Callie couldn’t imagine what he meant by that remark and the self-deprecating tone in his voice prevented her from asking. Clearly, he didn’t like anyone giving him compliments. It was as though he didn’t feel worthy of any sort of praise. That made no sense. He was a good man. How could he believe that he wasn’t?
The notion saddened Callie, but she did her best to push it out of her mind and put on her cheeriest smile. “What do you say we go find some animals to show Maeve?”
“Sounds good to me.”
She reached for his hand and the tender glance he cast her made her forget everything except his strong, warm fingers wrapped around hers.
“Remember? I’m supposed to hold your hand the whole time,” she reminded him. “Because of the ghosts.”
Chuckling lowly, he squeezed her fingers. “With you holding on to me, I won’t be frightened.”
They walked over to the barnyard where Maeve immediately caught sight of a potbellied pig roaming freely around the grounds.
“Ahhh-eee!” She squealed and pointed to the animal.
“That’s Tiny Tim,” Callie told the baby. “He’s a sweet pig.”
Amused, Tyler shook his head. “You mean eating sweets, don’t you? If you ask me, his name should be XL Tim.”
“Is that some sort of pig breed—XL?” Callie asked.
He laughed outright. “No, XL for extra-large size.”
Callie chuckled. “You’re right about the size, but XL just doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
For the next hour, they wandered around the farm, letting Maeve experience the array of birds and animals. By the time they strolled back to the main barn, the baby had fallen asleep, her head pillowed against Tyler’s shoulder.
Most of the other guests had finished their visit to the farm and driven away. Daphne, along with a pair of staff members, had already begun the evening chores.
With a feed bucket in hand, the strawberry-blonde walked over to where Callie and Tyler stood near the door of the barn.
“Are you three leaving?” she asked.
“Yes. It will be dark soon and Maeve is asleep,” Callie told her.
Tyler said, “My daughter had so much fun with the animals that she wore herself out.”
“I’m glad she enjoyed it.” Daphne leveled a pointed look at him. “And thank you, Tyler, for coming. I imagine you have an idea of what it means to me to have a rancher visit this farm. You’ve made my day, honestly.”
“It was my pleasure.” He retrieved a wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a check. Handing it to her, he said, “Here’s a little gift from the Flying A.”
She glanced at the check and Callie was amazed to see the woman’s blue eyes glaze over with moisture. “Thank you, Tyler. And please thank the rest of your family for me.”
“Sure thing.”
Daphne cleared her throat and then gave them a big smile. “Before you leave, I have a question. Has either of you seen Maggie around town? We’ve been hunting everywhere for her.”
“Maggie?” Tyler asked blankly.
The name suddenly registered with Callie. “Oh, you’re talking about the border collie that won the Bronco Pet Contest during the Fourth of July celebration. Van told me that she went missing.”
Daphne’s nod was grim. “Technically, the pet contest was on the fifth of July. Maggie won the crown then promptly ran away. I suppose her dash for freedom was her way of saying she didn’t want to be the queen of pets.”
Tyler glanced at both women. “I hate to sound gruesome, but after this length of time, she might have been struck by a car and killed.”
Shaking her head, Daphne gazed wistfully out at the road that ran by the Happy Hearts’ property. “You’re not being gruesome, you’re being realistic. The thought has been crossing my mind ever since she ran away. But so far no one has found her on the highway, or any of the country roads around here. I keep hoping she’s still roaming around town and finding scraps to eat. Anyway, if you do see her, please let me know. Everyone here on the farm wants her back. She’s a border collie and Australian shepherd mix with long white hair and a brown spot over one eye.”
Tyler and Callie assured her they’d keep an eye out for the pooch and then said their goodbyes.
* * *
The drive to town passed with minimal conversation. Callie mostly gazed out at the countryside rapidly being cloaked with the shadows of twilight. Tyler kept his focus on the road, trying not to mull on his growing desire for Callie.
When the idea to visit Happy Hearts had first entered Tyler’s mind, he’d thought the trip would be a nice, harmless way to give Maeve some enjoyment and him a chance to spend a little time with Callie. Now he had to admit to himself that the simple outing had turned out to be all those things and more.
Something about being on the farm and watching Callie and Maeve enjoying the animals together, almost like a real mother and daughter, had touched Tyler in a way he’d not expected. Even his cynical eyes could see that Callie was growing close to his daughter and that Maeve was forming a bond with her. He had to be pleased about the development. His daughter needed a woman’s touch. Even more than what his mother gave her during babysitting stints. Yet he couldn’t deny he felt a bit uneasy about the change in their lives.
He had no idea how long this thing with Callie might last. In fact, he was beginning to wonder how soon she was going to tire of his effort to keep the growth of their relationship at a snail’s pace. There were times, when she thought he wasn’t looking, that he’d spotted a flash of frustration in her eyes. And he didn’t need for her to tell him in so many words that she was waiting for him to move things forward, to take their relationship to a deeper level. He could sense her disappointment each time he ended their kisses before they had a chance to get heated.
Hell, any normal man would’ve already taken her into his bed, Tyler thought. But he wasn’t normal. No, there was something inside him that was scarred and twisted, and too afraid to ever believe he could be truly happy again.
Chapter Seven
Maeve had fallen asleep by the time they’d reached Callie’s apartment. Tyler carried her inside and Callie followed with the child’s diaper bag.
“Poor baby,” Callie said softly as they walked the short hallway to the living room. “She’s gone to sleep without any dinner.”
“We’ll feed her when she wakes,” he assured her.
After removing his black Stetson and placing it on the coffee table, he went over to the armchair where the baby usually slept, and was about to place her on the cushion when Callie suddenly stopped him.
“Wait, Tyler. Before you put Maeve down in the chair, I have something to show you.”
She motioned for him to follow her along the hallway toward the bedroom.
Tyler’s brows shot up at the idea of being inside her room. “Show me what?” he asked skeptically.
She pulled a playful face at him. “Don’t ask questions. Just come this way.”
When she entered her bedroom, he paused at the door, reluctant to go any farther. She might as well have been asking Tyler to enter a lions’ den without so much as a whip for protection.
Seeing he was standing in the open doorway with no intentions of moving, she said in an exasperated voice, “Come in. I have something for Maeve.”
He followed her over to a corner of the shadowy room. And then he saw it. A white, portable, baby crib, complete with a mobile of small animals and colorful tinkling bells.
Tyler stared at the baby bed in stunned fascination. “Where did you get this?” he asked.
She placed the diaper bag on a dressing bench. “I found it in a furniture store in Bronco Valley,” she said.
He was overwhelmed that she’d gone to all this trouble and expense for Maeve, and for him. “You shouldn’t have done this, Callie
. In fact, I’m going to insist on paying you for it.”
A horrified expression came over her face and Tyler realized he would have to be careful about what he said next. Otherwise, he might crush her feelings. And hurting Callie was the last thing he wanted.
She hurried over to his side. “You’re not going to do any such thing! It’s my gift to Maeve. She deserves to have a nice bed while she’s here at the apartment. Go ahead and put her in it. The sheets and blanket are just washed.”
Feeling certain he was losing a battle that he probably shouldn’t have started in the first place, Tyler gently laid Maeve in the crib. Once she was resting on her back in the middle of the crib, he slipped off her shoes.
“Could you hand me a diaper from her bag?” he asked. “I should’ve changed her before we left the farm. But she’ll never know it now.”
Callie dug out a diaper from the stuffed bag and carried it back to him.
“Let me do it,” she said. “When Van and Jameson have a baby, she might ask me to babysit for her. I can’t do that without any diaper-changing experience.”
At least she hadn’t said whenever she had a baby of her own, Tyler thought.
“Go for it,” he said, stepping to one side to make room for her. “You’ve watched me do it enough to know how.”
“It looks simple enough. And now that I’m not afraid to handle her, I’m pretty sure I can manage.”
Slowly and gently, she removed Maeve’s damp diaper and handed it to him. “I’ll let you put this in the trash can. There’s one in the bathroom—in the corner right behind you.”
“Mighty generous of you,” he said with humorous sarcasm.
He fastened the dirty diaper into a tight roll and carried the bundle to the bathroom. When he returned to the crib, Callie had already gotten the fresh diaper fastened on Maeve and was in the process of covering her with a light blanket.
“Still asleep,” she said proudly. “And see how comfy she looks on her new bed.”
He turned away from the crib and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. How could he explain that her gift to Maeve felt like a tender trap to him? He couldn’t.
“Callie, I, uh, I don’t know what to say. You—”
Callie wrapped a hand around his upper arm and tugged him a few steps back from the crib.
“Listen, Tyler, I don’t want you to take this all wrong. I didn’t buy a bed for Maeve just to make brownie points with you. This doesn’t mean I’m trying to throw a lasso around you or anything like that. It just means that I love Maeve and I wanted to do this for her. Okay?”
Dear God, she must be able to read his mind, he thought. And as he studied her for long moments, old memories of Maeve’s constant crying and Luanne’s shrill demands pushed their way into his thoughts and sent a shiver down his spine. What if Callie suddenly changed into a woman he didn’t recognize? What if Maeve reverted to being a cranky, miserable child? The whole nightmare would start all over again.
Don’t be stupid, Tyler. Callie could never be like Luanne. And Maeve has grown out of those colicky days and nights. The future could be good. If you’d only give it a chance.
Shoving the voice in his head aside, he drew in a deep breath. “Okay,” he said finally. “But what if—”
When he didn’t go on, he could see a shadow of disappointment fall over her face. Damn it, why couldn’t he just thank her and keep his mouth shut? Why did he have to make things complicated? Because most of his married life had been complicated?
She swallowed then said, “If we decide not to date each other anymore? Isn’t that what you’re trying to ask?”
He answered with a rueful nod, but instead of appearing frustrated with him, she gave him a bright smile. “Then I’ll put the crib away and save it for when I have a child of my own. See? One way or the other, the little bed won’t go to waste.”
The mere mention of her saving this crib for when she gave birth to some other man’s child grated over Tyler like a piece of coarse-grit sandpaper. But she couldn’t know that. How could she? He could hardly admit to himself, much less to her, that he was thinking of her in a possessive way. Besides, she was being so casual about it all that Tyler felt like an idiot for putting up a protest in the first place.
“I am grateful to you, Callie. And I honestly don’t deserve you—or the way you make me feel.”
Her eyelids lowered just enough to send a prickle of awareness rushing through him.
“How do I make you feel?” she asked softly.
Without thinking, he pulled her close, pressed her against him. “Like a man. A very hungry man.”
Her lips parted and her soft sigh brushed against the side of his face. The caressing sensation was more than he could stand and before he could tamp down the feelings raging inside him, he wrapped his arms around her and covered her lips with his.
She clearly understood that this embrace was nothing like the tepid kisses he’d been giving her these past few days when he’d been holding back, worrying, tossing around the pros and cons of having an affair. But not now. He was kissing her like a starved man and they were both feeling the flames wrapping them tightly together.
The hungry search he made of her lips went on for so long that Tyler’s lungs felt as though they were being crushed and white lights appeared behind his closed eyes.
Forced to refuel his body with oxygen, he broke the contact of their lips. As he sucked in deep breaths and tried to control the hammering of his heart, Callie’s head lolled limply backward. Her dark hair slipped away from the creamy column of her neck and Tyler was quick to take advantage of the exposed skin.
As he planted tiny, butterfly kisses beneath her ear and down the side of her neck, she groaned with pleasure.
“Tyler. Please keep kissing me. Touching me.”
Her husky plea was like a kiss unto itself and the need to make love to her ratcheted up another notch as his lips took a downward slide to the curve of her shoulder and finally onto the ridge of her collarbone. She tasted sweet and delicious, and he wondered how long this would have to go on before he got his fill. Hours? Days? No, he couldn’t imagine that being nearly enough time to enjoy the pleasures of her body.
“You don’t have to ask, sweet Callie. Just hang on to me. Let me taste you. Feel you. Everywhere.”
As he whispered the words against her warm skin, he could feel a shiver pass through her body. It mirrored the rush of sensations that had started in his head and traveled rapidly downward to his loins. Now they were burning, begging his hands to drag her hips against the erection that was already pressing against his jeans.
He felt her arms slip around him, her body align itself to his and, at that moment, as her breasts yielded to his chest, Tyler recognized that he was totally lost to her. He was beyond the point of being able to pull back, to walk away. No matter the consequences.
“Callie...” he murmured against her cheek. “I’ve wanted this—you—for...oh, I don’t know...it feels like forever.”
“And I’ve wanted you,” she said thickly. “But I thought you didn’t want to make love to me.”
Just hearing her say the words elicited a guttural groan deep in his throat. “I must’ve been doing some great acting because making love to you is all I’ve been wanting.”
“Then show me what you’re feeling. That’s what I really want.”
He lowered his mouth to hers and, using his lips and tongue, kissed her until she began to whimper with need and he was close to exploding.
Pulling slightly back from her, he rubbed his thumbs over the rigid nipples pushing against the fabric of her tank top. “I think we should get undressed, don’t you?”
She nodded and a slice of sanity had him glancing toward the open doorway. “What about Van?” he asked huskily. “Will she be coming home tonight?”
Her eyes were drowsy as s
he smiled up at him. “No. Lucky for us, she’s staying at Jameson’s tonight. Or lucky for him,” she added wickedly. “Whichever way you want to look at it.”
Chuckling, he said, “I’d say we’re lucky all the way around.”
The news that they would have the apartment all to themselves had him tugging the hem of her tank top from the waistband of her jeans. She promptly lifted her arms and he pulled the garment over her head and tossed it on the dressing bench next to Maeve’s diaper bag.
Without a moment’s pause to glance at her scantily covered breasts, he removed her jeans and ankle boots, then stepped back to take in the sexy image of her standing in a set of lacy black lingerie.
A lopsided grin twisted his lips. “I wasn’t expecting to find this,” he admitted.
A breathless laugh rushed out of her. “What were you expecting? Pantaloons and a corset?”
His hands cupped the firm breasts swathed in lace then slipped down her rib cage and onto the flare of her hips. “Nothing quite this naughty. I’m beginning to think you have another side to you.”
“I have all kinds of sides to me,” she whispered. “If you care to look for them.”
Groaning, he brushed his lips against hers. “I’m looking, Callie girl.”
By the time he planted another long, heated kiss to her mouth, she was reaching to undo the pearl snaps on his shirt. He let her open them before he circled his hands around both her wrists.
“The bedroom door,” he said. “I’m going to shut and lock it. Just in case Van decides to come home for some reason.”
“Okay. I want you to feel comfortable,” she told him.
After dealing with the door, he returned to where she was standing by the side of the bed. Her brown eyes filled with a soft, inviting light as she gazed up at him.
“Is there a chance we might wake Maeve?” she asked.
“The only thing that will wake Maeve is hunger, a wet diaper, or maybe an earthquake.”
The corners of her lips tilted temptingly upward as she reached to undo his belt buckle. “The diaper is taken care of for a while. But we don’t know when she might get hungry or if an earthquake might rattle us. That means we’d better speed things up.”
For His Daughter's Sake Page 12