by Ann Major
“The pleasure’s all mine,” Luke drawled.
Daniel’s face relaxed. Sighing heavily, he agreed, “Good. ’Cause I was really, really scared. I fell off Demon today, and Mr. Kilgore helped me remount. Did he tell you about it, Mom?”
“No. Not yet,” Caitlyn said.
“Good, ’cause I thought maybe I was in trouble. That’s why I was hiding.”
“He fell off that horse, and you knew it!” Her eyes flew to Luke. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Believe me, I would have, if Ramblin’ Man hadn’t exploded the way he did. Meeting Daniel was weighing heavily on my mind. That’s why I didn’t think about my phone when I was waiting for you to finish in the trailer.”
Her slim hand froze in Daniel’s. “I see,” she whispered. “Honey, could you go out into the living room for a second with Miss Lisa while I talk to Mr. Kilgore privately?”
“But can’t I just stay while you talk—”
“No.”
“Please. Just for a second.”
“He and I have some business to discuss.”
“But I won’t listen!” Refusing to budge, Daniel crossed his arms over his thin chest and curled his lip. Luke could see that the kid did as he pleased a lot of the time. Not always a good thing.
“Daniel!” she said sharply.
“You’re not going to sell Demon to him, are you?”
“No. Just some big-people talk that would bore you.”
“I won’t interrupt,” he said, inching closer to her.
“You heard her, so don’t argue. Just go,” Luke said in a voice that was both firm and kind. “We’ll be through in no time. Then you can stay with your mom for as long as you like.”
Daniel nodded and got up. “Can I have a cookie?”
“Lisa, do you think maybe you could find a snack for Daniel?” Luke asked.
Lisa, who had been hanging on to every word, reluctantly took Daniel’s arm and led him down the hall. “Sure thing. Daniel, how about some milk and cookies?”
“Only one, Lisa,” Caitlyn said. “Sugar makes him hyper.”
“Can I have chocolate chip…?”
“If you have any,” Lisa said.
“In the freezer,” Cait said.
Forgetting his mother, Daniel ran down the hall to check the cookie jar.
Luke got up and closed the door. When he went back to her bed, Caitlyn grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer. Warmth flashed through him. Then, realizing she was touching him, she yanked her hand away as if she, too, felt the burn.
He held his breath for a charged second, far from unscathed by the feral need she still aroused in him so easily. He wasn’t over her. He wanted her. He’d never wanted another more than he wanted her.
“Don’t tell him who you are. Do you hear me? Because you’re not his father. Not in any way that matters.”
Because of you!
He was angry, but it was still all too easy to imagine her at nineteen, pregnant with his child and enduring her strict, critical mother’s censure. Had she been afraid to confess the baby was his? If she’d made some bad decisions, so had he. He should have returned to check on her. Maybe she would have told him about the baby. Well, it was too late to change the past, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t change the future.
“Let’s get something straight. If he’s mine, I intend to be a father to him in the future—whether you like it or not.”
“He’s yours, I guess, but only biologically,” she snapped.
“Then he’s mine. Period. I can see he needs a father, too. He has way too much freedom to do as he pleases.”
“Don’t you judge me! There’s a lot you don’t understand. Daniel is upset because the man he believed to be his father is dead. There’s no way he could handle discovering who you really are.”
“Maybe not right now.?… I have no intention of telling him until he’s more accustomed to me. I’ll know when the time is right.”
“He blames himself for Robert’s death. He’d run off and had all of us scared to death. Robert had been ill for a while, and I was overwrought about that. When Daniel finally showed up that afternoon, I’m afraid I said some things that really upset him. Then Robert died suddenly, before any of us thought he would, and Daniel blamed himself. I’ve told Daniel it was Robert’s illness that killed him, not anything Daniel did. But I don’t think he believes me.”
“Poor little guy. That’s a heavy load for a young kid,” Luke said. “I can see he’s had a rough time.”
“Yes, he has—thanks in part to you.”
“That from the woman who never bothered to inform me of his existence.”
“You were supposed to meet me that afternoon. You left without even bothering to say goodbye.”
“Had I done that, I would deserve your anger. But that’s not the way it was, and you damn well—”
She interrupted him. “You were already gone when I found out for sure!”
“I wrote and told you where I was. I called. You never answered. You married Wakefield!”
“You called?” She scowled at him in confusion, probably for reminding her of how badly she’d treated him. No doubt once she’d made up her mind to marry for the ranch, she’d decided never to look back. She’d considered him collateral damage and nothing more.
Casting blame for the past accomplished nothing. What he did to resolve their present problem was all that mattered. He heaved in a breath. “I don’t like remembering you or what happened between us any better than you do. So, okay, hate my guts to your heart’s content, and let me hate yours. But there’s something you need to understand. A simple DNA test will prove he’s mine. As his father, I could fight for custody. With my money I could make your life a living hell. I intend to know my son—with or without your permission. So we can work together, or you can fight me. It’s your choice.”
“Don’t you dare use your money to threaten me! Just because I’m a woman who’s temporarily down on her luck, you think you hold all the cards. Well, you don’t! He’s mine, and I love him. And he loves me.”
“I know that. I respect that. But I want to be part of his life, too. Is that so unreasonable?”
“Under the circumstances, yes! You live in London, and we live here.”
“Geography.”
“I have a ranch—here.”
“You could relocate…nearer to me. You can raise Thoroughbreds anywhere.”
“Why would I do that? I read about the shallow, materialistic life you lead, the beautiful women, the wealth.?… I don’t want Daniel influenced by a man who’ll teach him that women are disposable playthings.”
“That’s not what I’ll teach him. And for the record, I’m too busy working to see all the women the gossips say I see. You don’t know me well enough to pass judgment.”
Maybe he hadn’t really known himself until this moment. Although his life was filled with all the so-called right people and things, his loneliness was profound. It was as if long ago he’d lost some vital piece of himself. At times when he thought he should be content, he felt restless instead. In such moments he always wondered what it was that he could possibly need to complete his life.
Coming back here—seeing Caitlyn and then Daniel—had changed him. For the first time in a long time, he felt driven by something true rather than by anger or the ambition to prove himself. He had a son. He was determined to be a father. He’d been hasty when he’d let Caitlyn’s mother speak for her.
“I’m going to change my lifestyle,” he said. “This has made me realize it’s time I settled down.”
“All because of Daniel?”
“Absolutely.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“I don’t care what you believe. All you need to know is that I intend to get to know him and be his father. Thus, I’ll be staying here, with you, indefinitely. Like I said before—if I were you, I’d cooperate.”
“What about your work, your life, your countess in London?�
��
“Much as I appreciate your concern, I’ll figure out a way to make my plan work.”
“But nobody’s invited you to stay. Nobody wants you.”
Her words sent a chill through him as he remembered his loveless childhood. He’d had no mother, a trashed house and a father who’d been almost worse than no father. The whole county, including Caitlyn’s mother, had called Bubba Kilgore trash and thought that Luke was no better.
Well, he had money and prestige now, lots of it, and he had Hassan’s paternal love. Teresa, who had the pedigree and the polish he lacked, wanted to marry him. All he had to do was ask her. Had he hesitated to propose because she was too young, or because, deep down, even with Teresa at his side, he often felt alienated in this luxurious life he’d built?
Strangely, he felt more grounded with Caitlyn. Was it because they shared the same roots? Or because his feelings for her went deeper than he’d let himself believe?
He would stay here and help Caitlyn. He didn’t care what he had to do or say to get his way. Since he’d been born in the gutter, he could sink to her level no matter how low she went.
Thus, his voice was very hard when he spoke to her again. “Would you really send your son’s biological father away when he’s the only man who can pull your sweet little ass out of the financial mess you’ve made? If you’re destitute, what will happen to Daniel? The day might come, sooner than you think, when you’ll beg me to take him.”
“Never!”
“You’d prefer him to starve? I always thought mothers wanted what’s best for their children.”
“Of course I want what’s best! I just don’t think you’re it!” She lunged at him, but the movement was ill considered and it twisted her ankle in the sheets. She cried out in pain and collapsed against her pillow, her thin face ashen.
His fury forgotten, he sank down beside her again, hating himself for having made such unreasonable threats in the heat of anger. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she whispered, shaking, closing her eyes to shut out the pain. Or maybe to shut him out.
“I’d better call your doctor,” he said, as he gently replaced the frozen peas on her foot. “What’s his name?”
In that same weak, pitiable voice she told him. “But I don’t want you staying here…helping me,” she said defiantly.
“You don’t have a choice. The sooner you accept my decision, the sooner you’ll realize you might as well make the best of it.”
She bit her lower lip and released it. Probably because she was weakened with pain, she sat very still. Finally, she nodded.
Maybe she wouldn’t continue to be impossible. Maybe he was making headway toward his goal.
Or maybe after a night’s sleep she’d rally and fight harder than ever.
He didn’t care one way or the other. He wasn’t leaving Daniel.
Or her.
Four
Luke sat on the couch as Daniel struggled to phonetically sound out the word dog.
How hard could it be to read that word?
Holding on to his patience, Luke caught his breath. Fortunately, Daniel got it and then read the rest of the sentence without any more problems.
Daniel had started kindergarten in the fall, and Caitlyn had told Luke the boy had to be helped with his reading every night. So Luke had volunteered.
Earlier, when she’d finally realized no amount of discussion would make Luke change his mind about staying, she’d taken a new tack. With a crafty smile, she’d said, “Well, if I’m stuck with you, we might as well find a way to make you useful.”
“I’m sure I’ll have plenty to do, fixing your finances.”
“You know how it is on a ranch. There’s always lots of hard, physical work to do, and with my ankle…”
“You win,” he’d said with a smile.
She’d grabbed a pen and had dashed off a long list of chores. She’d probably chosen some of them, like mucking out stalls, because she remembered he’d thought they were unpleasant as hell.
Since he suspected the real purpose of her requests was to drive him away, he’d read the list and beamed as if in delight.
Except for the stall mucking, he’d charged through her tasks with an enthusiasm and competence that had irritated her to the extreme.
“Now, I have a list of my own, you know,” he’d said when he’d finished. “On it are things you can do to please me. First thing is for you to cooperate. The second is that you need to let my chauffeur drive us both to your doctor and home again.”
“You have so many stables to clean and horses to bathe, you have no time to waste on a trip to town with me,” she’d said as he led her to the limo.
“Is grocery shopping in the number one position on your list or not, sweetheart? How can I do that if I don’t go into town? I see right here that I’m supposed to buy feed. Where exactly is the feed store?” He’d got into the limo.
Sulkily she’d turned her back on him and stared out the window in gloomy silence, but he’d ignored her snit, using the quiet time in the limo to return several pressing international phone calls.
In the end, because he’d needed to make still more calls, including one to Teresa, he’d sent his driver to shop for groceries while he’d stayed with Caitlyn at her doctor’s office.
The doctor diagnosed a sprained ankle. He’d put her in a boot, gave her crutches and told her to rest a couple of days before she started hobbling around outside.
“Do you have anybody who can help you, besides Manuel?” he’d asked. “I mean at night. In the house.”
“Me,” Luke had volunteered, slinging a possessive arm around her. “I’m staying at the house.”
When she had flushed and tried to shrug free of his offending arm, the doctor cocked his eyebrows. “I see.”
“It’s not what you think,” she’d muttered.
The doctor had smiled knowingly. “Then it’s settled. Wonderful. You must rely on him for everything these first few days.”
“Surely that’s not necessary,” she’d argued, trying to make light of her injury.
“Unfortunately, it is.” The doctor had been adamant that if she was to get a full recovery, she needed to stay off her ankle for a good two weeks.
Smugly, Luke had taken charge. “You must be a good patient and do everything I say, sweetheart,” he’d teased. “Doctor’s orders.”
The doctor had nodded conspiratorially while she’d silently fumed.
Luke had cooked their first shared supper—an omelet and toast—and washed dishes and supervised Daniel’s bath. Then he’d played with various action figures with the kid on the floor of his room until she’d hobbled down the hall and reminded them Daniel still needed to practice his reading.
“Isn’t it time for you to call it a day and forget about issuing more commands?” Luke had asked her after leading her to her bedroom. “You’re not getting rid of me, you know. The doctor put me in charge. I run international corporations. I think I can take care of one woman, one little boy and a few horses and cows. Hell, cows feed themselves.”
Her brows had flown together at that. “You know better than that.”
“That I do,” he’d said with a smile.
“I imagine in a day or two you’ll be so bored you’ll be longing for London and your lavish lifestyle, not to mention your countess.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ll leave Daniel. Then there’s Hassan. I promised him I’d help you.”
Ignoring her pout, he’d poured her a glass of water. When she’d dutifully swallowed her pain pill, he said, “Good night. I’ll say a prayer to whoever’s listening that a night’s sleep improves your attitude. You really are an incredibly difficult patient.”
“Because of you! The only thing that could possibly improve my attitude is for you to—”
He’d leaned closer and touched her lips with a blunt fingertip. “Hush, before you say more mean things about the father of your son. You were in trouble long before I showed up. I
’m here to help. So, good night. And that’s final…unless you want me to tuck you in and kiss you good night.” He’d said that only because she’d looked so cute frowning at him, that he’d forgotten they were at war.
Caught by surprise by his last comment, she’d glanced at his mouth and blushed most becomingly, her lips parting slightly, as if in invitation, before she’d caught herself.
Heat washed through him.
“Would you get out?”
“My pleasure,” he’d whispered, smiling at her as he’d closed her door softly. “Sweet dreams.”
Her eyes, deep and dark in her flushed face, had shot sparks at him.
Ten minutes later, Luke was still thinking about her brilliant, intelligent eyes and how they made her thin face even lovelier than the elegant Teresa’s. Caitlyn’s eyes warmed him, made him feel young and eager again, as he had when he’d been in love with her. Indeed, the memory of her brilliant eyes was still distracting him as Daniel labored through the story about a wise owl and an idiot mouse in need of a lesson.
Then the phone rang. Daniel, no doubt anxious for any excuse to stop reading, asked, “Can I quit now?”
“Yes. That was very good.”
Not about to wait for Luke to change his mind, Daniel shot off the couch and ran down the hall to his room.
Damn, Luke thought, when the phone didn’t ring again. Caitlyn, who was supposed to be asleep, must have answered the call. He was wondering what the caller wanted, when he heard a crash in her bedroom.
Afraid she’d gotten up and fallen, Luke rushed down the hall and flung open her door.
Bathed in the golden glow of the bedside lamp, she wore nothing but a pair of skimpy red lace bikini panties. Leaning against one crutch, her arms were outstretched as she bent to put on a red bra. When the door banged open, she’d frozen, staring up at him with huge dark eyes.
Erotic longing surged through him in a warm tide. She blushed but made no move to cover herself. The moment went on and on. Why did she stand there in shock and let him devour the sight of her lush figure?
Hell, why didn’t he have the sense to look away? But he couldn’t. She was too beautiful. His heart pounded violently, and his avid gaze remained fixed on the voluptuous curves of her hips and the globes of her firm, high breasts. He couldn’t have looked away had his life depended on it.