The Cowboy's Baby_Mpreg Romance

by Giovanna Reaves

  “Cole, listen to me. You are not at fault. It is not your fault. Do you hear me?” Cole nodded. “I want you to understand this. Denny and I love you more than life itself. The day I found out Denny was pregnant with you, and after I fainted”—they both smiled at that—“I couldn’t wait to meet you. I promised myself that I would protect you from everything and anyone. You are the best son I could have asked for and the sweetest person I know. Don’t ever let anyone take that spirit away from you. Ryker is fucking lucky his ass is in New York right now. Because I swear to all the gods, I would kill him with my bare hands.”

  He nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Pop.” He dried his face with the sleeve of his shirt. “We won’t ever see Ryker again. I’m not worried anymore.”

  “Good, you need a man who will love you the way you’re supposed to.” Bill pulled him into a one-armed hug, rubbing his shoulder. “Your dad and I just want you happy, Cole. That’s all we could ask for.”

  “Believe it or not, I want the same thing. But right now, I want to focus on my baby.”

  “Then that’s what we will do.” Bill kissed him on the side of his head.

  “I need to find my own place. I can’t keep staying between yours and Marla’s place when the baby is born.”

  “Don’t worry about that for now. We can talk to Kane about building a new addition to our cabin.”

  “No, Pop.” Cole sat up. “I need to do this on my own.”

  “Who’s going to watch the baby when you go back to the bakery?”

  Cole was about to answer but then the nurse called his name. “We’ll worry about that later. Come on,” he said feeling a bit better. “Let’s go meet your grandchild.”

  A couple of days later Cole knocked on Kane’s front door, it was the first time he was going to walk through the Cartwright family home. Earlier that morning he’d gotten an email form Kane asking to meet with him to talk about the progress and changes in the bakery. After a few minutes, he knocked again, waiting for Kane to answer.

  Maybe I should leave a note or something.

  He’d heard from others that work on the ranch that the Cartwrights’ front door was usually unlocked during working hours. When there wasn’t an answer after his second knock, he tried the lock and was surprised that the door opened. He stepped inside and before he called out Kane’s name, he was instantly hit with a most masculine scent and a feeling of comfort curled inside of him.

  He closed the door and looked to the room closest to him. He didn’t know what to expect, but maybe leather furniture in every room. And large bull horns mounted on the walls hanging over the fireplace. But he was pleasantly surprised that it was tastefully decorated in soft beige, cream, and dark chocolate.

  Maybe his mother decorated the house for him.

  As he stepped closer into the room, he noticed the black-and-white photographs on the walls that accented the room. He sat on the couch and moaned, sinking deep into it. Kane’s scent assaulted him again and the same feeling of comfort engulfed him, pulling him deeper into the sofa. He closed his eyes and sighed in contentment, forgetting the reason he was there.

  Kane walked into his house and knew that something was off, but not in a threatening way. He closed the door and shook his head, it wasn’t a secret that he kept his front door unlocked since he used one of his extra bedrooms as his office and sometimes his guys stopped by for a chat.

  He walked further into his house and stopped when he saw dark brown hair sticking up over the edge of the sofa. It was then he remembered that he’d asked Cole to meet him. He walked over to the sofa with the start of an apology on his tongue but stopped when he noticed that the other man was sleeping.

  He stared down at the sleeping man and smiled at how adorable he looked. Kane’s brows creased together when the strangest feeling washed over him. Comfort and familiarity. The sweetest scent surrounded him, making his cock harder than it ever had been before. He shifted, hoping to relieve some of the pressure on his crotch.

  He wasn’t sure what was going on with him lately, especially whenever he was around Cole. His body reacted on its own, from wanting to touch the other man or kiss him. Closing his eyes, he cleared his thoughts. Once his erection subsided he opened his eyes, clearing his throat as he leaned over, gently touching Cole on his shoulders and waking him up. Cole blinked his eyes open a couple of times, and again Kane thought he looked adorable. He sat on the arm of the sofa watching the other man with a smile on his face.

  “Oh shit,” Cole said snapping his eyes open, sitting up quickly. “I’m sorry. I must have fallen asleep waiting for you. I knocked, but you didn’t answer, and I was . . .”

  “Hey, don’t worry about it,” Kane said stopping him. He rambles, it’s kind of adorable. “I usually leave the front door unlocked during the day for the guys to come in and see me if they need me. I guess I should have told you about that.”

  “Do you still want to have our meeting?”

  “Sure, if you’re up for it.”

  “Um . . . yeah, but first I need to use the restroom.”

  “What, you didn’t snoop around before falling asleep?” He meant it as a joke and mentally winced at how it might have sounded to Cole.

  “I didn’t have time to, your sofa called to me.” He smiled and Kane was glad he wasn’t offended. They smiled staring at each other only breaking the connection when Cole looked away before standing up. “Bathroom.”

  “Yeah, sorry, down the hall to the right.” He directed with a tilt of his head.

  Cole rushed out of the room, returning a few minutes later. He leaned on the doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest, raising his shirt just a bit and showing a bit of his stomach, reminding Kane that he was pregnant.

  “How are you doing with, you know the . . .”

  “Bakery?” Cole finished his question.

  “No, your pregnancy,” Kane clarified.

  Cole shrugged his shoulders and pulled off the doorframe and walked over to the couch before sitting back down. “I’m not sure how to answer that. It’s my first time being pregnant and everything I’m experiencing is new. My body is changing, I’m always hungry, and for the weirdest shit, one minute I have energy then the next I’m tired as hell, and let’s not talk about the fact I need to be close to a bathroom.” He smiled and gently touched his stomach. “But truthfully, I wouldn’t pass this experience up for anything in the world.”

  Kane nodded. “So, I take it it’s all good then?”

  “Yeah.”

  He looked at Kane with a bright smile on his face and something inside of him shifted and Kane realized he wanted to see more smiles like that from Cole.

  “The bakery is coming along great,” Cole said to him, changing the subject.

  “Are you going to let me see the changes you’ve made?”

  “Nope,” Cole said. “I want you to be surprised. It’s my way of saying thank you for trusting me with your new baby.”

  “Thank you for taking such good care of it, but I hope you’re not overworking yourself on my account.”

  “Are you worried about me?”

  “Yes.” Truthfully, Kane worried about everyone that worked for him, but he realized he took a particular interest in Cole.

  “You don’t need to worry, I promise I’m taking care of myself.” He smiled just as bright as he did earlier. “Plus, Marla and my dads make sure I eat and get a lot of sleep.”

  They stared at each other and Kane realized that this was the first conversation where they weren’t trying to insult each other. It also left the door open to his curiosity. His eyes strayed to Cole’s stomach and stayed there for a few minutes before moving back up to his face.

  “You want to know, don’t you?”

  He knew that the question must have been written all over his face. “I was trying not to ask, but . . .”

  “Your curiosity got the better of you?”

  “Yeah, you can say that,” Kane said with a smile.

  “I t
hink it’s fair for you to know something since you’re my boss.” He turned fully on the couch and looked at Kane. “Getting pregnant wasn’t in my plans specifically, not with Ryker. Our relationship certainly wasn’t the best to raise a child in and when I found out I was pregnant I used it as my opportunity to leave.”

  “How did he take it, when you decided to leave pregnant with his child?”

  “He doesn’t know, and I don’t plan on telling him.”

  It confirmed Kane’s suspicion that he was running away from something, now he knew it was someone.

  “Should I be worried that he’ll show up here to cause trouble?”

  “I doubt it, he has no idea where I am. I promised myself not to bring trouble to my parents’ doorstep.” He looked away sighing and ran his fingers through his hair. “Ryker and I should never have been together. Sometimes mistakes can’t be undone and all we can do is move on and not repeat them ever again.”

  “Is that what you are doing? Moving on?”

  Cole looked Kane into his eyes when he answered. “Yes.”

  What the holy fuck am I doing?

  “Good to know,” Kane said.

  Is that a good or bad thing? Not wanting to know the answer, Cole stood to his feet. “I should get going.”

  “Um . . . yeah,” Kane said also standing to his feet.

  They started walking to the door. “I’ll keep you up to date about what’s happening with the bakery. I know I’m flaking on a name but I promise I will . . .”

  “Hey,” Kane said making him stop his babbling. He turned and for some reason, the other man seemed much closer to him than he was expecting.

  Kane placed a hand on the back of his neck as his thumb lazily stroked his cheeks. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you got here.”

  “Huh?”

  Kane’s lips and touch were very distracting, along with his deep velvet voice that made him want to curl up next to him and hear him whisper in his ear as he fell asleep.

  “I said . . .”

  Lips pressed against his and he moaned at the instant contact. He circled his arms around the other man’s neck, pulling him closer. The kiss was just as good as the first time. The feel of Kane’s soft but firm lips devouring his, as if he owned him thoroughly. A low groan from Kane reminded him that they shouldn’t be doing this. Reluctantly, he slowly pulled away, sighing as he released the taller man and stepped away, putting some space between them. He looked up at Kane with an apology on his tongue but a soft touch on his lips stopped him before he could say anything.

  “Don’t say you’re sorry for something we both wanted.”

  “Okay.”

  Kane stepped back and leaned against the doorframe, putting his hands in his pockets. “Get home safe.”

  Cole nodded and was appreciative they weren’t going to discuss the kiss. He turned and walked out of the door, closing it softly behind him. He leaned against it, touching his lips that still tingled from the other man’s touch. Something was happening between them and Cole wasn’t sure he wanted to fight it.

  Chapter Seven

  Kane was in his office going over paperwork, the bane of his existence. If he could hire someone to do it for him, he would. Sighing, he threw his pen down.

  Other than not wanting to do the paperwork, he wasn’t able to concentrate. It’d been a little over two weeks since the day he and Cole kissed in the foyer and he hadn’t been able to get the other man out of his head. He needed time to think of the best way to approach the situation and was starting to realize that there was something special about Cole. They’d kept things to discussing business and to emails but that was as much as they’d talked in weeks.

  He was hiding, and he knew it. Cole had finally moved in with Marla, but he wouldn’t be able to stay there for long. He smiled, Cole was starting to show and had the cutest baby bump he’d ever seen. He wondered if the other man knew what the gender of the baby was and he could see a little girl with Cole’s eyes and sweet smile running around calling him Papa.

  The last part of his thoughts shocked him. “Do I want a family?”

  “How long is it going to take you to figure that out?”

  Kane looked up when he heard the voice and was surprised to see his mom standing at the door looking at him.

  “I rang the doorbell.”

  He got up and walked over to her, kissing her on her upturned cheek. “Hey, Mama, what are you doing here?”

  “Your father wanted to go for a ride. Winston is with him,” she answered him before he could ask the question. “We have some time. Tell me about the family you want and who you want it with.”

  Kane guided her to one of the chairs in front of his desk, holding it out for her and waited for her to sit. “I’m interested in someone, Mama, but he comes with his own baggage. And I don’t know what I should do next. I feel things when I’m with him.”

  “You sound as if the world is perfect, we all come with our own baggage, son," she commented with a smile. “Tell me who it is.”

  “It’s Cole Bradford.”

  “Denny and Bill’s son?”

  “Yeah,” Kane answered. “I want him, Mama, more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.”

  “Then what’s holding you back?”

  “I’m not sure he’s ready for what I have to offer.”

  “What do you have to offer?”

  Kane didn’t answer but everything was on the tip of his tongue.

  His mom snorted and shook her head. “Fine, if you can’t answer that question then tell me, how do you know? Have you talked to him? Or tried to get to know him?”

  Kane went to respond but stopped and shook his head.

  “Then how do you know what he wants?” Julia sighed. “You’re so used to men throwing themselves at you, it never occurred to you that you might finally have to work for someone you want.”

  “Men don’t throw themselves at me, Mama.”

  “Son, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” She chuckled. “I’ve seen guests walk into walls staring at you. I should know, I’ve had a few men tripping over themselves in my day. You get your good looks from your mama.”

  They chuckled and Kane loved that he could talk to his mom about anything. “He’s pregnant.”

  “I know,” she answered. “Is that what’s stopping you from wanting to approach him?”

  “No.” Kane knew that was the truth. In all honesty, he was trying to sort out his own feelings. “I needed to be sure of what I want. I didn’t want to approach him and it turn out wrong.”

  “I understand,” she told him. “Being a single parent has to be hard on Cole. Imagine what he’s going through. He must be scared as hell wondering if he’s going to be able to handle everything that comes with being a parent. I know that Denny and Bill won’t let him do it alone. But still, he’s the one that will be responsible for that child.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure what happened to the child’s other father for him to be doing this alone, but I suspect things didn’t go as he planned.”

  “Bad breakup,” Kane told her.

  “We’ve all had those,” she added.

  “Except me.”

  “That’s because you’re afraid to get your heart broken.” He went to defend himself. “No, hijo, you run from love.”

  “I haven’t been looking, Mama.”

  “Until now.”

  “Yeah, until now.” He leaned forward looking at his mother. “What do I do, Mama?”

  “There are things you need to figure out first, Kane.”

  “Like what?”

  “If you’re ready to be a partner, lover, or husband, especially with Cole. Will you be able to be by his side and love him as much as his child? I’m sure it would take a lot of his fear away. But you will need to put your own fears aside and be the partner he needs, Kane.” She leaned forward and took one of his hands in hers. “Are you willing to be a father to a child that is not yours by blood? Because if you are ready for that kind of responsibil
ity, I will support you every step of the way. And so will your father.”

  His mama stood and kissed him on his forehead before leaving him to think.

  Cole was closing the shop when he looked up and saw someone on a horse heading toward him. Whoever it was looked very in charge of the four-legged beast they were on. The rider wore a blue shirt, dark jeans, and a white Stetson. He stood by the door intrigued to see who it was and he was pleasantly surprised when as the rider got closer to him he realized it was Kane.

  Fuck, the man is sexy.

  Kane stopped in front of Cole and looked down at him. “Hey.”

  “Hey yourself,” Cole said.

  “Nice night for a ride,” Kane said to him.

  Cole looked up at the sky and had to agree. It was a nice night for a walk or a ride. The sun was setting and the sky looked clear.

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “So, do you want to go for a ride with me?”

  Cole was shocked that Kane was talking to him. They’d avoided each other over the past couple weeks and now he was asking him to go for a ride. I should turn him down. But I really don’t want to, he’s just too damn sexy for words.

  “I’ve never been on a horse before.”

  Kane got off his horse and stood in front of him. “I’ll teach you.”

  Cole stared up at him and felt weak in his knees. There was a reason why he was avoiding the man. He wanted to be in Kane’s arms more than he ever imagined he should be. He was drawn to Kane, not for his handsome appearance, but there was something about the man that calmed and angered him at the same time.

  “Okay,” he whispered.

  Kane placed a hand on the small of his back and guided him over to the horse. “All right, hold on to the reins with your left hand, and the saddle with your right.” Cole went to do what Kane said but stopped when the horse moved. “Don’t be nervous, she will react to you,” he whispered in Cole’s ear. He nodded then grabbed the reins with his left hand and then the saddle with the other like Kane instructed. He looked back at the man for what to do next. “Put your left foot in the stirrup. I’m going to help you up, so swing your right leg over, okay.”