by Reece Butler
Did she want Houston in her life? He bugged the hell out of her. He poked at all her insecurities, but he did it in a way that didn’t hurt. He pretended to be tough, putting on a mask of the happy party guy, as if he had no cares in the world. But she’d seen the way little Emily Elliott had gone up to him that first night. Houston had kept in the shadows at first, hiding his scarred face by keeping it toward the wall. Emily had yanked on his jeans, demanding to be lifted into his arms. He’d looked around, almost frantic. Then he’d knelt and carefully gathered her into his arms. He’d struggled to stand with his bad leg, but had made it.
Emily had put her little girl arms around his neck. Lila had heard the high-pitched voice saying Emmy kiss it better. She’d given him a baby girl kiss on his scarred cheek, and then smiled. Houston had returned it, stunned. She’d struggled to get down, her task done. Houston had carefully set her on her feet and watched her scamper away. He’d wiped away tears before he disappeared into a back room. She’d known right then that he was a man who was worth caring about.
Yes, Houston would make a good father. But he may not want to admit it.
And Jet? She trusted Jet almost as much as she trusted her favorite uncles. Jet knew her. He had a way of looking into her eyes and seeing someone other than an impulsive, ditzy blonde. He made her want to be all she could be. She’d pushed that aside before, having no reason to change.
It was different now. She was responsible for the life of another. Yes, it was time to put the past behind her and, God forbid, grow up a bit. Strangely, it didn’t feel as bad as she thought it would. It felt good, in fact. She thought she’d been confident before, standing tall as she fought against what was expected of a girl. Looking back, she realized she’d been more arrogant than anything. She had a lot of fences to mend with her family. She knew they loved her, and that helped so much.
She could face Jet and Houston and tell them the truth.
With her head high, she stepped through the batwing doors into the roadhouse. Her feet faltered when she saw Jet waiting with Uncle Tommy. Jet said something and her uncle stepped aside. Jet looked different, more open and welcoming. He smiled, one that reached his eyes.
“You are so beautiful,” he said.
His quiet words created a link that pulled her forward. She fought her initial reaction to deny that link. She took a hesitant step, then another. So did he, only his steps were purposeful. They stopped eight feet apart.
“I’m pregnant,” she said. Jet nodded. “It’s Houston’s.” He nodded again. “I’m not going to marry anyone. This is my baby.”
Something flickered in his eyes, but he still remained silent. He held out his arms.
“I’m here for you,” he said. “For you, and your baby, as long as you want.”
She saw his truth in his eyes. “I can do this by myself, with my family and friends.”
He nodded, slow and confident. “Yes, and you don’t have to. I’m offering my strength, adding to yours. I want to protect—”
“I don’t need protection! I can—”
“Take care of yourself.” He nodded, still solemn. “I know. Again, you don’t have to do it all by yourself. There’s someone else you have to consider now.”
They looked in each other’s eyes, silent. She looked for signs of anger, disappointment, or worse. Instead, she felt a warmth, almost like Uncle Lance’s, flowing toward her.
“Lila.”
He used That Voice, and everything changed.
He was no longer the friendly lover, showing his caring. He was the man who made her shiver with one look, one word. The man who offered her the opportunity to submit her worries, her fears, and her shame to him, absorbing it through his dominance and power. The man who aroused and pleasured her, mind and body.
That one word had sent shivers through her. His desire to dominate her provided proof that he valued her. The desire for submission was not demeaning. It did not make her less of a person. Jet accepted her strengths along with her weaknesses, encouraging the first while helping her overcome the second.
He raised his left eyebrow a fraction of an inch. That’s all it took. She cried out and ran into his arms. He enveloped her. All of her, even the things she hated about herself. She absorbed calm power, knowing he wanted what was best for her.
“I’m here for you.” His voice rumbled through her. “Always.”
A door opened. She heard the murmur of voices, then it closed.
“What the hell is going on?”
She pulled back. Houston, furious, stomped toward them.
“Dammit, Lila! You scared the shit out of me!” He exhaled heavily, examining her with his eyes. “Are you all right?”
She nodded, biting her lip.
“No games, Lila. Are you sick?”
“Can we talk about this later?”
“Hell no! I’m not waiting one more second to find out what is going on. I’m worried about you, darlin’.” His voice broke on the last few words.
“I’m pregnant with your baby!”
She slapped her hands over her mouth. Houston’s face went white.
“I thought you were on the pill,” he said, his voice hoarse.
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I couldn’t think when you touched me. I’ve never felt anything like that before and…I’m so sorry.”
Houston, face shuttered, just looked at her. She didn’t know what he would do. She looked at the floor. Aunt Dorothy kept it spotless. She’d always loved the bright dots of color all over the linoleum.
“Sorry for what?” Houston asked quietly.
“You don’t want any babies.” The words tumbled out. “And you said your family is horrid, and…and…I’m not asking for anything, and—”
“Hush.”
She fell silent at Houston’s command. He hadn’t used that tone with her before. It affected her the same way Jet did. Footsteps approached. A pair of scuffed cowboy boots appeared near her own.
“Look at me.”
She shook her head, ashamed. His knuckle went under her chin. She lifted her head but not her eyes.
“Look. At. Me.”
She exhaled a trembling breath, then did as ordered. His blue eyes were bright but not stormy. Her shoulders dropped an inch as she exhaled.
“That’s better,” he said softly. “So. We’re pregnant. That first time?” She nodded. “What do you want to do?”
“I’m keeping my baby!”
“Of course you are,” he replied softly.
“You’re not mad?”
He barked a laugh. “Mad? I’m…” He paused. “I’m not mad, Lila. Though I never thought this would happen. Never wanted it to.”
She shrank, curling into herself. “You think I’ll try to keep you here, and you want to leave.”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s…” He hesitated. “I don’t want to leave. Part of me doesn’t want to get better, because then I’d have no reason to stay. Now I have a reason.” He winked. “Your fathers and uncles won’t need a shotgun.”
“Shotgun?” She frowned at him.
“For the wedding.”
She stepped back, shaking her head. “There’s not going to be a wedding. I’m not getting married just because I’m having a baby.”
“Whoa, darlin’,” said Houston. “Let’s talk—”
“Now’s not the time,” said Jet. “Let’s go home.”
Houston set his hands on his hips and dropped his head. He exhaled. When he looked up his face was calm and determined. He gave an abrupt nod.
“We’ll go home. And then we’ll talk.” Houston’s face darkened. “And you will listen.”
“Your truck’s out back.”
Lila turned. Somehow her uncle had got behind her.
“Best to leave now, before they get up their nerve to stampede.”
“Let’s go home.” Houston kissed her cheek.
Jet held out her hand. It was an offer more than an order. They were all adults. They would work
this out.
“Yes,” she said. “Let’s go home.”
* * * *
“What do you think?” asked Dorothy after the door closed behind the three youngsters. Her Tommy held her tight, as he had every day since he came back to her.
“I think I am very happy not to be Lance MacDougal.”
“Lance? What are you talking about?”
“I asked him once what it was like. The knowing,” he added.
She immediately knew what he meant. “I can’t imagine. It must be a terrible burden to know everything.”
“But he doesn’t. Lance doesn’t look unless he’s asked. He said he can see the most probable outcomes, but he doesn’t know what will happen. People make their own choices. We may not agree with those choices, and we all live with the result.”
“Did Lance tell you anything about our sons?”
Her husband, lover, and best friend sighed heavily. She braced herself for bad news. They had two sons. Surely one of them would survive!
“Lance said he saw us holding a grandchild wearing a pink hat.”
A sob broke out before she could stifle it. She pulled her husband close. He squeezed her back just as hard.
“A granddaughter! That’s so much more than I ever hoped. I thought I’d be a broken-down, lonely old woman, still waitressing because I wasn’t good for anything else. And then I met you, Tommy White. And you changed my life.”
He rested his forehead against hers, just holding her. “Sweetheart, we are going to take a vacation.”
She pulled back, blinking through her tears. “What? How? The business—”
“Sebastian is home from college. He can do breakfast and lunch if some of the local women help. They’ll be glad of the cash.”
Dorothy thought about it, her brain racing. People would understand. They hadn’t been away in such a long time, and they’d brought the boys along…
“It will give Sebastian a chance to prove himself,” she said, thinking as she talked. “Like Lila and the Adams boys are doing.”
“That’s my woman. Smart as a whip and as sexy as a tiger in heat. Now the boys are grown, we can use up that last bit I’d put aside. Where do you want to go? New York, Paris, London?”
“I’ve always wanted to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.”
“London it is.”
She lost herself in his kiss. The doorknob rattled and then the bell rang as someone came in. She pulled away, flushed and eager for more.
“Yes, Sheriff?” said Tommy, his voice almost breaking.
“I won’t be able to hold them off much longer. You folks all right?”
Dorothy smiled at her husband, receiving one of future promise in return.
“We’re wonderful,” she said. “Give us three minutes to put on the coffee before you let them in.” She stepped forward for a last kiss.
“Whoa,” said Gibson as someone ducked under his arm.
“Dad! I thought you and Mom agreed to keep the mushy stuff in the kitchen!”
Sebastian had arrived. Tommy rolled his eyes and gave her a wink that said she’d get much more later.
“How would you like to take over for a week or two while we go away?” he asked. Sebastian was taking courses in food service and business management at the University of Montana.
Their son’s face lit up. “You’re on.” He strode forward, kissing her cheek on the way to the kitchen. “I put ten bucks on Lila having a boy on March fifteenth.”
Dorothy glared at Josh. He lifted his hands defensively. “I didn’t say a thing.”
“Don’t you love small towns,” said Tommy. “Did you bet?” he asked Josh.
“A girl on the sixteenth, and Lance MacDougal takes his bullwhip to both them.”
“I bet on the claymore,” added their bloodthirsty son.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Houston ushered Lila upstairs as soon as they got home. He wasn’t going to let her talk until she had a shower, alone, unfortunately, and polished off a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches. As he lifted away her plate, Jet slid a bowl of chocolate ice cream in front of her. Houston headed for the fridge.
“You want a dill pickle with that?” he asked over his shoulder.
Lila grimaced at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I thought pregnant women liked dill pickles with their ice cream.”
“This one doesn’t!”
She scooped up a spoonful of the locally-made treat and jammed the spoon into her mouth. A second later she sighed, almost melting onto the table in bliss. She looked a lot like that when she rode him. He snickered to himself about being jealous of a bowl of ice cream.
“Okay, no pickles.” He lifted his hands, shrugging at Jet where Lila couldn’t see him.
He was a sick son of a bitch. Here was Lila, pregnant with his child, upset and cranky, and all he wanted to do was put her on her back on the table, haul down those jeans, and plow her thoroughly. She pulled the clean spoon out of her mouth and waggled it at him.
“I retain the right to change my mind,” she said, glowering.
Houston wasn’t totally stupid. He didn’t need Jet’s warning glance to hold back his comment about women constantly changing their minds. He pulled a chair around backward and sat on it, facing Lila from across the table.
“Let’s start at the beginning,” he said. “We were too wrapped up in the moment and we had unprotected sex. Once. And now you’re pregnant.” Houston shook his head. “Un-be-lieve-able.”
“Not really,” she replied, concentrating on the chocolate. “It runs in the family. My mom, aunt, grandmother, and great-grandmother all got pregnant easily.”
“Yet you weren’t on the pill?”
“I had no reason to be!” She shook her spoon at him. “I was through with men. All I needed was to hire a couple of hands for a month. Then my life would carry on, just the same as it always had. And then you two arrived and everything changed.”
“And then I got you naked in the shower,” said Houston. He scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “I wasn’t going to do anything but bring you to orgasm with my mouth and fingers. Yeah, I hoped you’d do the same, but I didn’t expect it.” He barked a laugh. “I certainly wasn’t expecting you to scuttle backward and sink that hot pussy down on my cock.” He shuddered. “Once you did that, nothing on this earth could have made me stop.”
“Me, either,” she added quietly. “I’d never felt anything like it before.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the baby?”
She looked at her lap, but he could see how red her face was.
“It was me,” said Jet. “I told Lila to wait until she was sure. You had enough on your mind. I figured the chance of pregnancy from one time wasn’t very great.” He turned to Lila. “I was not aware of your family history.”
Houston could see Jet doing that. He rolled his head, working out a few kinks. And wasn’t this kinky? Two men and a woman, all three going to have a child together.
“What happens next?” he asked, keeping the situation as neutral as possible.
Lila crossed her arms and slumped in the chair. She shot Jet a mulish look. “I’m not getting married just because I’m pregnant.”
“We already heard you on that,” said Jet. He turned to Houston. “What will your mother do if she finds out she has a grandchild on the way?”
Any release in tension from rolling his neck immediately disappeared. He cursed.
“This baby has nothing to do with her!” said Lila, snapping her head from Jet to Houston and back.
“I agree,” said Houston. “Unfortunately, Mother is used to getting whatever she wants. To her mind, you’re not carrying my baby, or even yours. It is her grandchild. We are just the means to provide her with it.”
“That’s ridiculous!” said Lila.
“Our father spent a lot of time with my sister and me. It messed up her control, and she blames him on me being a failure. I’ve heard he
r say more than once that she’s not going to allow the next generation to behave as we did. I thought running away, dumping all their money, would let me escape.”
“What are you saying?”
“If my mother finds out you’re carrying a child with Simpson DNA, she will do anything and everything in her power to take it. And, thanks to her father, she has access to one hell of a lot of money and power.”
Lila’s lip trembled. Her hands went under the table. He figured they were over her belly, protecting their child.
“The safest way to protect your baby,” said Jet, “is for you and me to get married.”
“No!” She shook her head rapidly.
“This child is not going to be born a bastard,” said Jet coldly. “He, or she, is going to have a father’s name and a mother’s name on the birth certificate. And that birth certificate will be dated after the wedding.”
Houston thought over all the probabilities, his mind spinning. There was a chance…
“Or we could get married,” he said. “You’re carrying my child, after all. Your family would help me fight Mother for custody.”
“What about Sonia?” demanded Lila.
Sonia? Lila glared at him as if he’d done something wrong. “What’s she got to do with this?”
Her chin trembled. She raised it and shot him an accusing look. “How can you marry me when you’ve promised yourself to another woman?”
Houston shook his head to clear his ears. “I’ve what?”
“One morning I heard you calling out to someone named Sonia. You said you’d always love her and you were coming back for her, to take her away.” Her voice trembled, along with her chin. “You have a fiancée in Texas. This is just like what happened to my grandmother. Don’t deny it!”
“A fiancée? Oh, for the love of…” He must have been dreaming, and called out. Was Lila jealous, because she wanted him? “Lila, Sonia’s not my fiancée, she was my little sister.”
Lila’s face went from red to white. “Your sister? The one who died? I thought…” She ducked her head.
“You thought what?”
She shrugged as if she didn’t care one way or the other, but he saw her chin quivering.