Seduction, Cowboy Style

by Anne Marie Winston

  And because she’d been easier to get into bed than a sleepy baby.

  He hadn’t even undressed completely that first time. She could feel her face flame at the memory of him still wearing his pants and boots. Easy wasn’t even the appropriate word to use. She’d been a cakewalk. Why hadn’t he just let it go after he’d accomplished his goal of seducing her?

  Get real, girl. What man getting free sex is going to give it up voluntarily? The all-too-familiar prickle of tears burned at the backs of her eyes, and she got up restlessly, tossing off the covers and pacing around the beautiful prison of her room.

  She hadn’t gotten home until early evening. Her father had been waiting at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, and they’d gone straight home, where her mother had been fussing over a supper of Virginia ham, green beans and yams, one of her favorites. They’d been surprised by her sudden appearance, but neither questioned it.

  “Had enough of the Wild West?” her father had asked jovially. They’d cosseted and coddled her, and the minute she’d closed her door at bedtime she’d burst into tears, burying her face in the pillow to muffle the sounds.

  She felt so guilty and ashamed. They were going to be so upset when she told them about her condition. For an instant she considered going away somewhere and bearing the child, then giving it up for adoption, but as quickly as the idea flitted into her head she rejected it. She could never give up her child. Never.

  And Deck’s child, a small inner voice reminded her. A sweet, cooing blue-eyed baby with chestnut curls quirking all over his head…. The wave of pain was so fierce that she pressed her hands over her heart in an involuntary motion, but the hurt that sliced her wouldn’t be stopped. She felt a howl bubbling to the surface of her forced calm, and she quickly raced into the bathroom and turned on the shower, then shed her nightgown and stood beneath the hot, driving spray while scalding tears slipped down her cheeks, and her body shook with the force of her sobs.

  After the shower, she was so exhausted she nearly went back to bed, but instead she dressed in a loose-fitting, sleeveless denim dress that suited her lethargic mood and the steamy humidity of Virginia in June. Lyddie, the housekeeper who’d been with the family since before her birth, was on a high ladder dusting the chandelier that hung from the ceiling in the enormous foyer.

  “Good morning, honey. Is it good to see you! I’m almost finished here. If you wait five minutes I’ll fix you some breakfast.”

  Silver smiled and shook her head, waving at Lyddie to stay where she was. “No, you take your time. I can feed myself.”

  Though she wouldn’t count herself spoiled, she’d always taken the immense wealth in her family for granted. Now, walking down the hall, she thought of the typical life-style in Kadoka. A maid would be as foreign to them as seeing a unicorn prancing across the prairie. She’d gotten accustomed to doing for herself while she was at Cal’s, and she’d found that she liked it.

  Now, with a baby on the way, she looked critically at her life-style. Did she want her child to grow up being waited on hand and foot as she had been? The answer was a quick and resounding No. Her childhood hadn’t been horrible; far from it. And she didn’t think she’d turned out so badly, even if her taste in men needed a major tune-up.

  But she’d lived a fairy-tale life. She’d never skinned her knee, never tracked mud onto the kitchen floor, never fallen from anything she shouldn’t have been climbing on in the first place and broken a bone. She’d spent all her time at home in white lacy socks, black patent leather Mary Janes and full skirts watching other children through the windows of her father’s expensive European cars when he’d taken her somewhere. She’d played sedate games of dolls with the socially acceptable daughters of other moneyed families. She’d taken ballet, piano and riding lessons, and she’d gone through a finishing program, which included etiquette and ballroom dance classes with little boys in tuxedos and ruthlessly groomed hair who’d looked as though they’d rather be anywhere else on the planet.

  The memory made her smile even as it reaffirmed her feelings about the way in which she would raise a child of her own.

  A child of her own… That was her first order of business today, finding a doctor and having her first prenatal checkup. She sighed, remembering that she’d left South Dakota without keeping her doctor’s appointment. Her family doctor here didn’t do obstetrics. She’d have to figure out how to get a recommendation for a good obstetrician without everyone in her parents’ social circle finding out that their daughter had gotten herself knocked up out West.

  She winced. There was no way around it: she was going to have to tell her parents right away. Her mother would no doubt have the names of the best doctors in the area.

  She put her dishes in the dishwasher and went back to her room to brush her teeth. A few minutes later, as she was looking up obstetricians in the Yellow Pages, the doorbell rang. Curious about who would be calling before nine in the morning, she came out of her room and leaned over the balcony rail as Lyddie bustled from the kitchen and went to the door. Her father came out of his office at one side of the foyer and leaned against the door frame.

  When the door swung open, the first thing she saw from her vantage point was the crown of a black Stetson. Though his face was shaded from above, she’d recognize that long, lean body anywhere, and she reeled back against the wall in absolute, utter shock, one hand flying to her mouth to stifle the exclamation that nearly escaped.

  Deck!

  “Mrs. Jenssen?” Deck offered his right hand.

  “No, I’m the maid. I’ll go and get her.” Lyddie started to turn, but Deck reached out and touched her arm.

  “No, wait. Actually I’ve come to talk to Silver.”

  Her father straightened from his slouch and approached the door. “I’ll take care of this,” he said to Lyddie. As the maid went down the hallway to the kitchen, Deck offered her father his hand. “Mr. Jenssen? I’m Deck Stryker.”

  Her father reached slowly for Deck’s hand, a puzzled look on his face. He clearly was wondering if he should recognize the cowboy standing before him. She was sure he had no idea what this man was doing at his door at—she glanced at her watch—eight-thirty on a weekday morning.

  “May I help you, Mr. Stryker?”

  “I’d like to speak to Silver.”

  “Does she know you?” Her father was rallying.

  “Yes. I live on the ranch next to her brother’s in South Dakota.”

  “You’ve come a long way.” Her father sounded mystified. He turned and went to the intercom but before he could use it, she stepped forward and spoke over the railing. “I’m here, Daddy.”

  Her father and Deck both looked up. Purposely she kept her gaze on her father’s face as he indicated Deck with a wave of his hand. “This gentleman’s come to speak to you, dear. What shall I tell him?”

  She nearly laughed aloud. Deck was no one’s idea of a gentleman! And she could tell him herself—she was standing right there. She started down the stairs, addressing Deck directly. “I don’t have anything to say to you.” But her voice faltered into silence as her eyes met his stormy blue ones.

  “Oh, I believe you do,” he said, and there was a bite to the words that made her father straighten in alarm.

  “Mr. Stryker—”

  “Call me Deck.” He moved easily around her father to the foot of the stairs as she came to the bottom, and she stopped one step up, unwilling to get too close to him. It brought her eyes on a level with the grim line of his mouth. “Were you running out on me?” he murmured to her.

  “Hardly.” She made her voice cool and reasonable though every nerve in her body was jangling a nervous alarm at his proximity. “I have a life here. It was time to get back.”

  “You could have a life there, too.”

  “It was time to get back,” she repeated. She didn’t understand his cryptic words, and she had no intention of asking him what he meant.

  Deck gave her a level look. “And it didn�
��t occur to you that it might be nice of you to let me know you were thinking of leaving?”

  She shrugged, looking away from him as if the conversation was merely a polite exchange between acquaintances. “We were only casual—”

  His hand shot out and gripped her chin before she could think to evade him, startling her and forcing her to look at him. Lightning bolts shot from his eyes, silencing her as she automatically put up her hand and circled his thick wrist. “There was nothing casual about us and you know it, you little liar.” Deck’s veneer of civility was thin; the words were a snarl.

  “Now look here, Stryker.” Her father stepped forward. “I’m going to have to ask you to take your hands off my daughter and leave the premises.” He paused, and when Deck completely ignored him, he went on. “Or I’ll be forced to call the police.”

  “Cal told me,” Deck said to her, still ignoring her father. His fingers gentled on her chin, sliding up to cup her cheek. Then his sapphire gaze sharpened as he surveyed her face. “You’ve been crying,” he stated. “Why?”

  Another wave of shock rolled through her at his first words; she barely heard the question. Cal had told him she was pregnant? It rattled her badly for a moment, but she forced herself to keep breathing and not drop her gaze from his. She didn’t believe him. After the way the two men had acted toward each other the one and only time she’d ever seen them sharing the same space, she sincerely doubted Cal had told him that.

  “Cal told you what?” She straightened and turned her head away from the scorching touch of his fingers on her face, releasing her grip on his arm and stepping past him into the foyer, forcing herself to ignore the butterflies fluttering in her stomach at the simple pleasure of being so close to his strong, hard body again. “It’s all right, Daddy. Deck will be leaving in a minute.”

  “Deck will not be leaving in a minute,” he said from behind her through what sounded suspiciously like gritted teeth. “Deck won’t be going anywhere until Silver is packed and ready to go with him.”

  “What?” Silver and her father both spoke at the same time.

  She recovered first. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I owe you nothing.”

  Her father, apparently realizing that this was something more than a simple visit from an unwelcome suitor, said nothing further.

  “Have you told him?” Deck jerked his head in her father’s direction.

  “I haven’t told him anything.”

  “Amen to that,” muttered her father.

  “There’s nothing to tell,” she went on. “I don’t know why you traveled all this way. You’ve wasted your time. I’m not planning any more visits to Kadoka.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, since all these trees and hills are making me claustrophobic as hell,” Deck said. “But I guess if you really want to live here, I’ll find something to do.”

  “Now wait a minute.” Her father suddenly came to life. “Silver may be an heiress but before this goes any further you need to know that her money’s tied up in trust.” His voice was triumphant. “You’ll never see a single penny of her millions.”

  For the first time, Deck appeared taken aback. “Millions? She’s worth millions?”

  “Yes, but don’t—”

  “Keep them. I don’t care if she doesn’t have a penny to her name, I still want her, and I want our child. I can’t give her millions but we’ll live comfortably.”

  There was a stunned silence as his words echoed off the flagstone flooring in the big space.

  Silver dropped her head and covered her face with her hands. “Cal did tell you. That creep.”

  “He’s not a creep. He loves you.”

  Her father cleared his throat. “Silver, are you—”

  “Since when are you and Cal such good buddies that you champion each other? He killed your sister, remember?” Her angry words overrode her father’s voice. It was a petty, vicious thing to say, but he’d caught her off guard and she was feeling far too vulnerable.

  “This sounds like an entirely too complicated problem to unravel standing here,” her father declared firmly. He turned to Deck. “Would you like to come in, Mr. Stryker, and continue this discussion?”

  “No!”

  “Yes.” Deck ignored her protest. “Thank you, sir.”

  Silver turned on her father, ready to give him her opinion of his meddling but the expression in his eyes stopped her before a word slipped out.

  “Are you pregnant?” he asked quietly.

  She wanted to lie, to deny it, to send Deck away so she could cry as she so desperately wanted to do, but that was no longer an option. “Yes.” She didn’t dare look at Deck, and she couldn’t meet her father’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t want you to find out like this. I was planning to tell you soon.”

  Her father indicated the hallway leading back to the family room. “Why don’t we make ourselves more comfortable and talk about this?”

  “If you don’t mind, I believe Silver and I need to speak privately,” Deck told him.

  Her father nodded slowly. “Of course.” He inclined his head toward his office. “I’ll be working if you need me,” he said to Silver. He hesitated, then addressed Deck one final time. “My daughter will receive my full support in whatever decision she makes, but I meant what I said about the money.”

  “So did I.” Deck’s voice was level, but anger licked at the edges of his words. “You can keep every damn dollar you have. All I want is your daughter.”

  Her father nodded. But as he turned toward his office, Silver caught a faint smile curling the corners of his lips.

  Deck was watching her the way she imagined a predator might watch its cornered prey. But when he spoke, his tone was mild. “Let’s sit down somewhere and talk.”

  She sighed. If she knew anything about him, it was that he wouldn’t go away until he’d had his say. She might as well get this over with and then she could ship him back to the Badlands where he belonged.

  Silently she led the way down the hallway and into the family’s informal living room. Taking a seat in a chair, she indicated that he should do the same. He ignored her, walking across the room to stand with his back to her, gazing out through the French doors to the elegant patio beyond.

  “Would you care for a drink?” She would be civilized if it killed her.

  “No.” He turned to face her. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”

  “I—” She swallowed.

  “You knew the other night.” It wasn’t a question.

  She didn’t pretend not to know what he was talking about. “Yes, I knew.” She looked at him, seeing the way his tall figure blocked the light from the window, the foreign look that he gave the home of her childhood, with his black hat and scuffed boots and mile-wide shoulders. “I didn’t think it would matter to you.”

  “You didn’t think—Good God, woman, what kind of man do you think I am, that I wouldn’t want to know about my own child?” The words were ripped from his throat, and for the first time she saw the raw fury that he’d held in check.

  It took everything she had in her not to shrink from the angry blue eyes boring into her, but she stiffened her spine and spoke again. “You were so consumed with hate that there wasn’t room for anything else in your life. What was I supposed to think?”

  His shoulders slumped, and she realized her words had hit a vulnerable spot. “You’re right,” he said more quietly. “I treated you badly. And I’m sorry for it.”

  “Yes, you did.” He was looking for an absolution that she couldn’t offer.

  “Silver.” Deck covered the space between them and reached for her, cupping her elbows and drawing her to her feet. “I want you to marry me.”

  “Marry you?” She recoiled. It took her a long moment to marshal enough words to form another coherent thought. Despite everything, her heart leaped high and began to pound fiercely within her. A stern order to herself to settle down was useless. Then hurt and anger began to seep back into
her mind with the returning memories. “The altitude in these mountains must be affecting your brain. Go back to Kadoka and wallow in the success of your revenge.”

  “I can’t.” His words were quiet.

  “Why not?” The raw pain that slashed her heart apart nearly brought her to her knees and she wrapped her arms around herself tightly as if to stave off further hurt. “You were pretty pleased with yourself when you threw our—your successful seduction in my brother’s face.”

  “Our lovemaking,” he corrected her.

  “It wasn’t lovemaking. It was me thinking we were creating something special and you thinking you’d found the perfect way to make Cal pay.”

  “It wasn’t like that,” he said grimly. “I’d been worrying for days about how to work it out. Cal coming home early really screwed things up, and I was wrong not to fix the years of bad feelings right then and there.”

  “You weren’t wrong. It all worked out exactly like you planned.”

  “Except that you got hurt.”

  “If that was a concern, you should have thought of it before.” Tears were starting to slip from her eyes now, and she angrily dashed them away. “Get out of here. You heard my father. He’ll never give you any money if I marry you.”

  His jaw tightened. “I didn’t even know your family had money until Cal told me. He can keep his money. I only want you.”

  “You want this baby,” she corrected. “If you hadn’t found out I was pregnant, you’d be riding around on your precious prairie right now. I’d be the last thing on your mind.”

  “You know better than that.” Frustration colored his tone.

  “Do I?” She threw down the gauntlet. “I’ve been lied to before. I don’t intend to be so stupid a second time.”

  There was a silence as he digested her words. His face darkened as he realized she really didn’t believe him. “I’m not your ex-boyfriend,” he said.