“So did you tell her you love her? That’s probably what she’s waiting for. You know, a guy’s gotta grovel.”
Reed scowled. “What makes you such an expert on women?”
Raking the straw around the stall, Jason said, “They taught us all about that in health and family living class. Women like mushy stuff.”
“Health and family living?” Reed mocked.
“Women like to be courted, see? Candy and flowers. Junk like that. It makes ‘em feel special.”
Reed wasn’t exactly the candy—and—flowers type. Ann would never believe him if he showed up with armloads of phony romance stuff. She was special, though. The kind of woman a man dreamed about along with home and family.
Reed had never allowed himself to have that dream.
Until Ann.
Did that mean he loved her, he wondered? He searched his conscience and came up with an answer that was stunningly simple.
Deprived of that emotion as a child, he hadn’t been able to recognize it when it showed up in his life—maybe because it had sneaked up on him when he wasn’t looking.
Bets had created the first opportunity for him to love someone in particular and develop a special bond. Then Ann had come along opening his heart to even newer experiences that he’d never before known. The empty place he’d been feeling in his chest since Ann left had been her missing love—the tender emotion that she’d given him and he’d flatly rejected.
No wonder she’d left him.
Reed took Jason’s head between his big hands and planted a kiss right smack in the middle of the boy’s sweaty forehead.
“Oh, gross. What are you doing, man?”
“You’re a genius, kid.”
“Yeah, I am, but—”
“And I love you.”
Jason blinked and his face began to glow as if he’d just been touch by a magic wand. “Naw, nobody—”
“I do.” Reed hooked the boy’s head in the crook of his elbow, gently wrestling him, roughhouse style. As if the boy were his son, a cocky kid he loved.
And he loved Ann, too.
Now he knew how to get her back, a way far more special than flowers and candy.
But he’d need Dora’s help from Miniature World to convince Ann and make his dream come true—a dream he’d only just realized could come true for someone like him.
Chapter Fifteen
Ann dusted the chalk from her fingers and turned back to the class. Her explanation of the X-Y axis hadn’t generated a single spark of understanding in the glazed—over eyes of her third—period students.
“Yoohoo. Summer vacation hasn’t started yet, guys. You need to get this—”
The classroom door swung open and in trotted Arnold, his tail wagging. The students immediately responded with titters and whistles. Eyes wide, her heart slamming against her breastbone, Ann’s gazed remained riveted on the door. Why would ReedHer handsome cowboy sauntered into the room, an easy grin on his face and Bets in his arms. His boots were old and worn, his hip—hugging jeans white with wear and his Stetson rode low on his forehead. He looked sexy and wonderful—and totally out of place.
“You’re disrupting my class, Reed.” Her voice was breathy with surprise.
“Sorry, sugar. This is important and I’m an impatient man.” He glanced around the room. “Jason, get your tail over here.”
The boy scooted out of his chair. His grin was about as wide as a quarter moon.
“You know how to hold a baby without dropping her?” Reed asked.
Jason’s eyes turned into saucers. “Hey, man, I’m no baby-sitter—”
“I need two hands for this,” Reed said. He thrust Bets into Jason’s arms, though five teenage girls shot their hands in the air begging for the honor of holding the baby. Jason staggered backward but held on to Bets. Meanwhile, Arnold was making the rounds of the students, receiving lots of pets and scratches behind his ears.
Ann rolled her eyes. She’d totally lost control of the classroom. “Reed, whatever you’re up to, this isn’t the right time or place.”
“Sure it is.” He produced a shopping bag from Dora’s Miniature World and pulled out two boxes, placing them on her desk.
Bewildered by Reed’s actions and worried Jason would drop the baby, Ann seated the boy at a desk where he could more safely hold Bets. When she turned, planning to physically throw Reed out of her classroom if necessary, her breath caught.
Her Dream Man miniature was in the center of her desk—a mounted cowboy with a baby in his arms and a raggedy dog at his side. She watched in amazement as he added another figure to the tiny tableau—a woman who fit right behind the handsome cowboy on his horse, her arms around his waist. She wore a bright red sweater draped around her shoulders.
Ann’s vision blurred, and she covered her mouth with her hand to prevent a sob from escaping. She was the woman, the scene a magical moment from her past.
“Are you going to be sick?” Reed asked worriedly.
She shook her head. No way could she possibly speak past the constriction that had closed her throat. She could barely breathe.
The students, instead of taking advantage of the unusual situation, had gone silent as if they understood they were witnessing a momentous occasion.
Her heart overflowing with love, Ann looked up at Reed.
He took off his hat, his saddle—brown hair mashed by the band. “I never had much of a family when I was a kid. Sometimes I’d walk through town and see mothers and fathers with their children. They’d be laughing together or maybe having ice cream. I’d tell myself it didn’t matter. But it did, ‘cause I’d go home at night and alone in my room I’d pretend my mother was baking cookies and I was playing ball with my old man. Then he’d come home drunk as a skunk and beat the hell out of me for no good reason.
“When I had the chance to be Bets’s daddy, I figured I had it pretty good. She and I could be a family, just the two of us. But I didn’t know what a real family could be like until I married you. I’m so thick—headed, I couldn’t see that until you left me.”
A girl in the classroom sighed. Ann couldn’t make even that much of a response. She was too dumbfounded by Reed’s public disclosures.
“I think I’ve figured out a really good reason why you ought to come back home with me, sugar.”
She swallowed hard. “Why, Reed?” She knew in her heart he’d found the only reason that mattered.
“I love you, Ann. I don’t have a lot to offer you yet except to promise I’ll work myself to the bone so we can be a family.”
“All I’ve ever wanted is your love, Reed. That’s all I’ll ever need.” Oblivious to their youthful audience, she opened her arms to him. “I love you, too.”
Pulling her close, he covered her mouth with his. It wasn’t a chaste kiss, far more intimate than she should allow under the circumstances. She didn’t care. She wanted the whole world to know she loved Reed Drummond and he loved her. She’d spend the rest of her life proving it to him and anyone else who was interested.
“Hey, man, how long do I have to hold this kid? She puked all over my shirt.”
The classroom erupted in laughter at Jason’s dour expression. Ann realized the boy had probably been as moved as anyone in the room by Reed’s revelations. He’d had a miserable childhood and hadn’t yet found a way out.
“You’d better rescue Jason,” she said to Reed.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he said, glancing in the youngster’s direction and winking. “Why don’t we adopt him. I’d get me a hardworking ranch hand and Bets would get a big brother.”
Jason’s chin dropped to his chest. “You want to adopt—”
“The artist that makes these miniatures said she could add a kid to the scene any time we wanted. Assuming you’re interested and the bureaucrats say it’s okay.”
“Well, yeah, but—” The boy scowled. “Does that mean you don’t have to pay—”
The class howled at Jason’s mercenary streak b
ut Ann knew the boy wanted nothing more than to be loved—just like Reed. She supposed that’s why bad boys were her one weakness.
“Do you mind?” Reed asked Ann quietly as the students continued to razz Jason. “Adopting Jason, I mean.”
“I think it’s a perfectly wonderful idea. And I think you’re a pretty terrific man for having thought of it.”
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I was blind not to see from the first how much I loved you.”
“But your eyes are open now.”
“Hmm. And as soon as we get home, I’m gonna burn that prenuptial agreement I made you sign.” He kissed her again, slowly and thoroughly. “From now on you’re stuck with me, Mrs. Drummond. I’m never going to stop loving you.”
That was fine by Ann. She’d found her own lifesize dream man, a rogue cowboy, and never planned to let him go. And she didn’t plan to keep him on the mantel either, she thought with a secret grin, but right next to her in a bed plenty big enough for two.
eISBN 978-14592-5009-3
DADDY’S LITTLE COWGIRL
Copyright © 1999 by Charlotte Lobb.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks Indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
Printed in U.S.A.
Daddy's Little Cowgirl Page 19