Nanny for the Rancher

by King, Kristina

  His family had been through so much, and he’d handled it with a grace that she rarely saw in people. She admired him. She knew she was getting attached to him and his entire family.

  When he broke the kiss, he took a step back and gave her a very stern look, “I mean what I said Keira. Pick a day, and give me an hour of your time. Marry me, it’s impulsive and totally out of character for me to even blurt those words out, but if it makes you take me more seriously… then take those words into consideration. I’m not asking you for a fling. I’m not going to get sexually involved with you and then walk away. I want to see if this can turn into something long term, forever.”

  Keira was in shock and didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded her head and then watched him walk away. She reached up and pressed her fingers to her lips, swollen from his aggressive kiss, and felt like she was in way over her head.

  Chapter 8

  Eddie had given Keira space, he’d been patient with her, but he wanted an answer. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, and it was frustrating that all he could do was fantasize about her. He missed her laughter, their knowing looks, and touching conversations.

  Finally, the long drawn out month had ended. He hunted her down and knocked on her bedroom door.

  “Yes?” She called through the door.

  Eddie took it as an invitation to open the door. He walked through and closed it behind him. He looked up, completely surprised to see that she had a towel wrapped around her body and hair. She was otherwise naked.

  She stared at him, but didn’t move, or tell him to get out.

  Eddie swallowed hard, but didn’t move closer to her.

  “You had your month,” he told her, crossing his arms and leaning against the door. She was trapped, she had to face him now.

  “It’s complicated,” she muttered, reaching up to take the towel off her hair, rubbing it dry in front of him. He held his breath as the towel that clung to her threatened to release its precarious hold on her body, with all of her vigorous shaking.

  “It doesn’t have to be complicated, Keira. You know how I feel. Tell me you don’t feel the same thing as I do. If you didn’t need this job, would you still be pushing me away so hard?” Eddie asked her. He couldn’t understand why she’d be fighting their chemistry otherwise.

  She set the towel on the bed, crossed her arms and stared at him. “I’m pregnant.”

  “What?” This was not what he expected her to say.

  “I took a test this morning, and I’m pregnant. I have no idea how I feel, or what’s going on, and I feel pressured.” Keira told him bluntly. “Before this morning, I was going to tell you that I’d think about going on more dates with you, that I am attracted to you, that it is hard to resist being in the same room with you. Then I saw those two little pink lines and now I can’t stop crying. I’m completely panicked, and freaked out, and don’t understand how just one time could make this happen. I’m on birth control, this shouldn’t have even been possible.”

  “I guess nature finds a way,” he muttered under his breath. The shock of what she’d told him yet to sink in. “We can get through this, Keira. I support your decision, but if you let me have a say in it, I want my child.”

  “Yeah, but would you continue to want me? Do you understand what I’m trying to say here? How do I know you’ll want me in a year from now, two years from now, if the only thing we have to connect us, is a one night encounter that produced a child?” She shook her head and her towel slipped down further, revealing the top of her breasts.

  “Keira, I can’t promise what the future will bring. I can only promise to be honest about how I feel every step of the way. No secrets, no hidden feelings, I’ll be truthful and honest, even if it’s not always what you want to hear.” Eddie told her, and sighed. “You being pregnant, isn’t the worst thing that could happen. At least to me. I’m totally fine with it, and I’m actually a little excited at the idea of being a father. I can understand how it might make you feel trapped. So, I will make you a deal. We will take things slowly, one day at a time, and see how it plays out. Just know that I’m on board, and I’d want you with or without the pregnancy.”

  Keira hesitated, and Eddie took the pause to walk over to her and cup her face with his hands.

  “It’s going to be okay. We will figure this out. I promise,” he whispered to her. And before she could answer, he leaned down and kissed her. She kissed him back, her arms threading around his neck, causing the towel to finally drop to the ground.

  He hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing her naked before, or touching her breasts. They now had his undivided attention, and he cupped the large, supple mounds with his hands. She moaned slightly into his mouth as he tweaked the nipples with his thumb and index fingers.

  Slowly, he backed her up towards the bed, and gently pushed her down. He joined her, kicking off his cowboy boots in the process. He didn’t give her a chance to change her mind. Instead, he kissed her. His rough jeans rubbing against her delicate thighs. When she scratched at his back, trying to pull his shirt off, he sat up enough to allow her to pull it off.

  His foot tangled in the towel that she’d left on the end of the bed, and he shook it off, kicking it to the floor. The motion and expression on Eddie’s face, made Keira giggle.

  “It was stuck,” he muttered. He took a moment to work on the zipper of his jeans, before yanking them down in one smooth movement. He shoved his Wranglers over his feet and let them fall off the bed onto the floor.

  Turning back to Keira, he dipped his head to press a kiss against her collar bone. Working his way down her body, he eventually pressed his mouth around a nipple and sucked it between his teeth. She hissed out a breath and her nails dug into his shoulder as she arched her back. Subconsciously, she spread her legs wider for him, giving him access to all parts of her body.

  His hand went between her thick thighs and he started to stroke the swollen nub between her legs. As his fingers grew wetter with her arousal, he worked a finger inside of her folds, feeling her muscles squeeze him tightly as he slowly pushed his fingers in and out of her.

  “Mmmm,” he whispered against her breast and then switched to lavish attention on the other side.

  “Oh, god, Eddie, that feels so good,” Keira whispered so softly he almost didn’t hear her. That was all the encouragement he needed. Working his way down her body, he attacked her clit with his tongue and lips, his fingers moving faster and more vigorously inside of her. He felt her stomach tighten up in a hard ball as she moved closer to her first orgasm.

  Moments later, she exploded against his face, her hips arched up, and she let out a muffled scream as she covered her mouth with her pillow.

  Murmuring encouraging words against her clit and pussy lips, he licked her, tasted her and grinded his fingers inside of her while her hips bucked all over the bed. After a few moments, her hands came down to push his head off of her.

  “Stop, stop, too intense,” she told him, her body shaking hard.

  Eddie arched a brow at her, feeling pleased with himself. Watching her come turned him on big time. He slid up her body until he was positioned between her legs. He kissed her, her musky taste mixing between their tongues. As he kissed her, he used his knees to spread her legs wider, and then thrust himself deep inside of her. Rocking his hips, he worked his way to his own orgasm. Her body was hot and wet and her muscles tight from the left-over muscle contractions, courtesy of the orgasm he’d given her.

  When he finished, he collapsed on top of her, but used his arms to support his weight so he didn’t crush her. He could feel her nipples against his bare chest, and loved the way they rubbed against his skin. Her body was soft in in all the right places and she was responsive and open.

  “Keira, I love you, marry me,” he blurted out in the heat of the moment. He knew it was too soon, too fast, but he didn’t care. This was the woman he wanted. He’d known it nearly from the moment he met her.

  “I…” Keira pushed
him off her and sat up. “Jesus Eddie, give me a minnute.”

  Eddie felt like a deflated balloon. He knew he was pushing her, rushing things, but she was who he wanted.

  “I shouldn’t rush you, I’m sorry, it just slipped out again,” he told her truthfully. “I’m not leaving you alone though. You are way too sexy to be ignored.”

  Keira let out a laugh and shook her head, “and they say men grow out of being horny teenagers.”

  “Not all men,” Eddie told her, grinning.

  Chapter 9

  Keira spent the next couple weeks adjusting to her new-found pregnancy, and the budding relationship between her and Eddie. He refused to back off, and he’d been over-protective of her, especially since he found out she was pregnant.

  The older children were starting to notice their closeness, and teased Keira about being their Uncle’s girlfriend. She was falling for Eddie, but she found herself keeping her walls up in order to protect herself. The hormones of the pregnancy had her raging about his closeness one minute, and then the next wanting him so close he’d smother her. It made no logical sense and she felt like a nut job.

  He hadn’t brought up marriage, again, but the offer he’d made stood out between them like a neon sign. She knew he’d want an answer, sooner, rather than later. It was hard to tell him no. They liked each other, she was pregnant with his baby, their sex life was amazing. He was a good natured, sweet guy who was just protective of her enough to make her feel safe, without totally making her feel smothered - most of the time. Yesterday, he wouldn’t let her lift a box of goodwill items and that had made her almost throw a toddler-like tantrum.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Eddie asked her, brushing his hand over her swelling breasts.

  “I feel okay, a little sick to my stomach occasionally, but otherwise fairly normal.” Keira told him, glancing around to make sure there were no children in the vicinity. “Stop that, they might come inside and see you!” She teased, slapping at his hand.

  Keira pushed his hand off her breast, and he’d flashed her a mischievous grin. She was quickly learning to recognize that his wry grin meant that he was feeling frisky and would rock her world if she let him.

  “Don’t think I’m not going to hunt you down later, and the next time I corner you, I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  “Do you always get your way?” Keira asked him, her eyebrows shooting up at his demanding tone.

  “When it comes to watching you have a million orgasms in my face, absolutely.” He told her, a cocky-self-assured grin on his face.

  Keira laughed, she couldn’t help it. “You’re funny... Now shoo, go do whatever it is you have to do today.”

  “I actually came to ask you if I could come to your first doctor’s appointment. Also, I know the baby can be given any last name, but I’m old fashioned and I’d like the baby to have my last name.” He stammered nervously. “Also, I still want you to have my last name too.” He said.

  “Oh, my…” Keira muttered, her eyes darting around nervously. “I’m just starting to adjust to being pregnant and now you’re talking about last names? The next thing I know you’re going to start throwing baby names at me, before we even know if it’s a boy or a girl.”

  “Well, I do have name ideas, but that’s assuming you’d like to find out the gender. Do you?” Eddie asked her.

  “Maybe… I don’t know.” Keira said, shrugging.

  “I’m not a patient person, I’d rather know.” Eddie told her, a solemn, puppy-dog look on his face.

  “Maybe I want to be team green, and not find out the gender, just to watch you squirm the entire pregnancy,” Keira told him, joking. In reality, she wanted to know too, but it was fun to tease him.

  And that’s when it sunk in. Their comfortableness. How much she enjoyed being around him. Their playful banter. It came so naturally, it was hard to stay away from him. Eddie must have noticed the flashing emotions on her face while she was thinking, because he leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead.

  “As sad as I would be to wait, if that’s what you really want,” he trailed off and then looked alarmed. “Wait, stop, why are you crying, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “No, it’s not that, ugh, stupid pregnancy hormones, don’t look at me,” Keira told him, and turned away, swiping at her cheeks. “It’s just… I have strong feelings for you and this pregnancy is making me all gooey and mushy in ways I didn’t know I could feel.”

  “You can feel gooey and mushy about me anytime you want, pregnant or not,” Eddie told her. “That’s how I feel about you.”

  “This is a little overwhelming,” she admitted. “I love you Eddie, I really do.”

  “Then marry me,” he told her, grinning at her.

  “If I say yes, but say it has to be a long engagement, will you accept that as an answer?” She gave him a stern look while sniffling from her tears.

  “I can live with that, but please pick a date before I get grey hair. Otherwise, I might whisk you off to elope.” Eddie warned her.

  “Hmmm…” Keira looked at him, narrowing her eyes for a moment, making him suffer. “Yes!”

  Eddie whooped, and grabbed Keira, spinning her in a circle and hugging her tightly.

  “Calm down there, cowboy, you’ll shake the baby in my tummy.” Keira said, jokingly.

  “It’s well protected,” Eddie said, looking serious for a moment, “I read about it. I bought a book for fathers to be.”

  “You didn’t,” Keira said, her mouth gaping open. She felt like she was sorely slacking in the reading department. She hadn’t attempted to learn anything about the pregnancy yet.

  “I did. I want to be there for you, and since I can’t go through it personally, I want to understand it the best I can to support you.” Eddie kissed her, and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. “I know that it’s only been a short time, and things went kind of fast. It’s crazy and hectic around here, but we have a chance here to be a real family. All of us. Elly, Justin, Aiden, you and me. And the baby.”

  “That actually sounds pretty amazing to me,” Keira said, thinking about how lonely she’d been since her mom got sick. She had no one else, and this family had accepted and loved her since she’d arrived. She really didn’t want to leave. She’d come to love everyone here.

  “Then it’s settled. You’re here to stay.” Eddie proclaimed, before kissing her again.

  The End.

  MARRYING THE RANCHER (INTRO)

  Eddie keeps pressuring Keira for her hand in marriage, and although she loves him, doesn’t understand why he’s in such a rush to seal the deal.

  Her loyalties to her wealthy cowboy are put to the test when he hires a new rugged ranch hand. Is it her surging pregnancy hormones drawing Keira closer to Mikey, the loner horse whisperer, or is Eddie’s pressure pushing her away?

  RECEIVE YOUR PRE-RELEASE COPY OF ‘MARRYING THE RANCHER’ HERE AS SOON AS IT’S HOT OFF THE (DIGITAL PRESS)!

  BONUS BOOK

  THE RANCHER

  Prologue

  The small country church was full, even the space in the back was packed with people standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Andrew Asher had been a third-generation rancher with a small but profitable property. When his father had died he took his entire savings, and the entire value of the property, and used all the money to buy up land and expand his herd. It had left the family nearly bankrupt at the time and there were some hard winters but at the end of his life he was one of the wealthiest men in the county.

  He had been blessed with a lovely wife and three beautiful daughters. The older two girls had married ranchers and moved away, starting large ranch families of their own but the youngest had married a young man from town who bought the general store and the two of them lived in the guest house on the family ranch with their only son, Gavin.

  No one in the church was here to see the old man buried except some of the family. Everyone else had come because of the rumors tha
t had been buzzing around town, rumors Gavin knew would fall to him to lay to rest, and that he would have to do it soon.

  Gavin had spent his life on that ranch, helping his grandfather with the animals and the chores. He had seven cousins, six of whom were older than he was, and there were only three ranches to inherit between all either of them so he knew everyone in the family had been eyeing the Asher Ranch. Which had made the reading of the will interesting to say the least.

  I’m still not sure if any of them will speak to me ever again. And I’m not sure that will be a problem.

  After the internment the entire town and all the ranch families from the surrounding properties retired to the Asher Ranch for lunch. Gavin’s mother had done most of the work, not that you could tell from the way his aunts flitted about accepting condolences and compliments. Once everyone seemed settled in the backyard Gavin stood up and tapped his beer bottle with his fork until everyone was staring at him. His aunts were giving him dangerous looks but technically, and legally, this was his home and he didn’t care if they were his elders. This was his place to speak up, not theirs.

  “Thank you, all of you, for being with my family at this trying time. I invite all of you, if the mood takes you, to share some of your memories of Andrew, with each other or with all of us. He was a strong man, and I know I will miss him. As some of you may be aware, the family got together for the reading of the will two days ago. The Asher Ranch will be remaining in the family.” The whispering started but all of his cousins were giving him the same dark look as his aunts. “Grandpa left the ranch to me.”