by Lori Wilde
Chapter Seven
UNFLINCHINGLY, HE MET her stare. His hazel eyes, so much like Travis’, reflected back at her, clear and unwavering.
Yes, this was the cocky son of a gun she remembered. From the very first time he’d asked her out, Kael tried to bend her to his will.
Well, she was having none of it. Daisy Anne had plenty of grit on her own! She didn’t need a man, especially someone as high-handed as Kael telling her what to do.
She’d survived her parents’ tragic deaths and kept the honey farm on track. She’d overcome Rose’s betrayal and Travis’ unexpected arrival. She’d kept on trucking down life’s perilous highway despite her twin’s drug overdose and Aunt Peavy’s cancer scare last year.
“It’s the best thing,” he said, his words earnest.
“According to you.”
“We need each other.”
“Like heck we do.”
“Let me do right by you, Daisy.” His eyes were sincere, pleading. “Let me be a father to my son. Let me help you rebuild the honey farm. Let’s make a real family together. You, me, and Travis.”
“Why should I provide your redemption? You weren’t there when I needed you.”
Kael thumped his fist against the headboard. “I’m here now. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“No. You’re only here because you’ve lost everything else.” She stared at his bum leg.
Kael blew out his breath and rubbed both palms along the top of his thighs. “I know the situation is not ideal, but we could make the best of it. I want to make the best of it. Please, Daisy, give it some thought.”
“Do you expect me to believe you’ve changed that much?”
“I have.”
Daisy pushed herself off the bed and onto her feet. Settling her hands on her hips, she narrowed her eyes. “Who are you trying to kid? Me or yourself?”
“I had every intention of coming back home for you after my rodeo career was over,” he said.
“Was that before or after you took my sister to bed?”
“Darn it, Daisy.” Kael got to his feet and lowered his face to hers. The pain and hurt in his eyes matched her own. “I swear I thought Rose was you.”
“That’s convenient, now that Rose isn’t here to defend herself.”
“Your sister seduced me on purpose. Don’t you get it? How else did Rose know I was at Kelly’s Bar?”
“Where else would you be celebrating another victory?” For seven years, Daisy had needed to blame Kael. To hold him accountable instead of facing the painful truth. That her own twin sister had purposely set out to make love to Daisy’s boyfriend just to hurt her. Because she had talked to Rose that night.
She had told her twin about the big blowup between her and Kael. It would have been so easy for Rose to pretend to be her. They were identical twins after all, and as children, they’d swapped places often. Especially late at night, with Kael flying high on his win and celebratory drinks.
“Rose was dressed in your clothes and wearing her hair in a ponytail. She knew exactly what she was doing, Daisy.”
“That’s right, go ahead, pin it all on a dead woman.” She held on to her anger because she wanted so badly to forgive him. To make a fresh start. But was that smart? She was so afraid to trust him. He had the power to pulverize her heart to powder.
“You know Rose had been after me for years. Long before you and I ever started going out together.”
Daisy had no comeback. She’d suspected her twin sister had intentionally seduced Kael while he was vulnerable.
But even if her sister had seduced him, that in no way exonerated Kael. What would have happened if he had made love to her instead of Rose, and she had been the one to get pregnant? Would he have come back and married her? She would never know, would she?
“Daisy, you were the one issuing ultimatums, demanding marriage or nothing. Well, here’s your chance; I want to marry you now.”
“You don’t want to marry me. You’re just feeling guilty. You think you can come in and take over, become this great dad. It doesn’t work that way, buddy. Parenting is difficult work, and it’s going to take time to build Travis’ trust.”
“I’m aware of that,” Kael murmured. “But give me a chance to prove myself. Can you do that?”
The nineteen-year-old girl in her wanted to cry, yes, yes. But she’d been through too much to hang her hopes on fate or the fantasy of true love. Did that make her hard?
He leaned in so close their noses almost touched.
Being this near him sent warm tingles throughout her whole body. How could she be so turned on when she was so upset? One look in those shadowy hazel eyes and her whole body quivered.
Kael must have felt it, too, because in the next instant, he pulled her headlong into his embrace.
Shocked, Daisy froze as his strong arms bunched around her waist and his lips dipped down to seize hers in a kiss so bold, so forceful, her toes curled.
He’d never kissed her like this before.
In the past, his kisses had been teasing, cajoling, frisky, and sassy. They’d been the kisses of a playful kid.
But this? Wow! He was all grown up and one hundred percent male.
The kiss scared the pants off Daisy, and she had a feeling that’s precisely what Kael intended.
Trembling, she tried to push away, but her hands knotted ineffectively against his chest as his tongue explored.
He was angry with her. She could taste it on him. Well, dammit, she was angry, too!
Oddly enough, their mingled anger excited as much as it frightened. Daisy tossed her head and growled low in her throat, intending it to be a warning. Instead, muffled by his moist active lips, the noise sounded like a soft moan of desire.
He devoured her. His fingers slid through her hair, and his heart thudded against her chest, while his tongue strummed over her teeth.
Daisy, overwhelmed by the sensations, closed her eyes and let it happen.
She savored the pressure of his arm on her shoulder, delighted in his unique taste, and reveled in his manly scent—all sand, sunshine, and man. When at last she felt courageous enough, she pried opened her eyes to find him staring intently at her.
Simultaneously, her pupils widened, her pulse quickened, and her stomach contracted.
“Stop it,” she cried, breaking away from him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Giving you a taste of what our marriage will be like.” His hair was disheveled, his collar askew. His breath was ragged, his eyes murky with passion.
“I’m not going to marry you.”
“Not even for the sake of our son?”
That stopped her cold. Daisy frowned and rubbed her forehead. “Even if I did agree to marry you, it would be in name only. A formal marriage of convenience, so we could both get what we wanted.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why does it have to be a marriage in name only?”
“Because I don’t want you.”
“Is that true?” He studied her face. “Or is it because you’re terrified if you give in to your impulses that you’ll turn wild like Rose?”
“No!” Daisy denied, but his words hit far too close to home. She had avoided sex because of her sister’s wildness.
“I’m asking you to think about it, Daisy. A real marriage. A forever marriage. I know you loved me once...” He paused, locking his gaze on hers. “As much as I loved you. If you give me a chance and agree to be my wife, I promise I’ll spend a lifetime showing you and Travis just how much you both mean to me.”
“And if I don’t?”
He looked so sad it took the breath from her lungs. “Then we’ll both spend the rest of our lives with regrets for what might have been.”
SHE COULDN’T MARRY Kael. Not because she didn’t still love him, but precisely because she did. He could damage her in a hundred different ways.
Sucking in a ragged breath, Daisy stared at the tenacious man toweri
ng above her. He was cocksure, arrogant, and smug beyond belief. And she didn’t trust him. Not for one minute.
Not that she doubted that he believed what he was saying...for now. He’d always been a passionate guy. But she just didn’t know if he had what it took for the long haul. Marriage was not easy. Neither was parenthood.
“I mean what I said,” he warned, placing a hand on the doorframe, barring her exit. “I want to marry you. So start getting used to the idea.”
Daisy stood stock-still, fists knotted at her sides, mind whirling as she weighed her options. If she refused to let him see Travis, he’d have her in court before she knew what hit her. Although she doubted a judge would take Travis from her, Kael would probably get joint custody.
“Daisy, will you marry me?”
“No.” She raised her chin and forced herself to meet his stare.
“Not even for Travis?”
She swallowed. Was she being a bad mother by turning down his offer of marriage?
The old familiar ache, no less sharp after all these years, sprang up inside her. How could she agree to such an arrangement? She’d spent enough time pining for a man too hung up on his
career to give her the kind of love she needed.
Kael played second fiddle to no one. Not in the rodeo arena and not, she felt sure, in marriage. If she married him, she would lose control, over her life, her farm, her son, everything.
And nothing frightened Daisy more than the loss of control.
From the moment her parents had been killed, she’d assumed the role as head of household. Cleanly, swiftly, without complaint, she’d abandoned her own hopes and dreams in favor of doing the right thing. At sixteen she’d made funeral arrangements in the midst of running the honey farm. Daisy had gone to court and gotten declared an emancipated minor. She’d succeeded on sheer grit and hardheaded determination. Finishing high school at the top of her class while at the same time providing for her family.
It had been very difficult, but Daisy attained a level of emotional independence rarely achieved by someone so young. She was used to getting her own way, and that’s how she liked it. She was used to being in charge and wasn’t about to surrender her independence for any man.
Never mind that once upon a time, she would have given anything for him to ask her to be his wife. That time had long since passed. She wasn’t about to go running back to him with open arms, no matter how bright the old flame burned within her.
What about Travis?
Indeed, what about her child? The boy deserved to know his father, and Kael, for all his faults, deserved a chance to prove himself. Not to her, but to his son.
“We don’t have to get married for you to be a father,” Daisy said. “You live right next door. That should be good enough.”
Kael reached out and touched a lock of her hair, caressing it between his index finger and thumb. Daisy suppressed a shiver and cast her gaze to the floor.
“Maybe I want more than just being a father.”
She inhaled sharply and took a step backward. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve missed you, Daisy.” His voice was hoarse, husky, like he’d shouted too long and too hard. “More than you can ever know.”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t have buckle bunnies chasing you around the circuit, because I know better, Kael.” She said the first thing that came to her mind, anything to pick a fight and keep her anger smoldering.
“You’re never going to let me live down my mistakes, are you?”
“It’s a little hard when your biggest boo-boo is a six-year-old child.”
“Which is why I want to make amends.”
“You’re forgetting one thing,” Daisy said, her tone sharp-edged.
“What’s that?”
“A marriage should be based on love.”
“We used to love each other, once. Remember?” His fingers lingered on her shoulder, sending warm tingles over her skin. “We could try again. Get those feelings back.”
Daisy shook her head. She didn’t want to resurrect those old memories. She opened her mouth and told him a bald-faced lie. A fib designed to protect her heart and push him away. “That’s where you’re wrong, Kael. I was hot for you, yes, but it was just infatuation. What we had wasn’t real love.”
DAISY ANNE WAS NOT a good liar. The tip of her nose turned red when she told a whopper, and right now the cute upturned tip was crimson.
Kael forced himself not to grin. No matter what she might claim, the woman still cared about him. Now how could he get her to see that they were, and always had been, meant for each
other?
“Why would you want to marry someone who doesn’t want you?” she asked.
“Because that someone is the adoptive mother of my child.”
“Dang you, Kael,” she said. “I regret the day I ever clamped eyes on you.”
“I’m aware of that,” he replied coolly. “Tell you what, Daisy, I’ll give you a week to make up your mind. In the meantime, I’m ready to introduce myself to my son.”
Daisy raised a hand to her mouth. “Can’t we wait a little while longer? Ease Travis into the idea?”
“I don’t think so. It’s way past time.”
“Don’t you dare go against me on this, Kael! I’m not ready.”
Kael reached down and picked his hat up off the floor from where it had fallen when he’d kissed her. “All right. We’ll play it your way. I’ll give you a week to think over my proposal. After that...” He shook his head. “I’ll have to get my lawyer involved. And she’s not going to go easy on a woman who has kept a man from his son for six years.”
Kael thrust his chest out with more bravado than he felt. The woman was stubborn enough to call his bluff. If push came to shove, and she still refused to marry him? Well, Kael didn’t have the heart to wreck her world, but he wasn’t about to let her know that.
“You have changed,” Daisy said quietly. “I was wrong before. Unfortunately, the change wasn’t for the better.”
Kael shrugged. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” With those parting words, he turned and sauntered from the room, quietly struggling against the pain in his leg and trying his best not to limp.
“BAD NEWS?” AUNT PEAVY peered at Daisy through her thick glasses from where she stood at the kitchen sink, peeling apples for a homemade pie.
Three days had passed since Kael asked her to marry him. Three days of worrying, cursing, and pacing the floor. Three days of feeling like an animal caught in a trap with no way out save gnawing a paw off.
Daisy switched off her cell phone and sat down at the kitchen table. “Worse than that. The green monster has officially expired. Willie said it’d cost three thousand dollars to fix her, and the thing’s not worth five hundred. Said best we could do is sell her for scrap.”
“Oh, Lordy, no.” Aunt Peavy sighed and laid a hand over her chest. “Not more problems! What are we going to do?”
For once, Daisy wanted to join her aunt in her overreaction to bad news. She suppressed the urge to lay her head on the table and bawl her eyes out. She’d been strong for so long, she didn’t even know how to let down her guard and simply sob her sorrows away.
“Maybe you better call Kael and tell him you’ll marry him.”
“Aunt Peavy! That is not a solution.”
“Well,” her aunt said. “Do you have any better ideas?”
“I’ll get a job.”
“Doin’ what? It’s not like jobs are poppin’ out all over everywhere in Rascal.”
“I know.” Daisy plowed her hands through her hair. “I was thinking about applying in Pecos.”
“That’s a forty-mile drive one way. Who’s gonna take care of the farm while you’re gone all day? And how will you get there with no car?”
“I don’t know.” Daisy sighed.
Aunt Peavy got quiet.
Daisy rose to her feet, went to the sink, and patted her aunt’s arm. “Look, I’m sorry I’m disco
uraged. This thing with Kael’s knocked me off my game.”
“It’s okay. I’m just worried.”
“I know you are.” Daisy gave her a hug. “Don’t fret. I’ll find a way like I always do.”
Like I always do.
The phrase echoed in her head. For once, she’d like to rest her burden on someone else’s shoulders. How nice it would be to have someone else take the reins for once.
Someone like Kael?
No! What on earth was she thinking? He was not the solution to all her problems. He was just an even bigger complication.
And yet some tiny part of her dared to hope. Dared to daydream about what could be if she just said “yes” to his proposal.
The back door banged closed, jerking Daisy from her thoughts. She looked up to see Travis standing in the entryway, tears streaming down his cheeks.
She flew from her chair to her son’s side. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
“The kids are sa-sa—” Travis sobbed so hard he hiccupped on the sentence. “Saying I can’t go on the Cub Scout father-son fishing trip ’cause I don’t have a dad.”
Daisy enveloped him in her arms. Seeing him so upset wrenched her heart in two. “Shh.” She patted his back. “Take a few deep breaths.”
Travis obeyed, his heavy sigh sending a shudder through his little body. He swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Better?”
He nodded, but a forlorn expression clouded his face, letting Daisy know it was definitely not better.
“Who said you couldn’t go on the Cub Scout fishing trip?”
Travis rolled the hem of his shirttail between his fingers and studied his boots. “Scott Kelly and Tommy Martin. They said only boys with daddies could go.”
Daisy forced her teeth together, biting down on her anger. It wouldn’t be the first time that kids had taunted him.
“How come everybody has a daddy but me?” Travis raised his hazel eyes and stared at her. Accusing eyes that looked just like Kael’s.
But you do have a daddy, you do, you do.
Was she wrong, after all, for wanting to wait before letting Kael tell Travis the truth?