An Inescapable Attraction

by Sydney Jane Baily

  He jiggled his legs impatiently so she bounced up and down.

  "No, that's not it," he said, sounding peeved. "That's not what I'm asking. Ellie, will you marry me?"

  * * *

  If he'd expected a different reaction than the first time he asked her, he was sorely disappointed.

  "I don't think I told you this," she dipped her head, hiding her face from him, "but ever since I started noticing boys, even when I got engaged to Riley, it was always you, Thaddeus."

  Her voice was subdued and a little sad, and her melancholy sent panic racing through him; Ellie didn't sound as though she intended to joyfully accept his proposal.

  "But now, it's not me?" he suggested, scarcely able to breathe. Had she actually been sweet on him all her life, only to stop now?

  "There's a little one to consider," she whispered. "And I can't spend my life selfishly pining for a man who doesn't want to commit to the kind of stable life that a child needs."

  His heart twisted at the idea that she'd spent one single moment pining after him. Him! She deserved the world. She deserved much better than he could offer her, except he was dead certain his love would be stronger than any other man's ever could be.

  "Ellie, how about taking a chance on a man who loves you with everything he is?"

  She teared up, her eyes filled to the brim.

  Before she could speak, he grabbed one of her hands, holding it up to his lips without thinking what he was doing and caressing her knuckles with his open mouth back and forth, breathing in the scent of her skin. If he let her go, would she vanish like all his dreams?

  "You're the one person in this whole wide world who makes me not want to be a screw-up. You know me, and you know who I'm not—a perfect man with a clear idea of what I'm supposed to be doing. I've never known that. The only thing I've ever known is that you're the girl for me."

  He ran his free hand through his carefully combed hair, feeling himself making a mess of it and sighed.

  "I don't know why I believed I could run wild, drinking and such, and still somehow deserve you." He shook his head in disbelief at the stupidity of his younger self.

  "When you chose Riley," he paused, still having trouble saying those words without wanting to lash out in anger, "it was like the one truth I'd counted on—that you were going to be mine—turned out to be a lie. Like the sky was really green instead of blue. But I never stopped loving you, even when I thought it didn't matter anymore."

  She was gazing at him with those big blue eyes, blinking to keep her tears from spilling over, and he could see she wanted to believe in him.

  "Damnit, Ellie. I want to be your husband, the best one ever. I'll be steady as this rock." He slapped it with his open palm. "And I'll do whatever I have to do to be a good father to our child. I won't mess this up, I promise. There isn't anything else for me. There is nothing out there," he spread his hand over the horizon "that I want more than what I've got right here on my lap. Gamble one more time on me, darlin'. Please."

  Thaddeus gathered her close and wrapped his arms more firmly around her.

  "I love you, woman. Always have. Always will. Will you be my wife, Eliza Prentice?" He almost didn't expect to hear an answer.

  "I will," she said without hesitation. "Yes, I will."

  She would? She would! God Almighty! Then he remembered how he was supposed to be doing this proposal. Shit! The ring!

  "Wait, wait." He sat up straight and reached for his balled-up duster, nearly tipping her off his lap. "Goddamn," he swore, trying to find the right pocket, fumbling around until he pulled out a box, prettily tied in silver ribbon.

  "Ok, let me start over." He took a deep breath and sent her what he hoped was a winning smile.

  She smiled back, while wiping tears off her cheeks at the same time.

  "One of us has got to buy some handkerchiefs," she said.

  "Forget that." He used the edge of her dress to wipe her face. "Now, here," he said, "take this and open it."

  With visibly trembling fingers, she tugged at the ribbon and lifted the box cover.

  "Oh!" she exclaimed.

  Did she like it? Was that a good "oh"? He couldn't tell. Uncertainty tore through him. He wanted to grab the box from her and hurl it down the slope.

  "Ellie?"

  "It's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen."

  Thank God. "As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the one. Well, I hoped anyway. I went to ten stores before I found it."

  She lifted out the gold ring with twin settings of circular-cut diamonds and held it up to catch the sun's rays. Branching off from the two prominent stones were silver swirls embedded with single-cut diamond accents. In between the larger stones, a smaller single diamond sat suspended.

  "See, that's you," he said, pointing to one of the larger diamonds, "and I'm the other one. And the little stone between us is right here." He placed his hand on her stomach. How he wanted to strip her down and run his fingers over all of her, but that would probably ruin the romantic moment, which seemed to be taking a turn for the better. Then something amazing happened.

  "I felt it," he said, keeping his voice low so as not to startle the baby. "He moved."

  "He or she does that quite often now," Ellie told him, her face beaming. "And you don't have to whisper."

  Thaddeus stayed that way for a few more moments, shaking his head in wonder at what was going on under his fingertips. Christ! She was making a baby! It hit him like a ton of boulders.

  "Thank you." What else could he say?

  She held out the ring. "Thank you, Thaddeus." She wiggled her bare fingers.

  Grinning, he took the ring from her and slipped it on her finger. Then he took her face in his hands.

  "Can I kiss you?"

  "You never have to ask," she said.

  "I'll hold you to that," and he lowered his head. After a long kiss, he leaned back against the rock and briefly closed his eyes.

  "Man, this is uncomfortable, but I don't care if we ever leave this spot. This is perfect."

  "I think your legs are probably going numb right about now," she teased. "I have put on a little weight."

  He slanted a look at her. "Just a little, but in some mighty pleasing places."

  She giggled.

  "Honestly, though, get up, Ellie," he begged. "I need to stand."

  On his feet, he began hopping around. "It feels like pins are being shoved in my legs. But that's all right."

  He faced away from her, cupped his hands to his mouth, and shouted across the valley, "Eliza Prentice has agreed to marry me! Yeehaw!"

  She laughed so hard, she nearly choked.

  "Let's head home," he said. Home!

  "Ellie, you know I've been working like a dog to fix up my house." He grinned. "Well, Dan and Ely have, anyway. Will you move in with me right away?"

  She paused with one foot on Lucky's stirrup and his hands under her rear end.

  "No, Thaddeus. I won't."

  He felt his smile die. "You won't move into my house before the wedding?"

  "No, I mean I won't ever move into your house."

  He frowned, still holding her buttocks in his hands. "But you will marry me, right?"

  "Yes."

  "OK, just making sure I got that right."

  She laughed again and let him help her onto Lucky, which certainly wasn't as easy anymore. He got up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and took the reins from her. Perfect!

  "When we get married, I want to live in my house. I love my house," she reminded him. "I don't mind where we travel in this world, but I'd like to always come back to my own bed in my own house." She paused, then she asked, "Is that all right with you?"

  He grinned against the back of her head, breathing deeply to take in the familiar floral scent of her hair.

  "Sounds like it has to be," he pretended to grumble.

  She reached behind her to poke him in the ribs, and he laughed.

  "Honestly, Ellie. I don't care wh
ere we live. It's all the same to me, as long as I have you. You understand that?"

  He felt her nod. They traveled on a few minutes in silence, with Ellie holding up her hand to admire the ring as Lucky picked her way over the rocky soil to the grassy flatland below.

  Then out of the blue, she said, "I love you, Thaddeus Sanborn." Her words stopped his breath and sent shivers up his spine.

  What a gift to have her say it to him again, and this time he knew it was true. She loved him! What a miracle! He kissed the shell of her ear and found it to be as delectable as the rest of her.

  "Darlin', do I have to wait until we're married to make love to you again?"

  She laughed and pressed her warm self against him, igniting a fire of anticipation. He was nearly desperate to see her pregnant body unclothed. He cupped her breast with one hand. Yes, definitely plumper.

  He heard her breath hitch and felt her body grow taut at his bold touch.

  "No, you don't," she said, her voice husky. "But you do have to wait until we're off this horse."

  "Agreed," he said, pushing her hair aside and nuzzling her neck.

  She sighed. "I'm right where I'm supposed to be this time. Right fiancé. And soon, the right husband."

  He growled a purely animal sound of possession and felt her body tremble in response.

  Epilogue

  "Hurry up, Ellie. We're gonna be late," Thaddeus called up the stairs.

  "Your wife's coming," Mrs. Longwood said, appearing at the top of the stairs, clutching Ellie's wrap. "So is that baby. Won't be long now."

  He blanched, excited but half-terrified at the same time.

  Mrs. Longwood laughed at his expression, as she descended and handed him the soft blue shawl. "Don't worry, son. I don't think it'll happen tonight over dinner."

  "Good God, I hope not," he muttered, then looked up at the sound of Ellie's footsteps. He whistled when he saw her. She was growing lovelier by the day, if that were possible, and his heart filled up like a hot-air balloon.

  He took her hand when she reached the bottom step and held her still so he could simply admire her.

  "You are beyond gorgeous, Mrs. Sanborn." He had yet to tire of calling her that, reminding her that she was entirely his own.

  Her cheeks blushed pink. "How's that possible? I'm round as a sow in springtime." But she smoothed her blue dress over her bursting stomach and flashed him a smile.

  "Ellie, have you looked in the mirror?"

  Her skin glowed with a peaches and cream radiance, her eyes sparkled like moonlit water, and her hair seemed even thicker and shinier. What was that baby doing to her?

  "It's not merely that dress, darlin', though the color suits you to perfection. It's all of you." He gazed at her, and she gazed back. He sighed and smiled; she did the same. Perfect!

  "Would the two of you get a move on?" Mrs. Longwood urged. "If you stand here any longer, there'll be a third Sanborn in the room. Besides, my own supper is getting cold."

  "Yes, ma'am," Thaddeus said, draping Ellie's wrap around her shoulders and giving her his arm to hold. "Let's take the wagon."

  "But we're only going to Dan and Belinda's," she protested.

  "You're too far along to walk, even that distance," he said. "Dr. Bell told us so. End of discussion."

  After getting Ellie seated comfortably in the wagon, Thaddeus directed Lucky at an easy pace toward his old house. When helping him, Dan and Belinda had fixed it up exactly as they wanted it, so selling the Sanborn homestead to them had been an obvious and easy choice.

  Far more spacious than their rooms above the feedstore, Dan told Thaddeus he would now get to "baby-making" in earnest. After all, Belinda wanted five children.

  Thaddeus would be eternally grateful when his wife was safely delivered of one child, and it lay squalling loudly in its crib. They'd been discussing baby names since before the wedding two months earlier, neither telling the other what gender they were hoping for.

  "You have something big you said you wanted to discuss with Dan tonight," Ellie said, leaning in close, putting her head against his shoulder. "Is it a secret?"

  He smiled into the twilight. "I think I've decided what I'm going to do next. I can't have my son or daughter thinking I'm a shiftless slacker—"

  "A wealthy, copper-mine owning shiftless slacker," she amended.

  "True, but when the other kids ask my child, 'what's your pa do?' they got to have an answer."

  "What are you thinking, then?" she asked, absently stroking his arm while she spoke.

  "I can't think anything at all, darlin', when you do that."

  "Sorry," she said, giggling delightfully. He loved the way the tears that marked her early pregnancy had been replaced by her constant merriment.

  "We'll pick that up again later," he promised and dropped a kiss on her lips. "Where was I?... Oh, right, I've been reading about beer."

  "Beer?" He felt her stiffen beside him. "Oh, Thaddeus, you're not going to open a saloon, are you?"

  He nearly said yes, just to tease her, but he didn't like to agitate her in her advanced condition.

  "No, I wouldn't do that and risk angering Ada. You know how much I like her chicken."

  "What then?"

  "I'm gonna ask Dan if he wants to open a brewery with me. He's got the grain, or could get the right stuff for cheap, and we've got the best spring water in Colorado. It's perfect."

  She was quiet.

  "What do you think?" He wanted her to like the idea. Hell, he needed her to like it.

  "I think you'll make an excellent brewer," she offered.

  He exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding as she reached up and touched his face. "I believe in you, Thaddeus Sanborn. Whatever you put your mind to, you'll succeed at."

  How he loved this woman! They'd arrived at Dan's new home, letting Lucky pull the wagon around back. Instead of jumping down off the seat, however, Thaddeus gathered her to him and kissed her thoroughly, lingering at the corner of her lips, nibbling her gently.

  "Let's turn right around and go home to bed," he murmured against her ripe mouth before sucking on her lower lip. They'd been quite successful at finding conjugal positions that were both comfortable and immensely satisfying. He was game to try another.

  She didn't answer at first, content to let him kiss her, but as his hands roamed across her body, she pulled back with a reluctant sigh.

  "You have business to discuss with Dan."

  "Who?"

  She giggled again, and he couldn't resist hearing that sound—he slipped his hand under her and pinched her bottom; she shrieked with delight and started to laugh in earnest.

  The back door swung open.

  "You two all right out there?" came Dan's booming voice.

  Thaddeus sighed. "Now you've done it, Ellie. We'll have to go in."

  He scrambled down from the wagon, grabbed a step-stool from the back, and placed it on the ground next to the seat. Then lifting his hands, he took both of hers in his to steady her as she climbed down.

  "Maybe we can even take a tour of Europe and sample some foreign beers," she mused, her thoughts apparently returning to his business idea.

  "You're going to let me go into bars? In Europe?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  "Oh, Thaddeus, when you enter with your wife beside you and a child in your arms, I don't think I'm going to have to worry about those saloon girls."

  "Darlin'," he looked into her eyes, brushing a finger across her sweet and pouty lips, "you never did have to worry."

  Presenting him with her signature Eliza smile—smug and satisfied—she grabbed his hand in hers, and without another word, they strode into the house.

  * * *

  Some eighteen hours later, after a long night and another half a day of labor, Trey Prentice Sanborn came into the world, a healthy bundle of willpower and strong lungs.

  As Thaddeus took the wrapped bundle from a smiling Dr. Bell and placed his son into the crook of Ellie's waiting a
rms, he reckoned himself the luckiest man on earth. And for once, it had nothing to do with cards.

  The End

  Want more from Sydney Jane Baily?

  Page forward for Author Acknowledgements

  followed by an excerpt from

  AN INCONCEIVABLE DECEPTION

  The Defiant Hearts Series

  Book Four

  Acknowledgments

  I offer heartfelt gratitude to my diligent beta readers: Renee Sevelitte, Tammy Thompson, and Kathy Davie.

  Special thanks to award-winning romance novelist Marliss Melton for taking the time to read this book during the manuscript stage and to talk me through the sections where I was just plain stuck.

  Thanks to my cheering section. You know who you are. And my love to a couple of extremely faithful friends, Perry and Chloe, and as always, much love to my husband and children.

  Page forward for an excerpt from

  AN INCONCEIVABLE DECEPTION

  The Defiant Hearts Series

  Book Four

  Excerpt from

  An Inconceivable Deception

  The Defiant Hearts Series

  Book Four

  by

  Sydney Jane Baily

  Rose hurried along the brick lane behind her house on Mount Vernon Street, until she came to the corner. Having already slipped quietly down the rear staircase and out the back door of her family's home, she was determined not to alert her mother to her youngest daughter's latest escapade. With the nearly empty Common at her back, Rose ran along Joy Street where it bisected Beacon Hill, knowing it was foolish to be out so late, unaccompanied in the heart of Boston. More than foolish, it was downright dangerous.

  Her brother would wring her neck if he ever found out. Her mother would faint on the spot. Her sisters would shake their lovely heads in dismay.

  Rose continued moving quickly until she reached her best friend's house on Myrtle Street and the carriage that was awaiting her. Bless Claire for helping. She was always there when Rose was in a prickly situation. And this was ever so important. Rose simply had to see Sam before he left once again. He would be out at sea for nearly a month this time.