by Maisey Yates
“Should I get her a treat?” he asked.
“Hey,” Alexa said, her tone defensive. “Is the treat bacon?”
“Milk-Bone,” he said.
“Then I’ll pass and head to bed.” She looped her arm through Kelsey’s, and they turned, stepping off the porch.
“Good night,” Kelsey said, turning back for one more, ill-advised, look at Cole.
He was already halfway into the house, the door closing firmly behind him.
“He’s an ass,” Alexa said.
“A sexy ass,” Kelsey added.
“Well, aren’t they all?”
She snorted. “If I’d met one that wasn’t I might have settled down by now.”
“Did you see that Tyler guy?”
“The one who was looking at you like you were dessert?”
Alexa cleared her throat. “Yeah. That one. Subtle, isn’t he?”
“Not so much.”
“Ah, the enthusiasm of youth.”
“I take it you met him earlier?”
“Yeah,” Alexa said. “He gave me a ride in his truck.”
“Is that a euphemism for something dirty? Because if it is I want details.”
They both tromped up the wooden steps to the cabin, and Alexa pulled the key out of her pocket. She shoved it in the lock and then pushed the door open. It was warm inside, and now it seemed more cozy than small. It definitely had its appeal.
“Would you really want details of . . . whatever ‘gave me a ride in his truck’ would translate to in sex lingo?”
Kelsey walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. “I have to get my kicks somehow.”
“Get them with a man.”
“Now? Like . . . while I’m gestating a human being? That would go over well.”
“How long has it been, Kels?”
“Too long.”
“There hasn’t been anyone since Michael. Has there?”
Her secret shame. “No.”
“Why?” Alexa asked. “I would . . . explode if I went that long without sex. I can’t even . . . how?”
“Believe me, I’ve been close to exploding several times. But I don’t . . . I can’t. I’m not a one-night-stand girl, you know that. And . . . look, if the guy that supposedly loved me enough to marry me had to satisfy his sex drive somewhere else . . . I don’t have a lot of confidence in my appeal.”
“You cannot let one rat-bastard ex make you doubt that you’re hot.”
“Sure I can. Can and have. And do.”
Alexa plopped down on one of the dining room chairs. “It’s ridiculous, Kelsey. He was stupid. It has nothing to do with you.”
“Easy for you to say. You got . . . felt up in high school. No one felt me up. You remember—I was kind of a loser. And then . . . Michael liked me and I felt validated.”
“And losing him . . . unvalidated you?”
Kelsey sucked in a deep breath. “Kind of.” It was embarrassing to admit. Lame. And until that moment she hadn’t realized how true it was. “But he was, like . . . The One, and then it turned out he wasn’t, and so . . .”
“And so what?” Alexa shrugged.
“And that’s . . . I was set. I wanted to be with him forever, and I knew it. I was so sure about it. Look where that got me.”
“You were wrong. So what? I’ve been wrong about a lot of guys. I’ve also been right about a lot of guys: knew that it would never last, and went for it anyway. I’m still standing.”
“Well, I let it knock me down for a while. But I was just starting to get a handle on the personal stuff, and now there’s . . . Cole. So yeah, instead of talking about my screwed-up life, can we talk about Tyler and you riding his truck?”
Alexa made a face. “I don’t even want to know what you’re thinking. I really did just ride in his truck, over to the lodge. He showed me around. That’s all.”
“Did you flirt with him?”
“Yes. And I told him we’re not having sex.”
“Why?”
“Because! Look, I know I talk a big game, but I haven’t done that wham-bam-one-time-only stuff in a long time. It’s just not . . . appealing anymore. Cuz I’m all mature now and crap. Anyway, he’s twenty-four.”
That sort of surprised Kelsey. Alexa had always been a gleeful hedonist in her mind. Seeing her showing restraint was . . . odd. “I’m a little disappointed.”
“Sorry, babe. I’ll try harder to live up to your expectations of me as a wild heathen some other night.” She stood and stretched. “Which bed do I get?”
“The kiddie one in the other room. I get the princess bed.” She lay back on the downy mattress. “I’m pregnant and weak.”
“It is going to be a very long nine months,” Alexa said, turning and walking into the small bedroom.
“Pffft. It’ll feel a lot longer to me!” Kelsey shouted after her.
Yeah. A lot longer. And now, with Cole involved, morning sickness wasn’t even the half of it.
***
“Can I come in?” Cole called through Lark’s closed door, guilt tightening his stomach. He hadn’t been as nice to her as he could have been. The whole situation had put him on edge. Hell, life in general had had him on edge for the past few years.
But Lark was only twenty-one. She’d been a teenager when their father had died. She’d been a child when they’d lost their mother. And he’d tried, in his clumsy, ham-handed manner, to step up in some way. More often than not, though, he’d screwed the pooch where she was concerned.
Like he had tonight.
“Yes.” Her voice was muffled.
He opened the door and saw her lying face down on her bed. She sat up and wiped at her cheeks.
“Damn, Lark, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
She looked at him, blinking her owlish eyes. “You think I’m crying because of you?”
“I was a bastard.”
“Well, yeah, but you’re my brother. I’m used to it.”
“Then why are you upset?” This wasn’t his forte. He kept the ranch going, made sure they could afford to put food on the table. He worked hard. He showed his caring that way rather than via conversation. It was easier for him. But he couldn’t just leave her like she was.
“I really, really would rather have my toenails pulled out with a pair of pliers than discuss this with you.”
He took a step back. “Are you PMSing or something? Because you’re right, I don’t want to talk about that. But I could. It’s not like I’m not familiar with women and . . .”
She held up a hand. “For the love of all that is holy, stop now, before you embarrass us both. It’s not that. I can handle that on my own.”
“Then what’s up?”
“Did you ever really like someone? And they very obviously didn’t like you back? Shawna excluded. I need you to think of a real, human being type person for the scenario.”
He tried to think. Tried to remember a time in his life when he had referred to sexual attraction as “liking someone.” Back before he’d seen the ugly, complicated side of love. “I’m sure . . . I did.”
“Oh . . . never. It never happened to you, did it? I’m a genetic oddity.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because you and Cade have . . . women. Lots of them. They buzz around you like flies.”
“Nice.”
“It’s true! Well, not you so much anymore, but that’s your choice.”
He cleared his throat. “You noticed.”
“And guys just don’t seem to notice me at all!”
“Forgive me for not being too broken up about that.”
“It’s Tyler.”
“Oh, hell.” He leaned back against the wall.
“I just really thought that there was something between us, but he’s ogling Alexa like she’s the hottest thing he’s ever seen. And I just don’t get what happened, because everything was really great between us. He’s . . . fantastic and . . .”
A knot started
to form in Cole’s stomach. “Stop right there. He’s fired. You’re not pregnant or anything, are you? Because I will—”
Lark recoiled. “What? How did I get pregnant in this scenario?”
Cole could see violence in his future. Lots of it. Violence and blood and mayhem and no remorse at all. “I just wanted to be sure before I kicked his ass off the ranch. Possibly ran him out of town on a rail, whatever the hell that means.”
“I’ve never slept with him!”
“But you said . . .” He played everything over slowly. “You didn’t say you’d slept with him.”
“No.”
“I assumed because . . . well, you made it sound like you had something going with him, and in my mind—”
She cut him off. “We did! I mean, he would come in and talk to me while I worked sometimes. And he let me walk through doors first. And he treated me like I was . . . special.”
He really had forgotten what it was like to be that young. To be that innocent. That they’d lived through all they had with Lark staying so darn sweet was . . . it had nothing to do with him. He wanted to protect from everything just then. The truth about life and love.
The truth about their dad.
“You are special, Lark,” he said, his chest tightening. “And just because some dumbass doesn’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not true. Anyway, he was just looking. Guys look. All the time.”
Lark started gnawing her thumbnail. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Don’t stress about it. You’re young. You’ll meet someone.”
“You haven’t met someone. Not a real, good someone anyway. Unless . . . Did you really hook up with Kelsey in Portland?”
“Not your business, kid,” he said. “But no.”
“You seem to like her a lot.”
“She’s . . . nice.” And I’m stuck with her. And he still hadn’t figured out quite how to handle it. He needed to handle it. Fix it.
“Maybe you could ask her out.”
“You’re cute.”
She frowned. “That’s patronizing.”
“I was being sincere. Hold on to it as long as you can, Lark. Life knocks the stuffing out of you eventually. Look at me. Look at Cade. As long as things are simple, keep them that way. As long as unrequited liking is the least of your worries . . . it’s not so bad.”
“It feels bad.”
“I know. Take comfort in the fact that that actually makes you pretty normal.”
“Not comforted.”
He laughed. “That’s normal too.”
“Shut up.”
“Love you too.” He didn’t say it often enough. But it had never been easy for him to say.
That earned him a smile. “I do. Love you, you know. Thanks for trying. And thanks for . . . being willing to kill someone for me.”
“It’s what brothers are for. ’Night.” He turned and walked out of the room, trying to breathe around the tightness in his chest.
Maybe he wouldn’t be the world’s worst dad after all. Maybe he could actually do this.
Chapter Seven
Health and wellness is particularly important during pregnancy. It’s important to take time for yourself. Time to puke your guts out. Time to brush your teeth after. Time to have the flavor of the toothpaste permeate your mouth with its overly strong, false, minty taste. Time to run back to the toilet and retch your guts out for the second time in ten minutes.
Don’t forget to eat a light meal afterward. You’ll need something to vomit up later.
Yeah. That wasn’t going to print. “Delete, delete, delete,” Kelsey mumbled as she highlighted and killed every word she’d just written. Maybe it was too soon to write about pregnancy stuff for the column.
Still, she needed something. The ranch column wouldn’t run until the following month and she needed something in the meantime. Frankly, with her lack of wellness she wasn’t sure what to write. Yes, she felt better now than she had, but only marginally.
She’d managed to eat breakfast at least.
Lark had shown up at the cabin bright and early with a tray laden with eggs, toast and bacon. Of course, Alexa had inhaled most of it on her way out to not flirt with the sexy, younger ranch hand she was so not going to have sex with.
Kelsey had only managed the toast, but it had actually been good. And it had stayed where it belonged, which was the most important thing.
The baby needed to eat.
Her heart stuttered. It was crazy, but sometimes she forgot about the baby. It was so easy to focus on the insanity of being pregnant. Of finding out that the father wasn’t just an anonymous donor, but a man who very likely wanted his child.
Sometimes the realization that there was a little life inside of her got lost in all of that.
She put her hand flat on her stomach. Sort of hard to believe it was real. That she would have a baby in just a few months. Would it ever feel real? Maybe when her stomach started getting rounder; when she could feel the baby move. Maybe then. Maybe.
She stood and stretched. She wasn’t going to get anything done on the column until she had a topic. Thank God she had a couple emergency columns finished just in case she ever had trouble coming up with something.
There was a knock at the cabin door and she closed her laptop and walked across the tiny kitchenette. “Coming.”
The little curtain that was there to cover the cut-glass window on the door was swept to the side, and she could make out height and broad shoulders. Which meant it was Cade or Cole. And her money was on Cole.
She opened the door and tried not to let her heart race out of her chest at the sight of him. Cole was basically a stone-cold hottie. And the less sick she felt, the more she noticed.
“Hi.”
He inclined his head. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
He walked into the cabin and filled it up completely. It wasn’t just his height and breadth; it was his presence. She’d noticed that at her house, even through the green haze of illness she’d been lost in.
“I’m going into town today,” he said, palms flat on the counter, looking large and masculine and so good, the muscles in his forearms flexing. Her mouth dried.
“Uh-huh.”
He looked tastier than toast. Which was a compliment, considering she could eat toast without regretting it later. She was certain tasting Cole would come with quite a bit of regret, though. She really, really couldn’t. It would be a disaster. Tasting him. Although, if she wanted to get rid of the guy, sex with her for a few weeks would probably do it.
Men seemed to find her boring.
“I thought you might want to come with me. It would give us a chance to . . . talk more.”
“Right.”
“Lark was upset about a guy thing. I didn’t hurt her feelings. You didn’t either.”
“Oh. That’s really good to know, actually. I felt bad. She seems . . . well, she seems really sweet.”
“I’m not entirely sure how she managed to stay sweet, considering she was basically raised by Cade, my dad and me, but yeah, she is. She’s special.”
The way he talked about Lark . . . it made her chest feel all tight. Made her imagine he would be a really great dad for their child.
“Do you want to get dressed?” he asked.
She looked down at her bright blue and gray polka dot pants. Heat flooded her cheeks. That she hadn’t realized what she was wearing was a testament to just how out of it she’d been socially the past couple months. “Oh, yeah. I should get on that. Shocking that I had to use a fertility clinic to have a baby, right? Guys are usually all over this.” She rolled her eyes as she turned and headed for the bedroom.
Cole watched her saunter off with an exaggerated shake of her hips. She certainly seemed to be feeling better. He was starting to see some life in her personality. Some color in her cheeks. She was actually sexy, baggy pajama pants aside.
It had just seemed beyond pervy to look while she was so sick. But now that she was fee
ling better, he felt free to look. She had a damn fine figure. Her tight, long-sleeved gray top had molded to her full breasts. And his body had noticed.
He hadn’t really noticed a woman in a long time, not with more than a brief, passing interest. The whole idea had just turned him off since his marriage and the death of said marriage, followed closely by the slow unraveling of all his father’s lies.
Sex had just seemed like too damn much of a complication. A dangerous one. He’d proven he couldn’t be trusted to make good judgment calls when his dick was doing the thinking.
But he wasn’t feeling immune to Kelsey. Not by a long shot.
She returned a few moments later wrapped in a pair of skinny jeans and a plain pink t-shirt. It was stretched tight over her breasts—a sight he was enjoying way more than he should.
Her thick blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail and her face was bare of any makeup. Which was just fine with him. He liked women. A lot. Made up, dressed down, in a pair of jeans, in nothing. Blonde, brunette. He’d never had a type.
At the moment, Kelsey felt a lot like his type.
Hell, no. He repeated that mentally more than once so his body would get the message. This was all complicated enough. He was not going to confuse it all more by dwelling on his attraction to her—or by acting on it. Which would be stupid beyond reason.
“Ready,” she said, grabbing her purse off a hook by the door. “Let’s ride, cowboy.”
***
It was a short trip from Elk Haven Stables to the main street of Silver Creek. The town was small, but clean and lively. Tourists were everywhere, taking pictures of historic buildings, eating at the quaint restaurants that lined the streets, and buying crap in the shops that they’d never find a practical use for once they returned to their real lives. There were restored classic cars, all parked in a row—a club on a cruise, she imagined. All of it added an air of nostalgia and comfort to the surroundings.
It was different than Bonanza, which, in her opinion, had little to no tourist appeal and an extreme lack of culture.
“This is great,” she said as Cole parked his truck on the curb along the main drag. “Different than I imagined. Because when I think ‘small town’ I think . . . depressing. Nothing but greasy spoons and mills.”
