The Virgin Cowboy Billionaire's Secret Baby

by Lauren Gallagher

  Mom looked right at her. “He and I talked, and he wanted to see you.”

  Dara gritted her teeth. “He could have called me.”

  “Would you have taken his call?”

  That was a fair point. From the time she’d left Los Angeles, she’d told him she only wanted to hear from him through their attorneys. She’d have answered if he’d called, but it wouldn’t have lasted long.

  She rested her elbows on either side of her empty plate. “No, I wouldn’t have taken his call, which should clue you in on how much I wanted to see him.”

  “He has a right to speak to you about his child.”

  “He signed away his rights, Mom.”

  “He made a mis—”

  “How could you tell him? And telling him where to find me?”

  Mom folded her arms across her chest. “He deserved to know that his wife is having—”

  “Ex-wife, Mother! Ex. Wife.” Dara threw up her hands. “This was his choice. And it wasn’t like he had any right to be surprised that I was pregnant. He was right there when they—”

  Her breath caught. She was going to say he was there when the embryo transfer was done. He’d been the previous four times, after all. But the last time…

  Dara fought back sudden tears. “Oh God.”

  Mom reached over and put a hand over hers. “Honey, it’s not too late to fix things. You can—”

  “No, it’s not that.” She wiped her eyes and met her mother’s gaze. “I just realized that was the first time he didn’t go in with me when they were doing the transfer. He stayed out in the waiting room that time.” She forced back the threat of both nausea and fresh tears. “Out in the waiting room where that fucking receptionist worked. How could I be so stupid?”

  Mom touched her arm. “He made mistakes, honey. But he came all the way out here to see you and make those mistakes right.”

  “And so, what?” Dara jerked her arm away and stood, nearly knocking her chair over in the process. “I should just take him back? Mom, this man cheated on me while I was going through an incredibly painful process—for the fifth time—so we could have children together!”

  “Another man’s children, Dara.”

  “He knew that going into it, and he agreed to do it. And he told me he was perfectly happy with it in the beginning.”

  “What was he supposed to do?” Mom shrugged tightly. “The two of you couldn’t have children of your own.”

  Dara winced. “If it bothered him that much that the baby would have my DNA and not his, we could have adopted.”

  “Mmhmm. After you’d gone to that trouble and expense to store them, he must’ve known you wouldn’t have taken it well if he told you that you couldn’t use them.”

  Dara eyed her mother. “Did he tell you that?”

  The stiff upper lip answered her question.

  Dara blinked. “He seriously said that?”

  “Yes. He did.” Mom took her hand. “But now that there’s a baby on the way, he wants to fix things. He made a mistake.”

  “A mistake?” Dara laughed bitterly. “He cheated on me, and he left me. During a very stressful period, I might add. I don’t want him in my life again.”

  “Honestly, Dara.” Her mother stood. “Stop being selfish.”

  “How is it wrong to be selfish in this instance?” Dara threw up her hands. “It’s my life. My future. Why in the world should I—”

  “Your baby deserves a father!”

  “The baby has a father!” As soon as the words were out, Dara’s heart stopped. Oh shit.

  “Does it now?” Mom tightened her arms across her chest. “Who?”

  Dara swallowed.

  Her mom came closer, eyes narrow. “Who, Dara?”

  Dara lowered her gaze. “I have a friend who’s more than willing to step in and—”

  “That’s not being a father,” Mom snapped.

  “Well, it’s all I’ve got right now. Jon made his decision, and I can’t take him back. So as long as Matt is willing—”

  “Him?” her mother spat. “That man is going to step in?”

  “Yes, he is. And without a second thought either.”

  Mom threw up her hands. “For heaven’s sake. Your baby needs a father, not just some man who thinks he can—”

  “He isn’t just some man.” Dara folded her arms, struggling to contain her temper. “Besides the fact that he’s a Coolidge, what exactly is the problem with him?”

  Mom shrugged. “You know I’ve never liked him.”

  “Why not?”

  “Well, he’s never been very polite.”

  “He’s not rude, Mom. He’s shy. And you and Dad scared the crap out of him when we were younger because of this stupid rivalry, so you can’t really blame him for being intimidated when he was a kid.”

  Her mother shrugged again, scowling. “Do you know that boy has never been married? A man with that much money, and he’s certainly good-looking, but he’s clear into his thirties and can’t find a woman?” She wrinkled her nose. “That’s not someone you want around your baby, honey.”

  Dara groaned with exasperation. “Maybe he doesn’t want to settle for a gold digger.”

  The tired sigh told her Mom wasn’t going to back down, so Dara spoke first. “Look, I don’t want to discuss this any further. Everyone can gossip and judge all they want, but none of them know Matt, and none of them know what it was like to live with Jon. If they have anything to say about who I’m divorcing and who’s going to help me raise my kid, they can shove it up their asses.”

  “Dara!” Mom threw up her hands. “Don’t you see what you’re doing? You’re setting this baby up for a terrible start.”

  “How? Because I’m getting away from a man who obviously doesn’t respect me? Or because I’m involving someone you don’t respect?”

  Her mother’s features hardened. “You need to think about what you’re doing.”

  “I am. I have.” Dara shook her head. “And I’m sorry it doesn’t line up with what you and everyone in Aspen Mill think I should be doing. But this is how it’s going to happen. And that’s final.”

  The rumble of Matt’s truck made her stomach flutter. He wouldn’t be here long today—he was just coming by to pick up a faulty external hard drive—but she was glad to see him. Hell, she was almost giddy at the sound of his footsteps coming up onto the porch.

  Which was weird. She’d never felt this way about Jon. Or Charlie. Or anyone, for that matter. On the other hand, she hadn’t enjoyed sex this much in years, so these butterflies were probably the same thing—hormones.

  Seemed only fair that some good would come from those fucking things. On one hand, morning sickness and gagging over smells that didn’t used to bother her. On the other, hair-trigger orgasms and feeling all twitterpated over a guy, one who happened to not be a giant bag of dicks like most of the ones she’d dated—or married—in the past.

  As she opened the front door, she couldn’t help smiling.

  “Hey,” he said, taking off his baseball cap. “I didn’t catch you while you were working, did you?”

  She waved a hand. “I’m always working.” She gestured for him to follow and took him into her office at the other end of the house.

  “So what’s wrong with the hard drive?” he asked.

  “It was working fine the other day, but then it stopped talking to the computer.” She picked it up off her desk and handed it to him. “I’ve got everything on it backed up elsewhere, but I’d just as soon get this one working again if I can.”

  Matt nodded. “Has it been knocked over or anything?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. I mean, it might’ve been jostled when I moved, but it’s been working fine since I got here.”

  “Hmm. Something might’ve come unseated. I’ll take a look.”

>   She smiled. “Thanks.”

  He returned the smile. This was probably the moment when he should head out and she should get back to work, but she couldn’t make herself show him to the door quite yet. After spending lunch with her mother, it was nice to be around someone who didn’t make her hackles rise.

  She cleared her throat. “So, um. My mother knows that you’re stepping up to fill in for Jon.”

  Matt’s eyes widened. “Oh really?”

  “Yeah.” She rubbed her forehead and sighed. “We were arguing about her talking to Jon, and how the baby needs a father more than I apparently need my self-respect.” Dropping her hand, she met his gaze. “And I kind of blurted out that the baby has a father.”

  “Oh. Uh, what was her reaction?”

  “Shock, horror, denial, anger, bargaining…”

  Matt chuckled. “And we’re surprised.”

  “Right?” She sighed again, rolling her painfully tense shoulders. “Anyway, she’s not happy. But if rumors start getting around, you’ll know why.”

  His lips tightened, but then he shrugged. “If they do, they do.” He paused, studying her. “How have you been today? You were still pretty rattled when I left last night.”

  Dara nodded. “I’m okay. Just keeping myself busy and letting my attorney handle Jon. At least the morning sickness has been better—I was able to get some work done this morning in between, you know…”

  “Jesus. You know, you can take a few hours off when you’re not feeling well.”

  “I’ve already taken hours and days off to deal with moving and my divorce.” She shook her head. “I’m weeks behind on work. And of course there’s a million other things I need to get done. I need to get caught up with work, and I also need to get all of this shit done.” She tapped a list on the desk.

  “What’s all that?” He gestured at the list.

  “Baby stuff. I want to get the nursery set up while I can still move.” She sighed. “But I’m still behind with my clients from when I moved, not to mention losing every damned morning to heaving my guts out.” She rubbed her temples. “It’ll be so nice when I have my mornings back. And when the fucking divorce is over.”

  “Give me the list.”

  She met his gaze. “What?”

  He held out his hand. “Give it to me. I’ll take care of it.”

  “But I can—”

  “Dara, you don’t have to do all of this yourself.” He nodded toward her desk. “You tackle the stuff in there, and I’ll handle this part.”

  She set her jaw. “I don’t need help.”

  Instinctively, she braced for him to click his tongue, shake his head and gently mansplain that she should take it easy and put up her feet at her desk while he did the actual work. As if her job didn’t qualify as actual work, which according to some, it didn’t.

  “You don’t need help, but this stuff”—Matt gestured at the list—“should be a team effort anyway. It’ll take some stress off you if we divide and conquer, and I have one thing you don’t have right now, which is time.”

  Dara chewed her lip. She should’ve known he wouldn’t be an ass about it. Matt wasn’t Jon. He wasn’t doing this to be condescending. This wasn’t “let a man do the heavy lifting” like it would’ve been with her ex-husband.

  He came closer and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “This is part of that whole parenting thing. There’s probably nothing on that list that I can’t do, and it’ll spread the weight around a little.” He laughed softly. “And maybe it’ll help me catch a clue about how the hell I’m supposed to be a father.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “You’re worried about that?”

  “Yeah. A lot.”

  “Really?”

  Matt nodded. “And yeah, I do want to take some stress off you at the same time. You don’t want to fuck yourself up like I did. Especially not when we’re both going to be scraping by on not enough sleep in a few months.”

  Dara groaned. “Well, I guess my divorce is good for something—it’s getting me ready for that.”

  “Is it?”

  Sighing, she nodded. “Sucks to admit it, but yeah.”

  Matt squeezed her shoulder. “Then let me help you where I can.”

  “Okay.” She swallowed. “Let me, um, get you my debit card and—”

  “Dara.” When she met his gaze, he smiled. “The money isn’t an issue.”

  She clenched her teeth. “I don’t need your money. I told you that from the beginning.”

  “No, you don’t. But our kid needs stuff.” He let go of her shoulder. “We can settle up later if you want to split the costs, but at least for today, I’ve got it covered.”

  He had a point, and it wasn’t one she could argue with. So, she picked up the list and handed it to him.

  He folded it in half and slipped it in between his hand and the hard drive. “I’ll let you get back to work. See you this evening?”

  “Okay. Text me if anything on the list doesn’t make sense or—”

  “Or we can go pick it up together on a different day.” He smiled. “Relax. We’ve got time, and we’ve got this”—he held up the list—“under control.”

  Dara nodded. “All right.”

  He kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you tonight. Don’t work too hard.”

  “I won’t.”

  As he started to leave, she said, “Matt.”

  He turned around.

  She smiled. “Thank you.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  At the end of Dara’s street, Matt rolled to a stop. While the truck idled, he skimmed over the list she’d given him.

  Crib. Changing table. Rocking chair. A bunch of shit he’d never even heard of. What the hell was a boppy?

  Well, there was one way to find out. He set the list aside and started driving again.

  On his way into town, he hesitated. There were a few shops around Aspen Mill where he figured he could find most of this stuff, but they were all family-owned. He preferred Mom-and-Pop places, but in this situation, that didn’t seem all that wise. If one person saw him giving a crib a second look, tongues would start wagging all over town.

  He sighed, glancing briefly at the list on the passenger seat.

  Without a second thought, he pulled onto the interstate and accelerated.

  The interstate was a mess through Goldmount. The town had grown faster than its two lanes of freeway could handle, and the state was busy adding a lane in each direction and more ramps to cut down on congestion. Matt thought they needed two more lanes, but the powers that be apparently believed otherwise.

  After crawling through the thick traffic, Matt finally made it to the main drag through town. Where it used to be a narrow street lined with no-name shops and a restaurant whose name he couldn’t remember, it was now a broad stretch of freshly painted asphalt with roundabouts to minimize the backups, gleaming signs directing people toward the strip malls, and huge banners around a construction site, each promising in giant letters that the biggest and most amazing shopping experience would be opening by the end of next summer. All the buildings were cream-colored and uniformly designed, differentiated only by their individual signs and logos.

  In short, it was hideous.

  Goldmount was his brother’s pride and joy. Goldmine, he called it. Within five years of Adam getting his hands on the Coolidge farm, this would be Aspen Mill.

  Matt shuddered, and his stomach turned. No, he wouldn’t think about that today. All that mattered today was the list sitting on his passenger seat. Everything he needed to pick up for their baby.

  Two roundabouts down from the interstate, he turned into one of the expansive parking lots and found a space in the shadow of a big box baby store. List in hand, he went inside.

  He looked over the list again. Some of this, he’d defer to her, but he
could take care of most of it. She’d been pretty specific about furniture. Not just styles and colors, but model numbers. He found everything except the rocking chair she wanted, so he had them special order it. For the rest of the furniture, he took the tickets and added them to the shopping cart he’d been navigating around the giant store.

  Then he wandered through the aisles of smaller things. How a creature as tiny as a baby required this much stuff, he had no idea, but hopefully Dara knew what she was doing.

  A rack of stuffed animals caught his eye. Specifically, a bright green dragon that looked like one he’d had when he was a kid. The age tag said two years and up, but he put the dragon in the cart anyway—it could stay on a shelf until the baby was old enough.

  He went up and down every aisle, staring at contraptions and devices that looked more like medieval torture devices than anything. Some were on Dara’s list, some weren’t—he picked up what he could readily identify.

  By the time he’d been through the store twice, he had three quarters of the list crossed off, and a very full shopping cart.

  On his way to the checkout line, the book rack caught his eye.

  Holy shit.

  He’d been worried that he wouldn’t know what he was doing. With all the shit in his cart that baffled him, he was pretty sure he’d been right. Given the number of books on the subject, some of which rivaled the size of his college textbooks, maybe he was more clueless than he’d thought. He was fucked, wasn’t he?

  Dara hadn’t listed any books, so he didn’t pick any up. When he saw her this evening, he’d find out if she had any she could recommend, and if not, there was always Amazon.

  But the sight of all those books left him unsettled. How much didn’t he know about all of this? Shit. Beth was right—they really did need their parents’ support when the baby came. Their folks may not have been great at interacting with their adult kids, but they did know how to keep babies alive. If that type of thing required all this equipment and reading, he and Dara were going to need all the help they could get.