Claiming His Brother's Baby (4 page)

When Cassie returned to the kitchen she found Tanner talking to Mouse, and the dog was staring up at him, listening intently. Again, she was struck by the image of the man Doug had told her he was, and the contrasting man he seemed in reality. Not closed off and moody. Not a brooding, unfriendly loner.

Not anything like the man Doug had described.

He looked up. “Is Oliver settled?”

“For the moment,” she replied. “He’ll sleep for a couple of hours. His usual routine gives me enough time to have a shower and eat something.”

Tanner checked his watch. “Then I should probably go.”

Something niggled at her. She couldn’t define it. Maybe she didn’t want to. She drew in a long breath and frowned.

“Are you okay?” he asked, watching her.

Cassie nodded. “I’ve had one of those daylong headaches.”

He laughed and then must have realized how insensitive it sounded. “Sorry, I was thinking that maybe since I’ve been here for twenty-four hours there was a connection.”

She smiled. “No. Although...”

His brows came up. “Although?”

She shrugged. “Well...you’re not...”

“I’m not...?”

Heat crept up her neck and she searched for the words. “It’s only that you’re not exactly who I thought...” She shrugged again and took a deep breath. “I guess I thought you wouldn’t be so...easy to get along with.”

Tanner rested against the counter and folded his arms. “Compared to what?”

She hesitated as her gaze shifted to the floor. “To the person I thought you were.”

“Who you thought I was,” he said quietly. “Or who Doug said I was.”

Her shoulders came up for a second and then dropped. “I suppose. He said you were quiet and...”

“And what?” Tanner asked when her words trailed. “Indifferent and unfriendly?”

She looked up. “Words to the effect.”

“And what do you think?”

Cassie stepped back. “I think you’re confident and sensible. I think you don’t waste time trying to charm or manipulate people.” She paused and took a breath. “I think you know exactly who you are. And what you want.”

His brown eyes darkened. “And do you?” he asked softly. “Do you know what you want, Cassie?”

At that moment she wanted to run. Everything about him reached her on some base, heady level. She was hot all over and she knew why. Tanner McCord made her remember she was a woman. And it scared her to death.

“Ah...what about dinner,” she said quickly and took a sharp breath. She pointed to the telephone. “I have the number of a great pizza place on speed dial. I mean, unless you want to leave right away.”

He pushed himself off the counter. “Dinner would be good.”

Cassie nodded and left the room. After checking on Oliver she took only minutes to collect fresh clothes and lock herself in the bathroom. She showered and dressed in cargo pants and a sensible blue shirt buttoned up to her throat.

By the time she headed back to the kitchen another half hour had passed and she ducked her head around the corner of the nursery to ensure the baby was still asleep. At the kitchen doorway she stilled. Tanner stood by the counter, one elbow in the air and he tugged at the back of his shirt.

“Something wrong?” she asked and stepped across the threshold.

He swiveled around and dropped his arm. “I think I caught a barb this afternoon.”

“A what?”

“From the vine,” he explained and winced.

Cassie walked toward him. “You’re hurt?”

He shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”

“Do you want me to take a look?”

He took a step back. “I don’t think so.”

Cassie ignored the sudden heat in her cheeks. If he’d been injured pruning the hedge she needed to be sensible and find out how bad it was. “It could get infected.”

“I’m sure it will be—”

“Let’s see,” she said matter-of-factly. “Where is it?”

He hesitated for a moment before moving one shoulder. “Left side.”

Cassie stepped closer. “Okay, turn around.”

He did as she asked and she took a second before reaching out. His shirt was soft between her fingers and she tugged it down a fraction. When she couldn’t see anything other than one incredibly well-defined shoulder blade, Cassie released the shirt.

“It has to come off.”

He turned his head. “What?”

“Your shirt,” she explained. “I can’t see anything. I’m too short.”

“I’m sure it’s not—”

She ignored him, moved back around the countertop and grabbed the small first-aid kit from the bottom drawer. “It won’t take a minute.”

He didn’t seem convinced and hesitated before he shrugged again and then pulled the shirt over his head and dropped it on the table.

And of course she couldn’t look anywhere but at his bare skin.

Sweet heaven.

He didn’t possess the body of a man who spent hours in a gym—but of one who worked outdoors, using and honing muscles every day. His tanned skin looked as smooth as the sheerest silk pulled across pressed steel and the light smatter of hair on his chest was incredibly sexy. He was pure beauty and temptation. And she had to stop thinking about it.

“Turn around please.”

His eyes darkened and Cassie was sure she caught a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. So, maybe she did sound way too polite and incredibly tense. That was her nature...her
way
. He turned and Cassie saw where the bougainvillea thorn had pierced his skin directly below his shoulder blade. The spike was easily an inch long and was lodged deep. Cassie opened up the first-aid kit and took out a needle.

“I see it. This is going to hurt,” she said. “You might want to brace yourself against the counter.”

“Sure,” he said and stepped forward, levering his hands on the countertop.

She sterilized the needle and as she moved closer, Cassie tried not to think about his smooth skin and well-defined muscles. Or the fact she picked up the spicy scent of soap and some kind of citrusy shampoo that somehow amplified the awareness she experienced whenever he was near.

With purposeful intent, Cassie reached out and touched him. She sensed rather than felt the tension coiling up his back as her fingertips connected with his skin. She used the needle quickly and started dislodging the thorn.

“Ouch!”

She pulled back. “Don’t be such a baby.”

He jerked his head around and scowled. “Don’t be such a brute.”

Cassie stopped the grin that threatened. “I thought you were a tough cowboy.”

“I thought you were sweet and gentle.”

She sucked in a shallow breath. His words stilled in the air between them.
Sweet and gentle?
Is that how he saw her? Not lonely and guarded and desperate to keep her distance?

“Is that who Doug said I was?”

He didn’t respond immediately. “Yeah, of course he did.”

Cassie ignored the stab of guilt, grabbed the tweezers and extracted the barb. “All done,” she said and stepped back.

Tanner turned and she was faced with the solid wall of chest. She noticed a long faded scar below his rib cage, but other than that there was nothing imperfect about him. Her belly swayed and she got mad with herself. Being attracted to Tanner was out of the question.

Perhaps one day she’d find someone to share her life—a friend, a lover, a husband. Someone who she could love and who would welcome the role as father to her son. But not yet. She wasn’t ready. And she certainly had no intention of paying too much attention to the burgeoning attraction she had for the man in front of her.

Still, it was easy to get drawn into the warm depths of his liquid brown eyes. Easier still to stare at his broad shoulders and satin-smooth skin. Heat crept over her skin.
Maybe I have a fever?
Yes, that had to be it. She was unwell. Out of sorts. It had nothing to do with his brown eyes and broad shoulders.

“Cassie?”

His voice brought her stare upward and she locked his gaze as the air flamed, swirling up as it coiled around them. And suddenly she couldn’t pretend it was anything other than raw attraction.
Chemistry.
Undeniable and absolutely unwanted.

And from nowhere, a sudden memory kicked in. She’d felt it once before, long ago. She’d all but forgotten that hot summer when she was thirteen. She recalled the boy who’d captured her attention on the beach one late afternoon. Her first crush. Her first kiss. The fluttering in her belly caused a familiar rush and she quickly pushed the memory away.

“I should check Oliver,” she said on a shallow breath.

A car pulled out outside.

“Our pizza,” Tanner said and grabbed his shirt off the table. “Thanks for the first aid. I’ll be back with our dinner.”

He walked from the room and Cassie stared after him. Being around Tanner was a mistake. Maybe the biggest of her life.

Chapter Four

T
anner sensed the change in Cassie’s mood the moment she returned to the kitchen. He couldn’t miss the tension in her expression as they ate and afterward when she refused his offer to help clean up. Uncomfortable by the sudden awkwardness, he left her alone for a while. The awareness between them was hard to deny and he wondered if she realized he was attracted to her and that’s why she seemed so closed off. He headed back to the guest room and packed his bag and dropped it in the hallway. Tanner was in the living room looking at the photographs on the mantel when she came into the room some twenty minutes later.

“Everything all right?” he asked and propped the photo of Doug back on the shelf.

“Fine,” she replied and pointed to the photograph. “That was taken years ago. I don’t have anything current, in case you wanted a copy.”

“I have photos,” he said and turned. “But thanks.”

She nodded. “I also have Doug’s things stored away in the spare room. You’re welcome to go through the boxes and see if there’s anything you’d like to keep.”

“Won’t you want those as keepsakes for his son?”

“I’ve selected a few things already. And I have several videos Doug made while he was on tour. Oliver will know his father.”

He heard the dig and wondered why she was so tense. It’s not as if she owed him any explanations—about anything. “You know, not every conversation we have has to be a battle.”

Her eyes flashed brilliantly. “I don’t—”

“You act like I’m the enemy.”

She crossed her arms and sighed heavily. “Can you blame me?”

He wasn’t sure what she was getting at and shrugged. “Which means?”

“I’ve been in limbo for months, Tanner. Maybe I did shove my head in the sand when it came to the house and Doug’s estate, but that doesn’t make me any less shocked that you’ve turned up and now I’m faced with the prospect of leaving the only home I’ve known since I was a young girl.”

Tanner’s insides contracted. “I didn’t come here to make things harder for you,” he assured her. “On the contrary...”

Her brows came up. “Do you think your being here would make things easier?” She shook her head. “The fact is, you’re a walking, talking reminder of exactly how much my life is about to change.”

Of course he would be. So the sooner he did what he had come to do and then got back to his own life, the better.

“I have no intention of disrupting your life.”

“Do I seem so naive to you, Tanner?” She took a couple of steps farther into the room and seemed to waver on her feet. “Your very presence is a disruption.”

She wanted him gone...that was evident enough. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Cassie. Be assured that as soon as I have the estate sorted I’ll be returning to South Dakota. But as I said yesterday, Oliver is my nephew, the only family I have, and I’d like to play some role in his life.”

“As what?” she asked quietly. “The absent uncle?”

Tanner pushed back the irritation weaving through his blood. Obstinate, infuriating woman. “I’m here now. And I’d like to stay in contact once I go home. It’s what Doug would have wanted.”

Her brows came up. “Is it?” She paled and an uneasy silence filled the room. When she spoke again her voice was unusually raspy. “Are you sure about that? You and Doug weren’t exactly close.”

“Things between us improved these last few years.”

There was some truth in his words. His brother had tried, in his way, to mend their broken relationship. And Tanner had cautiously let him back into his life. He’d returned to Crystal Point on two occasions to see Doug and his brother had briefly visited his ranch in Cedar Creek six months before his death.

She raised her chin. “He never did tell me why you were estranged.”

Tanner’s stomach tightened. “It was a misunderstanding that happened years ago.”

“Really?” Her brows came up. “What kind of misunderstanding?”

He shrugged. Tanner had no intention of telling her about Leah or the money or anything else from his past. “It doesn’t matter now.”

She raised her chin in that stiff, determined way he was getting used to. “So you won’t tell me?”

“No.”

She laughed, the sound brittle in the room. “Well, Doug did say you had a stubborn, unforgiving streak.”

He tensed. Of course his brother would have said that. Doug wasn’t one to take responsibility for his actions or his
mistakes
.

Her expression narrowed. “What was your relationship like when you were kids?”

“Good,” he replied truthfully. “But with twelve years between us we were never really kids together.”

She nodded. “You said Doug joined the army at twenty-one and sent you to boarding school?”

“That’s right.” He named the school that was about two hundred miles west of Bellandale.

“Were you happy there?”

It seemed an odd question. “I’ve never really thought about it.”

She pushed on. “You’d just lost your parents, correct? Why do you think Doug made the decision to send you away when you were so young?”

“He joined the army,” Tanner said. “I guess he did what he thought was the best thing at the time.”

Cassie didn’t look completely convinced. “But what did
you
think?”

He opened his mouth to speak, then clamped it tightly shut. She stared at him, looking intrigued and a little confused. He drew in a slow breath. “I thought... I suppose I thought I’d been abandoned.”

“Did you ever tell him that?”

Silence stretched like elastic for a moment. Finally, he spoke. “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that.”

“Then thank you,” she said. “For not dismissing the question. I suppose I’m trying to understand why Doug would have done such a thing. I mean, you really only had each other.”

“What twenty-one-year-old wants to be saddled with a kid? Especially someone like...”

Tanner stopped when he saw her expression shift. He met her gaze and waited for her to speak.

“You mean, someone like Doug?” she asked, her voice a bare whisper. When he didn’t respond she spoke again. “You know, don’t you?”

Tanner shrugged a little. “I know what?”

“You know Doug wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of having a baby?”

Wasn’t exactly thrilled?
His brother had flat-out said kids weren’t in his plans—ever.

“I know he had some reservations.”

She shrugged and maintained her resilient look. “It was a shock, that’s all. We’d never talked about children and when I found out I was pregnant I was surprised at first. When I told Doug, he didn’t...well, he wasn’t happy about it.”

He knew the story. Doug had no intention of ever being a father to his child and Tanner knew his brother would have told Cassie that very thing had he lived.

“I’m sure it was the shock, like you said.”

As he said the words and tasted the lie, Tanner knew he had to keep the truth from her. It would hurt her deeply if the truth ever came out.

“I suppose we’ll never know,” she said, softer still.

Tanner shrugged fractionally. “I should get going.”

“Are you heading into Bellandale?” she asked.

“No,” he replied. “I’m going to crash at Ruthie’s for a few days. But I’d like to drop by tomorrow afternoon to see Oliver if that’s okay?”

“Of course.”

“Good night, Cassie. I’ll see myself out.”

She nodded and watched him leave. Tanner grabbed his bag from the hall and headed through the front door and realized that leaving was the last thing he wanted to do.

*

When Cassie sat up in bed at six the next morning she knew the headache and scratchy throat she’d been harboring for days had finally taken hold. But Oliver’s cries made her ignore her pains, push back the covers and roll off the mattress. She changed into jeans and a T-shirt, took a couple of aspirin and worked through her sluggishness. It was well past the half hour by the time she’d fed him and then made herself some soothing peppermint tea.

But Oliver was unsettled for most of the morning and in between doing two loads of washing and putting a casserole in the slow cooker, she took him for a long walk. When she got home it was after three and she gave him a bath and a bottle before putting him to bed for a nap.

And even though her head hurt and her throat ached, she kept thinking about what had transpired over the past forty-eight hours. She thought about Doug. And Tanner.

The brothers clearly had a much more complex relationship than she’d realized and Cassie knew that the undivided faith she’d always held in the man she’d loved—the man who had fathered her child—was unexpectedly under threat. Why would Doug have sent a vulnerable and grieving child to a boarding school so far away from the only home he’d ever known? It seemed incredibly callous and at odds with the man she knew. The man she’d
thought
she knew.

A man she clearly hadn’t known.

He’d charmed her with his smile and humor and she’d never really questioned his honesty or integrity.

Until now.

And Tanner? He was very different from the man Doug had described. He wasn’t moody and indifferent. In fact, he was the complete opposite. And she was as confused as ever.

With her headache worsening and her whole body slowly succumbing to an unusual lethargy, by four o’clock Cassie grabbed the baby monitor, made tea and then curled up on the sofa in front of the television.

She drifted off to sleep and was plagued by dreams. Of Oliver. Of her parents. Of Doug. And of Tanner. Of his warm brown eyes and sexy smile. When she awoke she discovered a throw had been laid over her bare arms. The monitor was gone from its spot on the coffee table and she sat up quickly.
Oliver.
The headache hadn’t abated and she pressed a hand to her temple. It was dark outside and the lamp in the corner gave off a soft glow. Someone was in her house. With the monitor missing, the lamp on and throw draped across her, it was the only explanation. Perhaps Lauren had stopped by? Or M.J.? Both her friends knew where she hid the spare key.

Her legs were heavy as she stood and Cassie rested her knuckles on the side of the sofa for support as she ditched the throw and slipped her shoes back on. She swallowed hard and winced at the stinging pain in her throat. She left the room and headed down the hall toward the nursery. No Oliver. Her heart raced and she rushed down the hallway. And heard voices. Well, one voice. One very familiar, deep and hypnotic voice. She came to a halt in the doorway and listened as Tanner spoke to her son, who he held gently in the crook of one arm while he whisked eggs in a bowl with his free hand.

“—and it won’t be a truly superb omelet, of course, without peppers...but it will do. Did you know your daddy was allergic to eggs? I suppose we’ll find out if you inherited that from him soon enough. Since you’ve already had your bottle you might even think about shutting those big eyes of yours and getting some sleep.”

“Tanner?”

He stopped talking and whisking and looked toward the door. “Hey there.” He turned Oliver around. “Look whose awake, little man. Mommy.”

She smiled at her beautiful baby and then looked at the man holding him. “What are you doing here?”

“I said I’d drop by, remember,” he reminded her. “And I knocked, around four-thirty. Your door was unlocked.”

Cassie felt too unwell to reproach herself for leaving the front door unlocked and then crashing on the sofa. Crystal Point was a safe place...but still...it was irresponsible. Especially with a baby in the house. Although she doubted Mouse would let an intruder in without alerting her. Speaking of which...

“Where’s my dog?”

“In the backyard,” he explained. “Fed and waiting to be let back in, I’m sure.”

Cassie nodded. “You let me sleep.”

“You seemed to need it.”

She shrugged and tried to ignore the pain in her head. She really was feeling worse with every passing moment. “I guess I did.” She looked toward her baby. “He’ll need changing before he’s put down for the night.”

“Done,” Tanner said and moved toward her. “I’m somewhat of a dab hand with a diaper these days. I had practice with Grady’s kids when they were babies.”

Her brows came up. “And you’re making dinner?”

“To order,” he replied and grinned. “If you don’t like omelet.”

Cassie thought about her wavering stomach. “Actually, I put a casserole on this afternoon,” she said and pointed to the slow cooker on the counter. “But I might just have some soup a little later.”

“Soup it is. But first I’ll put this little guy to bed.”

Normally she would have protested. But the headache and wobble in her knees was getting steadily worse and she didn’t quite trust her balance. “That would be great. Thanks.”

Once he left the room Cassie sank into a chair and rested her arms on the table. When Tanner returned she was still in that position.

“Everything okay?”

She nodded and sighed heavily. “Just tired I guess. Thank you for watching Oliver.”

“My pleasure,” he said and came around the table. “He’s a good baby. You know, you don’t look so great. Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I think I’ll—”

She stopped as his hand reached out and he rested it against her forehead. “You’re burning up.”

Cassie’s skin tingled from his touch and she pulled away fractionally. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You have a fever.”

She shook her head and pushed the chair back. “I’ll be okay. I only need some rest,” she insisted and stood. But her legs wavered and she gripped the edge of the table for support.

“Like hell. You’re sick.”

And without another word Tanner scooped her up into his arms.

By the time she had the strength to protest he was down the hallway and had shouldered her bedroom door open and placed her gently on the edge of her bed. “Now get some rest.”

“You didn’t have to pick me up,” she protested feebly, pushing back her embarrassment and trying not to think about how it felt to be held against his broad chest. He was still recovering from an injury and the last thing he needed was to damage his leg again. “I could have walked.”

“And fallen over most likely,” he said. “You need to take care of yourself, Cassie.”