Still Here: A Secret Baby Romance

by Kaylee Song

  I hadn't even thought about the father. How could I tell him? What would I say to him?

  Wyatt wanted ten dates in exchange for fifty-thousand dollars, but I didn't think he wanted a baby as a bonus gift.

  What was I going to do?

  “You’re still here?” I asked as I walked into my office, two coffees in hand.

  One for me and one for the man sitting in my chair. At my desk. My father had holed up here in Laurel, and I had a feeling he wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

  It made me anxious in all the wrong ways. I still had a few things to coordinate for tomorrow night. Still had some finishing touches to put on. And a full load of paperwork to go through. I didn’t need him poking his nose in and meddling.

  “Yeah, I don’t know that I’m going anywhere anytime soon,” he answered.

  “I thought you had to meet someone in the Caribbean?” I asked. I’d long since forgotten her name.

  “It can wait. Especially with this place on such shaky ground,” he said. “I mean, you aren’t using any of my business contacts, you’ve been going through all the ‘proper’ channels, and now I find out that you aren’t evicting farmer’s who can’t pay their rent?” he asked.

  “I speak to them on a case by case basis, Dad. I’m not about to evict Michael Madden. He's been working hard for us but has hospital bills that are sucking up all of his income.” I knew the case he was referring to, and I wasn’t about to back down from it. I’d been to the house several times to discuss a payment plan with him and the hospital. I’d even negotiated for him. His wife had breast cancer and his insurance only covered so much.

  I wasn’t about to let a man like him go out in the cold. He’d already sold us his house trying to get free of medical debts and then she relapsed.

  I wasn’t about to take away the home he needed for his children.

  “When did you stop caring about the town you grew up in or were you always this way?” I asked my father. It was like he didn’t even see the people who lived here. It was like they were nothing but numbers to him.

  He’d spent too many years in Denver and then Washington to feel connected to this place the way I was. I lived here; I went to school here. Hell, I’d been a freshman on the high school football team when Michael was the star running back. He was a senior, and a great player. He could’ve been an asshole to me like a lot of the other guys were. The ones that said I only made varsity because of my father.

  But he wasn’t. He told me I had real talent. He didn’t put me down when I was young and vulnerable. And now that he was vulnerable I wasn’t going to take advantage of that.

  “You’re too soft to run this damn business. I warned your mother-”

  “You leave my mom the hell out of this,” I growled. I’d finally had enough. He wasn’t going to insult her memory in front of me. I’d never been one to raise my voice at my father, but I wouldn’t tolerate that. I would fight him if I had to. She was not a topic for discussion.

  My mother put up with his ass for too damn long as it was.

  “You are too soft. You bow to every damn sob story, and you bend anytime someone has an excuse. That’s not the way you run a business," he snarled. He was angry. Well so was I.

  But I wasn't going to back down.

  “Look at the numbers, dad. I’ve got a higher yield on grains than any time in the last decade. Whatever I have sacrificed in the margins my workers have been made up for me and then some.” I’d been doing a hell of a good job out here, and I knew it.

  “But you could be doing so much better,” he said.

  “No. I couldn’t. If I didn’t show the people who work for me, who farm the land for me, that we were partners, that I cared about their needs,” I explained. “They perform better than they ever have because it isn’t a partnership borne out of fear. They trust me. I trust them.” It seemed so simple, so reasonable when I said it, but my father didn’t understand. He didn’t get it.

  His mouth just turned down into a frown. “They are taking advantage of you, can’t you see that?” he said. I could almost see him break. He was genuinely worried.

  I just shook my head. “Take your coffee and get out of my office. I have work to do.”

  He was never going to understand. It wasn’t in his nature. The man was a born tycoon.

  He just stood and shook his head. “My only son. I thought you would have learned by now. Thought I could pass on the business to you.”

  “The only son you know of, father. I’m sure there has to be offspring floating around out there somewhere. Maybe one of them is just as mean and nasty as you.” I wasn’t going to let him rattle me. Not when I had so damn much to do.

  I grabbed my phone and dialed it, my nerves on edge. I needed to talk to the one person who could calm them. The one person I was looking forward to seeing.

  “County Permits Office, how may I help you?” Her voice was sweeter than a strawberry sundae in July.

  “Hey darlin’, you wanna play hooky today?” I asked. “I know a quiet stream where we could catch our dinner and just sit and talk.”

  “Wyatt?” she asked. Her voice was small, far away. I needed her closer.

  If I could just wrap my arms around her. If I could pull her close and just relax everything would be all right.

  “Do you have another suitor?” I asked. I was only kidding, but a small stab of concern rose up in my throat.

  “I can’t,” she said, “I have so much work to do. I can’t just take off.”

  “I bet you can. I bet you are just as tired of being around suits all day as I am,” I reasoned. I wasn’t tired of everyone, just one giant ass in a suit. “Come on. I’ll make a date of it. Buy you some lunch and everything.”

  “I’ll have to see,” she said slowly, but I knew she’d be able to get out of it. Hell, if she wasn’t I’d call ol’ Bill up and ask him for the favor myself.

  “I’m already on my way,” I said as I stood up from my desk, “I’m coming for you, baby.”

  I was already out the door.

  Chapter Eleven

  Hooky. I hadn’t done anything like that even in high school, and now I was going to skip out on the rest of work?

  I shook my head and looked at the clock. Bill probably wouldn’t care anyways. I’d been stretching the truth just a little when I told Wyatt that we were packed. We hadn’t seen more than two people the entire day. But that was busy for Laurel.

  I stood up and walked over to the office where I found Bill playing solitaire at his computer.

  “Busy day, huh?” he joked as he looked at me.

  “About that, I was wondering if I could go ahead and leave? It looks like we aren’t going to get much business in, and I’m still feeling a little queasy.” I wasn’t lying when I told him that, but it wasn’t for the reason he thought. The tiniest of white lies that I doubt he would mind.

  “I don’t see why not. It doesn’t look like we are going to see much action today,” he said as he looked towards the door of the building.

  “Thank you,” I smiled and walked to my desk right as Wyatt was coming in the door. He must’ve been on his way when he called.

  “Are you ready to go?” He asked as he reached for me and pulled me into him.

  Excitement and guilt washed over me at the same time as he touched me. I was pregnant with his child and I hadn’t told him yet. I would. I needed to, but I couldn’t. Not yet. Not until I was sure that it was something that was real.

  The doctor said it was real, but I needed to see that baby first. I needed to know that it was real and that it was going to be okay. I didn’t want to find out I was pregnant, tell him, and then lose it.

  I didn’t want to tell him. I was too afraid.

  But the way he touched me, pulled me into him and walked me out the door made me forget all of that. It made me forget the anxiety building in my brain, about thoughts of the baby. About everyone that ever came before him.

  When he put his hands on me it was
me and him and that was all. That was our entire world. It was this little bubble that I didn’t want to burst with news that might just send him running.

  No, I could keep this to myself for a little while longer. Just a little while.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, curious as he opened the door of his truck for me.

  “I’ll show you when we get there,” he said. His voice was thick and sweet like honey to my ears. Where was he taking me?

  It didn’t matter. I was along for the ride.

  * * *

  “This is it,” he said as he parked the car. It was… nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just an empty field out in the middle of nowhere Montana. Just like anywhere else outside of time.

  “Where are we?” I asked as I stared out over the landscape. The mountains rose up, along the horizon, the field already filled with early grains blowing against the wind.

  It was everything I ever missed about this place. It was the epitome of Montana. Wild and wonderful. Just like him.

  It sent chills down my spine.

  I was falling for him, even when I shouldn’t have. Even when I swore I wouldn’t. I’d been hurt before. I’d already gone down this road. It never ended well.

  Give him another chance, the voice inside of my head wasn’t my own, it was the echo of Jess’ words. Another chance.

  “It’s the start of something new. Of something different. It’s mine.”

  “You own it?”

  “I do. Free and clear of my father. He doesn’t have anything to do with it. I want to build on it.”

  “No little house in town? Your storybook place?” I asked.

  “It’s great for one or two people, but not for a family.”

  I swallowed hard, the anxiety that he’d banished earlier returning. “Kids?” I asked.

  “I mean, someday, with the right person. Sure. I’d love three or four, playing in the yard, helping in the garden,” he said. He was picturing it, hell I was too.

  My hand flew to my stomach, to the little secret that was flourishing there, growing with each passing day. I was self-conscious.

  “I never imagined you with children.”

  “Me ten years ago? No. I didn’t want anything to do with that life. Didn’t even think about it. Except with one person,” he cleared his throat than continued. “I’m not my father. I don’t want to be like him. He didn’t raise me. He was never there. It was me and my mom, then it was me and whoever he hired to look after me.”

  I nodded. His mom died when he was in middle school and from that point on he’d been raised by a series of nannies. Lifestyles of the rich, I guess.

  “What about the business?” I asked.

  “I like what I do now. I like what I manage now. I don’t need more than that. I don’t need to take over his entire system of operations. A conglomeration of corporations all under one roof. I just want this business. He can groom anyone else to take his place. Not me.” His eyes were so angry that I knew he meant it. He meant every word of it.

  It was the fear that passed through them that woke me up to the reality of him. He was still very much the man I’d walked away from. He was still so very raw under the surface. Still so very angry and inflamed. It was the kind of thing I couldn’t fix. The kind of darkness that loomed ever present over him.

  Would he make a good father?

  I wasn’t sure, but he would make a good right now.

  She was holding back, I could see it in her eyes. But what, I wasn’t sure, so I just sat there and looked over that empty lot with her. I wanted to ask her what kept her quiet. What kept her from sharing all her hopes and dreams with me, but I knew what it was.

  I knew what was holding her back. Me. My past. All the things I did and said and promised to her and a million other women. I was that man. Was.

  I wasn’t him anymore. I didn’t want that anymore. One night stands, so many nights too drunk to remember. When she was in the picture everything else faded away.

  “You ready to get going?” I asked as I turned to her. I wanted to take her to the club, get lunch and soak up each and every second I got with her. I didn’t care about the money. I didn’t care about anything else. Not when she was with me.

  “Sure,” she said as she shifted away from me. I wasn’t having it. Not now. I grabbed her and pulled her to me, her body soft and pliable against my rock solid frame. I loved the way she felt when she touched me. I lived for it.

  “Not so far away, darlin’.” I barely whispered the words but they lit a fire in both of us. One that I could see in her eyes. We were already fighting so much sexual tension that it was hard to breathe in the cab of my truck, let alone touch.

  She cleared her throat. “Maybe I should just sit on the other side of the cab,” she said.

  What was she thinking? I could see her drifting away from me and I wasn’t going to have it. Not now. Not when I’d bared my soul to her.

  “I don’t think so,” I said as I held her close. I’d just turned down one long and winding road to another. We had a bit of a ride back and I wanted to enjoy every single second of it with her.

  Even the one where my tire blew and I had to grab both hands with the wheel and hope we didn’t fly into a ditch.

  I gained control of the truck easily enough, the bouncing and rumbling of it on the backcountry road forcing me to break hard. We ended up at a complete and total stop, both of us breathing hard.

  “Dammit,” I said. I didn’t need a flat tire. Not now. I was pissed. I threw the truck into the park and slammed the door open. “Damn tire. Damn thing.”

  I threw out of the truck and looked at the damage. It wasn’t anything important. Nothing wrong with the rim, just with tire itself. I had a spare up under the truck, it would be an easy change, but by the time I was done I was going to be muddy as hell.

  The roads were wet and muddy and I’d be laying on it. I had to in order to get the spare. So I sighed and I kicked the damn tire and I grabbed the toolkit out of the back of my truck. I was cursing under my breath the entire time as I slid under the truck and started unscrewing each of the lug nuts. I was swearing the whole time under my breath too, not paying attention like I should’ve and the socket wrench slipped slamming my damn hand right into the metal.

  I yelped with the sting of it then pushed it away from me. Fucking thing.

  I rolled the tire with one hand and carted the jack with the other. I wasn’t about to ask Rose for help, she was still wearing her work clothing. No, this was going to be messy as hell, but fuck it.

  I was already covered in mud. It was simple enough, changing a tire, so I got down and put the jack under the frame. The passenger side door opened and she stepped out.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.

  I could see her ankles from my view, those long supple legs making thoughts of her run through my mind.

  I completely forgot what I was doing.

  “What?” I asked as I looked up. Damn, she was even prettier from this angle, the light framing her curves in all the right ways.

  “I asked if you need some help?” she asked again.

  I was distracted enough to let go of he tire and watch it roll down the little hill into a field.

  “Dammit,” I said as I stood up.

  “Ew, you are covered in mud!” She exclaimed as she jumped back. I grinned at her.

  “Oh, afraid of a little mud, are you?” I wiped from some from the shirt on my back and lunged at her in a quick second dabbing it right on her nose.

  She laughed and dodged me but I saw too fast. Too strong. I had her in my arms in an instant. We were both hot, tense.

  “Wyatt,” she said, her breath hitched as she looked into my eyes. “Don’t you have a tire to change?”

  I didn’t care about that. About any of it. Not right now. So I scooped her up and walked her towards the back of the truck, putting my tailgate down. None of that mattered.

  “I’ll deal with it later,” I said a
s I shucked off my muddy shirt. The ground may have been wet, but my truck bed was nice and dry.

  I kissed her and grabbed a blanket out of a box I kept in the bed. I’d spent more than one night in it. Camping, on fishing trips. With women.

  But Rose was special.

  She always was.

  He reached up with a clean piece of his shirt and wiped that little smudge of dirt off my nose.

  “Can’t have you dirty, now can we?” he asked. He was right. I didn’t want to be covered in mud.

  But I wanted to be dirty with him.

  “Wyatt,” I said softly, but he hushed me, grabbing my blouse and pulling it up over my head.

  “I don’t want to talk about right and wrong. I don’t want to debate about what we should or shouldn’t do, Rose. I want you. I want you here and now.” I could see that he meant the words and I was tempted to be quiet, but we were out in the open.

  “What if someone sees?” I asked. We were so exposed here. Anyone could come up on the two of us. Anyone could witness what was about to happen.

  “I haven’t seen another damn car on this road the entire day.” His kisses on my neck made me forget all reason. I was caught up in the feel of his body, the hot flesh against my own. The warmth of his sweet breath on my skin.

  He wasn’t giving me much of a platform to argue from, and my brain was going fuzzy.

  I needed to come up for air but when I did all I could smell was him. The scent of his skin, the musky smell of his want. It was all filling my nostrils and taking me for a ride.

  One that I couldn’t say no to.

  “Let me have you, Rose. Let me have you right here in the middle of nowhere.” He was already tugging at my skirt but I helped him. I hiked it up over my hips and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

  He was impossible to say no to.

  His pants were undone in an instant and he sprung out, hard and ready and waiting for me. Damn.