The Texas Rancher's Vow: The Texas Rancher's VowFound: One Baby

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  She wanted to hurry; Thad wanted to take his time. Kissing her, even as he unbuttoned her pajama top, one button at a time. By the time the fabric fell open, her breasts were aching for his touch. He eased the fabric down her arms, baring her to the waist.

  “Incredible,” he murmured, rubbing his thumbs across the dusky crowns. He cupped the weight in his palms. “So incredibly beautiful,” he whispered.

  Through his eyes, she felt beautiful. Sensual. Ready and eager to please. And she wasn’t alone.

  He guided her backward, toward the bed, bracing her against his arm. Ever so slowly, he lowered her till she was stretched out on her back, then he kissed his way from her lips, to the nape of her neck, the V of her collarbone, the valley between her breasts. She trembled, her arms clinging to his shoulders and neck. She watched, as if in a languid dream, while his free hand explored every curve and hollow of her breasts. Her skin heated. She had never felt this way before. “Thad…” she gasped.

  “I know,” he murmured. “I’m getting there.”

  Claiming her lips again, he eased his hand beneath the waistband of her pajama pants. Tenderly caressed her stomach, moved lower… And still he kissed her, over and over, as if this chance would never come again. He knew exactly how to touch and engulf her in pleasure. How not to rush. Silken brushes of his fingertips alternated with soothing strokes of his palm. Almost before she knew it, she was free-falling over the edge. His breath rough against her cheek, he held her until the quaking stopped, then finished undressing her and joined her—naked—between the sheets.

  Lost in a world of undeniable pleasure, inundated with the touch, smell and taste of him, Michelle surrendered to the desire flowing through her. Indulging in her most secret fantasy, she took her time exploring his body, too. His skin was warm satin, his muscles hard. Lower still, she found him hot, hard, demanding. Patient enough to wait until she had stroked and loved every inch of him, too, until there was no more holding back. Finally, he was parting her thighs and positioning himself between them.

  She trembled as he slid his hands beneath her and lifted her to him. They kissed lingeringly, and then she arched to receive him. The merging of their bodies was as electric as the joining of their lips, the need to explore supplanted by the yearning for satisfaction. Together they reached new heights—until there was nothing but the two of them, this wild yearning, this incredible passion…this sweet moment in time.

  * * *

  THAD HELD MICHELLE CLOSE. They’d barely finished, and already he wanted her again. Not just physically, but emotionally, too. And that was definitely worth noting. He wasn’t used to being this attached to anyone this soon. Aside from the feelings he had for William—feelings of connection and closeness that had seemed to be there from the very first—he’d never felt as close to anyone as he felt to Michelle in this moment.

  And that was something, given they’d barely known each other a week.

  He kissed the top of her head, drinking in the orange-blossom fragrance of her hair and skin. Face pressed against his chest, she snuggled against him. “I can’t believe we just did that,” she murmured.

  Thad threaded his hands through her hair, tilted her face up to his. “I can.” He looked into the emerald depths of her eyes. “I’ve been wanting to make love to you since the first time we kissed.” He grinned, amending with rueful honesty, “Actually, sooner than that.”

  Excitement mixed with satisfaction in her husky tone. “When?”

  Thad stroked his fingers through her hair. “Even when you wouldn’t even give me the time of day.” He kissed the smooth curve of her shoulder, the nape of her neck, her high sculpted cheek. “When did you realize you wanted me?”

  She kissed his shoulder, the V of his collarbone, the place above his heart. “I don’t know.”

  He wasn’t buying the evasion for one second. “Yes, you do,” he insisted playfully, stroking a hand down her spine.

  She quivered at his touch. Against his bare chest, he could feel her nipples beading. “The first time I saw you mowing the yard.”

  Aware he was getting hard all over again, he lifted a brow.

  She shifted, and he felt the softness of her thighs against the hardness of his. “What can I say?” She shrugged, offhand. “I liked the way you looked pushing a mower.”

  He laughed. “You’re serious.”

  “Oh, yeah.” She smiled dreamily. “You’re one attractive guy.” She patted the center of his chest with the flat of her hand. “But then you know that.” She started to get up.

  He caught her wrist and drew her back down beside him. “Not as attractive as you.”

  She flushed. “I wouldn’t bet on that.” Her gaze sobered. “Which is why we really need to pull back and think about this.”

  He rolled onto his side, propping up his head on his palm, draping his thigh over hers.

  With her tousled reddish-blond hair, she looked like an angel. “There are times for thinking—” he traced her lower lip with the pad of his thumb “—and times for not.” This was, he decided, the latter. He bent to kiss her.

  “You’re making it very hard to argue,” she whispered as their kiss deepened.

  Feeling her tremble acquiescently, he kissed his way lazily down her body. “That’s because I don’t want you to argue,” he said.

  She sighed as he found her center. “One more time then,” she assented, closing her eyes and giving herself over to him. “One…last…time… ”

  * * *

  HOURS LATER, MICHELLE awoke, to find herself cozily ensconced in Thad’s strong arms, her head nestled against his chest, her legs draped over one of his. Daylight was filtering in through the closed draperies. She heard a car start up and rumble down the street. With effort, she forced herself to open her eyes. Seven o’clock!

  She yawned, extricated herself from the warmth of his limbs and sat up. She shoved the hair from her eyes. “What time were you supposed to pick up William?”

  “Seven-thirty.” He glanced at the clock and sat up, too.

  Michelle rubbed her eyes. “I guess we fell asleep,” she said. After the fourth time. Prior to that, they couldn’t get enough of each other. Every time she’d even thought about leaving, he’d reached for her. And once she was in his arms, it had been so easy to succumb. To tell herself pleasure was fleeting and she’d had so little of it in her life lately, she deserved at least one night of all-out passion.

  Now, in the light of day, she wasn’t so certain it had been a good idea. Instead of satisfying her curiosity and getting Thad out of her system, she had only drawn him deeper into her. That couldn’t be good for someone trying to maintain a professional distance. And she was trying hard not to get involved with Thad while his petition for adoption was being considered by the court….

  Thad kissed the back of her hand and rose. “Want to come with me to pick William up?”

  Michelle looked at him in surprise. “Wouldn’t that look…”

  “Like we were involved on some level? Yeah. Probably.”

  Thad did not care.

  Michelle did.

  She didn’t want to give anyone, least of all herself or Thad, the wrong impression. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Feeling suddenly shy about her nakedness, she clasped the sheet to her breast. Then she looked at her raincoat and pajamas still scattered on his bedroom floor. She bit down on an oath. “I can’t cross the street in that.”

  He grinned. “Guess you’ll have to stay here all day, then.”

  “Seriously.” Michelle dreaded the thought of encountering one of the neighbors wearing only satin pajamas and a raincoat!

  “You want me to go over to your place and bring something back for you to wear?”

  “That’d probably be worse if someone saw you going in and out.”

  She couldn’t believe it. She was thirty-two years old and about to do the walk of shame.

  Thad opened up his closet, rummaged around, emerged with a p
air of stretchy, black running shorts and a gray

  T-shirt. “Put these on, and wear your coat over them, and it’ll look like you’ve been out jogging.”

  “In someone else’s clothes.” Michelle ran her hands through her hair. “This is ridiculous.”

  “My offer to go over to your place still stands.”

  They heard another car start nearby and drive down the street.

  “No.” Michelle sighed. “The longer we wait, the more likelihood there is I’ll run into one of the neighbors. I’m just going to put on the pajamas and my coat and go home.”

  “You can always carry a cup of sugar with you. Now that I actually have some in my pantry, you can pretend you came over to borrow some.”

  “Very funny, doc.”

  Still not taking this dilemma as seriously as he should, Thad smirked and disappeared into the bathroom.

  Michelle used his absence to get out of bed and slip on her pajamas. She ran her fingers through her hair and put on her clogs. She was in the process of picking up her coat from the floor when the doorbell rang.

  Michelle turned to Thad, who had just walked out of the bathroom, in the same clothes he’d worn to work the evening before. Morning beard rimmed his jaw. He smelled like mint toothpaste. “Expecting anyone?” she asked, feeling trapped.

  Thad shook his head. “Stay here. I’ll go see who it is.”

  Michelle perched on the edge of the bed while he walked downstairs. The doorbell rang again, more insistently this time. When Thad opened the door she cringed when she heard the familiar voice….

  * * *

  THAD STARED AT the social worker standing on his doorstep, aware her timing could not have been worse. “I’m here for a second inspection of the premises,” Tamara Kelly said briskly.

  Not sure what would happen if Michelle were to come downstairs, clad in her pajamas and looking as if she’d just spent the night with him, which of course she had, Thad tried a diversionary tactic instead. “William’s not here.”

  Tamara lifted the glasses on the chain around her neck and peered at him through the lenses. “Where is he?”

  “At the sitter’s.”

  “Already?” Tamara glanced at her watch, noting it was seven-twenty.

  “He spent the night there. I didn’t get out of the E.R. and home until almost one-thirty.”

  She nodded cryptically.

  “I was on my way to pick him up,” Thad continued. “So if you’d like to accompany me, you could check out the place where he stays while I’m at work. I think you may already know his sitter—Dotty Pederson. She used to work in the nursery at the hospital.”

  “I do. And I probably will pay her a visit at some point, but right now I need to have a look around here.”

  For the first time Thad lamented the lack of a back staircase in his home. “I probably should go upstairs and tidy up first,” he said.

  “Actually you shouldn’t.” Tamara brushed by him, on a mission now. “It’s important I see things just as they are.”

  If it had only been a messy bedroom, Thad wouldn’t have cared. But there was no way around the fact that Michelle was up there.

  Or not, he thought, as Michelle appeared at the top of the stairs, her jacket buttoned and belted over her white satin pajamas.

  “Hello, Tamara,” Michelle said pleasantly, descending the stairs as if her presence was nothing out of the ordinary.

  Tamara’s eyebrows shot skyward.

  Whatever she was thinking was definitely not good, Thad noted.

  “Counselor. I’m surprised to see you here so early this morning.”

  “It is early, isn’t it?” Michelle smiled and continued coming down the stairs.

  Tamara turned to Thad, with disapproval. “Tell me this isn’t what it looks like—that you didn’t dump the baby at the sitter’s so you could…entertain a guest overnight.”

  Chapter Eight

  Michelle knew that making love with Thad—even for one night—would lead to trouble. She just hadn’t figured it would be this kind of trouble. She took a deep breath. “This wasn’t planned,” she explained.

  “But I’m not sorry it happened,” Thad cut in.

  Tamara frowned. “Then you acknowledge that the two of you are now…?”

  “Involved,” Thad confirmed. “And I’m not ashamed of that.”

  Michelle only wished she could say the same. She hadn’t felt this mortified since she’d been caught making out with her first boyfriend when she was fifteen.

  “I see.” Tamara made a note on her clipboard.

  “I’d like this…situation to remain private,” Thad said.

  Tamara made another note as she walked through the living room, her gaze on the empty beer bottles they hadn’t bothered to discard. “You’ll have to take that up with your attorney and let him take it up with the court.”

  Michelle looked at Thad, explaining quietly, “There’s no point in fighting this. It’ll be in her report. And her full report—not just the selected excerpts she wants him to see—goes to the judge.”

  “Why?” Thad asked, clearly irked. “What does you being here this morning have to do with my adopting William?”

  “It goes toward your fitness as a potential parent,” Tamara explained.

  “Then I would think it would help,” Thad insisted, “for Judge Barnes to know that I am serious about a woman of such fine character.”

  Tamara’s eyes widened.

  It was all Michelle could do not to groan out loud. Gently she laid a cautioning hand on Thad’s forearm. “I don’t think Ms. Kelly needs to know the specifics of our relationship, Thad.”

  “Well, I do,” Thad countered. “I can see what you’re thinking, Ms. Kelly, but this is no one-night stand!”

  * * *

  THE MOMENT THE social worker left, Michelle turned to Thad. “I want to talk to you.” She pushed the words through gritted teeth.

  “Good,” he said, wanting nothing more at that moment than to rid her of her embarrassment, “because I want to talk to you, too.”

  “But I want to do it at my house.” Michelle lifted a palm impatiently. “I need to get some clothes on.”

  Thad thought she looked pretty good in her white satin pajamas and trendy little raincoat, but sensed she did not want to hear that. “I still have to pick up William. I should have been there twenty minutes ago.”

  She nodded, looking almost relieved she would have some time to get over the shock of the social worker’s unscheduled visit and pull herself together. “Go ahead and get William. Then come on over.”

  They parted company. Thad got in his car and drove the short distance to pick up William, who’d just been fed. “He’ll probably fall asleep before you get him home,” Dotty warned.

  Thad smiled. “That’s okay. I’ve gotten the knack of removing the baby carrier from the car seat without disturbing him. He sleeps pretty well in it.”

  By the time Thad reached Michelle’s house fifteen minutes later, William was indeed sound asleep. Thad unlocked the carrier from the base, lifted it out of the car and transferred it and William to Michelle’s front porch.

  The door opened before he had a chance to knock. She had been waiting for him, it seemed. Hair caught in a ponytail, she was dressed in yellow-and-blue running gear. She looked adorable.

  She motioned soundlessly for Thad to put William’s carrier on the dining-room table, then turned and moved quietly out of the room and around to the kitchen. She waved Thad into a seat at her kitchen table, where a glass of juice was waiting.

  An empty glass sat on the counter. She remained standing.

  Not a good sign, Thad thought.

  “I know you were trying to make the best of a very awkward situation, but you shouldn’t have told the social worker that our relationship was serious,” she said in the dispassionate lawyerly voice he was beginning to know so well.

  Thad rocked back in his chair. He wished she would sit down. “Why not?” he countered
, mirroring her faintly contentious tone.

  Her green eyes glowered at him. “Because it’s not true.”

  Thad thought about the way they’d made love over and over again. She might want to deny it now, in the light of the day, but in the comfort of his bedroom, she had wanted him every bit as desperately as he had wanted her. “So,” he said, “you’re saying…?”

  Her mouth tightened. “Last night was about sex and loneliness and pure animal attraction.”

  It had been all that, Thad admitted, but a lot more. And it was time she owned up to that, whether she wanted to or not. He pushed his chair back, stood and closed the distance between them. “I wouldn’t have made love to you,” he said, “if I hadn’t been seriously interested in you, Michelle.”

  She lowered her gaze. “I know you think that now.”

  He cupped her shoulders, holding her in front of him, when she would have run. “I’m not your ex. I didn’t turn to you out of gratitude.”

  She shut her eyes against his searching gaze and reminded him in a low, strangled voice, “I know you think that, Thad. I also know that this is a confusing, highly emotional time.”

  “No argument there,” he agreed.

  “I know how much you want to adopt William.”

  Not want, Thad corrected silently. “I am going to adopt William.”

  Doubt flashed in her expression. “The court has to agree that it’s in William’s best interests.”

  She was sounding like a lawyer again—a worried one. Thad tensed, despite his effort not to let the recent turn of events derail him in any way. “You think they won’t?”

  “I think the situation is suddenly a lot more complicated than it was,” she replied soberly. “And I’m sorry about that. I know better.”

  Thad could see the emotional wall going up around her heart as surely as if she was erecting it in concrete. He tightened his grip on her shoulders. “I’m not going to apologize to anyone for making love to you last night. Even you.”