by Becky McGraw
When they were finished unloading, Tommy walked over to her and held out his hand. “Let’s go upstairs, so I can help you unpack,” he said then looked around before he waggled his eyebrows at her and gave her a sexy grin.
His dirty little secret, her subconscious screamed, but she stuffed a sock in its mouth, and took his hand to follow him upstairs.
It took them a couple of weeks, but they’d finally fallen into a routine at the ranch, and it felt good. When Dixie got home from school, they had a snack together at the breakfast bar and talked. Dixie told her how her day had gone, and Katie listened intently, then looked at her above average marks on her papers and praised her profusely. When they finished doing that, they would either go give Dixie a riding or roping lesson, or take Snuggles out and teach him a trick. When they came back in, Katie would help her with her homework, make sure they all had supper, then Dixie would get a bath and go to bed.
Katie’s new purpose was to keep Dixie to that routine, which would help Tommy, who had been working his ass off to finish harvesting the hay for the season, and get his breeding program finished. When he dragged himself into the house in the evening at dark, he was usually bone tired and a sweaty mess, but he always stopped to give her a hug and a toe-curling kiss, before he went upstairs to get cleaned up.
He had put her stuff back in the room she occupied previously, but at night she’d sneak down to his room, and they’d make love, and sleep together, then she’d get up early in the morning, when he got up to leave to go to the barn, and go back to her room.
His dirty little secret, her subconscious yelled again, but this time she put duct tape over it, hoping the thought would keep quiet a little longer this time.
She didn’t care, because she wanted to be with him, regardless of the status of their public relationship. He was happy, she was ecstatic and they were in a good place, so that’s all that mattered.
When he came in on Friday night, he kissed her as usual, but his eyes were guarded and his body was tense, so she asked him, “What’s wrong?”
“I want you in my bed with me full-time, not sneaking around. We’re going to tell Dixie tonight, you ready?” he asked her seriously.
Katie studied him intently for a minute, trying to figure out whether he was ready to do that, or if he was just doing it for her. He leaned down and kissed her then said, “Stop over thinking things, Katie…let’s do this,” he said and brushed hair from her eyes, then finished, “I want to do it.”
“Okay then, tonight after supper,” she agreed and put her arms around him and hugged him. She stuck her tongue out at her subconscious and then smiled up at Tommy, and said in a shaky voice full of emotion, “I love you…” she told him.
His breath hitched, then he whooped and lifted her up in his arms and twirled her around then claimed her mouth in a soul-stirring kiss that seemed to go on forever. When he finally dragged his mouth from hers, he held her gaze intently, and swallowed then told her, “I love you too, Katie,” then he hugged her again. Over his shoulder to the right, Katie noticed Cookie standing there with a platter of raw steaks in her hand, frozen to the spot with a stunned expression on her face.
Dixie came bursting through the front door with excitement making her blue eyes shine. She skipped over to them and tugged on Tommy’s arm then told him exuberantly, “I made a friend at school, daddy! Susie Hutchins wants me to come spend the night at her house tonight, her mama said it was okay! She’s going to order us pizza for supper and we get to watch movies!” When she saw he wasn’t as excited as she was, she stopped and asked solemnly, “I can go, can’t I, daddy? Please?”
Tommy glanced at Katie and flinched, then he looked back at Dixie and said, “Yeah, honey, of course you can go. Let me got get cleaned up real quick though, and Katie and I need to talk to you for a minute, before I take you over there. Write down her number, so I can call her mother and get directions.”
Dixie jumped up and down clapping, then hugged his waist tightly and said, “Thank you…you’re the bestest daddy in the world!” then she looked up and grinned at him adorably.
Katie smiled at them, pleased as punch that Dixie had made a friend. The lonely little needed some friends, it would help her fit in at school better. Kids needed to socialize with others their own age. They didn’t need to be isolated out on a remote ranch, with only grown ups and rough cowboys to talk to them. Katie had been encouraging Dixie to try and make some friends at school, and evidently it had worked out for her.
Tommy went upstairs, and she and Dixie sat down on the sofa in the living room and had a glass of tea, while Dixie told her all about her exciting day. When he came back down the stairs, he had on clean jeans and a black t-shirt, and his dark hair was still wet and curling at his collar. She swallowed thickly as desire shot through her, making her want to haul him back up those stairs and make love to him.
“Okay, daddy tell me what you need to tell me so I can go to Susie’s…” she said and patted the spot beside her on the sofa. Katie laughed and grinned up at him, as he sat where Dixie indicated.
Indecision and fear clouded his beautiful hazel eyes when his eyes latched on Katie’s, and hesitated. Katie felt the urge to rescue him, and told Dixie, “Have you ever thought about having a brother or sister, Dixie?”
The little girl snorted adorably, then said in a grown up way, “Yeah, but that would be kind of hard, since I don’t have a mama, right?”
Katie’s eyebrows shot up and she glanced over at Tommy who looked equally stunned. “Yeah, I reckon it would, but you see your daddy and I love each other, sweetie, and I’m not your mama, but I love you too. Your daddy and I are going to give you two baby brothers or two baby sisters in about eight months. You’re going to be a big sister, you think you’d like that?”
Dixie stilled on the couch and looked up at Katie in awe, her little mouth in an O, before she said in a shocked whisper, “Two?”
“Yeah, we’re having twins, like me and Miss Karlie are…” she told her patiently.
Katie put her hands over her ears when Dixie let out the most ear-splitting squeal that she’d ever heard, before she launched herself against Katie and hugged her fiercely, then turned to her daddy and gave him a big hug too.
“I’m going to be a big sister,” she said in awe and shook her blond curls, then Dixie got up from the sofa and danced around the living room, yelling at the top of her lungs, while hugging herself, “I’m going to be a big sister!”
Tommy started laughing, and Katie scooted over beside him and put her hand on his thigh and chuckled too, as Dixie ran to the breakfast bar and yelled, “Cookie, I’m gonna be a big sister!” Instead of turning around with a smile, the woman turned around to face her and frowned darkly, then stomped off.
Katie frowned and looked up at Tommy, and asked, “What’s up with Cookie?”
“What do you mean?” he asked and smiled indulgently down at her.
“Well, either she doesn’t like me, or doesn’t approve of us, because every time you kiss me or touch me, her face looks like a thundercloud…and just now when Dixie told her, her expression was even darker.”
Tommy’s eyebrows drew together and his eyes glittered angrily, “I’ll talk to her,” he promised then gave her a squeeze.
“Why would she feel like that?” Katie asked him curiously.
He hesitated a moment, then his face flushed as he told her, “She came to the Rockin’ D with Maggie…she’d been the cook at their house, and just followed her here when we got married…so maybe seeing me with someone else is uncomfortable for her.”
“Oh,” Katie said and an edge of uneasiness wafted through her. She had to see this woman on a daily basis, and if this is how their relationship was going to be, she didn’t know how she was going to handle the situation. Maybe she should bury the hatchet with her, or reassure her she wasn’t trying to take Maggie’s place in Dixie and Tommy’s life, just start a new chapter with them.
“If she makes you u
ncomfortable, sugar…I’ll replace her. If she can’t accept us, or you, she’s gone anyway,” he said seriously.
Katie felt the blood drain from her face and she put a hand on his chest and said, “Don’t you dare get rid of her, because of me…I don’t want to cause any trouble, Tommy. She’s been here a long time…a helluva lot longer than I have. I’ll work it out.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Dixie had called Saturday morning and told them she wouldn’t be home until later that afternoon, so Tommy had packed a picnic basket for them, and was taking her to the creek. Katie was excited to be able to get out of the house for a change, and also touched that he wanted to spend some alone time with her. It was as close to a date as they had ever had.
When the first two pair of shorts she tried on wouldn’t close around her waist, she heaved a frustrated breath, then walked to the closet and pulled out a bright yellow sundress that was ruched at the bodice and loose and swingy below, then put on a pair of gold sandals to go with it, instead of her cowboy boots, then twisted her hair up into a loose pile on top of her head securing it with a few clips.
After powdering her nose and cheeks to cover her freckles, she slathered on some cherry lip gloss and smacked her lips together to spread it, then put on a coat of mascara and smiled at her reflection. It must be true that pregnant women glowed, because her eyes were shiny and her complexion did have an iridescence to it. With a light step, she went downstairs and found Tommy at the breakfast bar loading more food into the wicker hamper opened on the counter.
His eyes raised when he heard her, his mouth fell open, and his face flushed. She smiled, and he swallowed then walked around the bar and pulled her into his arms then his mouth descended and he devoured her lips. Before he let her go, sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, and murmured, “Mmm…you taste like cherries.”
“Not anymore, you kissed off all my lip gloss,” she told him running her tongue over her now bare lips.
His heated gaze followed the action and he stepped back, then told her gruffly, “If you want to go on this damned picnic, you better stop doing that.”
She gave him a sizzling look then told him, “Be sure to pack a blanket, sugar…”
Katie sighed in contentment, as she laid with her head in Tommy’s lap under the huge oak tree down by the creek. It was cooler today than it had been recently, and a gentle breeze ruffled the leaves in the trees, serenading her along with the slow moving water, into an extremely relaxed state.
Tommy was leaning back on one arm and caressing her hair with the other. He looked down into her eyes with a smile, and asked, “You happy, baby?”
“I’m so chilled out, I’m almost comatose,” she told him with a lazy chuckle, and leaned her head to the side to kiss his thigh. His muscle stiffened beneath her cheek and his hand stilled in her hair, and Katie laughed. He’d come to like her special kind of loving…and she enjoyed pleasing him that way.
“Keep that up, and you’re not going to be chilled out for long, cause things are definitely gonna heat up quick,” he told her gruffly, then resumed stroking her hair.
Katie sat up, then stood, and pulled her dress over her head, before she kicked off her sandals. Tommy’s eyebrows hit his hairline as she stood naked before him. His mouth opened and shut, but he didn’t say anything. Giving him a hot look, she turned her back to him then walked to the creek and waded in, then turned around and crooked her finger at him. “C’mon sugar, I bet you haven’t ever skinny-dipped either,” she said with a laugh then sunk below the water and pushed off toward the middle.
“Katie Upton, you are determined to corrupt me aren’t you, darlin’?” he growled, but stood up and shrugged his shirt over his head, then pulled off his boots, before he loosened his belt and jeans and shucked them off. Like a sexy sculptured Adonis, he held her gaze as he stalked into the water then shoved off and launched himself to the middle where she was treading water.
She squealed when he grabbed her legs and dunked her, then she put her hands on his head and kicked his legs from under him to return the favor. They wrestled and played in the cool water, until he grabbed her and pulled her to him, and her body slid down his wet skin. Tommy groaned, then captured her mouth in a tantalizing kiss that she was sure would have steam coming off the water soon. Wrapping her legs around his hips, Katie slid down so his erection was pressed against her fully. She gyrated her hips against him slowly, and he shivered then sucked in a shuddering breath and closed his eyes.
“You ever made love in a creek, baby?” she purred in a low breathy voice as the friction she was creating stole her breath and heated her core.
Tommy moaned and then pushed her hips down on him and entered her with one long stroke. She gasped then met his eyes, as he filled her, stretched her, completed her. Katie would never get enough of loving this wonderful, thoughtful, sexy man. Leaning forward, she nipped his lips and teased him into another hot kiss, then he grabbed her hips and moved her over him, entering her time and again. The elastic band of pleasure inside of her wound tighter and tighter then finally snapped, catapulting her into a mind-blowing release. Her inner muscles contracted around him with her release, and he hissed her name and plunged one final time, then joined her in nirvana.
They clung to each other trying to regain their equilibrium, and Katie felt his heart beating rapidly against her breasts, hers was just as erratic. She kissed his stubbled cheek, then the corner of his mouth, and finally his lips, as she whispered, “I love you…”
He put his forehead against hers and said in a choked voice, “I love you too, sugar…so damned much.”
After a few minutes, they waded out of the creek and took turns drying off with the blanket, then dressed and loaded up the golf cart, before heading back toward the house. Katie felt light and giddy inside with her happiness, and if the wide grin on Tommy’s face was any indication, he felt the same way. When they pulled up behind the house, he plugged up the cart, then grabbed their stuff, and held out his hand to her.
Together, they walked around the house, hand in hand and he stopped short when he saw a fancy black Cadillac parked in front. Katie looked up at him and his face had gone white, and his jaw was clenched. He started walking again without explaining, then stopped at the bottom of the steps, when he saw two older people and a younger man sitting in the rocking chairs on the front porch.
“Edith, what are ya’ll doing here?” he grated and his hand tightened on hers.
“Why we’ve come to see our granddaughter of course,” she told Tommy haughtily and looked down her nose at him. “Where is Deanna?”
“You haven’t been around here in ten years to see her, why now?” he asked angrily. Katie could feel the tension pouring off of him in waves. From what the woman said, Katie figured out these people were Maggie’s parents, and probably her brother.
“Well, some concerning developments have come to our attention, and we feel we needed to come and check on the welfare of our granddaughter,” she said abrasively then looked Katie up and down with a curl of her lip.
Tommy huffed out a frustrated breath, then raised an eyebrow and asked, “Oh yeah, what developments would those be?”
“Your association with that woman,” she tilted her chin at Katie and smirked, then flicked a non-existent piece of lint from her obviously expensive suit, before she added, “And the fact that you’ve gotten her pregnant and are living in sin with her, setting a poor example for our grandchild. Maggie would be appalled, as are we…”
Katie felt Tommy’s arm tense and his hand gripped hers tighter, crushing the bones, almost making her want to pull it from his grasp. Katie heard a car pull up behind them, and looked over her shoulder to see an excited Dixie get down from an SUV with her bag, before she shut the door and waved wildly at her friend as they pulled off. Dixie turned and ran toward them, and Katie groaned. She wished Dixie would have stayed away a little longer, so she didn’t have to witness the horrific scene that was unfolding here.
/> Tommy clenched his jaw and grated through his teeth, “Maggie isn’t here, and she would hardly begrudge me happiness in my life, or my daughter’s life…she wasn’t that kind of person, and if you think she was, you didn’t know her very well.”