The Virgin Cowboy Billionaire's Secret Baby

by Lauren Gallagher

  “Seriously? Why?”

  “Because he’d get pissy if I went out without him. The only time he didn’t get upset over me going out with someone was if he was off doing his own thing.”

  “Nice guy,” Matt muttered.

  “Right?” She rolled her eyes. “He didn’t like me spending money either. All our money went into a joint account, and God help me if I spent anything on myself. So when I started making more, and he couldn’t pull the ‘we can’t afford it’ card anymore, then he started tightening the leash everywhere else.”

  “Holy shit. I didn’t realize he was abusive.”

  “Not physically, but yeah. I guess he was.” She rubbed her forehead. “The more I look back and really think about it, the baby was even a way for him to control me.”

  “What?”

  “We both agreed it would be best for me to stay home with the baby until he was at least starting school. After the first embryo transfer failed, he wanted me to quit my job altogether.” Her lips tightened, and she lowered her hand as she turned toward Matt. “He decided the stress of my job was clearly the only reason the procedure had failed.”

  “So he thought it was your fault.”

  “Everything was my fault.” She cursed under her breath. “By the third time around, we were having screaming matches about how much money we were wasting on all of this while I was too stubborn to quit my job.”

  “Which helped you de-stress, I’m sure.”

  “Totally.”

  “Fucker,” Matt growled. “And he sure as hell could’ve picked a more graceful way to exit.”

  Dara laughed. “Yeah. He could’ve.” Her smile fell, and she stared up at the sky. As she let her eyes follow a satellite, she said, “I guess it’s both of our faults that it ended badly. He didn’t have to cheat, but maybe we both could’ve bowed out gracefully when things started falling apart.” She paused, watching the satellite disappear into the night. “In hindsight, though, I’m kind of glad he did it the way he did.”

  “Really?” Matt turned his head. “Why?”

  “If he’d left a few weeks earlier, I never would’ve had the procedure. I wouldn’t be having this baby.” She smiled. “I might not be here with you right now.” Just saying the words hit her in the gut. The reality that he’d been out of her life for all that time, and how easily things could have stayed that way.

  He was quiet for a long time. At least a minute, maybe more. “Why did we wait so long to get back in touch?”

  Dara’s heart thumped against her ribs. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”

  “Neither do I. To be honest, I was so caught up in my work, I didn’t even realize how much time had passed.”

  “I guess I did the same thing you did—I jumped into my work and my marriages, and woke up one day to find out that ten years had passed since I’d talked to my best friend. I even told myself a few times I needed to get in touch with you. But life happened.”

  “Yeah, it sure did.”

  She chewed the inside of her cheek. “I guess life happened again, and here we are.”

  He ran his thumb along the side of hers. “Yeah. It did.”

  Her heart sped up, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. For several minutes, they silently watched the stars, hands clasped between them.

  Eventually, she whispered, “God, it really is beautiful up here.”

  “One of my favorite places in the world.”

  “I can see why. How did you even find it?”

  “Just randomly exploring when I was a kid. As soon as I had my license, I started coming up here. Spent a lot of evenings out here.” He paused. “It’s kind of funny—all the times I came up here, this is the first time I’ve brought someone else.”

  Dara turned her head toward him. “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  She could see just enough of his outline to know that he was looking at her, and though she couldn’t see his eyes, she could feel his gaze on her.

  Then he shifted, turning onto his side and facing her fully. She mirrored him.

  It was impossible to say who moved first, or if they both moved in at the same time. Maybe the air between them just vanished. All she could say for certain was that one moment, she was gazing at his outline in the darkness.

  And the next, she was wrapped up in his arms and lost in a kiss that made her skin prickle and her toes curl.

  She tugged at his shirt. He slid a hand beneath the back of hers, the warmth of his fingertips sending a shiver right through her.

  Her heart was going crazy. This reminded her of her younger days, back when every moment of privacy with a guy had been a stolen opportunity, one they’d had to make the most of because there’d been no telling when it would come again. Those frantic, breathless gropefests had been hot and exciting—the thrill of doing something forbidden and hoping to God they didn’t get caught.

  And at the same time, lying here in the truck bed with Matt, kissing and touching and stripping away clothing, felt like something completely new and amazing in its own right. There was no risk of getting caught. As far as she was concerned, there was no one to catch them. No one was watching except the stars overhead, because no one existed beyond the side rails. As desperate she was to get him out of his clothes and into her, the hunger wasn’t because they might run out of time or be discovered. It was all for him.

  The realization that Matt Coolidge—her best friend since the dawn of time—was the one turning her inside out like this didn’t even surprise her anymore. Here, tonight, as the clothes fell away and hot skin met hot skin, of course it was Matt. Who else could it be?

  They separated long enough to kick off the last of their clothes, and when he pulled her into his arms again, there was nothing left between them. The cool night air didn’t give her as many goose bumps as his lips on her neck or his breath on her shoulder.

  She pushed him onto his back and climbed on top. He whispered something—a soft curse, no doubt—and groaned as she lowered herself onto him. God, but he felt good, sliding easily inside her but stretching her at the same time.

  She leaned down to kiss him, and as she did, he wrapped his arms around her. Then he slid his hands downward, over her hips and onto her ass, and as he squeezed gently, he lifted his hips, fucking her from below.

  Through the blanket, the metal truck bed bit into her knees, but she didn’t care. She could’ve done this all night.

  His hands drifted upward again and cupped her breasts. He pinched one nipple with his fingers, doing it just the way she’d shown him the very first time. The other, he held between his lips and teeth, teasing it relentlessly with his tongue.

  Her breath caught. She rode him faster, biting back a whimper as her eyes welled up and electricity rippled along her spine. She tilted her hips just right so every stroke rubbed her clit against his body, and the angle of his cock inside her was perfect, and suddenly she was seeing more stars than the ones they’d been watching earlier. With a helpless cry, she shuddered.

  He thrust up, and he drove her orgasm on and on until her arms gave out and she dropped on top of him. And even then, as he held her close, he kept rocking his hips, sliding in and out of her as she slowly came back down to earth. At some point, he took over, and by the time she realized what was going on, she was on her back again, and he was sliding back into her, and he was moving, fucking her, hitting all those nerve endings that were still glowing from her orgasm.

  “That feel good?” he breathed.

  She couldn’t remember how to speak, so she just hooked her leg around his and rolled her hips to keep him moving. He groaned, burying his face against her neck, and the truck’s shocks creaked quietly as he thrust harder.

  He pushed himself up onto his arms. She blinked her eyes into focus, but it didn’t matter—only his outline was visible against the backdrop of
stars. Still, she could see him. She could see the way his body moved, shoulders rising and falling with every stroke, and though his face was obscured by shadows and he was almost completely silent, there was no denying this was him and nobody else.

  “Oh shit,” he breathed. “Oh… God, Dara…” Every muscle in his body tensed, his breath coming in sharp, rapid gasps, and then he exhaled and slumped over her, pushing himself as deep inside her as he could.

  Then he too relaxed, trembling on top of her and panting against her neck.

  And all the way out here, far below the stars and even farther away from Aspen Mill, she just closed her eyes and held him.

  Dara woke to two of the best feelings she’d had in a long time.

  One, the absence of that violent nausea.

  Two, the warmth of Matt’s arm around her shoulders.

  Lying there with her head on his chest, she smiled sleepily. They’d come back here last night, and a kiss good night had somehow led up here to her bedroom. Then he’d stayed.

  And she was glad he did. The sex was spectacular, but just having him here was so nice.

  Eventually, though, they both rolled out of bed. They shared a shower but were both too tired to do anything more than actually shower, and then wandered downstairs in search of coffee.

  Coffee cups in hand, they lounged in the living room and checked e-mails on their phones. A few of her friends from LA had been trying to reconnect—apparently they’d decided they did still want to stay in touch even after she and Jon had split, so she’d been e-mailing back and forth with a few. Then there were work e-mails, and an update from her attorney, and some spam from mailing lists she’d inadvertently signed up for while browsing baby stuff.

  “Ugh.” Matt wrinkled his nose.

  “Hmm?”

  He gestured at a message on the screen. “My cousin’s getting married next weekend in Goldmount, and I swear to God, if my mother reminds me one more time of how many single, respectable women will be there…”

  “Oh shit.” Dara shuddered. “Well, you could always fake the flu and come spend the evening eating Hot Pockets and playing video games. You know, with a not-so-respectable woman for company.”

  “I wish.” He scrubbed his hand over his face.

  “And I’m serious.” She held his gaze. “I know you, and I know how much you hate big social events like that. If you want to bail…”

  “I really appreciate it.” He smiled, but it faded. “I doubt I’m getting out of this one, though.”

  “Well, the escape is there if you need it.”

  “Thank you. You are the best.”

  She laughed. “No, I just know you.”

  They exchanged smiles and then went back to their phones.

  Dara blew out a breath. “Looks like the lawyer wants a conference call next week.”

  “Is that good or bad?”

  “Don’t know. Hopefully it’s progress, though. If Jon makes any more stupid demands…”

  Matt’s lips pulled tight. “If I had fewer scruples than I do, I could have him…disappear.”

  Dara giggled. “How many fewer scruples would you need for that?”

  “Hmm…”

  “I’m kidding.” She arched her eyebrow. “Sort of.”

  Matt laughed. As he perused something on his screen, he said. “Well, hopefully it’ll all be done and over with soon.”

  “Preach it.”

  “Though if he—holy shit.” Matt sat up, staring at his screen.

  “Hmm? What?”

  He laughed and showed her his phone. “It looks like I have a date.”

  Dara’s insides didn’t even know how to respond to that. Her stomach flipped, her chest tightened, her heart went crazy. She cleared her throat. “Oh really?”

  “Yeah. I, uh, took your advice and put up a profile on a website.” Chuckling, he added, “Got a nibble.”

  “Only one?” She forced a smile. “I’m surprised you’re not chasing them off with a stick.”

  “Well, there’ve been others, but the only one I’ve actually talked to all that much is Julie.”

  Julie. Why did her name make Dara’s coffee extra bitter?

  Matt went on. “We’ve been chatting a bit for a week or so. Now she wants to meet up. She’s out in Goldmount.” He shrugged. “Maybe then she doesn’t know all the gossip and bullshit from Aspen Mill.”

  “Lucky her,” Dara muttered.

  “Right?” Matt scrolled through the e-mail, then set his phone down. “I’ll e-mail her back later. She wants to meet tomorrow night.” He met Dara’s gaze. “You’re okay with this, right?”

  “Matt.” She laughed and touched his arm. “We’re friends, remember? I was helping you get the hang of things in bed so you can get out there and date.”

  So why does this hurt so much?

  He eyed her uncertainly. “But we’re still…I mean, we’ve—”

  “We’re not doing anything exclusive.” She gestured at his phone. “Go. Meet her, have a ball, and hopefully something will come out of it.”

  He glanced at it, then back at her. “I guess it’s worth a shot.” He chuckled. “Maybe I’ll have a date for my cousin’s wedding after all.”

  Dara snickered. “You want to scare her off?”

  “Hmm, yeah. Good point.” He pocketed his phone. “Well, I’ll see what happens tomorrow night.”

  “Good luck.” Dara glanced into her empty cup, and cleared her throat. “Do you want some more coffee?”

  “Actually, I should get going.” He gestured toward the door. “My sister’s taking a couple of mares to another farm today, and she asked if I could help her.”

  Dara nodded. “Okay. Tell her I said hi.”

  “Will do.”

  Two cups of coffee after Matt left, Dara was restless. Though her concentration was all over the place, she went into her office and sat down at her desk to get some work done.

  She couldn’t focus, though.

  Last night, and even this morning, she’d almost let herself believe something was happening between her and Matt, and hadn’t she been disabused of that notion in a hurry. It was just as well, though. She’d let herself get carried away by some good sex—that was the mistake she’d made the first time she’d married, and she wasn’t going to do that again.

  Good for Matt. She was proud of him for working up the courage to even put himself out there again. And she had no doubt there was a woman out there for him. Maybe someone who hadn’t failed at marriage and wasn’t on his family’s shit list.

  In theory, there was a man out there for her too.

  Her gaze drifted to the icon for her Internet browser. In a moment of anger right after Jon had left, she’d signed up for a dating website. Tonight suddenly seemed like a good time to finish filling in her profile, so she logged in and perused the information she’d entered. Of course, none of it mentioned the fact that she was pregnant. It was weird, remembering that night when she’d hammered the keyboard and scrolled through profiles in search of someone new, all the while completely unaware that the embryo transfer had actually taken this time. That very soon, she’d be moving from Los Angeles back to Aspen Mill, and the “this is a waste of time but I might as well check just to be sure” pregnancy test would turn positive.

  She scrolled down the profile to the first question.

  What are you looking for in a partner?

  She chewed her lip. Well wasn’t that a complicated question?

  There was what she was looking for, and there was what she had any chance of getting in the near future, and those two things didn’t quite match up. She wasn’t even sure she wanted a partner right now. If she was honest with herself, the only thing she really wanted at the moment was someone who was a good kisser and had a functional penis. Relationships could wait.

 
; The options were basic enough: I’m looking for something long term. I’m looking for something short term. I’m looking for friends. I’m looking for something casual.

  Casual. Definitely casual.

  The line marked Kids made her heart sink. None of the options quite fit. Have kids. Want kids. Don’t have kids, but want them. Don’t have kids and don’t want them. Have kids, but they don’t live with me.

  Where the hell was Have a kid on the way and there’s a completely logical explanation that totally won’t send you running in the opposite direction?

  She sighed, covering her face with both hands. A casual partner didn’t even have to know she was pregnant. But what if she met a guy, and after a couple of dates—or booty calls, or whatever—they decided they liked each other?

  “So, um…” she heard herself trying to explain. “Now that we’re thinking of actually dating, I should probably tell you why my nipples are so sensitive…”

  She laughed humorlessly at the thought. As if she’d be able to hide the truth much longer anyway. Her loosest jeans were already getting tight, and it was only a matter of time before she couldn’t play it off as “I’m eating my way through a divorce.”

  This was pointless. And she was less than three months into the divorce, a timeline that was hard to ignore when it pretty much paralleled the progress of her pregnancy. Could she really convince anyone that she was over Jon when she was barely into her second trimester?

  Yeah, this was definitely pointless. Having casual sex with her best friend in between sending him out to meet other women, that would’ve been okay. Going out and finding someone she didn’t really know but didn’t mind sleeping with was somehow…not. But what other options did she have? She was in divorce limbo. She was pregnant, for God’s sake. How many of her single-mother friends had bemoaned the fact that most of the men they’d tried to date ran for the hills as soon as they found out about the kids? And her kid wasn’t even here yet! Was she supposed to just sit at home until the kid was old enough for a babysitter so she could date again?