by Tina Leonard
And then she went inside the arena, and the other ladies kissed his cheek and wished him a long ride, and his brothers clapped him on the back with hearty thuds, telling him he was the man!
But he didn’t feel like the man. What man wanted to see his ladylove pregnant by another guy? The thought cramped his gut.
He was a wimp. A romantic fool.
He dragged himself inside. A couple of his brothers rallied around, giving him a pep talk he didn’t hear. “Why’d you bring her?” he asked dully.
“Who?” Rafe asked.
“Darla.” He couldn’t speak her name without feeling pain.
“We couldn’t leave her behind,” Sam said. “Now buck up, bro, and think about your ride. I heard Lightfoot took his last rider for a spin into the boards.”
“Yeah.” That rider had busted his leg and would be out for a few months. Judah put his mouth guard in, a preride ritual that always focused his mind on the next few moments.
His mind wouldn’t cooperate. “She’s beautiful,” he said, and Sam said, “What?”
Judah couldn’t form words clearly around the mouth guard and his rattled brain. It didn’t matter. Darla wasn’t his, wasn’t ever going to be his, and that baby she was carrying was going to have a rodeo doctor for a daddy. Not him.
And then he realized why Darla was here. She hadn’t come to see him. Her fiancé—husband-to-be in just a few days—was working the rodeo tonight.
“Well, I’m not going to need his services,” he said, and Sam said, “What, ass? I can’t hear you with that mouth guard in. Why’d you put it in if you were going to go all Oprah on me?”
Lightfoot Bill was in the chute. Judah got on the rails.
It was time to score big. All he needed was to keep riding like he’d been riding—and then it wouldn’t matter that his heart was blown out.
Nothing was about to matter, except hanging on.
DARLA DIDN’T KNOW when she’d ever been so nervous. Jackie held her hand, and Sabrina McKinley clutched her fingers on the other side. “Having any visions?” Darla asked Sabrina.
“Only that you’re having twins,” Sabrina whispered back.
Darla looked at her in shock. “You really are psychic, aren’t you?”
“I was teasing. Nice to know I can occasionally guess right.” Sabrina smiled at her. “He’ll be fine. At least I hope so.”
Darla hoped the row of Callahan men behind them—and most especially Fiona—hadn’t heard her big news. “Don’t tell anyone. I’m still trying to get over the shock.”
Sabrina laughed, and Jonas said, “What’s so funny? My brother’s about to ride down there.” So the women shared an eye roll and went back to watching the arena.
The gate swung open and the bull came out jacked and on a mission. Darla was pretty certain her breath completely stopped. She didn’t realize she was squeezing Jackie’s and Sabrina’s hands until the buzzer went off.
The brothers jumped to their feet, cheering for Judah. So did everyone else from Diablo. Darla sat back down, closing her eyes for a moment, awash in conflicting emotions. Judah scared her to death. He loved living dangerously. He always had. Her heart had always been drawn to that. She herself was practical, calculating risks and making sure she stayed in a safe zone.
She wasn’t safe anymore. She was wildly in love with Judah Callahan, and in four days she was marrying someone who was not the father of her children. Her babies’ father was down there being congratulated, so far away from her they might as well be in different hemispheres.
Judah’s score shot him into second place, and Darla tried to breathe.
“Man, that was something!” Jonas said. “That bull laid out all the tricks it knew to get Judah off.”
“He’s got to be happy with that score,” Rafe said. “Now, if he can just keep it going.”
Darla closed her eyes, wishing she’d never agreed to come. The nurse in her wished Judah had a safer calling; the practical side of her knew he was doing what he loved best.
Which was why she hadn’t said a word to him about being a father.
“You’ll have to tell him sooner or later,” Sabrina said.
Darla stared at her. “Tell him what?” she asked, hoping her secret was still safe.
“That he’s going to be a dad,” her friend said.
“Hey, Sabrina,” Fiona said from behind them. “I’m thinking about hiring you away from Bode. What would you say to that?”
They all turned to look at the older woman.
“Is that wise?” Sam asked. “Not that I don’t approve, but won’t that get Bode on you all over again?”
Fiona shrugged. “I’m in the mood to annoy Bode.”
Burke said, “We could really use the extra help. There’s been so many babies, and Fiona wants to spend all her time holding them.”
Darla felt her heart drop again. Her children would never be part of the love in the Callahan household. It was their rightful place. There were a lot of people at Rancho Diablo who would love the twins, if they knew about them. And she had no right keeping Judah in the dark.
Suddenly, Darla knew Sabrina was right. She had to find a way to tell Judah—before she said “I do.”
It wasn’t going to be easy, and he probably wouldn’t believe her. But her children deserved an honest start in life—no secret-baby surprises. Her gaze found Judah in the arena—though she should have been looking at her rodeo physician fiancé—and it seemed Judah glanced her way before he disappeared.
I’ll tell him tonight.
IT WASN’T JUDAH’S POLICY to make love to a woman the night before a big ride. He had two more rides tomorrow. He was sitting on a big score tonight—second place was sitting pretty. It left him room to chase, but he wasn’t the target. Second was great.
Therefore, lovemaking was the last thing on his mind.
Well, not the last thing. Every time he glanced up at Darla in the stands, looking like a hot dream, he had to fight his mind to focus.
He wasn’t planning on making love.
But when she came to him and asked him if he had five minutes to talk to her—alone—a devil jumped to life inside him. “My room’s across the street.”
She stared at him, her cheeks pink. Oh, he knew her fiancé was here. He’d spoken to the good doc at least five times tonight. He didn’t hold a grudge against the man.
If he held a grudge against anyone, Judah thought, it was this woman. She’d snared his heart, then trashed it. He didn’t feel bad about reminding her that she’d once been behind a locked door with him.
“I can’t go to your room.” Darla’s face was pale.
“Then talk here.” He crossed his arms. “I’m listening.”
“I can’t talk to you here,” she said, glancing around. “Isn’t there someplace we can talk privately?”
Judah shrugged and turned back to taking off his gear. “My room.”
She took a deep breath. “All right.”
He was surprised that she relented. “Here’s my key. I’ll be there in five.” He handed it to her, and she snatched it, looking around furtively, which almost made him smile. Darla did not do sneaky well. She was more sweet than sneaky. She must have something big on her mind if she was willing to rendezvous with him. Idly, he wondered about it, decided he’d never understand the mysteries of the female mind, and promptly dismissed it. She was probably going to do the guilt trip thing, like how the night they’d spent together hadn’t meant anything, and now that she was getting married, if he would keep the little detail about their evening under his hat, she’d be eternally grateful, blah-blah-blah.
He’d act as if it hadn’t meant a thing to him, either, and let her go on to her newly married life with a clear conscience.
But first he let her stew in her juices for a little bit. Then he followed after her, tapping on his door. She let him in.
“Well? What’s so urgent?” He put I’m a busy man in his voice, so she’d get her soliloquy over with, thereby sparing both
of them the agony.
Darla’s eyes were huge as she stared at him; he could tell she was nervous. Judah kept his gaze away from her belly. Looking at her, knowing she was pregnant, was killing him. No man should be in love with a woman and know she was carrying another man’s child.
“I’m pregnant.”
“I can see that. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” She swallowed. “Congratulations to you as well.”
“Yeah. It was a lucky ride. I need a couple more tomorrow.” He didn’t look toward his bed, because if he did, he’d be tempted to drag Darla there. And he was a gentleman. Barely.
“I mean, congratulations to you, because you’re having a baby, too.”
He laughed. “Not me. I’m—” He stopped, looked at her carefully. Her face was drained of color. “You’re not saying—”
She nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
He stared at her, gazing deep into her eyes. Darla was not a dishonest woman. She wouldn’t tell him this unless she believed it to be true. “I don’t get it. How?”
“I don’t know! Maybe there was a tear.” She glared at him. “You’d know better than me.”
He blinked. The condoms had been given to him by Creed at his bachelor party. The side of the box had read For The Guy Who’s Large and In Charge. Judah remembered vaguely thinking all that might be true, and that it was pretty damn competitive of Creed to try to keep the other brothers from getting themselves in the family way, just so he could stay in the lead for the ranch.
Judah sank into a cracked vinyl chair near a tiny round table. “Why are you telling me this now?”
She breathed in deeply, obviously trying to calm herself. “I wasn’t going to tell you at all. But then I realized that was wrong. I don’t want to have secret babies.”
“Babies?” His heart ground to a halt in his chest. “Babies?”
She nodded. “We’re having twins.”
Judah’s world opened up, chasmlike. His pulse jumped, more fiercely than when he’d been on the back of Lightfoot. “You say we’re—”
“Yes.”
He passed a hand across his forehead, realized he was sweating under his hat. “I don’t mean to be coarse, but how do you know that you’re pregnant by me and not by your fiancé?” He wasn’t about to say the man’s name.
“Because I’ve never slept with him.”
“Why not? Not to be indelicate—”
“It doesn’t matter,” Darla said. “We don’t have that kind of relationship.”
Maybe the man was an idiot. Maybe his thing didn’t work. Judah couldn’t believe that a guy who was fortunate enough to get a ring on Darla’s finger wouldn’t be making love to her like a madman every night. “Every man has that kind of relationship, darlin’.”
She wore embarrassment like a heavy winter cloak. “When Sid asked me to marry him, we agreed on a business relationship. That’s it, and no more.”
Sid. Judah leaned back, trying to take in everything he was hearing. “That’s why you were so eager to get in my bed that night. You wanted a good time before you tied yourself to this business relationship.”
She hadn’t been interested in business with Judah.
A blush crossed her cheeks. “I—yes. And I’m not sorry about it. Even now.”
“Nice to know you don’t regret it.” He couldn’t help the sour tone in his voice. “So what does Tunstall think about you being pregnant?”
Darla stared him down. “It was unexpected, obviously, but he’s not opposed to being a father.”
Judah jumped to his feet, crossing to her. “Let me tell you something, Darla Cameron. If you’re telling the truth—and something tells me you are—no one will be a father to my children but me. Let’s just get that straight up front.” He studied her, deciding it was time this relationship got on the right track. “Something’s going to have to change about your wedding plans, sweetheart.”
Darla shook her head at him. Judah was angry. She’d expected anger, but not his statement about her wedding. “What exactly does that mean?”
He went back to his chair, dropping into it with an enigmatic smile shadowing his lips. “It means you’ve got the tiger by the tail, and now you’re going to have to tame it. I shouldn’t have to spell anything out for you. You knew when you told me this that your wedding to the good doc was never going to happen.”
“I know no such thing!”
“You’re not marrying another man while you’re carrying my children. So put all that out of your sweet head.”
Darla felt her own stubbornness rise. “I’m not having children out of wedlock when I’ve got a perfectly good groom planning to be my husband, Judah. It’s no inconvenience to you if I’m married. You’re not planning on being around.”
She could see by Judah’s expression that he was fighting to be civil. But he didn’t have the right to tell her how to run her life.
“It’ll be inconvenient for you when two grooms are standing at the altar with you on your wedding day,” Judah said.
“You’re not suggesting that you want to marry me?”
He nodded. “If you’re pregnant by me, the only man you’re marrying is me. That’s the way I do business, babe.”
Annoyance rose inside her. “Not that I expect romance in a proposal, but I don’t want to be told what I’m going to do, either.”
“And I don’t want to be told that I’m going to be a father, and that someone else is planning to raise my children.” He gave her a determined stare. “I’m being very reasonable, under the circumstances.”
This was awful. No woman wanted the man she loved this way. Darla wished she could walk out the door and forget these past ten minutes had ever happened. But she couldn’t. Her pride couldn’t be the most important thing to her right now—she had her children’s welfare to consider. “I’ll think about your proposal,” she said coolly, going to the door.
“You do that, and don’t forget to tell the good doc your business merger’s off.” Judah followed, putting his hand on the doorknob to open the door for her—at least that’s what she thought he was going to do—before pressing his lips against her cheek, his stubble grazing her skin ever so slightly. “Just so you know, Darla, I don’t plan on mixing business with my marriage.”
His meaning was unmistakable. His hand moved to her waist in a possessive motion, lingering at her hip just for a second, capturing her. She remembered everything—how good he’d made her feel, how magical the night in his arms had been—and wished his proposal was made from love and not possessiveness.
Judah pulled the door open. “Next time I see you will be at the altar. Till death do us part, darlin’.”
Darla stared at him for a long, wary second before stalking off.
If Judah Callahan thought she was going to marry a hard-headed, mule-stubborn man like him, then he was in for a shock.
Chapter Four
Judah had never been one to let someone else fight his battles. So it wasn’t even a stretch for him to hunt up Dr. Sidney Tunstall. The good doctor was taking a breather in a bar down the street, which was good because Judah needed a drink himself.
First things first. “Tunstall,” he said, seating himself next to the ex-bronc buster. “We have business to discuss.”
Sidney put down his beer and gave him a long look. “Do we?”
Judah nodded. “I think it’s only fair to let you know that you’ll be hearing from Darla that your wedding is off.”
The doctor raised a brow. “And how would you know?”
“Because,” Judah said, “we just finished having a chat, Darla and I. And we came to the same conclusion. She can’t marry you.”
Sidney finished his beer, waved for another. “I’ll wait to hear that from her, if you don’t mind, Callahan.”
“See, though, I do mind.” He put down the money to pay for the beer. Sidney grunted, not about to utter any gratitude, and Judah couldn’t blame him. “Darla says she’s expecting my ch
ildren. So that means she’ll be taking the Callahan name. My name.”
Sidney turned. “I happen to know that Darla thinks you’re an ass she wishes she’d never met. And she’s never mentioned you being the father of her children, so as far as I’m concerned, you’re not even in the picture.” He raised his bottle in a sardonic wave. “Thanks for the brew, but buzz off and let me drink it in peace.”
Judah elected to ignore the insult. “What do you mean, you don’t know about her being pregnant by me?”
The doctor shrugged. “We never talked about it. I don’t need to know everything in her past. And until I know better, you are her past.”
Judah slumped on his bar stool for a moment. He couldn’t be mad at Tunstall—the man clearly wasn’t in possession of all the facts. Just like a woman to leave out important details. Judah stood, tossed some tip money on the bar. “Look, Tunstall, you’re an innocent party here, so I’m going to cut you some slack. But don’t get in my way. I’ll be standing at the altar with Darla, I’ll be raising my own sons, and that’s just the way it is.”
“Maybe,” Sidney said, “and maybe not.”
The man had no idea how thin Judah’s temper was at the moment. It was all he could do not to pound good sense into him. But Darla was the person he needed to be setting straight, so he took a deep breath and sauntered off to collect his wits before his rides tomorrow.
It wasn’t going to be easy. His concentration had never been so scattered.
He couldn’t decide if it was suddenly finding himself altar-bound or becoming a father that had him the most bent.
“HOW DARE YOU?” Darla demanded when Judah made it to his motel room an hour later, where she was waiting outside the door. He cast an appreciative eye over the snapping fire in her blue eyes, and her long blond hair. She looked like an angel, but she was going to bless him out like a she-devil.
Which meant that Tunstall had given her the bad news. And that suited Judah just fine.
“I dare,” he said, unlocking his door and stepping inside his room with her on his heels, “because that’s what I do. I dare.”
Her lips compressed for a moment. “You have no right to interfere.”
