My Kind of Trouble

by Becky McGraw

  She stopped him with a hand on his forearm. "Wait, Luke. There's something I need to talk to you about." He sat back down and looked at her curiously.

  "You gave me my wedding present and I need to give you yours," she unzipped her purse and pulled out the paperwork her daddy had given her earlier that day. "This is for you darlin', and it's a package deal, just like Titan was."

  He took the papers from her and unfolded them then skimmed over them, and she saw a red flush stain his cheeks as he gritted his teeth. He handed the papers back to her and said, "I can't take this Cassie."

  She swallowed hard, never expecting this reaction. "Why not? I accepted Titan graciously."

  "That's different," he said and looked away from her.

  "How the hell do you figure it's different?"

  "It just is...I don't want to talk about it. I'll buy the damned herd, but with my money."

  "What money, Luke?" she asked incredulously. "I know what you did...then you lied to me about it. I should be really pissed at you, but I'm not. I accepted Titan as the heart-felt gift he was, and you should do the same with this."

  "Who the hell told you?" He kept his voice just under a shout as he stood up suddenly and put his hands on the table. "It had to be Cole...I'm going to kick his ass."

  "Sit back down, Luke," she grated through her teeth. "My gift isn't any more extravagant than yours was...now act like a loving fiancé and accept it."

  "I do love you, Cassie, but I want to do this on my own," he told her then sat back down.

  "And I wanted to start the horse operation on my own..." she countered and shoved the papers at him again. "Take it, Luke. Don't let this come between us."

  "A goddamn Philadelphia lawyer...that sure as hell is what you should've been," he said and jerked the papers from her hand then folded them and put them in his pants pocket.

  She smiled at him brightly, enjoying her victory. Hesitantly, his own lips curved up in a smile, and he said grudgingly, "Thank you, Cassie Bee," then he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his lap and gave her a kiss that curled her toes.

  "Let's get out of here so I can thank you properly," he said in a hot whisper against her mouth and set her off his lap, before throwing some bills in the black check cover and shoving his Stetson back on his head. Grabbing her hand, Luke led her out of the restaurant and into the night air. When they reached the truck, he pushed her back against it and pressed his body to hers then tilted his head and claimed her mouth kissing her senseless. She moaned and linked her hands together behind his neck, and deepened the kiss.

  A grunt behind them, broke the sensual haze and she looked around Luke's shoulder to see Becca Harvey with a baby on her hip and one hand holding the toddler she'd seen in the high chair earlier.

  "Get a room..." Becca said in a growl then stomped on by, followed by the bald guy that must be her husband.

  Cassie started chuckling, then it turned into a belly laugh, and she wound up bent over slapping her thigh. When she finally got a grip on herself, she stood up and said to Luke with mirth still dancing inside her, "God, that's rich...karma is surely something, isn't it darlin?"

  "That it is, sugar," he snorted and opened the truck door to help her inside.

  ***

  Cassie had talked to Luke and he'd agreed to a wedding at the ranch, with a Bar-B-Que for the reception. She'd spent the last two weeks working with Imelda to get all the reception plans made, while at the same time hiring a contractor to build the outbuildings she needed for the horses that would be delivered on Saturday.

  The contractor was working fast and had finished the indoor arena, most of it being prefabricated, and had graded up the ground for the outdoor arena. All that was left was for him to put up the lights and fencing, and she'd be in business. He said he should be done by the weekend, which fit perfectly with Titan's homecoming.

  Last week, she'd finally gotten the cast off her ankle, and she felt like she was a balloon let off of its tether. Although, her ankle was still a little weak, she was so ecstatic, she felt like dancing across the field naked, just because she could. Luke would probably like that, she thought and giggled.

  Her daddy was doing better too, he was on crutches now, and the nurse told them he'd probably be able to get his cast off in a couple of weeks. He told the woman in no uncertain terms, it would be off by the wedding, so he walk his daughter down the aisle, or he was taking it off himself. Cassie knew he wasn't bluffing, and she hoped the nurse did too.

  Rock, the manager that Cole and Luke had hired to help them was doing such an outstanding job, there wasn't much for Luke to do, so he was bored and agitated. She sent him out to help the contractor to get him out of her hair. Cole hadn't been around much, because he was catching up on all the paperwork he'd missed while he'd been in Phoenix with them.

  Luke had asked Cole to be his best man, which was not a surprise. Cassie had asked Sabrina Roberts to be her maid of honor, which was a big surprise to Cole and Luke. She didn't have any other girlfriends she'd kept in touch with in Bowie, and most of the ones who'd been her friends had moved away anyway. In Phoenix, she had business acquaintances, but no real friends. She'd been so busy building her business, she hadn't had time for it.

  When Cassie had called her in Phoenix to ask, Sabrina had been surprised as well, but excited. Cassie thought her excitement might be more about seeing Cole again, but whatever the reason, she had a maid of honor to stand up with her.

  Cassie had gone to the bridal store in Henrietta and found a wedding dress, and picked out a dress for Sabrina. They'd go back for a fitting when Sabrina got to Bowie the Saturday before the wedding. The alterations lady told her that would be plenty time for her to get the dresses ready in time for the wedding. Everything was coming together.

  Now if she could keep her daddy from sawing off his cast, and Imelda from popping a blood vessel over the reception, and keep Luke from diving off the deep end because he was bored, until they said 'I do', she'd have done well.

  Working on the third part of her list, Cassie climbed the wooden steps up to the hayloft with the picnic supper Imelda had packed for her. The supper had kept Imelda busy, so she worried less, so she'd killed two birds with one stone. She walked over to the open window on the far side of the loft and spread a blanket she'd found in the top of her closet of her bedroom.

  It was almost dusk, and the heat in the upstairs room above the horse stalls had somewhat dissipated. A soft breeze filtered through the window, cooling her even more. It was going to be a beautiful night and this would be a great place to stargaze...among other things. Like clockwork, she heard Luke ride his big black gelding into the barn and stop. Cassie unbuttoned a few buttons on her shirt and then walked over to the edge of the loft leaned over with her hands on her thighs to yell, "Hey Luke, is that you, honey?"

  "Yeah," he yelled gruffly back up at her. She was sure he was sweaty and tired, he'd been out working on the fencing for the outdoor arena all day. Cassie had popped out there a few times today just to watch him working shirtless in the hot summer sun, his muscles flexing under his skin as he pounded the stakes into the ground, his Wranglers riding low on his hips. Heat surged through her just remembering what a scrumptious sight he made.

  "Go take a shower in the horse bay then come up here. I need your help with something. I put a change of clothes in the tack room for you."

  She heard him grumble, but then the sound of water hitting the concrete floor of the wash bay filtered up to the loft, and Cassie smiled. She walked back over to the blanket and pulled out the food Imelda had packed for them and spread it around the center of the blanket. There was cheese, and fruit, fluffy biscuits and thick slices of country ham. There was also a cold bottle of sparkling non-alcoholic cider and a couple of cold beers.

  Cassie heard the water shut off and then a few minutes later Luke's wet head popped over the edge of the loft, his face pinched and his lips flat. That quickly changed into a smile though when he surveyed her countr
y buffet. "What's all this, sugar?"

  "Our supper, sugar," she said in a low intimate tone then finished unbuttoning her shirt and tossed it aside, so she sat there in her hot pink lace bra and cut off shorts. She saw his Adam's apple bob a few times and then he shot up the steps and crawled across the loft to the blanket.

  "Now that looks like my kind of buffet," he said his voice gravelly with desire, his eyes fixed on her chest, not on the food spread on the blanket.

  She put her hand on his chest and drawled, "That's dessert darlin', now be a good boy and come sit right here," she patted a place beside her and he moved over there, then gathered her into his arms and captured her mouth in a hot kiss.

  When his hands started roving, she pushed back from him and said, "Let's eat."

  Luke grumbled, but scooted a few inches away from her and dragged his eyes to the food. "This looks great," he told her. Then he evidently noticed the sparkling cider and he lifted a brow to her. "What are we celebrating, sugar?"

  She leaned over to the plastic bowl in the center of the blanket, and plucked a piece of ripe cantaloupe out then brought it to his lips and rubbed it over them, "Why do we have to have a reason?"

  He opened his lips and she dropped the fruit inside. Chewing around it, he said, "I don't know, I just wondered...you're acting strange darlin',"

  "Okay, well let's see what I have to celebrate then, if you need a reason. I'm marrying the hottest cowboy in Texas, living my dream of starting a horse breeding operation, that stupid cast is off my foot, my daddy is getting better and should be on his feet soon..." she put a finger beside her mouth, "Oh--" she said and raised her finger in an exclamation point. "And we're having a baby."

  Since they hadn't used a condom again after their first slip-up, Cassie knew it had only been a matter of time before the rabbit died. From the home pregnancy test, and then her subsequent doctor's visit today, it looked like it had happened that first night anyway, the night she'd given him his wedding present. Looks like he'd gotten more than he bargained for.

  Luke let out the loudest whoop she'd ever heard, one that had all the horses in the barn shuffling and whinnying in their stalls. She imagined that Imelda who she'd told earlier could hear him in the house. Luke stood up and pulled her to her feet and up into his arms, where he spun her around in circles hugging her tightly to him.

  She chuckled again and pushed against his chest, so he'd let her back down to her feet.

  "Don't be spinning me in circles darlin', my stomach is pretty delicate these days."

  Concern immediately filled his gaze and he grabbed her shoulders. "Oh, god, Cassie--I didn't hurt you did I?" his voice quavered as he asked. He gently pushed her down to sit on the soft hay, and fell down to his knees beside her, his hands moving over her face.

  "Calm down, Luke, that's not what I meant...and no you didn't hurt me. I've just been getting sick in the morning for the last few days."

  "Have you been to the doctor," he asked frantically and plopped down on his butt beside her then grabbed her hand.

  "Yes, darlin' I went there this morning. I am pregnant, due in Spring of next year."

  "Did the doctor say you're okay...everything's okay with the baby? Dammit, Cassie you should have told me so I could go with you!"

  "I'm fine, strong as a horse...and the baby is too. Stop worrying, Luke. We're fine."

  "Shouldn't you be in bed with your feet propped up or something?"

  "Nope, the doctor said I could do most everything I'm used to doing...even having hot sex with my cowboy."

  "He said that?" Luke hooted incredulously.

  She grinned at him and squeezed his hand. "Well maybe not in those exact terms..." Her grin faded and she finished, "But I can't ride, until the baby is born. He was concerned I'd get thrown."

  "Damned right you're not riding," Luke said firmly, his eyes glittering.

  "Don't start bossing me around, Luke..." she said and pinned him with her eyes. She knew she had to nip this in the bud, or he'd have her cushioned in feathers and put behind glass before she had this baby.

  "I'm going to do what's best for the baby, although not riding for eight months is going to kill me. Especially since Titan is going to be here next weekend, and I was looking forward to riding him for the first time."

  "Since Rock is doing such a bang up job with the herd, I'll have plenty of time to help you with the horses, darlin'."

  "I know, but I want you to know, I'm still going to work them on lead line and from the ground. I'll probably even give lessons."

  "Yes ma'am," he said and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

  "But you can help by exercising them, and working on the breeding program with me."

  "Can't think of anything I'd rather do, sugar," he said with a waggle of his dark brows, making a double entendre of the last part of her statement.

  "Okay, then...let's celebrate," Cassie told him then crawled on her knees to grab the cider. She removed the foil and unscrewed the cap, then poured each of them a portion in the red Solo cups she'd unpacked.

  Handing him his cup, she lifted hers and tapped it to his. "To our successful breeding operation," she told him then grinned and took a sip of her cider.

  ***

  Cole came out to the farm every night for the next week after he got off work to help Luke and the contractor finish putting in the fence, and Cassie worked hard in the Double B barn to get it cleaned and ready for the new arrivals Tommy Tucker was delivering day after tomorrow. Bud was back from Wyoming and had been helping her in the barn. They'd made a lot of progress. The tack room was neat as a pin and the saddles, bridles and bits all gleamed.

  The only fly in her ointment was that they'd all been treating her like she was made of glass, since she'd told them she was pregnant. It frustrated her to finally have the darned cast off her leg only to be held back again, now by the people who loved her. But the reason she was being held back this time was worth it, she thought, and placed her hand over her tummy.

  Bud wouldn't let her muck out the stalls, insisting that lifting that weight wasn't good for the baby, so she'd let him do it, although letting him do that at his age also wasn't a good idea either. He'd managed it though, and she'd rearranged the stall assignments for the seven horses currently in the barn, then put down fresh bedding for Titan and his pretty fillies.

  Cassie sighed as she neatly wound another coil of rope and hung it up on the peg in the barn. Titan would be here day after tomorrow, and she was so excited, she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep a wink tomorrow night. It was almost like she was having a baby tomorrow, a twelve-hundred pound one, a beautiful baby boy.

  The wedding was next weekend, and she was nervous and excited over that too. She'd sent out the invitations on Tuesday, and ran an announcement and invitation to the town in the local paper. Her daddy was well-respected in Bowie, so they'd probably have a pretty spectacular turnout, at least for the reception. She had kegs of beer on order and enough meat for the spit to feed an army.

  A caterer was coming in to handle the spit, and Bud was going to supervise. They'd hired servers to keep the buffet line filled up, and bartenders for the open bar. All of the hands still working at the Double B, had offered to help set up the chairs and build a gazebo for the ceremony.

  Most everything was done, except the final fitting on her dress, which was happening tomorrow as soon as Sabrina arrived. She hoped that her tummy hadn't expanded too much, or the dress wouldn't fit. It was pretty tight the last time she tried it on.

  At least she could wear both of her white boots to walk down the aisle now. She'd found the perfect pair at the Western store in Bowie. They had patterned cutouts and sparkly stones embedded in the toes, and a crisscrossing pattern of stones around the top. She'd also bought a new white Stetson at the store that she'd have to bring with her to the fitting, so the shop lady could help her attach the veil.