Harlequin American Romance November 2014 Box Set: The SEAL's Holiday Babies\The Texan's Christmas\Cowboy for Hire\The Cowboy's Christmas Gift (21 page)

“A buddy's helping me set up an interview in Colorado.” He straightened suddenly, shaking his head. “I haven't told anyone I'm considering that move. Not even Jacob. I figured I'd hold off discussing it until after Carly's wedding, when I have more details. But you're very easy to talk to.”

Adele had told her the same thing on more than one occasion. Nicole acknowledged the compliment with a smile. “Guess it's a skill I cultivated as a kid—getting others to talk about themselves. Took the pressure off me. I didn't like answering questions about my absentee, addict mom. Plus, letting others carry the conversation helped me make friends.” Shallow friendships, some of them, with older kids who didn't know Nicole well but liked how important she made them feel. It had helped her survive the constant shifts in households.

“Well, your conversational skills aren't limited to listening,” he said, turning to face her. “You did a hell of a job today. You were calm and tactful and respectful of everyone's feelings. Adele couldn't ask for a better ambassador. She's lucky to have you.”

She wanted to thank him but had trouble speaking around the sudden lump in her throat. The whole time she'd been talking to the Barons, she'd fought to keep her emotions tightly reined in. The discussion had been awkward enough without a pregnant lady sobbing her way through it. But now that she'd had some distance and wasn't keeping herself so closely guarded, it all bubbled to the surface. How much family meant to her, how desperately she hoped Adele and her children could forge a new relationship, how scared she'd been for her friend during Adele's battle against cancer.

“Hey.” Daniel ducked his head, meeting her gaze. “You okay? I didn't mean to upset you.”

“I'm fine,” she said, trying to sound as if it were perfectly normal to be weepy on the back forty for no apparent reason.

He stepped closer, patting her on the arm. It was an endearingly clumsy gesture, as if he weren't accustomed to offering comfort. She appreciated his making the effort on her behalf.

She grinned up at him. “I really am fine. I've just been worried about how today would go. Repressing all that anxiety finally caught up with me. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Not at all.” He wasn't quite touching her anymore, but he hadn't dropped his arm either. It rested on the wooden railing. “I like spending time with you.”

“Same here.” They weren't particularly flirtatious or original words, but her tone was deeper, huskier, than she'd intended, making her statement sound like an invitation.

An evening breeze stirred around them. The ends of her hair brushed over his hand, and he caught her ponytail in a light, playful grip.

“We should go back,” he said. “It's getting downright chilly out here.”

“Is it?” She'd have to take his word for it. Standing this close together, their gazes entwined, all she felt was the tantalizing rush of anticipation.

He leaned in so that his breath fanned against her skin. “Uh-huh.” Then he lowered his mouth to hers in a slow, sweet exploratory kiss. His hands, warm and rough, cupped her face as he traced her lips.

Giddy sensation feathered through her. She could barely remember the last time she'd been kissed, much less the last time she'd been kissed with so much finesse. Daniel's kiss wasn't hesitant, merely patient, as if he had all the time in the world to make her feel good. He kept coaxing until the pleasure she was experiencing sharpened into something more insistent. She boosted herself up on the railing, and his hands went to her hips to steady her.

He deepened the kiss, and thought imploded when his tongue slid against hers. Damn, he was good at this. He stood between her legs, holding her close. Perched atop the railing, she started to hook her feet behind his knees for better balance, but froze, realizing just how intimate their position was.
What am I doing?
She abruptly ducked her head, and he bumped his chin on the top of her skull.

Ow, dammit.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Maybe I should be the one apologizing.” He took a step back but kept his hands on each side of her, not letting her fall. “Did I overstep my bounds, kissing you like that?”

“That was...wonderful.” Did she look as dazed as she sounded? She'd be replaying that seductively drawn-out kiss in her mind for a long time to come. “But there's something I should probably tell you before it happens again.”

He raised an eyebrow, looking heartened by the idea of an encore.
Unlikely.
Once she made her confession, she didn't think Daniel would be in any hurry to lock lips with her again.

“I'm pregnant.”

Chapter Five

Daniel blinked, pretty sure he'd heard wrong. He replayed the words in his head, but every time he tried to process them, he got the same result. “You're what?” He dropped his gaze to her midsection in disbelief. “Seriously?”

She scrambled down from the railing. “No, not seriously. I always make random jokes about carrying a baby after a guy kisses me.”

“Right. Stupid question.”

Nicole sighed. “It was an understandable expression of surprise. I shouldn't tease you about it. I don't know what the social protocol is here. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it. It just seemed like...information you deserved to have.”

“Wait. Does that mean there's a guy—”

“No guy. This was a, uh, medical conception.” She lifted her chin, a spark of defiance contrasting with the vulnerability in her dark eyes.

“Oh. Good. I mean, good that I wasn't kissing someone else's—” He shook his head, painfully aware that he wasn't handling this with much aplomb. “We really should get you back to the house.”

“Yeah.” There was a soft note of regret in her voice. “That's what I figured.”

Neither of them said much on their return walk, but it was no longer an easy, comfortable silence. He wondered what she was thinking but was afraid to ask. Hell, he wasn't entirely sure what
he
was thinking.

In his defense, the passionate, uninhibited way she'd kissed him back had short-circuited more than a few brain cells. It would be a struggle to come up with responses to even basic statements right now, much less the bombshell
“I'm pregnant.”
It was the last thing he'd expected to hear. He'd assumed from Lizzie's pointed looks that Nicole was single, and the shapely brunette sure as hell didn't look as if she was expecting.

Although, hadn't she said something at Lizzie's the other day about her stomach being unsettled? And she'd had her hand across her abdomen when he'd seen her at the—

“That's why you were visiting a doctor,” he blurted. “When I ran into you at the medical complex?”

“Yep. I wanted to find an obstetrician here in Dallas since I'll be splitting my time between the two cities until the wind farm is successfully up and running. Plus, we had a management position at the satellite office with Chris's name on it. Since he's no longer with AB and we haven't found the right person to promote, I'll be conducting interviews, too.”

Mention of his brother-in-law prompted him to ask, “Do Chris and Lizzie know? That you're, um, pregnant?” Hearing it out of his own mouth made it no less surreal.

“I told Lizzie today when we had a few minutes alone. So Chris might know by now. It's still very new. I only told Adele a couple of days ago. She was stunned. Maybe not as much as you,” Nicole joked. “But pretty close.”

“I thought the two of you were like family. You didn't tell her what you were planning to do?”

There was a long pause with only the crunch of their footsteps to break the silence. Finally, she shrugged. “Sometimes, no matter how much you care about them, it's still difficult to talk to family, right?”

She'd just summed up the past twenty years of his life.

“Right.”

* * *

W
HEN
N
ICOLE
FIRST
got into Daniel's truck to leave the ranch, she was afraid the tension in the cab would be stifling after the hot kiss they'd shared. But it had been a long, draining day. She didn't have enough energy left to be tense.

The radio was set to a country station. During a slow, twangy ballad, she found herself smothering yawns. By the time they reached the apartment building, Daniel had to nudge her awake.

Blinking in the dark cab of the truck, she tried to remember where she was.

Daniel chuckled. “Guess I'm not a very exciting date if I put you to sleep.”

And just like that, the evening flooded back in a vivid flash. Her lips tingled as if she were reliving their kiss. “Oh, you were plenty exciting.” Any more excitement, and she might have ended up with hay in her hair, searching for her bra. She hadn't had a night like that in recent memory. Then again, she hadn't known many men who could kiss like Daniel Baron. It was hard not to speculate on what would have happened if she hadn't stopped him, if she hadn't told him she was pregnant.

But you are.
Her child was her future. Daniel, in the greater scheme of her life, was a momentary diversion. A cowboy who'd been kind to her but would probably barely remember her a year from now.

He parked the car and walked inside with her, automatically aiming toward the elevator banks. She started to tell him that she normally took the stairs, but changed her mind when she realized she was far too tired. The doors parted, and she turned to tell Daniel good-night before entering.

“Thank you for— Oh. You're going up with me?”

“Absolutely. It's late. The gentlemanly course of action would be to walk you to your door.” His tone was firm.

She'd been in this elevator with half a dozen people before, yet Daniel seemed to fill the space. There was a larger-than-life quality to him that made her pulse flutter madly. She suddenly regretted ending their kiss so soon. Obviously, they had no future together, but she wished she'd savored the moment longer before it had to end.

“For what it's worth,” she said softly, “I had a nice time. Or, as nice a time as possible, under the circumstances. I credit you for that.”

“I had a nice time, too.” He grinned wryly. “Under the circumstances.”

They walked down the hall, and he waited patiently while she unlocked the apartment door. She paused with her hand on the knob, realizing she'd achieved her goal of making contact with the Barons on Adele's behalf. With that accomplished, they no longer needed Nicole as a go-between. “I don't know if our paths will cross again.”

He opened his mouth, clearly on the verge of saying something, then shook his head. “If I ever want to start up a wind farm, I know who to call.”

Before she could talk herself out of it, she stretched up on tiptoe, hoping he met her halfway. Otherwise, this would get awkward. “Goodbye, Daniel.”

His arms were around her before she finished the words. He gave her a thorough, languorous kiss that made her entire body burn, tracing the seam of her mouth with his tongue and sucking gently at her lower lip. Her earlier thought floated to mind, that he kissed like a man with all the time in the world, but that was a lie. They didn't have time, they had only right now. She'd probably never see him again.

The thought led her to kiss him with increased urgency, tugging him closer to her, imprinting this moment on her memory. When they finally broke apart, her breathing was ragged. And the look he gave her said he was trying his damnedest not to reach for her again.

It seemed pointless to say goodbye again, so she opened the door and stepped inside, knowing it was time for the cowboy to ride away. Granted, he was headed through downtown Dallas, not into a desert sunset, but still...

“How'd it go?” Adele materialized so quickly she must have been listening for the key in the lock. Nicole almost felt guilty for taking the extra time to canoodle in the hallway when her friend was no doubt climbing the walls with curiosity.

“Really well.” Pulse still racing, Nicole shoved aside thoughts of Daniel's kisses and tried to refocus on her purpose today. “Carly's particularly anxious to call you. The girls want to come see you soon.”

“I'll clear my schedule!” Adele's eyes glistened with happy tears. “And Jet? M-my boy?”

“He...” Nicole faltered, recalling how increasingly somber he'd become while she talked about his mother's depression. “He mentioned not wanting to overwhelm you. He thought you and the girls could use some ‘mother-daughter bonding time' first.”

“I see.”

Nicole laid her hand on Adele's shoulder. “He'll come around. Give him time.”

Nodding, Adele smiled sadly. “I owe him that. Frankly, if even one of them forgives me, it's more than I deserve. Thank you so much, dear, for helping me get this far. Now, is there anything I can do for you? Maybe make you a relaxing cup of tea before bed?”

“Thanks, but I'm utterly beat. I'm going to brush my teeth and then collapse.” The words felt true when she said them. She was exhausted.

Yet once she snuggled beneath the sheet and blanket, expecting sleep to claim her, she found herself staring at the ceiling. And thinking in great detail about Daniel Baron.

* * *

“A
RE
YOU
SURE
you want me to be here?” Nicole asked, afraid of intruding on such a personal moment. According to the clock on the microwave, she still had a few minutes to leave the apartment before the Baron sisters arrived for dinner.

“God, yes.” Adele clutched her wrist as if it were a lifeline. “Please don't go. They know you. They
like
you. Maybe you can help us revive conversation if we descend into horribly awkward silence.”

Nicole chuckled. “I've met Carly. I can't imagine too many silences when she's around.” On the whole, Adele's children were a lively bunch. Savannah might be a bit quieter than the others, but she lit up when talking about her store or her husband, Travis.

Adele's smile was bittersweet. “Carly's always been a pistol, even as a toddler.”

When the oven timer buzzed, Adele jumped, underscoring how tautly her nerves were strung.

“Why don't you have a seat?” Nicole instructed. “Your blood pressure's probably in the stratosphere.”

“I'm the one who should be making dinner. You're a pregnant woman who already put in a full day at the office.”

“You did make dinner. The salad's in the fridge, and the rolls are in the basket. All I'm doing is taking your lasagna out of the oven. That doesn't count as heavy lifting.” Nicole suspected the real issue was that Adele wanted to stay busy, but there wasn't much left to do. If Adele kept dashing manically about the kitchen, the salad was going to end up on the floor and the glass pitcher of iced tea would end up in shards.

C'mon, Lizzie.
From what Nicole knew of her organized, businesslike friend, Lizzie was characteristically punctual. Hopefully that would prove true this evening. If the women didn't arrive soon, Adele was going to work herself into a panic. When the knock sounded at the door, Nicole offered up a silent prayer of gratitude.

She gave Adele an encouraging smile but didn't volunteer to answer the door. This was something her friend needed to do on her own. Adele talked about hoping her children could forgive her, but the truth was, Adele hadn't forgiven herself. She needed to face her daughters, face her past and finally move beyond her mistakes.

Nicole watched discreetly from the kitchen as Adele admitted the trio of Barons into the apartment, the first time in decades all four of them had been in the same room. When they were together like this, their subtle physical similarities became more obvious—how Lizzie's intelligent gaze was so like her mother's or how some of Savannah's mannerisms echoed Adele's.

“Th-thank you for coming.” Adele's voice trembled. “I've...missed you all so much.”

“Look at you.” Savannah sniffled, the concern in her voice unmistakable. “So skinny! I should have brought some of my desserts with me.”

“Savannah's quite the cook,” Carly said loyally. “And Lizzie's super on top of things. She—”

“You don't have to sell me on how wonderful they are,” Adele said. “I already know I have the best daughters in Texas, and that I was a fool to leave you.” When tears spilled down her face, Carly and Savannah stepped forward at the same time to hug her. Lizzie hung back a little, but it was clear from her expression that she wasn't unaffected.

Nicole gave them a moment of privacy before stepping out to help greet their dinner guests. She noticed that Lizzie was carrying a large shopping bag.

“I thought I'd show M— Adele the album of Chris and my wedding pictures,” she said. “When I mentioned it, Savannah and Carly both had pictures they wanted to bring, too. And, of course, you don't even want to get me started on baby photos. It's like every second of Natalie's life is cuter than the last, and we're determined to document it all.”

Nicole grinned. “Well, she
is
a beautiful baby. And I for one would love to see the pictures. They'll give me an idea of all the sweet moments I have to look forward to,” she said softly, not sure if Carly and Savannah knew she was expecting. If not, now wasn't the time to tell them. Tonight wasn't about her. “But what if we save the albums until after we eat? The food's hot and ready to serve.”

Dinner conversation was halting, at first. As expected, Carly talked about the plans for her upcoming wedding, but the more she expounded on the Big Day, the guiltier Adele looked. She clearly hated that she hadn't been present for either Lizzie's or Savannah's marriage ceremonies.

“Even though she's still really young for the job,” Carly said, “we're going to let Luke's little girl, Rosie, be the flower girl. Alex is going to escort her to the front pew, where she'll sit with Luke's mom. We're not going to make her stand through the whole thing. Two-year-olds aren't known for their predictability, and Rosie has her moments. But I'm crazy about her. When Luke and I first started dating, I wasn't sure I was cut out for mother—”

She broke off so suddenly that Nicole wondered if she'd become aware of the mounting tension on her own or if one of her sisters had perhaps jabbed her under the table.

Adele stared at her plate. “Some people definitely make better moms than others.”

“I suppose,” Lizzie said, “that, in your own way, you were trying to do right by us when you left. Nicole told us your depression was...really bad.”