A Cowboy Billionaire Secret Baby (Brookside Ranch Brothers Book 4)

by Hanna Hart

The two had met back when she was still dating Bennett and Lincoln had been head over heels for her, so when they decided to start seeing each other, Lincoln told her she could tell people the baby was his.

  June agreed to the lie because it made sense at the time.

  She and Lincoln worked as a couple. There was no drama, and even though it was early, she could already see herself with him for the long haul. He wanted a family, he loved her, and he promised he would treat the child as if she were his flesh and blood.

  And he did. There was never a time that he acted hostile or jealous about who her father was because it didn’t matter. Lincoln was Ember’s dad, the one who raised her and the one she loved.

  Ember still believed that Lincoln was her biological father, and June had no intention of correcting her.

  In retrospect, June believed that Lincoln cared more for her at the beginning of the relationship than she did for him. He was just the rebound that wouldn’t end.

  That wasn’t to say she was unhappy with him. They had been very happy for a time.

  But the way he was behaving now gave her pause. Ember deserved more than someone who was going to abandon her. She needed someone who would put her first.

  Every time she thought about his words, she felt sicker and sicker.

  The truth about Ember’s father was something June had worked hard not to think about. But now that it was out there, she couldn’t stop replaying her last fight with Bennett all of those years ago.

  She and Bennett broke up when she was twenty-one years old.

  When they got back together three years later, everything was great between them. They had the uncanny ability to pick up exactly where they had left off. After all, it wasn’t as if they stopped loving each other, she just hadn’t been ready to commit to moving out to Montana. She’d grown up in Texas. It was her home.

  The ranch underwent renovations for nearly six months, meaning Bennett was back in Texas. It was the best six months of her life. But when her boyfriend went back to Montana, their relationship got significantly more difficult.

  Bennett would fly her out to the ranch twice a month, and she would stay a couple of days with him here and there between classes, but there was never a sense of contentment because she was always on the move.

  After six months of doing long-distance, things began to crumble.

  They used to talk to each other every morning and every night before bed. But one night, Bennett didn’t call.

  When she talked to him the next morning, he said he’d worked late at the ranch and had fallen asleep. But he didn’t call the next night either, and soon she found herself avoiding the times when he did.

  In one of their last conversations, things got heated between them when Bennett had mentioned, not for the first time, spending time with a girl named Naomi—a curvy brunette with a bobbed haircut and sexuality that exuded from her every pore.

  “Who is this girl again?” she asked, trying to sound playful. “I feel like I hear about her every time we talk these days.”

  “She’s just a girl who works at the ranch,” he said, sounding equally casual.

  “Right.”

  “She’s friends with Martin and Dodger,” he explained.

  “Right,” she repeated.

  Bennett laughed and sounded genuinely amused as he asked, “You’re not jealous, are you?”

  “I trust you,” she said, her voice pitching.

  “But?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t trust her.”

  “That’s just a loophole for saying you don’t trust me,” he said.

  “I guess I’m just not used to you bringing up other girls the way you bring Naomi up,” she said. “It sounds like you like her or something.”

  Bennett went quiet, and her pulse quickened. She waited a beat for him to answer but he stayed silent. June could feel her hands start to sweat as she said, “Bennett?”

  “I like you, remember?” he chuckled. “You’re my girlfriend. Besides, she has a boyfriend. She’s seeing Dodger,” he said, speaking of his best friend. “That’s why I always bring them up together.”

  “Right,” she licked her lips. “But if you didn’t have a girlfriend and she didn’t have a boyfriend, is she someone you would consider dating?”

  “I don’t know,” he said more casually than she expected. “Maybe.”

  “Maybe?” she repeated incredulously. She felt justified in her jealousy and heartbroken all at the same time.

  “I don’t know why it matters. She’s with somebody, and so am I.”

  June was stunned. “If it doesn’t matter, then why have you considered the possibility of you guys being together?”

  “Well, I don’t know, babe,” he said, firm and frustrated, “I guess the months and months of being alone might have something to do with it.”

  “So, because I don’t live with you, you’ve just taken to fantasizing about being with other women?”

  “June, stop. Listen to me. I like you. I love you, in fact. But I have to say, it’s getting a little tiresome doing this dance with you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean—what dance?” she snapped.

  “How many times have I asked you to come out here?” he said, growing frustrated. “Look, I love you, but you seem to be making it pretty clear that you don’t want to move forward with me.”

  “And I said I would,” she said firmly.

  “Yeah?” He laughed, but there was nothing humorous about their conversation. “When?”

  “Bennett,” she warned. “I’m lonely, too, okay?”

  “You can’t just have it both ways! You tell me that you’re lonely in Texas. Well, guess what? I’m lonely in Montana, and it’s getting harder and harder not to end this thing if you’re not willing to move forward. I’m tired of being alone. I’m tired of having you here for two days at a time. I want the real deal with you, June. I always have. “

  “I told you I wasn’t ready,” she pushed back.

  “If you’re not ready now, then you’re never going to be ready.”

  She swallowed. “I don’t think that’s true.”

  “I think it is true,” he said carefully.

  They swam in the silence for moments upon moments before Bennett spoke again.

  “I can’t move, June. Like it or not, I’m in Montana for the rest of my life. And if your life is in Texas, then you need to tell me now because I can’t keep doing this with you.”

  “I need more time,” she said.

  “What are we waiting for?” he said. “For what? What’s going to change? This is who I am. I am not going to change.”

  “This isn’t about you, for once.”

  “No, this isn’t about you for once,” he said with venom. “Why don’t you think about someone besides yourself?”

  The argument continued to spiral out of control. It went from them missing each other so much that it was causing them pain, to accusing the other of being selfish, short-sighted, and unfaithful.

  She had expected him to call the next day, but no phone call ever came. Days later, they still hadn’t talked.

  When they finally spoke again, the conversations always ended the same—arguing about her moving.

  The end came one morning when Bennett called and told her he couldn’t wait anymore. He had asked someone out.

  Two weeks later, she found out she was pregnant.

  Chapter Nine

  Bennett

  Bennett had been spending more and more time at June’s apartment in the city. It was a different vibe than the endless string of ranch-style properties he spent his time at.

  He’d spent the morning outside soaking up the hot September weather with Ember, playing on the outdoor playset in their communal backyard.

  He enjoyed spending time with the girl, and the fact that it gave him brownie points with June didn’t hurt, either.

  Ember was an easy kid to get along with. She didn’t throw temper tantrums and more often than not,
knew how to make Bennett laugh.

  “Wanna know a secret?” he whispered as he helped her climb across the monkey bars.

  “What?” she whispered back.

  “I’m gonna ask your mom if she wants to bring you up to my ranch in Montana,” he said with a smirk. “That would be cool, wouldn’t it?”

  “Can we see the horses?” she asked.

  “You can see the horses and the mountains, and if you stay long enough, you can even see snow,” he said cheerfully. “You ever seen snow before?”

  “Only on TV!”

  “It’s so cool,” he explained. “You know how we made sandcastles at the beach? Well, you can do that with the snow back at my house. You can build big snowmen and a castle, and we even have igloos on the ranch. They’re cool.”

  Ember pressed her eyes closed and wrinkled her forehead. “Oh, I hope, I hope, I hope she says yes,” she whispered.

  “Me too,” he laughed.

  He watched as Ember reached the landing platform at the top of the slide. She slid down the yellow plastic in a half-loop and he met her at the bottom. She reached up to grab his hand and chimed in, “I’ll pray for you.”

  Bennett cocked his head to the side. He was incredibly charmed by her sentiment and also oddly touched.

  “You mind if I take your mama out tonight?” Bennett asked quietly.

  Ember sized him up, then smiled. It was a subtle exchange that somehow reminded him of his little sister; the faux suspicion followed by a bright, genuine smile.

  “It’s okay,” she said cutely, then warned, “But you got to promise to take me out one day, too!”

  He knelt in front of her and grabbed her little hands in his. “Well, you got yourself a deal there, little lady. Me and you, this Friday. How about it?”

  “Oh,” she said, turning her head to the side shyly.

  “That’s when her dad is supposed to come and get her,” June piped up from behind them, her voice sounding as even as possible.

  Bennett nodded and felt a knot forming in his stomach. He recognized the feeling. It was jealousy, though he couldn’t pinpoint whether he was envious that Lincoln got to spend a whole weekend with Ember or if it was the thought of Lincoln in June’s life that had him rattled.

  Bennett wasn’t a naturally jealous person. For the most part, he understood that everyone had a past, but it was Lincoln’s proximity to his relationship with June that unsettled him.

  He knew she’d been loosely associated with Lincoln while they were still together all those years ago, and the fact that she’d jumped right into a relationship and started a family with him reinforced two facts.

  June likely had a thing for Lincoln while they were still together

  June was very, very, very over him after their breakup

  Bennett tried not to think about it. Lincoln was the father of her child, and that meant that he would always be in June’s life in some capacity. So, if Bennett also wanted to be in June’s life, he would have to get over any hard feelings he had against Ember’s dad.

  “Tell you what,” he said to the girl, “When you come back from your weekend with your dad, we’ll do something awesome.”

  “Cool!” Ember exclaimed.

  “Cool,” he smiled.

  He and June had been making good use of their time together, going through a montage of their favorite Houston hotspots from back when they were dating. They’d already been to the downtown aquarium, the museum district, had coffee overlooking the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir temple, and visited the old beer can house, and today they were heading thirty miles southeast to a sixty-acre Texas Gulf Coast theme park.

  June had always loved the old-school vibe of the vintage boardwalk. It was down by the water with rides, games, and the best corndogs they had ever eaten.

  And they had eaten a lot of corndogs in their time together.

  The two talked about old times they’d spent on the boardwalk and the ridiculous games of truth or dare they had played.

  After playing a couple of rounds of one of the carnival games, Bennett won a yellow teddy bear for June. After haggling with the woman running the booth, he managed to have her switch the generic-looking bear out for a cartoony looking stuffed poodle.

  “That’s for Ember,” he said proudly.

  “You’re so good with her,” June said.

  “Hey, she makes it easy. You’re really lucky.”

  “I know,” she smiled, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked. He could feel the chemistry sparking between them, but he wasn’t quite sure where he wanted things to go yet.

  “I’m serious,” he insisted. “I love my niece and nephews, but there is something really special about Ember. She’s so likable, it’s hard to say no to her. She’s fun to talk to, you know? Which is saying a lot because she’s five.”

  “She’s pretty amazing,” she said as she tilted her face up to catch his eyes.

  “If all kids could be like that, I’d consider having one.”

  “Have you ever thought about it?” she asked.

  “Fatherhood? Sure. Of course,” he said easily. Coming from a big family, you either had one of two outlooks. You either wanted to get as far away from having a big family as possible or you wanted to recreate the magic and chaos by having your own brood. Bennett was the latter. “With you,” he offered stupidly. “Then again with Yasmin. But it just wasn’t the right time.”

  “No,” she sighed. “We never have good timing.”

  “Never say never,” he said with a wink.

  The pair spent the rest of the evening going on the rides. June was fond of the fast rides like the swinging pendulum ride or the free fall, but Bennett wanted to cap their evening off with a classic—the Ferris wheel.

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about the past lately,” he said as they reached the peak of the wheel, looking out over the boardwalk. They could hear the waves splashing against the shore, saw the carnival light up as the sun set over the seaside town.

  “What about it?” she asked.

  “I was stupid. Really, really stupid for doing what I did.”

  June shifted and turned to face him, rocking their little cart in the air. “What did you do?” she asked, drawing out the words like a tease.

  “You’re gonna make me say it, huh?” he smirked. “I was stupid for pushing you all those years ago. The only reason I came on so strong is, well, I missed you so much, and then I got it in my head that you were done with me. I guess it made me aggressive about us, about wanting you to move to be with me.”

  “Wait,” she said, throwing a finger up curiously. “You thought I was done with you?”

  “I thought that’s why you didn’t want to move to Montana.”

  “I didn’t want to move to Montana because I was scared, not because I didn’t love you,” she said firmly.

  He exhaled, suddenly feeling a weight fall off of his shoulders. “You don’t have to say that, you know.”

  “I’m not,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I thought you were done with me.”

  “I didn’t like how we left things. I wanted to make things right with you, but I kept thinking...‘She doesn’t want to be with you, man. Stop embarrassing yourself.’”

  June swallowed audibly, and he could feel the sexual tension rise between them. “Then, I guess we were both wrong,” she said thoughtfully.

  “I feel like I missed out on a lot with you. I felt like I had our whole future mapped out in front of me. Once you were out of my life, everything completely shattered, you know?” He hoped he was making sense. Sometimes he felt like all he ever did was ramble a stream of consciousness at the poor girl when he talked about his life. “I didn’t know what to do with myself anymore, so I just threw my life into the ranch.”

  “We both went through a lot,” she said quietly.

  “I missed you, June. I still miss you.”

  “I missed you, too,” she said. “I thought about calling you so many times. You have no
idea.”

  Silence hung in the air. He ran his hand along her thumb and brushed it gently back and forth.

  The air was warm, but the cool breeze coming off of the water felt refreshing.

  “But,” he reasoned sweetly, “if we had stayed together, you never would have had Ember. And she’s pretty great.”

  June exhaled. She looked down over the water, and with no real interest, she nodded and said, “Right.”

  “But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a second shot at this, you know?”

  Her eyes snapped to his. “What do you mean?”

  “We’re like a boomerang,” he said nervously. “We keep coming back together.”

  “I guess we’ve just never have the good sense to ignore each other.”

  “I can’t ignore you,” he said, tilting his head to the side. “Could you ignore me?”

  June didn’t respond, just smiled and shrugged helplessly as her eyes flicked back and forth from his.

  “I couldn’t do it six years ago, and I can’t do it now,” he continued.

  “I guess we’ve both been suckered in,” she said quietly.

  “Maybe we’re not suckers. Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something.”

  “What’s it trying to tell us?” she whispered.

  “I know what it’s telling me,” he said and brushed a curl of ginger hair out of her face. “It’s telling me that no matter how hard I try to fight it, my life seems to always come back to you, June. When I’m around you, I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be. And I know that you have a lot going on with Ember and your ex and everything, but I’d really like it if we could...keep hanging out.”

  “As friends,” she added.

  “No,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “As us.”

  “Bennett…” she said with trepidation.

  “Don’t leave me hanging,” he laughed. “Just tell me now. Am I standing out on this ledge alone or…?”

  June stayed terrifyingly quiet. She had woven her fingers through his and kept moving them around as if their hands were doing a dance. She took a moment to collect her thoughts and it felt like the longest sixty seconds of Bennett’s whole life.

  He didn’t know if he was ruining everything by bringing up his feelings for her, but he couldn’t go back to Montana without knowing if she felt the same way. He needed to know if there was still a chance between them.