Baby Girl: Dare to Love

by Celya Bowers

  Darn that man, Jemma thought as the first tears trickled down her face. “I know I never sat down and actually cried for him. He had died so suddenly, there wasn’t time. I was concerned about Kassie, his parents, and family.” She wiped away more tears.

  “I started my blog because I was in this neutral state. Janna suggested it as a way to process everything that had happened. It was working for a little while, then I noticed Kassie was having problem adjusting to life without her father. Janna convinced me to move to Mansfield and to enroll Kassie in horse riding lessons.”

  “Well, I’ll have to thank Janna.” He started the car. “I don’t have any tissues in my car. My place is not that far and you can, you know…”

  She knew she looked a hot mess. Crying like a crazy would do that to a person. “Thank you,” she said. She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips. “Thank you, for not telling me how awful I look.”

  “You’re always beautiful to me.” He put the car in gear and headed to the road.

  Once they were at the ranch, everything was different. Jemma thought he’d park at the business office, but he parked in the garage behind his house. She knew he lived in the ranch manager’s cottage, she just didn’t know what that meant.

  Once they entered the house, he turned on the lights, and her jaw dropped. The living room was tidy, everything had a place. The TV remote set on the wooden coffee table along with a box of tissues. The aroma of coffee wafted through the house.

  “Looks like my Mom has been here since I left,” Kyle said. “Would you like something to drink? Coffee or wine?” He motioned for her to sit on the worn leather couch.

  “Yes. A glass of wine will be fine.” She glanced around looking for the bathroom. “Where’s the bathroom?”

  “Sorry, it’s down the hall. First door on the right.” He headed for the kitchen.

  Jemma walked down the hallway, noting the pictures on the wall. They were photos of his parents, and she’d guess his brother and sister with their families. There wasn’t any pictures of Kyle. For some reason that bothered her. She located the bathroom. Except it wasn’t just a bathroom, this was his bedroom.

  The large room was just as neat as the living room. His king-sized bed was made of the same heavy wood as the coffee table. It stood regal in the center of the room. She reasoned that the bathroom had to be near. She walked toward the back of the large room, and noticed the bathroom.

  She stepped inside and closed the door. “Wow!” She whispered, taking a good look around the place. Everything was immaculate. The counter was clear of any objects. Not even a razor, aftershave or cologne. She saw her image in the mirror and gasped. If Kassie saw her right now, she’d probably scream.

  Her mascara had ran, her face was splotchy from all her crying jags. She certainly hoped this emotions had leveled out. Quickly washing her face, she joined him back in the living room.

  He’d taken off the jacket and now was sitting on the sofa. He instantly stood the minute she came into view. “I was beginning to wonder what happened to you.”

  “Sorry, was just admiring your furniture in the bedroom. That’s Hildago furniture?” She asked of the very expensive custom made furniture.

  He poured them each a glass of wine. “Yes, it is. The owner is a friend of Dad’s. I had the bed custom made when I moved back. I’ve had everything made; the coffee table, couch, and the dining room table. I probably slept on the couch for a year, while I was waiting for the bed to be made.”

  She thought the couch was comfortable but didn’t think it was that comfortable. “Wow, why didn’t you sleep at your parents?” She took a sip of the wine. It was so cold and smooth.

  “I love my parents, but I didn’t want them to pity me for coming home. Mom would have fussed over me and Dad would have given me comfort. I needed to be by myself for a while. That first year, I ate a lot of take out, until Mom had had enough.”

  Jemma nodded. “Yeah, I couldn’t see Tesla taking that ‘poor me’ attitude long.”

  “Hey, we’re you in the house when she said that. Now, I normally eat breakfast there after my run and dinner after the office closes.”

  “You run?” She took another sip. She couldn’t see him running, but he had to do something to look that good.

  He nodded, leaning back on the couch. “Yes, I run about five miles every morning. My mom cooks old school style. She fries most foods, so I have to do something. Plus, it helps me stay on top of things. When I run, I can see if there’s any problems with the horses, the fences, or the ranch hands.”

  He was so not the man she thought he was. He had many complicated layers. She certainly couldn’t judge a book by his cover, this man was an enigma!

  Kyle couldn’t have asked for a better alternative to the date he’d planned. Although he wasn’t putting the moves on her, it was nice to enjoy her company. There was still a lot of grief she was holding in, but he’d have to wait. Professionally, he knew it wasn’t healthy to hold it in, he could see why she had. Everything in her life revolved around Kassie. It was like Jemma turned off her wants and needs to focus on her child. Admirable, but not a good choice. He was going to have to break down that wall.

  “Would you like to watch a movie or something?”

  She took another sip of wine, set her glass on the table, and looked at him. “I’d much rather talk.”

  “Okay.” He set his glass on the table. “Sure, let’s talk.” He eyes kept falling on her cleavage.

  “I’m so grateful that Kassie is speaking, however limited. What do you hope to gain from dating me?”

  “Gain? What do you mean?”

  “I’m asking because Kassie is going to come first, no matter what. I’m 38 years-old. I know guys like you, handsome, rugged, and well-off, have women falling all over you. I saw how those women were checking you out at the restaurant. I guess I’m just saying that it’s been a really long time since I’ve been with someone other than Jared. I don’t have time for a game. I want honesty.”

  Kyle slowly digested her words. He couldn’t blame her for being suspicious. “I want the same thing. Men were watching you, too. You’re a beautiful woman. I was attracted to you the first day. But it wasn’t your looks, it was the care you had for your daughter. You were willing to do whatever it took for her. That takes courage.”

  “Really?” She grinned. “I was just doing the best for my baby girl. Thank you for being honest.” She reached for her wine glass and took a healthy sip.

  Kyle watched her. “I’ll always be honest with you.” He reached for her hands and moved to her, slipping his arms around her. They leaned back against the couch. “You’re my first date since my divorce.”

  “Seriously? But…”

  “What?”

  “You’re so handsome. Muscles galore,” she said in a whisper against his shirt.

  “Thank you, but I wasn’t ready to date.”

  “And now?” She sat up and looked at him. Those green eyes searing his soul.

  “Now, I think I’m going to go crazy if I don’t do this.” He leaned down and kissed her. He’d told himself he wasn’t going to kiss her, but hormones were a crazy thing. Her lips were soft, and tasted like fruit from the wine. He’d just meant to give her a light kiss, but somewhere between his brain and her lips, had him wanting a whole lot more. He deepened the kiss, and pulled her closer to his body.

  She moaned, giving him access to the inside of her mouth. Kyle thought he’d lost his mind, but he wasn’t going to lose this opportunity. He bit her bottom lip before plunging his tongue inside her mouth. Her hot breath sent his already shot hormones over the edge.

  Jemma ran her fingers through his hair, reluctantly ending their power struggle. “Oh my goodness, Kyle.” Her chest heaved up and down. “You’re sending crazy shivers through my body.”

  He wanted and needed more. He kissed her again, this time their dance started slow, he planted kisses all over her face and neck before heading back to her lips.
“You’re doing crazy things to me, too.” He dipped his tongue inside her mouth and this time he showed no mercy. He heard her moan, but her hands were roaming his chest and shoulders.

  Kyle let his hands linger over her breasts. He eased her down on the couch without breaking the kiss. His body flushed against hers. For a second, her saw the look of fright in her eyes. She didn’t take her hands away, but fear was creeping into the moment.

  “You okay?” They were a breadth apart. He watched her carefully, ready to put a halt to the action if necessary. He so hoped that would not be the case.

  She nodded, but didn’t speak. She licked her lips. “Fine,” she whispered. “In fact, I hadn’t felt this good in a long time,” she said against his lips.

  His kissed her again, loving the feel of his body against hers, he wanted to savor this moment. They both laid there in silence, not moving, not talking, just holding each other. Then he heard it. A light snore.

  Jemma had fallen asleep.

  Kyle quickly eased his body off hers. He watched her for a moment, wondering what to do. Let her sleep, he thought, snuggling against her. He hugged her closer to him and quickly fell asleep.

  The next morning, Jemma snuggled into the heat behind her. She hadn’t felt this rested since….” Her eyes popped opened. Kyle. She was still at Kyle’s place. Why? Kassie? “Oh, no!”

  Kyle woke instantly. “What? What’s wrong?” He rubbed his face. “What time is it?”

  She glanced around the room. The sun was creeping up, so she easily spotted the time. “Oh, my goodness. It’s after six in the morning. Kassie will be looking for me.”

  “I’m sorry. You fell asleep and you look so peaceful.”

  “I didn’t realize I was exhausted.” She sat up and put her shoes on. “I’m sorry for falling asleep on you.”

  “No problem. As you noticed, I was asleep beside you.” Kyle sat beside her and wrapped his arms around her. “This was the best date I’ve ever had.” He kissed her on the cheek.

  “Me too.” She sighed, wondering how she was going to explain this to her family. Maybe, just maybe, no one was up yet.

  “Would you like to call home and check on Kassie?” He rose, already unsnapping his cell phone from his belt and handing it to her. “I’m going to take a shower, then I’ll take you home.” He walked down the hall.

  She knew he was giving her space to make the dreaded call. She dialed her home number and listened to the phone rang. One, two, three, maybe no one will answer.

  “Hello, Patterson residence,” her mother said.

  “Hi, Mom,” Jemma said quietly. She felt like a teenager calling from jail. “I feel asleep on Kyle’s couch last night. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

  “Take your time, honey. There’s no reason to hurry home. The kids stayed up playing most of the night. They didn’t go to bed until three or four this morning.”

  “How did Kassie do?”

  “Oh, she had a blast. We ordered pizza, Damon went and got some movies for them. It’s so good to hear her talking again. Why are you calling from a strange number?”

  “Janna rushed us out last night. I didn’t even have my purse.”

  “Jemma, don’t worry. We’re promised the kids we’d go out for breakfast, so really, take your time. This is your first outing since Jared’s death, and that man helped Kassie to start talking. So if you want to spend more time with him, please do so.”

  “Mom, are you pimping me out to Kyle now?” Gratitude was one thing, but this was bordering on something crazy.

  “No, I’m not. You need some down time. And since we’re here you should take advantage of that fact. I want you to enjoy yourself.”

  She couldn’t argue with her mother, or could she? “Okay, Mom, I won’t rush home, but call this number if there’s a problem.”

  “You know, I raised two children, I think I handle my three grandchildren at a restaurant. Besides, it will be four adults. We got this.” Her mother ended the call.

  “Did my mother just hang up on me?” She asked the empty room. She set the phone on the table and it instantly vibrated. Someone was calling. It danced across the coffee table again. Jemma noticed it was his mother calling. Should she? It could be an emergency, she reasoned. The caller started speaking before she could say a word.

  “Are you coming to breakfast?”

  This was what she got for answer that man’s phone. “I’m sorry, Tesla. Kyle is taking a shower.”

  “Jemma?”

  Did everyone know about their date? “Yes, I fell asleep last night. Kyle’s going to take me home as soon as he gets dressed.”

  “Not before he brings your to our house for breakfast. Tell him I said so. See you soon.” She ended the call.

  “Why is everybody hanging up on me?” Jemma placed the phone on the table. She leaned back on the sofa to massage her throbbing skull. First her baby girl is fine without her and now this woman expected her for breakfast. What was going to happen next?

  Kyle hurriedly dressed after his shower. He had to get Jemma back home before people realized he had company. Namely, his mother. Sunday morning breakfast was a family affair. Not only would his siblings be there, so would their families.

  He slipped on a t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. He walked into the living room. “Is everything okay?” Jemma looked out of sorts. “Was Kassie okay?”

  “Yes, she’s fine. Mom says they’re getting ready to go out to eat breakfast. So there’s no rush for me to get home.” She covered her mouth. “Oh, my. That sounded like a total come on. I just meant you didn’t have to break speed records to get me home. Kassie is having a blast with her cousins.”

  “Is that a problem?” Kyle sat next to her.

  She looked down. “No, it’s not. It’s just for the last year, Kassie kind of depended on me for everything. Now she’s taking more chances and I guess I wasn’t prepared for that. Sounds silly when I say it out loud.” She stared at his feet. “You have on tennis shoes!”

  He finally looked toward the floor. “So?”

  “I’ve just never seen you in such casual attire. You look nice.” She rose suddenly. “Can I use your bathroom?”

  “Sure. I have some extra supplies in the closet in the hall.”

  She looked down at him. “Why do you have extra supplies?”

  Now he was going to have to explain the tradition. “In this family, Sunday morning is a big deal. Mom starts breakfast super early and the entire family comes out here and sometimes they forget stuff. I got tired of always having to go to the store, so I just bought extra.”

  “Okay, now her phone call makes sense,” she mumbled.

  He had a bad feeling. “What?”

  “Your mom had called while you were in the shower. She said I couldn’t leave before having breakfast with the family. I thought she meant her and your dad.”

  He slapped his hand to his forehead. “Oh, no!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Hope you feel like meeting the entire Cosgrove clan, because you’re going to.”

  Jemma looked down at her rumpled clothes. “I can’t meet them like this.”

  This was his fault. He wanted her to feel at home at the ranch before he bombarded her with the rest of the family. Improvising, he walked toward her. “You can wear one of my shirts. And I’ll wash your slacks while you’re in the shower.” He was proud for thinking on his feet.

  “A man who doesn’t cook is offering to wash my slacks.” She smiled at him. “Oh, I so don’t think so. I think they’ll be okay. They’re not as wrinkled. I will try the shirt.” She went down the hall to his bedroom.

  Jemma stepped inside his shower stall. As the hot water pelted her tired body, she wondered about breakfast. She really liked Tesla, and didn’t want to disappoint her. She was getting too tangled with this family and this was just their first date. What was going to happen after this?

  She stepped out of the shower and gasped. Her clothes were gone. This man had bee
n in the bathroom while she was in her birthday suit? Had he seen her naked? Where were her clothes? She noticed a white terrycloth robe laying neatly on the counter.

  After she dried off with one of his fluffy bathroom towels, she slipped on the bathrobe and tied it securely around her. She opened the door to his bedroom and stopped right in her tracks. “Can I help you?”

  A very pretty woman sat on the bed. Her brown hair was cut short in a bob hairstyle. She looked very comfortable in jeans and a Dallas Cowboy sweatshirt. “Hi, Jemma. I’m Krista, Kyle’s sister. I’m also a friend of Janna’s. When Mom told me you were here, I had to come meet you. Then Kyle had said you were in the shower. I volunteered to come in here to get your clothes.”

  Jemma shook her head. Could this day get any crazier? “So you’re washing my clothes?” At least she felt better about a woman handling her clothes. “I told Kyle not to bother.”

  Krista waved away her remark. “I also know how it is to spend the night and you hadn’t planned on it. Kyle has a new-fangled washer and dryer that does your clothes in an instant. Well, more like twenty minutes.” She glanced at her gold watch adorning her left wrist.” Probably about five more minutes.”

  Jemma sat on the bed. “So Kyle didn’t come in here while I was in the shower?”

  “Goodness no! He’s Mr. Manners. He found you a shirt to wear if you don’t want to wear the one you had on last night.”

  Jemma looked down at her chest. She inherited her large breasts from her mother’s side. Damn genetics. Kyle didn’t look like he had any extra weight on him anywhere. She imagined any shirt he owned wouldn’t fit her chest. “We can try the shirt. I don’t think we have the same dimensions.”