it made things easier all round if I did some basic chores. Jean, the maid, was at hand to do the back-breaking jobs.

  I stared out the living room window, at the grounds. I could see the swimming pool in the distance, cover on in winter. The tennis courts looked a bit forlorn, too. I hadn’t seen anyone play in a long, long time. Since before Erin had died, that was for sure.

  I thought of Erin, Mrs Ormond. She had been a warm and caring person, and she had made me very welcome when I had first come to Australia to nanny. I had been so relieved. I was a bit out of my depth, travelling to the other side of the world for work. I had been scared that the people I was going to be working for would be horrible. I had heard all the nanny horror stories going around.

  But Erin had set my mind at ease, picking me up from Melbourne airport herself, and letting me rest for a couple of days while I worked through my jet lag. I felt a lump form in my throat, thinking of her.

  She had been American, just like me. She understood how hard it was living in another country. Even though Australia was similar in lots of ways, and spoke English, it still took a lot of adjustment. And it wasn’t as if I could travel home for lunch every now and again.

  I picked up a framed photograph on a table. It was of the three of them – Erin, Lilah and Finn. Mr Ormond. It had been taken two years ago, when Lilah was only two. They looked so happy, laughing for the camera, both Erin and Finn’s eyes on their darling baby girl.

  But life hadn’t been kind to this family. I still remembered the day that it happened.

  It had been a normal Wednesday. I had picked up Lilah from ballet lessons, as usual, battling through the Melbourne traffic to get her home before dark. Driving was hard for me, Australians drove on the right-hand side of the road, which took some adjustment. So I was a bit stressed when I came through the door that day.

  I hadn’t checked my phone in a while, and was a bit dismayed when I saw five missed calls. But the voice mail message made my blood turn cold. It was from the Alfred Hospital. Erin had been involved in a head-on collision on her way home from work at her trendy little boutique on Chapel Street. She was dead on arrival.

  They hadn’t been able to get onto Finn. It had been my awful job to tell him that his wife had been killed in a car crash. The next months were a blur of sadness. Finn had been so angry in his grief, using work as an antidote. We rarely saw him. He had always been a workaholic, but he took it to another level.

  Then there were Erin’s parents, who stayed on after the funeral. I could see they were upset at how Finn was reacting. They wanted him to spend time with his little girl, she had just lost her mother, after all. I glanced back at Lilah, playing happily with her dolls. It had taken her awhile to get to this. At the start, she had been confused, and kept asking when her mother was coming home.

  And then she had withdrawn, getting angry at me, refusing to let me hug her or kiss her. As if scared that I was going to be snatched away from her, just like her mother had been.

  I was startled out of my reverie by the sound of a Lamborghini tearing up the circular driveway. What on earth? I strained my neck to get a better view. It couldn’t be, could it? Finn home from work in the middle of the day? It was unheard of.

  Yet, there he was, climbing out of the designer car and racing into the house. He did everything quickly, that man. He had so much energy it almost made my head spin. I glanced around. All good. Tidying up as you went came in handy, sometimes – like when the boss unexpectedly came home in the middle of the day.

  “Daddy!” Lilah abandoned her dolls to their tea party, leaping to her feet to run into her father’s arms. Finn caught her, tossing her into the air. The little girl chuckled.

  “Have you been a good girl for Amber?” He asked her as he lowered her to the floor, tousling her hair as he did so.

  “Yes.” She looked at him adoringly. “She helped me with my tea party.” She looked around at me, seeking my approval.

  “She’s been very good,” I said now. “We were just about to pack up and have some lunch.” I looked at him, waiting. What was he doing here?

  “Amber, I need to speak to you,” he said. “Could you get Lilah some lunch quickly, then we can sit down for a few minutes.” I nodded, a bit fearfully. What was this about? Was he about to fire me?

  I started making peanut butter sandwiches, thinking over the last few days. I hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary – not that I could recall, at any rate. No, I was at a complete loss.

  Lunch over, I settled Lilah down for her afternoon nap, and returned to the living room. He was standing against the fireplace, frowning.

  “You wanted to speak to me?” My heart was in my mouth. Best to get it over with, if it was bad news.

  “Yes.” He raked his hands through his dark hair, absently. I looked at him. I was struck anew by what an attractive man he was.

  Finn Ormond was a billionaire, and dressed in the best clothes from Melbourne’s finest men’s boutiques. But it wasn’t just his clothes. He had the physique of a panther, long and lean and hard. Brown eyes in a chiselled face. Tall. He had a presence, you could say.

  I had never been immune to that attractiveness, but I had kept it in check. He was my boss, after all, and for the first six months of my work, a happily married man. I would never have done anything to jeopardise my position or to betray Erin.

  But looking at him now, my heart skipped a couple of beats, and I could feel my face flush slightly. Best to be business like, I thought.

  “Amber, I’m just going to cut straight to the chase,” he said. He turned to me, his dark eyes quietly assessing.

  “I have a business proposal. One I think might be beneficial for both of us.”

  I looked at him, expectantly.

  But what he said next made my mind spin.

  Finn

  She looked up at me with her mouth wide open. I had shocked her, all right.

  “You want me to pose as your fiancée?” she repeated. “For money?”

  I laughed, trying to take the intensity out of the words. “Yes. We would draw up a business contract – it would be all signed and sealed, done legitimately. For an agreed amount, you pose as my fiancée for a set time. And when that time is done, you can walk away. With your money, of course.”

  She still looked at me with that puzzled expression. “This is a joke, right?”

  “I have never been more serious.” I walked over to her. “I know this has come out of the blue, Amber. I’ve shocked you, I can see that. Just think it over. But I would need your decision by the
end of this week.”

  “The end of this week?” She gasped. Then she looked at me, her eyes flicking over me. “This really isn’t a joke?”

  “This really isn’t a joke.” I ran my hands through my hair, a bit desperately. “I have my parents-in-law breathing down my neck. They want to take Lilah, have her move to the States to live with them, permanently. I can’t let that happen. She’s my daughter.”

  “Yes, I understand that,” Amber replied. “But what I don’t understand is how me posing as your fiancée would change that.”

  “Jennifer and Michael think that I am not providing a stable home environment for Lilah,” I answered. “Because I work so much. If I could show them that I am settling down with a new woman, who will be like a mother to Lilah, then I think that they will change their minds.”

  Amber frowned. It was like a little pucker on her forehead, slightly creasing her skin. I was conscious, for the second time that day, of how attractive she was. Suddenly, I could smell her perfume. What was it? That’s right. White Diamonds. Erin had worn it, as well.

  My eyes slid over her, taking in her denim skirt beneath black tights. Stop it, I told myself. Get a grip. But I kept staring at her.

  “Even if I agreed,” she was saying now, “I don’t think it would work. Or, it might work for a while, until the contract finished. Then what? Your parents-in-law will still be around, and know that the ‘engagement’ has ended. Then you’re back to square one.”

  “By that stage, they will have moved on,” I answered. “Things will have settled down on both ends. They will see that my first commitment is to Lilah, and hopefully back off.”

  Did I really believe that? Well, I had no other choice, for now. This was the best I could come up with on such short notice. And it was a win-win. Lilah would get a surrogate mother, and Amber would get a fat pay check to boost her tuition fees.