Wanted--Texas Daddy

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Together, they moved to the sofa. As she settled cross-legged next to him, Nick continued to study her curiously. “I agree that we’re entitled to our privacy.”

  Good, Sage thought, relieved.

  “So...why do you think we have to do anything besides make it clear to people that we’re good together and really happy about the coming baby? Why do you think we have to pretend anything?”

  Sage spooned up some of the frozen treat with more than her usual concentration. “I guess we don’t, but...” With effort, she looked up into his imploring blue gaze. “We live here. And I at least will still be working here full-time, even if you’re gone a lot.” Sage paused, and as her next thought occured, she confirmed, “You will be gone a lot...?”

  Nick nodded.

  “For the next three or four months,” he affirmed matter-of-factly. “After that, I plan to be here a lot more than I’m gone.”

  Relief filtered through her. Again, she pushed it aside.

  She didn’t need a husband. She didn’t need Nick. She could want him, and cherish him, and she did...but she had to be as okay without him as she was with him if she wanted to be happy from here on out.

  His mood turning sultry, he ran a hand lazily down her thigh to her knee. “So what else is on your mind?”

  He was going to get wind of the rumors she’d begun to hear that morning, whether she told him or not. So maybe it was better it came from her. “Until I moved to town you were a very eligible bachelor.”

  “Not sure I’d put it that way.”

  “Trust me. Women were lined up to go out with you.” She mugged at him playfully. “You were just too busy plotting your next business maneuvers to notice.”

  “And your point is...?”

  She fought a flush with only partial success.

  “Now that the news about our pregnancy has spread, I feel like everyone is looking at me, wondering if I trapped you into this situation via my pregnancy.”

  “You didn’t.”

  “I know that. And you know that...” But now that the rings were on their fingers, it was open season on the speculation.

  Nick set his beer aside. “Do you want me to take out an ad in the Laramie Bugle newspaper? It could say something like ‘I, Nick Monroe, impregnated this woman with all my heart and soul...’”

  She couldn’t help but laugh.

  Shaking her head, she leaned forward to elbow him lightly in the side. “I don’t think that’s going to solve our problem, cowboy. But you’re right, it would definitely end the ‘ensnared’ storyline.”

  He squinted comically. “I could tell everyone you proposed joint parenthood to me.”

  Which was, unlikely as it might seem to outsiders, the truth. Sage put a hand to her temple to mime warding off a migraine. “Ah. Please don’t. My mother would hang both of us out to dry!”

  And after arguing bitterly with her mom the previous summer about her proposed plans to have a baby on her own, Sage did not want to do that.

  Her mom was the only parent she had left.

  She did not want to disappoint Lucille, even if it meant concealing the truth. Something she also did not want to do. Which left her between a rock and a hard place.

  Nick reflected, “We could just amp up the whole newlywed routine. Appear ecstatically happy.” He removed the pillow behind her and lifted her over onto his lap. “Make out in public and stuff.”

  Back to sex again. As always. Not that she usually minded. She set her ice cream aside and wreathed her arms about his neck. “You’re a dangerous distraction, you know that, cowboy?”

  He flashed a wicked smile, kissing her temple, her cheek, her lips, then said softly, seductively, “There’s a lot more where that came from, darlin’.” Excitement roared through her as he found her mouth, indulging in a long, hot kiss that quickly had passion sweeping through her.

  Long moments later, they drew apart. Sage had only to look into his eyes and feel his hardness to know he wanted to table this discussion indefinitely and take her to bed again. And while she fully intended to take him up on that invitation eventually, she put a staying hand to his chest. “As tempted as I am, let’s get serious here for a moment, Nick. How are we going to quash the scrutiny? ’Cause with you gone, I really don’t want to be pitied.” Or feel reason to be.

  Nick lifted her wrist to his lips, and kissed the inside of it. “You could travel with me some of the time.”

  And depend on him even more than she already was? Ignoring the new tingling the kiss engendered, her own growing need, Sage shook her head. “I did that once.”

  He tensed but his expression did not change. “With Terrence?”

  Finding she suddenly needed her physical space, Sage got up to put her ice cream away again.

  “I spent seven years following my ex from job to job. I lived in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. And quit job after job, all to be with him.”

  He lifted his shoulder in a hapless manner. “You were engaged, weren’t you?”

  “In the end. Because I really wanted to be, and we both felt obligated, because of all the time we had spent together, to make it work. Only to find out...” Her voice caught. Suddenly, she was glad they had the width of the living area between them.

  “What?” he asked gently.

  Maybe she needed to tell someone. Maybe then the unbearable humiliation would end. She began wiping down the counters. “That Terrence had never really wanted to be with me that long, after all,” she said in a low, choked voice. “He just hadn’t known how to break up with me. So he’d let himself remain trapped in the convenience of it all.”

  A muscle ticked in Nick’s jaw, the way it did over any injustice that was done to her. His gaze seemed fixed on her hand. “Sounds like a real jackass,” he growled.

  Sage sighed and put the spray bottle of cleaner and paper towels away. “I was at fault, too. I saw the signs, but I just kept thinking if I could somehow keep the romance in our relationship alive, I could make it all work in the end.” She paced the length of her kitchen restlessly. “We’d have this grandiose happily-ever-after life that I know now doesn’t even exist.”

  Slowly, deliberately, Nick got to his feet. “What do you mean ‘it doesn’t exist’?” he asked casually.

  He neared her, his big body filling up the space.

  Sage lounged against the counter. “You know, the fairy tale most of the girls I grew up with...believed in.” She had to tip her head back to see his handsome face. “You grow up thinking that you’ll go to college and get the perfect job, and find the perfect mate, and get married and have kids and live happily-ever-after.” She shook her head sadly. “But nothing is ever perfect, Nick. Not even close. Because in reality, I have to create my own happiness. Not make it contingent on anyone else.”

  Even you, Nick.

  * * *

  NICK KNEW WHEN he was in trouble, and he was in big trouble now. Calling on every ounce of persuasiveness he possessed, he moved toward Sage and said, “Look. I understand your disappointment over a failed relationship. I felt it too when both my engagements went bust.”

  The tension in her shoulders eased slightly. “You never said why exactly that happened.”

  There wasn’t much to tell. “I did the same things, both times. Pushed too hard, too fast, to achieve the kind of happiness you say doesn’t exist.”

  Her lower lip forming a delicious pout, Sage folded her arms in front of her. “It doesn’t. At least not outside of fairy tales.”

  In no hurry to engage her in further argument, he studied her for a good long time. “Well, let’s just say after losing both my folks in an accident at age ten, I wished like hell that it had, back then. So I could have the complete family life I lost.” And in fact, he still wished it.

  Only
now the fantasy had a particular woman starring in it, and she was standing right in front of him, her heart suddenly on her sleeve.

  “Oh, Nick...”

  Figuring if she had heard this much, she might as well know the rest, he looked her in the eye and said, “It was foolish to try to take a simple infatuation and turn it into more. But the fallout made me slow down. Temper my expectations just a little bit.”

  “Which is when you met me.”

  He couldn’t help but grin at the feisty memory. “Who also had ‘tempered’ expectations.” To the point, she’d told him flat-out she wasn’t going to “date” anybody. Hence, he’d detoured onto the just-friends zone.

  “See?” She smiled despite herself. “We’re a match made in practicality.”

  Nick just wished that was all he wanted from Sage. But even being her lover and husband in name only wasn’t enough.

  Her soft hands lifted in a conciliatory manner. “And now we’re having a baby together.”

  He ignored the erratic intake of her breath and the clear definition of her breasts beneath the loose shirt. “That’s right, sweetheart. We’ve got an awful lot to be thankful for right now. So, maybe we should just use that—” and our increasingly intense feelings “—to keep the gossip at bay.”

  She blushed prettily and kept her eyes on his. “What do you mean?”

  He moved toward her and planted a hand on the counter on either side of her. “I suggest we give everyone as much truth as they can handle. And let ’em know how happy we are, and have been for months now, even before the whole baby and marriage thing. Tell them we didn’t say anything to anyone because we didn’t want to risk jinxing the best thing that had ever happened to either of us.” Which was, for him at least, the complete and honest truth.

  “You think that will work?”

  Loving the warmth and softness of her, as much as the yearning in her lovely eyes, he said, “I think relaxing about everything is always worth a try.” Unable to keep himself from touching her, he plucked a stray curl from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “And speaking of upcoming events...” He paused to let his gaze rove her upturned face. “Didn’t you tell me you had an ultrasound coming up?”

  Sage radiated with excitement. “When I hit the five-month mark.”

  “Still want me to be there?” Thus far, she hadn’t seen the need to invite him to any of the appointments. Except that one.

  Sage merely nodded. Then she bit her lip, looking almost afraid to hope for too much again. “Do you think it will be possible?”

  He wrapped both his arms around her and hugged her close. For a moment appreciating the soft surrender of her body against his. “I’ll be certain that it is,” he told her gruffly. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”

  Chapter Seven

  Sage sat next to Nick when he talked with his four siblings at Triple Canyon Ranch late afternoon the following day. As his wife, he’d explained, she was now expected to attend the Monroe family business meetings, whenever possible. “Although I originally hoped to expand Monroe’s Western Wear into a multi-location corporation, with venture capital money, it’s become clear that is just not going to work. So, the new business is going to be an entirely new and separate entity.”

  “Your new business partners were okay with that?” Gavin asked his brother with his usual directness.

  Nick slanted Sage a self-assured look, then turned back to his sibs. “They understand all five of us inherited equal shares in Monroe’s Western Wear and the ranch. And that although I draw a salary for running the store, the profits are already split five ways, and will continue to be. There simply wouldn’t be enough return on their investment for them to be involved, as is.”

  Nick passed out the papers the lawyers had prepared. “Hence their decision to go with something entirely new, while still utilizing my knowledge of the Western-wear clothing business.”

  Pretty, blonde Erin scanned hers. “How much money are you putting in?”

  “None,” Nick reported succinctly. “In exchange for my work in getting the projected six new stores up and running, I’ll get a 49 percent share, while Metro Equity Partners will retain 51 percent ownership. The eventual profits will be split the same way.”

  “You’re okay, not being in control?” Bess asked with a heartfelt concern Sage shared.

  Nick shrugged haphazardly. “I’ve got a son or daughter on the way.”

  Which wasn’t exactly an answer to the question, Sage thought. Not sure that aspect of the deal was going to be as easy for Nick as he seemed to think now.

  “Not to mention a wife to support,” Gavin added.

  As all eyes turned to her, Sage flushed. She had tried to tell Nick that she did not belong at what was in essence a private Monroe family meeting. That she could sign the necessary legal papers at another time, but he had insisted. Even though his two older married siblings hadn’t brought their spouses.

  “Nick and I agreed before we married not to share our assets,” she explained, looking everyone in the eye, “so I won’t be laying claim to any profits he reaps. And vice versa.”

  Her pronouncement was met with a mixture of understanding and approval from the two younger unmarried siblings, and skepticism from the two older married ones.

  As if sensing she felt more ill at ease than ever, Nick reached over and squeezed Sage’s hand. “The bottom line is I’d prefer not to empty my bank accounts for a start-up. I’m happy just to put in my time and effort and have all my travel expenses paid. If it’s the success everyone expects it to be, I’ll be making plenty of money in the long run.”

  Sage hoped so. She knew how much financial success meant to Nick. As much as it had to her dad.

  “I’m guessing you’ll have to travel a lot?” Bridgett asked.

  “In the beginning,” Nick confirmed.

  “What about the ranch?” Gavin queried.

  “I’ve already hired a married couple to take care of the property and the horses.”

  Erin’s glance drifted to Sage’s tummy and the baby she was carrying. “Where is Sage going to stay?” she asked with maternal concern.

  As all eyes turned to her, Sage spoke up. “In my apartment, in town.”

  “When I’m gone,” Nick said, with a clarifying look aimed her way. “When I’m here, she’ll be with me, at the ranch.”

  This was news to Sage. But again, was something everyone would expect in a happily-married couple. So she nodded agreeably, even though she and Nick hadn’t actually come to a consensus. Generally, they just did whatever they felt like at that moment.

  Silence fell.

  “So what do you need from us?” Erin asked.

  “Your signatures on the partnership agreement, stating your rights extend only to the ranch and the flagship business, not any new ventures. Sage, as my wife, you will need to sign, too.”

  The pages were passed around.

  Signatures gained.

  Nick collected the papers, and collated them into one neat stack. He looked at his siblings. The dining room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop.

  To Sage’s acute disappointment, there was none of the happiness or congratulations she would have expected. And Nick needed.

  “Okay,” he said shortly, unable to completely conceal his hurt. “Obviously, you all have reservations. Let’s hear ’em.”

  “Life is really short,” Bess, a nurse who worked with rehabbing vets said. “Are you sure you want to spend it on the road?”

  Her twin, Bridgett, an NICU nurse at the hospital, predicted worriedly, “You’re not going to want to leave that little baby, once he or she is born.”

  Erin, the oldest, who had run the store and the ranch herself a number of years, said, “I know it can look easy, from the outside, but runni
ng the store in Laramie is pretty time-consuming on its own.”

  Which was why, everyone knew, Erin’d had to step down and just focus on her young family and custom boot-making business.

  Gavin, an ER physician, added, “The money sounds great.”

  “But...?” Nick prodded with a frown.

  Gavin shrugged. “I just can’t see you kowtowing to someone else’s business plan.”

  Wow. Sage blinked. Before she knew it she was on her feet, her hands flat on the table in front of her. Aware she had never felt more protective of anyone in her life, she chastened all four of Nick’s siblings with one sweeping glance. “I think this is an incredible opportunity for your brother. He’s worked hard and is deserving of your congratulations.” Not your private reservations!

  “You’re absolutely right,” a chastened Erin swiftly agreed. With an apologetic smile, she rose and walked around to embrace Nick warmly. “Sorry, little brother.”

  His three sibs followed suit, offering handshakes and hugs, too. The meeting over, everyone left to return to their own obligations. Nick lingered on the front porch of the ranch house beside her. The evening stretched out ahead, breezy and cool. He turned, his emotions locked up tight as a drum. “You didn’t have to jump to my defense like that.”

  Yes, Nick, I did.

  I couldn’t bear to see you so momentarily beaten down.

  “Hey,” she teased softly, wary of coming on too strong for fear of pushing him away or further adding to his misery. “What are wives for?”

  Sadness tinged his smile. “You’ve got a point,” he returned.

  He’d been there for her, so many times. It was her time to be there for him. Sage stretched out her hand. “Come on, cowboy.” She winked. “I’ve got just the thing.”

  * * *

  AN HOUR LATER, they had taken his pickup to the highest point on the Triple Canyon ranch. “I can’t say I’m surprised your idea involved an intimate dinner for just the two of us, given how much you like to cook. But can I say how glad I am it involved the kind of food only you can prepare?”