Harlequin American Romance November 2014 Box Set: The SEAL's Holiday Babies\The Texan's Christmas\Cowboy for Hire\The Cowboy's Christmas Gift (6 page)

Chapter Six

Ty walked across to the bunkhouse, dead tired and ready to tuck in for the night. After the events of the evening, he couldn't help worrying that he was leaving his little town when it needed him most. The Donovans were definitely up to no good, and they had a pretty firm grip on BC. Jade and Suz and Mackenzie were tough, ready to face up to the Donovans, and they had a lot of community support. But there were still people who would fall in with the Donovans simply because money bought power—and silence.

Jade walked inside the bunkhouse behind him, following him to his room. “Thanks for sticking up for Mom. And our business.”

He hadn't done much. Ty looked at Jade, tossed his hat on the dresser, tugged off his belt. “I didn't do anything anybody else wouldn't have done.”

“You kept the Donovans from completely decimating our business.”

“Maybe. For tonight.” He shook his head. “I've got a bad feeling the haunted house may be damaged for good. All that hard work the Hawthornes, you and your family, the town and my guys put in trying to build BC into something better.” Fury boiled inside him. “The Donovans just don't give up.”

She walked over to him, caressed his cheek. “Ty, there's only so much you can do. We'll be fine here in BC.”

He wished he knew that was true. Jade stood too close, clouding his senses. Ty relaxed into her palm, allowing himself to take the comfort she offered. He was angry for her sake, too. He'd seen the distress on Betty's face—and there was Jade, immediately stepping up to defend her mother. These two women gave constantly of themselves to BC—but they were like tiny acorns standing up to a giant, mighty oak for space. Robert Donovan was too ruthless, and the Harpers very fragile and defenseless.

Ty stepped away from Jade. “The sheriff said it appears the visitor died of a plain old garden-variety heart attack. So this time we have a conclusive cause of death, unlike the first time.” The first death would never be solved, and people had long memories. He supposed that was why he felt so strongly about doing what he could to raise BC from the ground, because he knew what Donovan had done to his adopted father with rumors and scandalmongering.

And now it might be happening again. “I'm running out of ideas to stop Donovan.”

Jade plopped down on his bed. “Look. You've got to think about packing that locker over there,” she said, pointing to where he'd been gathering up everything he needed for training. “You need to think only of your future, and getting into the SEALs. We're going to be fine here, Ty. I promise. We're a pretty resilient group. You know that.”

“Yeah.” He took a long look at Jade, tried not stare at her face, drink her in. She was so optimistic, so spunky. He'd hate to see all that ironed out of her by Donovan. It had happened to his father. Gradually, even resilience could be worn down by continued pounding, like rock worn away by the relentless sea.

Then again, Ty had his own team in place. The thought wasn't exactly heartening, but it was something. “Where are the three musketeers?”

Jade smiled at him, melting his heart. “They're about to rumble with Daisy's gang. I think Frog said they were going to duel—”

“What?” Ty stared at Jade. “Why didn't you tell me sooner?” He crammed his hat back on, grabbed his belt, thrusting it though his belt loops as he hurried to the front door.

She followed him. “I didn't tell you because I knew you'd do this.”

“Do what?” He peered out the window, seeing that the last people had packed up their stands and deserted the Haunted H for the night. Hardly anybody was left on the ranch, and a full moon shone overhead—a perfect night for a full-on squabble between rival factions. “What am I doing?”

“Rushing off to play peacemaker.” Jade dragged him from the window. “They're big boys. They can handle themselves. That's why you brought them here, right? To handle things?”

“I'm not sure why I brought them here anymore.” Ty realized Jade was bent on keeping him away from the fight. “What's really going on?”

“What do you mean?”

She gave him such an innocent look that Ty belatedly realized she'd been sent to waylay him with a little faux seduction. He grinned. She was so charming and darling, thinking she had him right where she wanted him.

Well, if she was going to go to the trouble to seduce him, he might as well show up for her efforts. He pulled her into his arms. “It doesn't matter what the
tres
knuckleheads are up to. I'd rather find out what you're up to.” He kissed her, taking his time with her mouth, enjoying sinking into her soft lips over and over.

The best part was how hungrily Jade kissed him back. Ty's head swam, and momentarily he lost his place in his own plan. “Hey,” he said, pulling back to gaze into her eyes.

“Yes?” Those eyes had nothing but sweet shyness in them, and Ty wanted to surrender completely to her.

“You're supposed to be keeping me busy.”

“I'm doing my best, cowboy.”

That she was. All kinds of attraction was steamrolling him. It was killing him not to let his desire for Jade completely entice him into her scheme.

Her hands roamed across his back, and Ty's heart rate kicked into high gear. Whatever she was hiding, it was something she wanted to keep hidden for sure. She kissed along his jaw, made her way back to his mouth. Ty closed his eyes, hoped he wouldn't black out from denying himself the pleasure of Jade's temptress act.

“Okay, little lady.” He set her away from him. “I'm giving you an A for effort. I'm not the kind of schmo who falls for a few kisses.” He pushed his shirt back into his jeans, since it had worked loose thanks to Jade's clever little hands.

“Yes, you are. You're exactly the kind who falls for a few kisses.”

This was dangerous ground. “Yeah, well, not anymore. Take me to this rumble you're trying to keep me from.”

“No.”

“I'll find it myself.”

She blocked the door with her curvaceous body, flattened like a protective shield to keep him from leaving. “You won't.”

Ty wanted to press Jade up against that door and kiss the daylights out of her, but she was trying so hard to waylay him that he had to see how far she'd take this newfound protectiveness. “I'll want more than a kiss or two if I'm not going to join the fun, cupcake.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Thickheaded, much?”

Ty grinned. “If you can't stand the heat, don't wander into the kitchen. Now lead me to trouble.”

“You're leaving for BUD/S soon. You need to be in good shape, not all busted up from a fight.”

Ty stared at the most kissable mouth in town. “I've played this totally wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“I brought the three doorknobs here to settle the ladies. What I didn't realize was that it was the men in this town who needed settling.” He couldn't get over how sweet she'd felt in his arms. Every man needed that kind of sweetness in his life—then there'd be no rumbling. “Daisy's gang of five creepos. They need women. Then there'll be no fighting, just five happy family men tied down by diapers and wedding rings.”

Jade locked the door, turned the bolt. Stayed right on her marker, not moving an inch.

“You can't stay there forever, sweetheart,” Ty said. “This standoff between you and me is going to end one way or the other. Either I go join the fun, or I pick you up in my big, strong arms and lock you in my room so no one can interrupt what I'm going to do to you.” He couldn't imagine what the ruckus was about, but he could hear shouts and smack talking. Jade looked more worried by the moment, glancing behind her at one particularly loud yell.

For a moment he thought she might relent and allow him to leave. She settled a meaningful gaze on him instead.

“I want a baby.”

Ty stepped back a pace, stunned. “What does that have to do with me?”

“I want you to give me a child.”

He blinked, took in her very serious expression. “That's a pretty good tactic, beautiful. You nearly gave me heart failure. But I'm not falling for it, so move your sweet little buns away from that door. My brothers need me.”

She shook her head. “I want a baby, and you're the man who can help me.”

He smiled, staggered by her charming ploy to keep him in the bunkhouse. “Well, of course I can help you. But as we both know, I'm leaving. I don't have time for romance and nonsense, and I'm not getting married, so—”

“I didn't say I wanted to marry you,” Jade said, annoyed. “You're never coming back to BC, so you're the perfect man for what I need.”

He went to the playbook to save himself. “SEALs are advised to get all their affairs wrapped up and put their private lives at rest—”

“That's fine. You go be a SEAL, and I'll be a mother.” Jade's eyes softened. “Ty, you weren't here for years. You only came home to save BC. You were going to ride in, disperse some Prince Charmings, leave behind some happy newlyweds to blossom into families, thus seeding the town with more BC-friendly citizens, then ride off into the Technicolor sunset.”

He could hear a full-blown rumble erupting around the bunkhouse. “I wish I could help you, but I can't.”

“You can't get me pregnant?”

“Well, sure I could.” Ty was pretty confident he had the right stuff for that, if she was inclined to give him a shot. “I could probably do it in one try,” he boasted.

Jade shook her head. “Please wait a moment while I remind myself that your cockiness is one of the reasons I chose you to be the father of my child.”

He cupped her face with his palm. “You chose me because your ovaries clearly recognize good genes.” He stroked her soft skin, thinking there was nothing he'd rather do than toss her into his bed and make long, slow love to her again. “However, what would Betty think if I knocked up her only daughter and left town?”

“My mother will be delighted to finally have a grandchild.” Jade moved his hand away. “And it's ovary.”

A siren shrieked outside and Ty gazed into Jade's eyes, wondering what was going on that she was so willing to keep him out of it with the intriguing notion of sex and fatherhood. He studied her. “Ovary?”

“That's right. I only have one.”

He pondered this. “So you're looking for a mighty big gun to hit the target.”

She laughed out loud. “To go with your big mouth. Really? You're that cocky?”

He shrugged. “One man's cocky is another man's confidence. Move away from the door, angel face.”

“You're turning me down?”

He scoffed. “Of course I'm turning you down. You're just trying to keep me away from a good old-fashioned brawl. The whole premise of you getting knocked up and me leaving my child here with no father is absurd. Which I think you know.” He leaned in for a kiss, then scooted her away from the door after he'd lingered over her lips. “Nice try, though.”

Jade moved. “You brought your friends here to populate the town. I'll pitch my plan to Sam.”

Ty stopped cold, his hand on the knob, at the word
plan.
Even Jade had a plan—everybody in BC did—and he should have factored that in. Instead, he'd seen her as a sweet, sexy woman he was leaving behind because he had no other choice—nothing could interfere with
his
Plan. “Sam?”

Jade nodded. “He's a wonderful man. You wouldn't have brought him to BC if you didn't know that beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

Ty couldn't deny it, so he didn't bother.

“Besides which, he's not a bad kisser,” Jade teased. “Or so I hear.”

Something hard hit Ty in the gut, the same punch that had hit him the day he'd seen her walking into The Wedding Diner on Sam's arm. “Sam is a great guy.”

“Obviously.”

Ty didn't consider himself a jealous man—he just wasn't. And he wasn't going to be today. “Well, whatever you have to do, sugar,” he said, and headed out the door to find his friends and the trouble they'd cooked up.

He was certain he'd left bigger trouble behind, redheaded trouble looking to give him a surefire coronary. Yet despite Jade's plan, and her sassy little mouth and hot body, there definitely wasn't going to be a baby, at least not from his gene pool.

The little lady was going to have go swimming elsewhere.

Chapter Seven

Jade followed Ty, having stalled him as long as she could. She didn't want him joining the fight, or getting involved with the ongoing trouble brewing in BC. The conflict could go on forever, thanks to the Donovans and their wealth.

Ty needed to leave town. His desire to get into the SEALs was part of who he was; he'd talked about it, prepared his body and spirit for it for years. Part of the reason he'd brought Frog, Sam and Squint here was because he'd gotten to know them on the rodeo circuit, where they'd drifted after their time in the SEALs, still wanting action and to be part of a community, a brotherhood. To be fair, Ty had never wanted to settle in Bridesmaids Creek. Life could be slow here, not the adventure he longed for. Jade understood that—everybody in BC did. They were all rooting for him to go off and achieve his dreams.

In Bridesmaids Creek, achieving your dreams made you a hero, a legend. It wasn't just the men, either—women dreamed as big as the sky, too. Even Daisy had dreams—although they were counterpoint to what was best for BC, at least in Jade's opinion.

Maybe the scuffle was over. Daisy and her gang of five hangers-on faced off against Squint, Frog and Sam just as Justin Morant came over, holding one of his four babies. Mackenzie Hawthorne Morant stood by her husband, pushing a stroller with the other three tucked inside under soft, warm blankets. Jade's mother hovered protectively nearby, doing her best grandmother-in-training routine.

Sheriff Dennis looked crossly at the men eyeing each other, facing off in the light from the barn's kid-friendly haunted-house decorations, pumpkin-shaped globes and a few strings of smiling ghosts mixed among the white, twinkling lights.

“What's going on?” Ty demanded, and Jade hurried up behind him, fully intending to drag him away if any punches were thrown. Under no circumstances was he going to SEAL training messed up from fighting.

“Your band of merry men,” Daisy said, “jumped my guys.”

“We didn't jump them,” Frog said. “We just played a friendly prank.”

“Friendly? How friendly?” Ty demanded.

Daisy's friends glowered at Ty's buddies. Jade could feel hostility oozing from every pore of all the men.
Testosterone,
she thought, disgusted.
There's far too much of it in BC
. And the smell of horse manure was really strong, so strong Jade raised a hand over her nose for a moment.

“Nothing to cause a ruckus over,” Sam said. “Donovan's doing his best to ruin a good thing here. We just want these fellows to know we're keeping an eye on them.”

“How much of an eye?” Ty asked. “What did you do?”

His friends smiled, pleased with themselves.

“We just gave them a small roll in the dirt,” Squint said.

Jade's eyes widened as she realized the smell of manure was coming from Daisy's gang. “Oh, no. You didn't!”

Frog laughed. “We did. And it was awesome!”

That was too much for Daisy's friends. The five men leaped onto Frog, Squint and Sam. Justin handed the baby to Betty and jumped into the fray, and before Jade could get a hand on Ty, he'd thrown himself into the fight. Fists and curses flew.

“Aren't you going to do something?” Jade asked Sheriff Dennis.

“Nope. In fact, I'm heading into the kitchen. Betty had a couple of cinnamon cakes put by for the workers, and that means me.” He went off, whistling.

Jade looked at Mackenzie and Betty. “We have to stop them.”

“They brought it on themselves,” Betty said.

“Mom!” Jade stared at her mother. “You don't condone fighting!”

Betty sighed. “Let's let the fellows sort it out. I'm taking the babies inside before they get cold.”

Jade's mouth fell open. “Mackenzie, Ty's supposed to leave in a few days to try to make it into the SEALs. He came home to save your Hanging H ranch, and your Haunted H business. Tell them to stop fighting!”

Mackenzie, her dearest and best friend going back years and years, shook her head. “Ty isn't going to thank you if you go rushing in there all mother hen.”

That was true. Jade scoffed in resignation. “Why are men so stupid? What is this solving?” It looked as if the men were having the time of their lives, acting like children. “Women should rule the world,” she muttered.

“We do. Quietly.” Betty made sure all the babies were comfortable, and pushed the pram toward the big, lovely old Hawthorne house. “These men have brought BC back from the dead. We're just getting life breathed back into them. If they want to fight, I say let's go warm up some cocoa and cider. And find bandages.”

Jade glanced at Ty, worried. No one seemed to understand the importance of him not getting his clock cleaned right before he left town. What if he broke something, was seriously injured?

This was too stupid—and she hadn't exactly succeeded in her mission of keeping Ty out of this fight once she knew it was going down. He hadn't bought the let's-get-pregnant bombshell she'd tried to waylay him with. She couldn't take the testosterone overload a second longer.

“That's enough!” Jade strode over to Daisy, who was watching and encouraging her guys, clapping when one of them landed a good blow. Jade grabbed her by that fabulous chocolate hair, dragged her to the ground and sat on her. “Make them stop, Daisy. Call them off.”

“No way!”

“Now. Or I cut off your hair. I mean it.”

“You wouldn't!”

“I
would
.” Jade looked up as she realized Mackenzie stood next to her. “Got any scissors?”

“Sure.” Her friend handed her a large pair of shears.

“Why do you have these?” Jade asked, ignoring Daisy as she suddenly squalled something that wasn't very ladylike.

“It wasn't hard to tell where this was going.” Mackenzie laughed. “You had blood in your eye for Daisy. I figured it was either douse her in the creek, dunk her in a horse trough or take scissors to that pretty hair. I came prepared. Besides which, I was working the balloons at one point tonight and I needed scissors to cut the ribbons.”

“Excellent. Call them off, Daisy.” Jade bounced on her to emphasize the words.

“No. The Hawthornes are not the princesses of Bridesmaids Creek. Suz and Mackenzie aren't royalty around here! We're going to buy this dump, and—”

“You never learn.” Jade picked up a good-size handful of chocolate locks and snipped them right next to Daisy's scalp.

The scream her victim let out was bloodcurdling—and so were some of the words she leveled at Jade.

“Call them off!” Jade commanded.

Daisy tried to buck her off, but Jade was too strong, and Mackenzie helped hold her still. “I shouldn't get involved in this. I have four daughters to set an example for,” Mackenzie said. “Cut fast.”

Jade picked up an indiscriminate handful from the back and clipped it off. Daisy was going to look like she'd fallen under a lawn mower.

The scream Daisy unleashed this time was probably heard in the next county. Jade winced, but the men quit fighting, turning to stare at the three women.

“What are you doing, Jade?” Ty demanded.

“Just playing a friendly prank,” she said sweetly. “Nothing to cause a ruckus over.”

“Help me!” Daisy yelled at her friends.

“No,” Jade said, brandishing the pointy scissors. “Not unless you want me to take another, oh, six inches out of Daisy's pride and joy.”

When she was satisfied that no one was going to try to save Daisy, she nodded. “No more fighting tonight. You look ridiculous, every one of you.” She glared at Ty, so he'd know she was including him, even though he looked hot as the dickens all roughed up and tough from battle. But it was the wrong battle. “And you stink to high heaven.”

All the men seemed to finally realize that manure and testosterone was a bad combination. Not women-friendly in the least.

“This isn't going to be settled tonight, but Daisy, you and your father are on the wrong side. One of these days you're going to figure that out.” Jade flexed the scissors in the air with a snicking sound to keep Daisy quiet, and it worked like a charm. “I want you and your gang off this property right now, or I won't be responsible for the buzz cut I'm going to give you. All of you.” She snicked the scissors in the air again. “Got it?”

“Fine,” Daisy said, “but just know I live to fight another day. Probably tomorrow.”

“Fine. Tomorrow I'll have had some sleep, and I'll be ready with something better than scissors. Maybe green hair dye. You'd look good as a lettuce-head, matching that money you're always bragging about. Or maybe a bleached blonde.”

“Witch,”
Daisy spit, leaping to her feet when Jade let her up. “You won't win. You're the one on the wrong side. You have no man, Jade Harper, and no hope of one. You'll live and die in this town a spinster, or marry nothing more than a farmer.”

Jade smiled. “Frankly, I'd be proud to marry a farmer. That might not be big enough for you, but the farming, small-town life suits me fine, Daisy. It's the reason you've never really fitted in here after all these years—you and your father are trying to change us into something we're not. The grand Donovan vision.”

She handed the scissors back to Mackenzie. Satisfied that the brawl was over and no one was going to be seriously injured for the night—and annoyed as heck with Ty for getting involved when he knew very well he shouldn't—she walked toward her truck. She'd seen blood on his face and his lip was split open—that mouth that had kissed her not too long ago, kissed her senseless—and her temper simmered at the stupidity of it all.

It was time to go home—before she let fly all over that rugged cowboy.

“Hang on,” Ty said, looking as if he was about to hop into the passenger side before she could even turn the key in the ignition. “I want to talk to you about this having-a-baby and marrying-a-farmer business.”

Jade shook her head. “I'm done talking. Don't you even dream of getting into my truck after you've been rolling in horse crap. I tried to save you, but no. You had to go all Rambo.”

“Oh, no, little lady. You're going to patch me up.”

She was too steamed to pay attention to his plea for attention. “You're fine, barely scratched. Go home.”

He grinned. “You tried to save me from myself, and I'm ready to express my gratitude.”

* * *

T
Y
WASN
'
T
LETTING
Jade leave without him. He wasn't about to let his fiery little friend get away, so he talked her into hanging around while he took first a hose-off in the barn, then a shower in the bunkhouse, and finally hauled ass into her truck before she could change her mind. When he'd seen her straddling Daisy like a too-tight saddle, snipping off chunks of her hair, he'd nearly had heart failure. No man ever envisioned a full-on catfight without getting a little chuckle out of it, but Jade hadn't been messing around and he hadn't laughed.

No—he'd realized he was totally, irretrievably falling for her. She'd been trying to defend him, and Bridesmaids Creek, and why he'd never realized she was such a devoted heroine, he didn't know. What he did know was that everything had changed tonight. Just sitting in the truck with her as she drove toward her house had his heart hammering and his jeans way too tight in a certain area.

Jade Harper was the woman of his heart.

“So I've been considering your offer—” he began.

“Rescinded,” she interrupted.

“Not so fast,” he said, his tone soothing. “We need to get back to the single-ovary issue. I believe I'm your man.”

She shook her head, visibly aggravated with him. “You are not my man.”

“Well, you certainly don't want a farmer.”

“I would want a farmer, if he understood hearth and home, and that fighting never solves anything.”

“Says the woman who just gave Daisy Donovan the haircut from hell.”

“She needed that,” Jade said. “She's had that coming for years.”

He wanted to laugh, but held back to keep himself out of trouble. “Let's talk about that baby you want. Or was that just a ploy to keep me from the fight?”

She turned into the drive of the small farmhouse where she and Betty lived. “It was a ploy, and I do want a baby.”

“So the offer's still open.”

“No. It's not.” She got out of the truck. “You know what? This is so not a good idea. You can walk back, since I didn't invite you into my truck in the first place.”

He swooped her up, deposited her in the porch swing and sat down beside her. “Not until we finish the discussion you started earlier.”

“It's late.” Jade scowled at him, her expression clearly visible in the soft lights that decorated the wraparound porch.

“There's an important rule about never going to bed mad,” Ty said, reaching out to twine a strand of her hair around his finger. It was so soft, and she was so soft. He was dying to hold her again.

“I'm fine with going to bed mad. I just want to go to bed.” Jade removed his hand from her hair. “Go away.”

“I'll be completely out of your hair in just a few days,” Ty said. “Let's stay friends.”

“Ty, you don't understand. We're sort of friends, the way we always were because we're both from here. But you need to go, and I need to stay.” She looked sad. “Wherever you go, you'll find trouble, I have no doubt of that.”

She went inside, abandoning him. Ty thought he'd utterly struck out until the door opened again and she came out with a damp cloth.

“Wipe your mouth,” she said, “I don't want you bleeding all over the porch. It's been freshly painted.”

It had been; he could smell the paint, and the whiteness gleamed in the moonlight and lamplight. Garlands of pine twined around every banister, decorated with red ribbons. A big wreath hung on the door, very festive in the chilly weather. He dabbed at his mouth where it felt as if he'd split it again from grinning at Jade, and she sighed, reaching out to take the cloth from him, pressing it against the spot where he'd taken a slight punch earlier. Strangely, it didn't seem to hurt as much now that Jade was ministering to him.