Texas Bride

by Kate Thomas

  “Another time, please.”

  “Uuhn—nah!”

  “It’s a boy,” Ravjani announced happily as he lifted a red and white streaked...thing and laid it on Dani’s stomach. It scrunched up its wrinkled face and gave a little cry of protest.

  “Oh, isn’t he beautiful?” Dani breathed. Beneath her fatigue radiated wonder and joy and exultation.

  Disappointment closed Josh’s throat. All that agony, all that valiant effort—and this was the result? He’d never seen an uglier being. “Oh, Dani, I’m so sorry.”

  Ravjani whisked the thing away. Josh cradled Dani’s head against his chest. Tried to think of something comforting to say. Got distracted by her satiny skin and the damp, silky curls that coiled around her face and over his fingers.

  “There. All presentable.” Ravjani dumped a neatly wrapped bundle in his arms. “Mr. Walker, say hello to your son.”

  Hesitantly, Josh looked down at the newborn infant in his arms. “Oh, Dani, you’re right,” he breathed, barely able to form the words. Well, he was busy—falling hopelessly, ecstatically, deliriously in love. “He is beautiful.” And talented. Just lying there, this tiny baby filled a man’s empty heart. Amazing.

  No, a miracle. “Thank you.” Overwhelmed by the emotions coursing through him, Josh wanted to ravage Dani’s lush mouth. He settled for a light kiss on her forehead. “Oh, Dani—thank you.”

  “Show your gratitude by doing housework,” the doctor suggested, plucking the precious bundle from Josh’s arms, which immediately missed the weight. “Now, little one, meet your mother.” Ravjani handed the baby to Dani.

  Who smiled radiantly at...her son.

  Mine, too!

  Well, not technically, legally or biologically, but... Determination as implacable as forge-tempered steel formed within him. After years of icy grief and anger and anguish, by a freak twist of fate, Josh had a baby—and he wasn’t giving it up. Not yet, anyway. Only a fool wastes second chances.

  Which brought him back to Carrie and the baby she’d denied him. Dammit, why hadn’t she—

  ...Stop picking at the scab.

  Right. He had more important things to think about than the past. Like the rest of his life. The baby he’d just seen born.

  And the woman who’d given him both.

  When Ravjani told him to go away while “we do a little mending,” Josh went. As far as the waiting room. There, be slumped in a molded plastic chair and tried to formulate an agenda.

  High on the list: concretely expressing his gratitude to Dani Caldwell. For saving his life. And giving him the most incredible, fulfilling experience of his life.

  Most urgent item, though? Figure out how to get his hands on that baby again.

  What are my chances of persuading Dani to let me take the baby home to Virginia? he wondered.

  Of course, the baby’s mother would have to come, too.... For a moment he felt Dani’s warm, soft mouth under his again and wondered if he was playing with fire.

  No, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to kiss her again. He knew better than most how to avoid getting burned.

  Anyway, how tempting were a few bone-melting, earth-shattering kisses when be could hold that baby in his arms?

  Sometime later, Ravjani handed Josh a list of things Dani and the baby would need, could do and should avoid. “If you wish to be a good father,” he said sternly, “you will see that these instructions are followed by the letter.”

  After scanning it quickly, Josh flashed the doctor a blinding smile and thanked him for the ammunition.

  Chapter Three

  Dani twisted the motel showerhead and stepped under the spray. Leaning against the wall, she let the warm water sluice over her. “This is ridiculous,” she murmured.

  She’d had the baby three whole days ago. How could she still be so exhausted?

  And what would she have done without Josh Walker? she wondered. Without his reassurance about back labor being normal, without his deep voice encouraging her and his hard chest supporting her, lending her strength while she pushed and pushed against the wall of pain....

  And afterward... I was about as energetic as a hibernating turtle.

  Dani turned so the water could cascade over her hair.

  Josh, on the other hand, had come striding back into the room and told her not to chew her lip off. Then he’d practically ordered the doctor to bring them here, contacted the town druggist and demanded that he not only open his store—on a Sunday evening—but personally deliver the items on the list Dr. Ravjani had given him. Arriving at the town’s only motel, he’d continued to issue commands like the crew chief in a disaster drill. A crib for the baby. Extra pillows. Meals and diapers—even a nightgown for her.

  True, it was old-fashioned, macho bullying at its worst, but at the time, it was just what she needed.

  When she’d tried to protest that she didn’t want to be a bother, Josh had muttered something about just playing his husband role, keeping the story straight until they left No Lake.

  Dani blinked back some stupid tears. Jimmy had been the perfect prom date, a great boyfriend with whom to exchange senior rings and notes in class. But a thoughtful, dependable, supportive husband? Dani shook her head sadly.

  Josh Walker, on the other hand, could give lessons! That first day, he’d helped her in and out of bed as if she was made of fine bone china. He’d brought meals to her from the café across the street. Yesterday, he’d borrowed Ravjani’s car and collected her belongings from the cabin.

  He’d even helped with the baby. Which Jimmy hadn’t even wanted....

  Those dumb tears threatened again, so she thought about the first time Josh had insisted on changing a diaper—his big strong hands had ripped the tape strip right off. The next attempt had fallen to the floor when Josh proudly lifted the baby to display his handiwork.

  Jimmy would have stalked away then—unable to deal with failure long enough to succeed. Josh had simply flashed a wry smile, made some comment about “third time lucky” and reached for another diaper. Moments later, with a triumphant flourish, he’d handed her the securely diapered baby.

  Dani sighed. Every baby should have a father, whether he did any diapering or not. Hers would only have... A mother who loves him with all her heart. A mom he can always depend on.

  “That’s not so bad, is it, Michael?” she whispered into the falling water.

  Michael James Caldwell. A good, strong name for a boy—and for the man he’d grow into. If she did her job.

  The tears escaped and poured down her face. “Oh, stop it,” she told herself, grabbing the little bar of soap. She rubbed it over the washcloth, then doggedly spread lather over her body. “Cope, don’t mope—remember?”

  Her goals for the immediate future were simple: get back her energy, care for Michael, find a job.

  And repay Josh Walker. While she washed and rinsed her hair, Dani calculated that, intangibles aside, her debt to the man in the next room already exceeded her meager savings.

  Still simple, if not exactly easy.

  Not easy at all. After drying off and getting dressed, Dani felt as limp as unset gelatin, but managed to braid her reddish-brown mop, then checked on her sleeping son—and couldn’t help touching him in wonder. I really ought to straighten the room before lunch arrives, she thought, smiling at Michael’s cloud of pale, fine hair.

  Oh, be honest—it’s Josh you’d like to impress, not a hamburger.

  It was almost noon, which meant he’d soon be bringing lunch. And if Michael was awake, she’d get her meal with a gruff order to eat while he took care of the baby.

  Seeing her tiny son cradled against one of Josh’s massive shoulders made her insides heat.

  The kiss they’d shared seared through her again and she wished...

  Crossing to the bed, Dani jerked the covers into place, then dumped the baby’s things on the bed and started reorganizing them. She would not waste her time on impossible dreams.

  They weren’t v
ery big dreams—a home, a family, she told herself for the eight millionth time. Why had Jimmy run from them? And me?

  Slowly, Dani collapsed on the bed, still clutching the little snap-front shirt she’d just folded. She knew there was no answer; she was just tired. And they were my dreams, she thought sleepily, not his. Against her will, Dani’s eyes drifted closed....

  Shutting the door with his hip, Josh tossed the package of diapers at a chair and dropped the food sack on the dresser. Then he shoved yesterday’s shirt aside and plopped down on the bed. After adjusting the pillows behind his head, he picked up the remote, crossed his ankles and tried to get interested in the heated discussion on television. Couldn’t. He really didn’t give a damn about spouses who dated their ex-spouse’s ex-spouse or whatever today’s theme was.

  He wanted to be with his baby, who was right next door.

  Leaning sideways, Josh moved aside a balled-up sock so he could see the bedside clock.

  Good. Nearly noon. In a few minutes he’d stroll over to the connecting door, knock and poke his head into Dani’s room. While he asked if she was hungry yet, he’d get a glimpse of Michael.

  Josh grinned at the couple crying on TV. If he was really lucky, Dani would be in the bathroom or sleeping or something and he’d get to tiptoe over to the crib. Have a few minutes to absorb more fascinating details about that darling baby. Maybe even reach down and stroke his unbelievably soft skin.

  The talk show host hit a sympathetic pose for the camera. Josh curled his fingers into fists. Dammit—he needed that baby!

  Sunday, while the motel manager had hunted up a crib and the doc put Dani to bed, he’d gotten almost twenty uninterrupted minutes to hold Michael. To marvel at his incredible, tiny fingers and toes.

  Since then, however, the situation had deteriorated severely. Yesterday, Dani had said something about not needing to hover over them.

  Hover? He’d barely been near the baby! Or her. He’d only been allowed to burp the little guy a couple of times. So far, he’d only managed to change eight or nine diapers. Just one little shirt. One!

  Josh pulled off his boots and let them drop. The couple on TV turned to shout at the audience.

  He needed more time with Michael.

  The talk show couple embraced. The studio audience applauded. Josh scowled and began surfing through the channels. He had to convince Dani to let him take her husband’s baby to Virginia.

  But how?

  Persuasive argument? Bribery? Seduction?

  Josh paused at a tennis match, but one of the players was positioned behind a T-shirt draped over the corner of the TV set.

  Too damned dangerous. With her luminous jade-green eyes, incredible coppery hair and smooth, creamy skin, Dani Caldwell roused protective, possessive instincts in a man. And that made him vulnerable.

  Josh mashed the remote once more. He refused to let another woman hurt him.

  Through the sizzle of mushrooms in a sauté pan and some sappy theme music, Josh heard the softest of whimpers.

  Instantly he was on his feet, flying through the connecting doorway.

  The scene that met his eyes was...his worst nightmare.

  Michael lay on his back in the crib, kicking his adorable little legs. Dani was sitting on her bed, short tendrils of hair writhing gloriously around her flushed cheeks, her emerald eyes glowing beneath heavy lids.

  Desire streaked through him like hot lightning.

  Gritting his teeth against it, Josh concentrated on the disaster: she was packing Michael’s things into that damned yellow quilted bag.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, then forced his voice to steady. “Sorry. I meant something more like ‘Are you sure you should be up? The doctor said you needed plenty of rest.”’

  “I’ve been resting.” A wry smile quirked those luscious lips into a soft curve as she brushed at her hair with one hand.

  Josh’s gaze went straight to her full breasts. He should have thought about mother’s milk and Michael. Instead, another jolt of pure male desire spiked through him. He wanted his own mouth nuzzling that sweet feminine flesh—

  “Josh?” She was looking at him expectantly.

  “You, ah, must be feeling stronger, right?”

  Dani winced. Pretty blatant hint, she thought, but who can blame him? Why would he want to stick around playing nursemaid to a hick from Lufkin?

  “Y-yes.” She made herself look straight into his turquoise eyes. It was safer than ogling the rest of him. And that’s what she wanted to do because—well, honestly, Josh Walker had looked sexy in wet jeans, and like a Greek statue undressed, but this... This ought to be illegal!

  The white dress shirt set off his tan the way black velvet sets off priceless diamonds. He’d folded back the sleeves, too, which just emphasized his tanned, muscular forearms. And that hint of dark, crinkly hair at the open neck—Dani knew how it swirled across the broad muscular plane of his chest, then narrowed to a wedge angling downward to... Control yourself.

  To expensive dark dress slacks and patterned dress socks.

  Dani sighed. The man positively radiated sleek virility and mature sophistication. Of course, he wanted her out of his hair.

  Well, she had no money, no transportation and no idea where to go, but she still had her pride. “I—I can be packed in twenty minutes.” And her manners. “I sure thank you, Josh, for everything you’ve done for me and Michael. If you’ll give me your address, I’ll send you the money I owe—”

  “No!” Josh barked, thrusting his long, elegant fingers into his thick, golden hair. After a moment he lowered his hand and his voice. “Dammit, Dani, you’re in no shape to go anywhere. And you can forget about the money. I want to—Just let me...”

  Dani turned away. That deep velvet tone made her want to accept Josh’s help, to lean on his strength.

  She couldn’t allow herself to be tempted. Much as her heart might wish desperately to love again, to trust and share again, Dani couldn’t afford the risk. Her heart wasn’t hers any longer. It belonged to her son. And Michael needed it whole. “I appreciate your help, Mr. Walker, but I think it’s time for us to leave.”

  He said a word Dani hoped her son never learned, then Josh’s jaw went into granite mode as he spun on his heel and headed for the connecting door. Reaching it, he stopped but didn’t turn around. “You should at least have lunch first,” he said evenly, as if nothing had upset him.

  Dani stared at his rigid back. How could he just cap his feelings like that?

  “And by the way,” he added just as calmly, “I saw Sheriff Lopez this morning. He wanted to know when we’d be heading home.”

  “What...” She had to push the words past frozen tonsils. “What did you tell him?”

  Josh turned. “I said—” Something simmered in his blue orbs, though his tone remained cool. “Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it? I should have known you’d never leave Texas.”

  With a shrug, he disappeared into his room.

  Dani’s knees gave way and she sank onto the bed. If the sheriff was asking questions, it was past time to move on. So get going. Make some plans, she told herself, but her mind stayed blank.

  She wouldn’t contact Jimmy’s parents. She couldn’t give up her son. Not without a fight. And today, she couldn’t fight a wet kitten to a draw.

  She needed more time!

  Josh’s last sentence echoed in her head. Could that mean—

  Dani stood and twitched her shirt into place. Right now, no possibility was too remote to consider, no action too desperate to contemplate. Of course, he probably didn’t mean anything by it, but for Michael’s sake, she’d ask.

  Maybe she should redo her braid before—“Oh, just get in there and beg before you lose your nerve,” she commanded herself. Self agreed, but her feet took a little more convincing. “I’ll pay him back,” she promised. “Every penny. And I won’t cause him any trouble.”

  One foot moved. The other refused. “And I won�
�t do anything stupid.” Like believe in fairy tales again.

  Her second foot released its deathgrip on the floor.

  Checking that Michael was content for the moment, she marched into Josh’s room. It looked like the aftermath of a bomb blast, she noted, but refused to let the thought divert her from her mission. Feet slowed, though, as they approached the bed where Josh sprawled. In all his tawny, masculine glory.

  I must have been mistaken. But the worst he can say is no. And then I’ll—Lifting her chin, Dani addressed the howling coyote print above Josh’s head. “What did... You said something about me never leaving Texas?”

  Tinny applause erupted from the TV, then Josh touched the remote control and silenced reigned. He crossed his arms over his chest before answering in that same unreadable tone, “Dr. Ravjani said you need at least six weeks of rest. I’m willing to—” His jaw turned to titanium this time. “To see that you get it, but I have a life, too. And it’s not in Texas.”

  Surging hope asked a dumb question. “Wh-where is it?” She didn’t care if it was on the moon, as long as it was far from the Caldwells’ influence.

  “Fallsboro, Virginia. That’s about thirty miles from Washington, D.C.”

  And plenty of miles from Lufkin. Dani chewed her lip. “And you...you’re willing to take me and Michael with you? For six weeks?”

  Instead of responding right away, Josh tucked his hands further out of sight under his arms and gazed around the room. “Yes,” he said finally. “I was going to offer you...a place to stay until you’ve gotten your strength back.”

  “Did... What changed your mind?”

  Josh’s eyes glowed like faceted aquamarines in full sun as they found her face. “Nothing.”

  Dani licked suddenly dry lips. He was offering her the one thing she needed: time.

  But she wasn’t a naive kid any longer who believed in fairy god-hunks and wishes coming true. “Why?”

  Which wasn’t no. Josh clenched his hands tighter against his sides. If he moved a single muscle, he’d do something explosive to release the tension coiling inside like a mad rattlesnake. He couldn’t afford to frighten her. Not now. Not this close.