Second Sunrise Cowboy (Second Chance Book 8)

by Carver, Rhonda Lee

  While she was here at Havens Ranch, she’d need to make sure she stayed as far away from Cash as possible. She’d have to focus on why she was here and it had nothing to do with riding a cowboy.

  Her inner thighs throbbed. She was losing her mind. How could she have sex fantasies about a man she didn’t know? Oh, she knew him alright. He probably had every available female, and some not, coming to his door every evening with a casserole and a smile. Dakota laughed. So why wasn’t he hitched? Good looking, accomplished, hardworking, and confidant…what more could a woman want?

  Long-term. That’s what Dakota wanted.

  Chapter Four

  Cash jumped up out of bed, his feet hitting the cold wooden planked floor. He read the digital clock. Seven thirty. “Shit!”

  He raced out of the room, down the hall and came to a sliding halt in front of Becca’s bedroom. He sprinted across the pink, patchwork rug to the edge of her bed, “Wake up, Becca. We’re going be late for school.”

  Becca’s eyes fluttered open and she came to a sitting position. Looking at him with narrowed gaze, she yawned real wide. “What’s wrong, daddy?”

  “Sorry, bug, but I overslept.” He crossed to the closet and grabbed the first thing he came to. “Here, wear this.”

  Becca shook her head. “That’s a winter shirt.”

  He viewed the long-sleeved polka dotted top, confused. “What makes the difference? We live in Texas.” He shrugged, pulling out another shirt.

  “Can’t wear that either. It bothers me. It makes me itch.”

  With a sigh, he hung the ‘winter’ shirt and the ‘itchy’ shirt back on the rack and grabbed the next thing he came to. “Look, a pretty pink dress. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear this.” She shook her head, crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest. “What now? Dresses can be worn anytime.”

  “It has a stain.” She pointed a finger. “And I don’t wear dresses.”

  He searched the material, finding a nickel sized spot on the arm. “No one will even see this mark.”

  “I will. So will Sam.” She crawled out of bed, patted over to him in her bunny socks.

  “Who is Sam?” He lowered the garment to his side, forgetting how late they were running. “Is Sam a boy or girl?”

  “A boy in my class.” She looked up at him with innocent expression. “He likes me. So I just might wear a dress today…or not.” She grabbed the hanger.

  “You’re in kindergarten. Liking boys is against the rules.” He shook his finger.

  “You’re a boy,” she huffed.

  “I’m a man. And your father. Big difference.” He pushed the dress toward her. “Now wear the dress and save me from getting more grey hairs this morning.”

  “This isn’t fair.” Her bottom lip puckered.

  “I tell you what, wear the dress today and I’ll ask Aunt Hope if she can take you shopping for new clothes.”

  “She’s busy with Marah.” Becca lowered her eyes, staring at her feet.

  Cash’s heart tugged. He bent to her level, inhaling and exhaling slowly. “I know she is, sweetheart. But babies require lots of attention. When you were little, so did you. So let’s work together this morning. If you’re late again the teacher is going to give your daddy a detention.” He stood and hurried to the door. “Meet in the kitchen in five. Okay?”

  She gave a quick nod.

  Thankfully, Cash didn’t have the same issues as Becca as he grabbed the first shirt from his closet. He didn’t care if it had a stain or a small rip in the sleeve. A cowboy didn’t care about stuff like that, unless he had someone to impress. Which he didn’t. An image of a petite blonde raced through his brain. Yeah, not even her.

  Becca came downstairs, dressed in the outfit he’d picked out and her hair in too many pony tails to count. He kept his expression in check, remembering the last time he’d made a remark about her appearance, it didn’t go over too well. He couldn’t make that mistake again. She saddled up at the bar and dug into her cereal.

  “Honey, would you like me to fix your hair?” he offered.

  She looked at him thorough the veil of her lashes. “No, thank you.”

  Better not to argue. He grabbed a bottle of water, considering he didn’t have time for coffee, and drank half of it. “Are you glad you have Turtle back?”

  “Yes. Did you see Dakota, daddy? I like her. She said she knows how to make cookies like Delores. Think she’d come here to make cookies? She could make you a cookie too.”

  He looked at her down his bottle as the water went down the wrong pipe. He coughed and sputtered. “I can make cookies.”

  “Not good cookies. You burn them.”

  “Don’t I get an A for effort?” He lifted a brow, recapped his bottle and set it on the sink.

  “Yes, daddy. You try. But I don’t like burnt cookies.” She wrinkled her nose.

  “I hear you, sweetheart. I don’t either.” He came around the counter, swept her off the seat and into his arms. “It’s time to go. I really meant it when I said your teacher is going to give me a detention.” He tickled her under the chin and she erupted into giggles.

  At 8:15 A.M., Cash pulled in front of the school and came to a stop, slipped from the driver’s side and helped Becca out of the passenger side. He handed her off to the meet n’ greet teacher.

  “Hello, Mr. Bailey.”

  Cash dipped his hat. “Hello…uhh…”

  “It’s Miss Cornerstone. I teach second grade here.” She smiled and blinked. Did she have something in her eye?

  “Oh, sorry. We’re in a bit of a rush this morning. But we made it.” He smiled at Becca who was now holding Miss Cornerstone’s hand, smiling from ear to ear, showing off missing teeth. The next tooth she loses he’d have to remember to tell the tooth fairy to come the right day. Last time Becca woke up with the tooth still under the pillow and no money. Her dreams of the tooth fairy were crushed until Cash had come up with some excuse that there was a blizzard in the Midwest that slowed the fairy’s visits. Thankfully, Becca had believed him.

  “I’m sure being a single father is very difficult.” Miss Cornerstone gave her long blonde hair a toss over one shoulder and tilted a hip.

  “It has its moments.”

  “We have something in common.” She stepped closer.

  “We do?”

  “I’m a single mother. If you ever need anything, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to ask. Becca is a wonderful student.” Her dark eyes sparkled.

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Bye, Becca. See you this afternoon.” He gave his daughter a quick peck on the cheek and stood. The teacher was staring up at him through the veil of her lashes. “Miss Cornerstone.” He dipped his hat.

  He turned and moved on. He wasn’t skilled in the area of womanly ways, but Cash got a feeling Miss Cornerstone was flirting with him. She was a pretty woman, but dating a teacher in Becca’s school was too close for comfort. He’d decided long ago to never date anyone that could cause issues for his daughter.

  Another boundary and rule he’d placed on himself. They were starting to feel more like handcuffs, and not in a good way.

  He climbed back into his truck and started the engine. He brought his head up and around, looking out the side window to check for traffic when a tall brunette across the street caught his attention. She wore a large hat and her sunglasses covered half of her face, but he knew her. She was matchbook thin and had very long legs. The same woman he saw at the funeral who looked a lot like Rebecca—she looked identical to Rebecca…

  But it couldn’t be.

  He blinked.

  She was still there.

  His breathing sounded loud in his ears. He shifted the truck back into park and opened the door, his gaze remaining on the mysterious woman, afraid if he blinked she’d disappear. He started to cross the street…

  Honk!

  He about jumped out of his boots as a car squealed to a stop ten feet from him. He stepped back onto the sidewalk.

  T
he car sped by him, still honking.

  The woman quickly climbed into her car, a black economical two-door, and took off from the curb while he continued to stare.

  He stood there for the longest time, cars beeping and people yelling. He realized he had caused a traffic jam. He went to his truck and pulled away. Bewildered and confused, he drove down the street, scrubbing his jaw in thought. His heart thudded against his ribs and it took him until he was almost home that he was able to get his nerves back on track.

  Instead of going to his house though, Cash took the lane that took him to Tucker and Hope’s. If he didn’t remember to ask Hope for help with Becca, his daughter would deem him useless in the category of fashion. Hell, he was worthless when it came to what she should wear. Up until now, he’d either had Delores’s help or Hope’s when it came to picking out Becca’s wardrobe.

  He parked the truck, slid out, and walked up the porch giving the old dog a scratch behind the ears. He knocked and the door opened, but it wasn’t Tucker or Hope who stood on the other side. It was Dakota. He’d almost forgotten that she was staying here at the ranch. Liar. He wouldn’t forget a thing like that.

  He tipped his hat. “I swung by to see Hope. Is she in?” Remembering the kiss they’d shared made his zipper bulge. Shit, he didn’t want to go through this up and down like a yo-yo stuff again today.

  Dakota opened the screen and took a step back. “Come on in. She’s getting Marah ready for the day.”

  Cash removed his hat and stepped in, sweeping his gaze over Dakota. Yeah, he wasn’t mistaken that she was a bit on the skinny side, but this morning she was wearing nice fitting jeans and he could see that she had curves—oh yes, right where they belonged. Her hair, which had been in a tangled mess yesterday, was brushed out and a piece tucked behind her ear. She had the prettiest eyes. They seemed to shine when she was happy and turned dark when she was turned on—he knew that look well. He’d dreamt of her last night and probably why he’d slept through the buzzing of the alarm. And right now, they were staring at him in speculation. Their first meeting hadn’t gone over too well, and she probably still suspected that he would have screwed her in her aunt’s bedroom if she would have allowed him. Although he could be a jerk at times, he wouldn’t sink so low. He knew she was vulnerable.

  But what if things got out of hand again? Right now? Hell, he didn’t think he could stop himself. Dakota flashed her eyes his way and he grew as hard as a hammer, as opposed to this morning when Miss Cornerstone practically threw herself at him and he didn’t feel even a slight nudge. They were both beautiful women, but Dakota didn’t try, and he found that downright sexy. She didn’t wear much makeup. She didn’t dress to accentuate her breasts or body, but she didn’t need to.

  Dakota blinked and sighed. He had been staring. He couldn’t get past that first lousy impression. He really sucked at talking to a woman—an attractive woman. “I think I should apologize for yesterday. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  “It seems you fall into that problem a lot. But it wasn’t just you. I went right along with it—”

  “Until you stopped things, of course.”

  “Good thing one of us did. We’d ended up in bed.” Her eyes turned a lighter shade. This was a new look.

  “Yeah, what a shame that would have been”

  She seemed to mull over his words, then turned and headed down the hall with a nice sway to her hips. He’d bet his best boots she did it on purpose, but he got the feeling she didn’t like him much. Hell, he couldn’t blame her. He hadn’t given her much reason to like him. He wasn’t sure it mattered if she liked him or not, even though he knew it really did matter. And suddenly he wanted her to recognize that he wasn’t a complete dick.

  The strong smell of coffee reminded him that he hadn’t had his first cup of the day. “I smell fresh joe.”

  “I just made a pot. Would you like a cup?” she asked from the kitchen doorway.

  “Sounds good.” Maybe she did like him some. A woman didn’t drink a cup of coffee with a man she found revolting, although he needed to cool his jets and not get too confident. It was coffee, not a big deal. He followed her into the kitchen and watched her pour two mugs, then handed him one. “This is good coffee. I thought I was the only one who liked it kick-ass strong. Best cup I’ve had in a long time.” If she was sticking around, he’d have to make some effort to be civil.

  She shrugged. “What’s it worth unless you get a caffeine buzz?”

  “True.” He drank half his coffee in one gulp, not caring that it burnt all the way down into his stomach. “How about we try this introduction thing all over again?”

  “You mean pretend that I didn’t meet you yesterday and decide you never think and can be a jerk?”

  “Yeah, let’s nix that and start again. I’m Cash Bailey.” He held out his hand. She stared at his palm for a good five seconds before extending hers, laying her palm against his. Her fingers were slender and soft compared to his nasty, calloused ones. He jerked back so fast that her eyes rounded.

  “Dakota Childs.”

  “Nice to meet you Dakota Childs.”

  “Can I ask you a question Cash Bailey?” Her chin rose. He had a feeling he wouldn’t like what she was about to ask.

  “Are you always scowling or is it just when you’re around me?”

  He had to say, he liked her bluntness. He didn’t find that in many people these days. They were too busy trying to make him feel better. “I wouldn’t say I’m always scowling.”

  “Then what would you call it? Brooding? Cantankerous?”

  She wasn’t holding back. He set his hat on the counter and leaned against the cool granite. He wasn’t sure if he should be amused or miffed. He certainly wouldn’t allow the searing need spiraling through his groin to take precedence, not today at least. “None of the above.”

  “I beg to differ.” She took a sip from her cup, keeping her gaze connected to his. “You’re always looking at me like I’ve grown horns and red skin.”

  “When?”

  “Definitely right now,” she said.

  “I’m happy, really.” He forced a smile to his lips.

  “Then you should tell your face because it hasn’t gotten the message.”

  He shrugged and ran his palm down his face, hoping he could wipe whatever look she referred to right off his features. “I think you’re taking things a little too personal. Or are you still angry over what happened upstairs?’

  “Oh I thought we were starting over?”

  Shoot! She was right. “I’m glad we can wipe the slate clean. I was beginning to think you didn’t like me much.”

  “Truly? And what would give you that idea?” One thin brow curved teasingly.

  “You have a glare that can fry the flesh off a man’s bones.”

  “Have I hurt you in some way?” Her tongue swept out and moistened her bottom lip. His dick jerked.

  “My ego.” They were flirting, or at least he hoped.

  “I’m sure you have many women who’ll stroke—” the slight pause and her quick glance at his belt buckle made him woozy. “—your ego.”

  “I think you have me all wrong, sweetheart. I wish you’d allow me to prove that to you.” He leaned in, ignoring the warning signs flashing in his brain.

  Dakota’s bottom lip trembled, her mouth opened ever so slightly. He wanted to kiss her—damn, he wanted to do more than kiss.

  Caught up in the moment, neither of them realized they had company.

  “Uhh…I’m sorry…I’ll come back.” Hope turned and started for the door.

  Dakota jumped back so fast that her coffee spilled. “No, please don’t. We were just talking—chatting about yesterday. Right, Cash?” Her eyes penetrated him.

  Cash handed her a paper towel and their fingers touched. The electric passed between them like a bolt of lightning. Dakota gave him a plastic smile. He was surprised it didn’t crack her cheeks. “Yes, just catching up.”

  “Okay, well, then I
’ll grab myself a bottle of water.” Hope went to the refrigerator. “Cash. I’m surprised to see you this morning,” Hope said. Marah was asleep in her arms so Cash took the bottle from Hope and opened it. She glanced at the clock. “Did Becca make it to school on time?”

  “Barely.” He admitted. He grabbed his hat, clutching it tight in his grip.

  “By the time she’s in middle school you’ll get the hang of the morning routine.” Hope patted him on the shoulder. “I can start taking Becca and Dalton next year because they’ll be at the same school. Hopefully by then Marah decides she likes sleeping some. Thankfully, Dakota is a sweetheart and took Dalton for me this morning. I actually didn’t have to rush.”

  He squinted. “I better get this down before middle school or Becca will never forgive me.”

  “Now, unless you find someone to marry, I’m sure you two will work together on seeing that she gets to school on time.” Hope looked from Cash to Dakota. Although subtle, he didn’t miss the latent meaning in Hope’s words. He cringed, catching Dakota’s pale expression.

  He shifted in his boots, feeling heat rise in his neck. It was best he change the subject. “Becca is complaining about her clothes. Do you know she won’t wear a dress right now?”

  Hope shrugged. “She’s going through a stage. Don’t worry, Cash. Girls can wear jeans.”

  “It’s not about the fact that she doesn’t want to wear skirts, but more that I’ve been oblivious to how my little girl is changing.” He blew out a long breath. “She even likes some boy named Sam. I’m going to have to have a talk with this young man.”

  Hope and Dakota exchanged looks. “That young man is only five. Save your talks for high school, tough guy,” Hope said.

  “I guess it’s time for a new wardrobe since she’s grown an inch in the last month. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind helping me out.” He hated depending on others for help.

  Hope frowned. “I can’t today, Cash. I’m sorry. Marah has a doctor’s appointment and I promised Tucker I’d be here when the painter’s arrive this afternoon. However, Dakota did work in a children’s clothing shop. I learned that last night over our long talk.”