No! This was crazy! He was a player, and he didn't want her. He only wanted the baby—to take him from her. She had to concentrate on talking some sense into the man, not letting herself fall for him all over again.
Going down the steps, he offered her his arm. After a second's indecision, she took it. Oh, why did he have to be so darned considerate? It would be much easier if he really were a heartless brute. She sighed.
"You okay?"
"Yes. Just thinking what a mess this whole thing is." They reached the end of the walkway. Before she could steer them one way or the other, he stopped and moved in front of her, looking earnestly into her eyes.
"Before we get any further, I just want to say one thing." He waited for her nod before going on. "I want to say thank you."
Her mouth dropped open.
"In the same situation, a lot of women would have made a different choice. Regardless of what happens between us, I want you to know how happy I am you chose to carry my baby to term."
She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but this definitely wasn't it. He started walking again, and, in a daze, she allowed herself to be led down the sidewalk. He was thanking her for her choice.
They walked along in thoughtful silence for a few minutes before she got up her courage, and said, "Cole, I need you to believe that I am keeping the baby. And that I'd never keep you from—
"I do believe you," he interrupted. "Honestly. I don't know what came over me the other day, but I swear I would never, ever try to take your baby away from you."
The tight squeeze around her heart slowly loosened. She stared at him, hope blossoming. "Is that true?"
"Yes, it's true. I just want…" He raked a hand through his hair. "Look, I know I brought it up, but please, let's not talk about this tonight. It's Christmas Eve and I don't particularly feel like fighting. Let's just be Cole and Rini taking a walk, okay?"
She let out a little breath of exasperation, frustrated in her need to completely settle things between them. She looked up and found him carefully watching her expression.
"We'll talk," he said gently. "I promise. I'll even try to keep my temper."
She gave him a tentative smile, knowing she shouldn't let the subject go, but not wanting to ruin the fragile truce he'd declared. "All right."
In a companionable hush, they continued to walk. Fingers of darkness reached out from the trees along the street as the last sliver of sun disappeared below the horizon.
When they rounded the corner, Cole asked, "At the obstetrician's, you mentioned taking classes. What are you studying?"
She was mildly surprised he remembered her passing comment. "Nursing. When I graduate in June I can take the exam to be a registered nurse."
"You like it?"
"Very much. It's always been my dream to be a nurse. I'm determined to finish this time."
"You've started before?"
She nodded, plucking some leaves from an overhanging tree. The air rustled through the branches, sighing softly. She tore up the leaves and tossed them in the gutter. "My ex-fiancé made me quit college."
"This the same asshole who didn't want you distracting him in bed?"
Her cheeks burned under Cole's gaze. She definitely couldn't believe he remembered her saying that. Right after he'd plunged deep into her and she'd come apart in his arms.
Do you have any idea what it does to a man's ego—
She closed her eyes against the sensual vision, barely aware that they had stopped walking. Fiercely, she banished the memory. "He liked being in control."
"He liked being a jerk." Cole ran a hand over his face, then turned, and they continued walking. "Sorry. None of my business."
She stole a glance at him, her mind wandering over the disastrous end to that day in May, then to what he'd said in his office. Suddenly, she had a sinking feeling maybe she had misjudged him back at the powwow. She should…
A twinge of terror rushed through her body at the thought of lowering her defenses long enough to find out the truth. She reached deep inside and exorcised the chiding of her mother and David, drawing on the memory of her father's love to give her strength.
"Is it really true you weren't flirting with those women at the powwow, or coming on to them? That they meant nothing to you?"
He stopped so abruptly she was forced to halt and turn around.
"Those were my— I coach some students in Native American dancing." He rubbed his fingers over the front of his shirt as if seeking something, and started walking again. "Sometimes they get a little carried away."
"Just a little?" she muttered, following along beside him and feeling strangely giddy. "What about the older one? The one you were kissing."
He gazed up at the moon and said quietly, "That was my ex-wife, Lindsay. And I wasn't kissing her."
It was Rini's turn to stop dead. "Your wife?"
"Ex-wife. It happened a long time ago, and it was over almost as fast as it started. She left me after less than a day of wedded bliss." He took Rini's arm and led her on.
She looked up at him, a twinge of something niggling at her conscience. "That must have been rough on you."
"Lindsay graduated the same year as my brother, Billy. Her father was a gen-u-ine bigot. Big man in the country club set. She rebelled by getting drunk and hanging around with the Indian kids from the local rez."
He kicked a pinecone and continued. "One night Lindsay and her dad had a big fight and she got back at him by running off to Vegas and marrying one of them—me. She vowed her ever-lasting love and I believed her. Of course, it was all just a big joke. Unfortunately, I didn't know that until it was too late. See, I was actually in love with her."
"Oh, Cole. That's awful." Rini's stab of sympathy materialized as a small contraction. She put a hand lightly on the baby.
He shrugged. "I seem to be cursed with women running off on me."
His voice was light, but Rini detected a wealth of emotion behind the words. She swallowed a huge wave of guilt. She'd had good reason to run off. At least, she'd thought so at the time.
"Anyway, Lindsay's daddy had the divorce papers drawn up the next day." He looked grim as they went around another corner. "I see her now and then, mostly at the powwows. She was there the day you and I… Anyway, she gets a sort of perverse pleasure tormenting me with the kind of display you witnessed. It's annoying, but everyone knows she isn't serious. She'd probably fall over in a dead faint if I ever reciprocated."
"You didn't look particularly annoyed," Rini observed testily. She rubbed her belly as the volley of contractions continued. Lord, she'd be glad when this pregnancy was over.
He smiled at her and winked. "For some reason, I was in a good mood that morning."
She wanted to smile back but was hit by another cramp, sharper than the others. She took a deep breath and put both hands on her stomach as it continued to tighten.
Cole's smile faded, his brows drawing together. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah." She let out the breath. "Just a bout of Braxton Hicks."
"Huh?"
"Contractions." She laughed at his alarmed expression. "Just practice ones. Don't worry, I'm not going into labor. But I may have overdone this walk thing. Could we sit down for a minute?"
"Of course." His eyes searched around, the concern in them apparent.
She felt her heart do a little flip-flop. "The curb's fine. Really. You'll just have to help me up, is all."
* * *
Cole held Rini's hands, easing her down onto the shallow curb. He hoped like hell she wasn't going to have the baby right here on the street. He might be looking forward to being a dad, but that would be pushing it a bit. "Jeez, Rini. Are you sure about this?"
"Not to worry. I'm almost a nurse, remember? Watch out for your suit!"
He sat down beside her. "Forget the suit. Is this really normal?"
"Perfectly."
A nervous laugh escaped him. "Guess I need childbirth classes or something."
She shot him a sid
elong glance. "You want to come to one of mine?"
He stared at her, not quite believing his ears.
"Alexa's been coming with me, but she'll be tied up with some award presentation for Kenny next time." She shrugged. "But I can go alone."
"No! I mean yes. I mean, yes, I'd like to come."
"It's Friday night. Don't you have a hot date?"
He grinned. "I do now." He watched her smile shyly, her cheeks glowing as rosy pink as her soft, full lips. Damn, there she went again, going all innocent and sexy on him. It was all he could do to resist leaning over and crushing the velvet of those rose petal lips with his.
He clamped his teeth together. No, this was too much. He'd really have to get hold of himself. This made twice in a week he'd almost lost his head. And Rini Herelius was not the kind of woman he should ever let into his life—a woman who ran away first, and only asked questions when it was far too late.
But what was it about her that reduced him to a sparking tangle of live wires ready to short-circuit his common sense?
He stood quickly, schooling his expression. "We should get back. Feel up to walking again?"
She nodded and reached up. He grasped her hands and carefully helped her to her feet. She teetered against him, wincing.
"Rini?"
"It's okay. I just got up too fast." When he saw a thin film of sweat on her brow, fear coiled in his gut. "To hell with this." He swept her up into his arms and started down the sidewalk toward her sister's house, carrying her.
"Cole!"
"Put your arms around my neck," he ordered.
"This really isn't—"
He strode quickly down the street, ignoring her irritated glower. "Look, my mom would kill me if anything happened to you or the baby while I was delivering her blasted cookies. So stop squirming and enjoy the ride."
A wistful smile slid over Rini's annoyed face, and she relaxed a bit. "You love your mother very much."
"My mom, yeah. I do." His mom and her damned cookies.
"Do you look more like her or your dad?"
Cole turned up the walkway to her sister's front door and adjusted her weight before mounting the steps. "Neither. I'm adopted." On the porch, he set her on her feet.
"Ah. Now I understand," she whispered, closing her eyes. One hand went to her temple as the other dug into his shoulder.
"Rini!" The door flew open and a woman shrieked as Rini slumped against him. The sister, Alexa, he presumed. "What have you done to her?" she cried.
Cole hooked one arm around Rini's limp form and another under her knees, then scowled at the hysterical woman. "Where can I take her?"
Alexa pointed frantically. "The sofa."
He laid Rini out on the couch, going down on his knees beside her. Her eyes opened and she struggled to sit up, but Cole put a hand on her shoulder. "No way. You stay put."
Alexa pushed her way next to Rini and glared at him. "Just who the hell are you, anyway? Can't you see she's having a baby soon?"
"My name is Colton Lonetree."
"Cole—" Alexa stared at him, eyes narrowed in fury. "You!" She turned to Rini, stroking her hair. "What has he done to you, honey? Did he threaten—"
Rini interrupted. "Alexa, I'm all right. I'm just having contractions and stood up too fast."
"You're not needed here, Mr. Lonetree," Alexa snapped at him. "I'll thank you to leave my home."
Rini held out her hand to him. "No, wait."
Rising, he looked at her hand. He shouldn't take it. It would just complicate things. Even more than they already were. He shouldn't even be here. She'd abandoned him. She was nothing but trouble.
And all he wanted was to pull her into his arms and hold her tight. He was so scared. Scared something was wrong.
More scared something was very right.
He took her hand. "What?"
"Do you still want to go to childbirth class Friday, or have I scared you off?"
He cleared his throat. "Scared? Me? Not a chance. What time shall I be here?"
Chapter Seven
Cole watched in the mirror over the bar as two mean-looking, leather-clad Mohawks parted the Christmas revelers like the Red Sea. He squinted over his tequila and lime, and the two Mohawks merged into one mean-looking Paiute with really bad hair. "Renegade," he greeted his friend.
"Hey, compadre. Merry Christmas."
Cole grunted. "Warrior." He tossed back the rest of his shot.
Renegade looked at him quizzically as he climbed onto the stool next to him and ordered a mulled wine.
"Not compadre. Warrior. My new name."
"Warrior, eh? Soundum like heap bad script to me."
Cole snorted. "This coming from a man who calls himself Renegade."
Roman "Renegade" Santangelo was Cole's best friend, right after Tanya. The three of them, along with RaeAnne Sommarby, had been inseparable those teenage years back at Rincon Rez.
The other man chuckled. "Hey, the name Renegade was your idea, remember?" He straightened his leather motorcycle jacket and flicked one of the chains dangling from it. "At least I look the part."
"I'm wearing the anthropopologicully correct garb for an urban warrior," Cole countered, managing not to slur any of the big words. Much.
"Anthrop—" Renegade squinted at the empty glass in front of Cole. "Jeez, Cole, how many of those have you had?"
He shrugged. "I'm shel— celebrating."
His friend glanced around. "Alone?"
"Not anymore." Cole motioned for the bartender to bring him another round. "I'm thirty-two, about to have a damn baby, it's Christmas fucking Eve, and I'm completely, un— unequibocally alone." He grabbed the empty glass and waved it at Renegade. "Present company exh-cluded."
"Ho-kay." Renegade was a special agent with the FBI, currently undercover, and not easily thrown for a loop.
Cole propped his elbows on the bar and leaned his chin on one hand. "Pathetic, isn't it? How'd you find me, anyhow?"
Renegade's brow lifted. "Seriously?"
"You tracked the GPS on my shell phone? Isn't that illegal?"
Renegade made a face.
The bartender brought the drinks, and Renegade sipped his mulled wine appreciatively. "No, I called your office. Someone named Charlie told me you'd had a run-in with a batch of your mom's cookies. He suggested I try the bars in the area."
"An excellent judge of character, that Charlie," Cole muttered.
"What's this about a baby?"
He sighed deeply, and suddenly felt stone cold sober. He told his friend the whole, wretched story.
"So let me see if I've got this straight," Renegade mused. "You fall for this chica at the powwow, but she runs away from you. When you finally find her, she doesn't want to know you. But you've still got it bad. Hmm. Why does this story sound so familiar?"
Cole snorted. "We're not talking about you and RaeAnne, here, brother."
Renegade took another sip. "You want the kid?"
"I'm ready for a family, Roman." He pushed out a frustrated breath. "You know, it's weird. You spend fifteen years trying to prevent this from happening, but when it does, all you can think about is how terrific it'll be when you're a father. When you're holding your own kid on your knee. You've got no idea how incredible it is to look at a woman who is big with a child and know it's yours. Your blood. Your body. Your future."
Renegade stared at him. "Whew. Heavy stuff, man. What about the woman?"
Cole squeezed lime into his untouched drink. "What about her?"
"You going to marry her?"
"Nope."
"Because she ran away?"
"Yeah. Among other things."
"Thanks a lot, pal," Renegade muttered, clearly thinking about his own situation with RaeAnne.
"You had damn good reasons when you ran away," Cole said.
Renegade spun his stool to face the crowded room. "Yeah. Well, so did Rini, I'm betting."
Cole blew out a breath, shaking his head. "So she claims."
"Hmm." Renegade swirled his wine, watching a pair of legs in a green spangled miniskirt saunter by. "This woman of yours, she pretty?"
Cole licked the lime off his fingers and smiled dreamily at his friend's reflection in the mirror as he turned back to meet his gaze. "Pretty as a goddamn picture. Her eyes are gorgeous—like brilliant blue opals. I call her Fire Eyes. You should have seen her that day at the powwow." He frowned. "On second thought, I'm glad you didn't. Women never could resist your nasty, bad boy image."
Renegade grinned and flicked the end of a braid. "It's the hair. I'm convinced of it."
Surveying the unruly strands of raven black coursing down the man's back—long on top and cropped short on the sides except for a thin braid above one ear—Cole made a disgusted sound. Even at its longest, his own hair had never looked quite that disreputable.
"If you say so. Doesn't the Bureau have rules about weird hair?" Renegade might look like a badass from the Road Warrior movies, but working for the FBI was as legit as it got.
"Not as long as I get my job done. So, you're telling me you don't want this pretty woman who's having your baby?"
Light sparkled like fire off his shot glass as Cole lifted it to his lips. "Oh, I want her, all right. Every damn time I look at her. But I'll deal with it."
Renegade hiked an eyebrow. "She want you, too?"
Cole laughed. "She wants my head on a platter."
"Sounds like you're going to have yourself an interesting couple of months...or years." He crossed his arms over his leather jacket. "Me, I'm hittin' the road tonight. Got a job up north."
"Why don't you stick around for a day? Have Christmas dinner at my folks' place tomorrow."
An indecipherable look crept into his friend's eyes. "Thanks, but I'd rather get moving. Give your mom a big hug for me."
"Still looking for RaeAnne?"
Renegade threw back the rest of his wine and gave Cole a world-weary smile. "I'll find her sooner or later."
"I know you will, compadre."
Motorcycle boots hit the floor and Cole felt a warm hand press onto his shoulder. "I hope it works out with the baby and your woman. Do me a favor, give her a second chance. We all deserve one. See you in a few months."
Cole swung his stool around and watched Renegade disappear through the crowd as quickly as he had appeared. The man was a specter, coming and going at the oddest times and places. He was also a romantic fool.
Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set Page 58