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

by Piper Sullivan

  “Bianca.”

  I almost jumped out of my skin, rearing around so quickly I almost lost my balance. It was Zane. He reached out and steadied me, kneeling beside me.

  “What…are you doing here?” I could barely talk, he had frightened me so much.

  “I followed you.” His voice was soft, carrying on the breeze. “When I couldn’t find you, I went back to the house. I saw you leave by yourself.”

  “Shouldn’t you be with your guests?” I turned away, towards the headstone. Tears had formed in my eyes.

  “They’ll wait.” He reached out and took my hand. A shiver went through me, at his touch. “The hunt is over, anyway. They are all heading back to the house. This is more important.”

  “What is?” I cursed my voice. It was trembling. Keep it together, I told myself fiercely.

  “You.” He stood up, pulling me to my feet. I could just see his face in the light of the lantern. He reached out and stroked my face. I choked back a sob.

  “Bianca, I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I haven’t reached out to you, since that night. It was just…”

  “You don’t need to explain.” I turned my face away. “It’s obvious, Zane. You are still in love with your ex-wife. What happened between us…well, it was just sex, wasn’t it? I was stupid.” The tears that had been threatening finally fell. “I’m leaving Birrimba, heading back to the States. It’s just too difficult.”

  “No!” He grabbed me, pulling me towards him. “That’s not going to happen! I won’t let you go!”

  I wrestled in his arms, trying to pull away. “I can’t stay here! Not like this!”

  “Like what?” he hissed. His face was so close to mine, I could feel his breath. “Like the nanny? I don’t want you here as the nanny, Bianca. I want you.” He feverishly started kissing my face, as he pulled me closer. “I’m not in love with Jo anymore. I was just finding it hard to let go. It’s you I’m head over heels in love with.”

  “You love me?” I gasped. I closed my eyes, not believing what I was hearing.

  “I love you,” he whispered. His lips came down on mine, warm and sweet. “My God, how could I not? You are the most amazing woman that I have ever met. You have settled my children back home, which is no mean feat. All the effort you have made, for this night. And you have shown me that you love it, here. You have connected with the place, in a way that Jo never did. Birrimba is my heart, Bianca. It runs in my blood.”

  “I know,” I whispered. “I can feel that connection. Oh, Zane, is it possible?” I looked up at him, his eyes glimmering in the soft lamp light. “I’m in love with you, too.”

  He let out a whoop, echoing in the night air. He picked me up, twirling me around.

  “Let’s go back to the house,” he said. “I need to get rid of the guests, so I can take you to bed.” His eyes narrowed as they looked at me. “You look so beautiful in that dress, I’ve barely been able to take my eyes off you all night.” My body warmed at his words.

  He took my hand, then reached for the lantern. I looked back at the candle, flickering on the grave.

  ***

  I heard the last car leave, snaking its way down the dirt track. All was silent. There would be a lot to clean up tomorrow, but it could wait.

  My bedroom door opened. It was him. I shivered.

  “Everybody gone.” He crept into my room. Then he stood looking at me, as if his eyes drinking me in. “What a night.” His voice wavered with tiredness.

  “Do you need to sleep?” I whispered. He looked at me as if I was crazy.

  “Sleep is the last thing on my mind,” he growled. “Stand up and turn around.”

  I stood up. I had managed to get the lace dress off, but the corset was another matter. I hadn’t wanted to ask Mrs. Price to unhook me.

  He let out a slow whistle as he looked at me. “That is the sexiest thing I have ever seen,” he said. “A Victorian corset. Wow.” He shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe it.

  He put his hands around my waist, feeling the stiff boning. “A six-inch waist?” he murmured, pulling me to him. Then he spun me around, slowly unlacing me. I felt the corset give away, and then his hands snaked around, finding my breasts, kneading them.

  “My lady,” he whispered, in my ear. I saw our reflection in the full-length mirror. “May I make love to you?”

  I nodded, weakly, my head falling back against him. He had found my nipples, and was pulling them into peaks. Desire tore through me, as I felt his hardness against me.

  Suddenly, he pulled my panties down, and bent me over. He entered me, swiftly. I gasped again at the pleasure of having him inside me. He was watching us in the mirror, as well. I could see him behind me, his eyes closed as he gently thrust. I backed against him, lost in the moment. I could feel it building, and could see by his face that it was close for him, too. Watching ourselves was an added thrill.

  He gripped me, straining. My climax shuddered through me, unspooling like a ribbon of light. I couldn’t help it. I groaned, softly. He shouted as he reached his peak, gripping me tighter still.

  We collapsed onto the bed, breathing heavily. At that moment, the first rays of the new day suddenly started streaming through the curtains. He turned to me, stroking my face.

  “Bianca,” he whispered. “Don’t ever leave me. Will you be my wife?”

  “Yes,” I whispered back, joyfully. “Oh, yes!”

  We lay in each other’s arms, softly stroking each other. Birds started twittering; I could hear Harper’s bedroom door open and close, as she went to the bathroom. Another day was starting, at Birrimba.

  And I would be here, to greet it. With Zane, and the children. Just as I planned to be here, forever. I couldn’t think of a place I would rather be, than here with this man and this family.

  I looked over at the old lace dress, hanging on the back of a chair. Thank you, I silently said. It felt like the spirit of Florence had guided Zane to me. Maybe she wanted one of her family to live happily ever after, content in this beautiful house in the endless, open desert.

  ***

  THE END

  Hope you enjoyed Bianca & Zane's story dear reader. If you would like to read another Austrialian Romance, Finn & Amber's story is also included in this book. Check out the Table of Contents for Nanny's Aussie Billionaire

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  Prologue Daddy’s Fiancee Nanny

  Rafael

  As a general rule, I don’t hate lawyers. I do however find them tedious, annoying and useless. Even the Royal Legal counsel at home and even the General Counsel for the family business, Estamillo Shipping. At least I felt that way until I found myself sitting in a sleek modern office inside a Beverly Hills law office.

  “I just don’t understand how they even have cause to bring such a ridiculous fucking lawsuit!”

  “Mr. Cavalleros you need to calm down.” Tara Hansen, my lawyer with a reputation for being a shark, calmly reminded me for the sixth time in the past half hour. “This is America, we can sue anyone for anything we choose. It is my job to make sure they don’t win, and I am damn good at my job.”

  Her confidence did inspire me, but how in the hell could any man in my position feel confident or inspired when someone tries to take away your child?

  “So you’re saying they have no chance to win custody of Sofia?”

  Tara gave me a gentle smile and I hated it, so placating and fake. “There’s always a small chance,” she said to me while her fingers flew over the keyboard on her mobile. “But I have a private investigator looking into every aspect of their lives. We’ll find everything that reflects poorly on them as guardians for Sofia.”

  This was exactly the part of the law that turned my stomach. How could I live with myself if I let this woman tear apart my former in-laws? They were still my daughter’s grandparents. But then again, how could
I not use every tool at my disposal to make sure my little girl stays with me?

  “I’d like you to run what you find by me first.”

  “I know you are a royal Mr. Cavalleros, and therefore you are used to people bowing to your every whim. However, I only take cases I can win. So if you don’t trust me to do what I have to do, I’m happy to recommend someone else.”

  Well hell. “No that’s fine Ms. Hansen but these people are Sofia’s grandparents.”

  Tara leaned forward and then stood, turning her back to me to gaze out her window. “You need to remember that they are also the people telling the court that you’re not fit to take care of her. That your lack of a female companion is somehow hurting your child.” She turned around, blue eyes fierce and ready for battle. “The law is not for the faint of heart. Do you trust me to do everything in my power to keep Sofia where she belongs?”

  I nodded, because what the hell else could I say? “I trust you.”

  “Good. The Royal Counsel of Estamillo has sent me their recommendations, you want to hear them?”

  I shook my head. My father, the King of Estamillo, was in agreement with the Counsel. Come home with Sofia and out of the reach of the American justice system. “I’ve heard nothing but for the past three days.”

  She laughed. “They have good intentions but given our relationship with your country, I think it’s best not to turn this into a diplomatic fiasco.” Leaning against her desk, she crossed her arms and gave me an assessing look. “It wouldn’t hurt your case though to have a woman in your life. Is there someone?”

  There was, but not officially. I admit I’ve harbored feelings for her for some time now, but she was too young. Had too much life to live to settle down with a man twenty years her senior and play mother to someone else’s child. And she was my nanny.

  “There is,” Tara smiled and sat down, resting her chin in her hands. “A girlfriend? Because that would be good.”

  “No, not a girlfriend.” Not even a woman I’d been on a date with, though we did spend a great deal of time together.

  Her smile fell. “Well making her your girlfriend would be good. Making her your fiancée would be even better.”

  I said my goodbyes to the lawyer and made my way to the sprawling beach home I purchased for my stay in America. I spent the ride home staring at the sparkling water to my left and thinking.

  Losing my wife was hard for many reasons, but none more than the fact that my little girl would never get to know her mother. It hurt to live without her that first year, knowing that had Angelica simply stayed home instead of competing in the regatta during a storm, she would have been here to witness Sofia’s milestones. First walk, first laugh, first word. She’d missed it all and now her parents were trying to take Sofia from me.

  I won’t let that happen.

  I can’t.

  By the time I arrived home, angry and terrified, I had to wipe it all away so Sofia wouldn’t pick up on it. She was a sensitive girl and I needed to shield her from this as much as I could. For as long as I could.

  “Daddy! Come build with us,” she said in her accented English, smiling up at me and covered in sand.

  “What are you ladies building?”

  Sofia looked over to her nanny, Harper, for the word she was looking for and Harper looked up at me with those beautiful violet eyes that had enchanted me from our first meeting.

  “We’re building the biggest, baddest sandcastle a princess ever built.”

  “Yeah!” Sofia bounced on her knees, hands flying wildly, sprinkling sand everywhere. “Sorry Harper. Sorry Daddy.”

  “No worries kiddo. Can’t go to the beach and not get sandy,” Harper smiled, leaning over to pat Sofia on the shoulder and giving me an enticing look at her sizeable chest.

  “Come Daddy!”

  “Yeah, come on Daddy,” Harper smiled and winked up at me playfully. She was goading me because I’m too serious she says. For the past eighteen months she’d been trying to pull me out of my shell, to get messy and do something spontaneous. It hadn’t worked.

  Maybe that’s why she’s not interested.

  “Give me five minutes to change.” As I made my way back inside I could still hear their laughter and happy conversation behind me. Harper had been everything Sofia needed and they’d taken to each other beautifully. She loved Sofia and would do anything to protect her.

  Anything?

  Maybe…

  ***

  To be continued…

  Hope you enjoyed this preview Dear Reader. If you’d like to find out how Rafael & Harper’s story ends, check out them out here

  Excerpt Dr Daddy Next Door

  Rory

  “I have always been a fan of silk ties and blindfolds,” Rosanna batted her eyelashes up at the object of her affection, smiling coquettishly when she raked a hand through his salt and pepper hair.

  “I’m happy to show you the pleasures to be found without a few essential senses.” Dr. Hargrave removed the ever-present bowtie and corduroy blazer that made him look every inch the anthropology professor he was, and moved in closer.

  Rosanna’s breath hitched. Her skin flushed and her pulse raced as he drew closer.

  * * *

  I leaned back in my oh-so-comfortable computer chair and blew out a long breath. The erotic romance I was writing was coming along nicely, and would be a good complement to my thesis. The examination of young women and sexuality when it came to older men was common throughout history and literature. It was, at least to me, the perfect project for my double masters in Modern Literature and Anthropology. I only hoped my professors thought so too.

  With a crack of my knuckles and a jerk of my neck, I got back to work. I was at the good part, when the young and nubile Rosanna would slide her panties off and expose herself to the professor. That’s when I saw it, a small head topped with brown curls peeking inside my house. I grinned at her poor ninja skills, ducking down seconds after I’d already seen her, figuring she must belong to the new neighbors who moved in about a month ago. Between my final two graduate school courses and my job, correction my old job with television personality Dr. Todd, I’d been so buried in my own life that I hadn’t even met them yet.

  The tiny brown head popped up again, in front of my picture window that overlooked the verdant backyard that I’d spent many hours tending in order to clear my head. To find inspiration. I waved and she ducked again, pulling an amused laugh from me.

  Saving my document, I stood, stretching tense muscles before making my way to the door. The house was a white side-by-side duplex with blue trim. Though I hadn’t been inside since the firefighters moved out, I knew the other half of the building was the opposite of mine. The main rooms were switched, mine faced the backyard and theirs faced the street. I’d never been upstairs, but I figured that’s where two of the three bedrooms were located. I pulled open my door and stepped onto the shared porch, finding the little girl ducking behind the patio swing.

  “Hey stranger, do you need some help?”

  Big clear blue eyes the color of the sky peered up at me through a mess of curls. Finally, her head bobbed up and down, but that was it.

  I dropped down onto the balls of my feet, ignoring the way my thighs screamed in protest. I’d skipped going to the gym lately because I was just too busy.

  “I’m Rory and I live right here. What’s your name?”

  “Sydney,” a soft voice said with hesitation.

  “Nice to meet you Syd,” I held out my hand giving her a grownup shake that made her giggle. “Now, how can I help you?”

  Those big blue eyes that made her look so vulnerable called out to me, but the way they darted off to the sides made me wary. Finally, she looked at me again, and I guess she decided she could trust me.

  “My sitter didn’t show up.”

  I blinked. This was out of my depth. What the hell did I know about little kids? Nothing, that’s what. The only little kid I knew was myself, and I had never reall
y been a kid to be honest.

  “Where are your parents?”

  “My mommy is gone. My daddy is at work. He makes babies,” she offered proudly.

  Instantly my heart went out to this adorable little girl with an ethereal beauty that would stun the world in a few years. Losing a parent was hard. I should know, I lost both of mine. That’s not true, exactly. I never knew my father because he’d left my mom long before I was born. But when I was fifteen I lost my mom. Literally. Came home from school two days before homecoming to find the entire apartment empty except for my room.

  “I’m sorry about your mom kiddo. But why is your dad already gone if the sitter didn’t show up?” I stood up and tried to peek through the window above their closed door, but even with my own five-seven height, the window was too high. I tried the door knob, but it wouldn’t budge. She was locked out.

  “Babies were coming and Amy said she was coming in five minutes,” she said with so much exasperation I had to bite back a smile. “It’s been longer than five minutes.”

  “You’re probably bored and hungry, huh?”

  Again, her head bobbed up and down as she inched closer to me, stealing inside my place before I changed my mind.

  “I didn’t eat for a long time.”

  “I’m just glad you didn’t try to cook on your own,” I told her and she gave me a perplexed frown.

  “I’m too young to cook.” Her tone implied she thought I was an idiot, but her curious gaze held mine.

  “I know.” She tried her best to climb up onto one of the counter stools, but she was just too tiny so I gave her a boost.

  “Thanks,” she grinned, showing off a pretty smile full of baby teeth. “What are we having?”

  Good question. I cooked for myself pretty regularly because it was cheaper and healthier and now that I didn’t have a job, health insurance had become a luxury. I scanned the fridge and found enough ingredients to make a meal. “How do you feel about spaghetti?”