The Cowboy Earns a Bride (Cowboys of Chance Creek Book 8) (3 page)

“Hush, Jake.” Lisa turned to Luke. “Then Mia’s smarter than I gave her credit for. It doesn’t do to give away the milk for free—”

“Mom!”

“Slap a ring on her finger and she’ll put out soon enough,” Holt declared.

Lisa dropped her fork on her plate. “Is that why you married me, you old coot? So I’d put out?”

“I thought that’s why you married me,” Holt countered.

Everyone laughed, and Luke knew his parents’ spat was over as quickly as it had begun.

“I bet Mia’s blowing you off because of your truck. What woman in her right mind wants to ride around in that old thing?” Jake said.

“It’s not his truck, it’s his hat,” Ned said. “He’s worn the same one since fourth grade.”

“It’s the fact he hasn’t taken her out to a single restaurant,” Rob said. “Luke, face it—women don’t marry cheapskates.”

“Yeah, you’re lucky we’ll still be seen with you.”

Luke rolled his eyes at their teasing, but some of the barbs hit home. He had a reputation for being cheap because he was often broke. And while that was partly his own fault—he liked a night out at the Dancing Boot as well as the next guy—it was more a result of helping Amanda Stone.

If he was smart, he’d let someone else know about the old woman’s problem, but he knew what would happen next. Amanda’s house and possessions would be liquidated and she’d be put in one of the state-run homes for the elderly. It was a smart solution—the right solution—but Amanda Stone was terrified of old-age homes. She’d broken down and told him about her fears one day five years ago—the day he’d found her shivering in her house. It turned out her grandmother had been institutionalized with Alzheimer’s and Amanda had been the one to discover the systemic neglect she’d suffered. She was terrified it would happen to her, too. She’d sworn him to secrecy and he’d promised not to tell anyone about her difficulties in maintaining her home. At first it hadn’t been hard to help her keep it up and cover a few of her costs, but now he was in over his head.

His father spoke up again. “I gave your brothers deadlines to speed things along.”

“Won’t work with me,” Luke said, coming out of his reverie. “I’m not the one holding up the proceedings. Mia is. Beside, you won’t kick me off the ranch. I’m the only extra pair of hands you’ve got left.” It was true; Jake and Rob were too busy with their own ventures to do more than help out now and then with some of the chores, and Ned was still recovering from breaking his leg last month. That left Luke and Holt to pick up the slack.

“I’ll think of something.”

Lisa sighed. “You know what, old man? I think you’ll just mind your own business for once.”

“I will, will I?”

“Yes, you will. Because I’m going to set the deadline this time. Luke, you’ve got six months to convince that girl to marry you, or I’ll help her move along. No, don’t worry—I won’t be rude. There’s no sense in either of you keeping the other from meeting your true love, if you aren’t meant to be together. Meanwhile, your father won’t say one word about marriage during that time.” She held up a hand when Holt began to sputter. “Not one word, or you’ll take me to France. That’s the deal. Keep quiet and we’ll celebrate our thirty-fifth anniversary on the ranch. Speak your mind and we’ll go to Paris.” She beamed. “My money’s on Paris.”

“My money’s on me finding another place to live,” Luke growled, pushing back from the table. “You can’t kick Mia out of my house if I want her there. Besides, I don’t see what the hurry is.”

Lisa became serious. “I think you will all too soon.”

‡
Chapter Two

M
ia sat on
her bed in the room she was renting in Luke’s cabin and stared at the cashier’s check Ellis had given her, unable to make herself go have breakfast with everyone else at Luke’s parents’ house. Between the check and Inez’s revelation, she couldn’t form a coherent thought, let alone take part in a family gathering.

Inez wanted her to send a letter to the committee that oversaw the region’s beauty pageants and tell them what Fred Warner had done to her all those years ago. Inez meant to write to them too and follow up her letter with phone calls until they were taken seriously. It might be too late to prosecute Warner—Inez was looking into that, too—but maybe they could get him barred from judging pageants.

Mia had promised Inez she would think about it, but right now she had more a more pressing matter on her mind. As soon as she deposited Ellis’s check, she needed to tell Luke about her condition, and before she could do that, she needed to move into her own apartment. Luke would be angry at her when he heard the news. She needed somewhere else to go.

Last November when she left her parents’ home, she’d first rented a room at the Cruz ranch guesthouse, run by her close friends Autumn and Ethan Cruz. The guest ranch had opened to the public only last summer, and as winter began they’d lacked the customers they needed to keep paying their bills. Autumn had welcomed Mia and two other single women—Hannah Chatham and Fila Sahar—to rent rooms on a monthly basis. Mia had loved it there until an unexpected houseful of paying guests descended for the month of December. Autumn and Ethan needed all the rooms back then, so all three women moved out—each to one of the cabins on the Double-Bar-K. Mia had ended up with Luke, which was great. She fallen for him hook, line and sinker.

And Luke wanted to be with her. He made that clear every day. She couldn’t be with him, though. Not when she was nearly four months pregnant with another man’s child.

She’d promised herself she wouldn’t be the kind of single mother who dated a string of men and turned her child’s life upside down each time it didn’t work out. From here on in, she’d have to proceed slowly, and she wouldn’t let a man into her life she didn’t think could go the distance.

Mia placed Ellis’s check on the bed. She’d fallen hard for Luke. It wasn’t his broad shoulders, or six-pack abs, or the glint in his eye when she caught him looking at her.

It was his laugh.

Luke wasn’t an outgoing man. He was your typical strong, silent cowboy, which sometimes drove Mia around the bend, but when he laughed he gave in to it, and that joyful, masculine sound twisted Mia’s innards into knots of longing. She’d never thought such a simple thing could make her want to rip her clothes off, but there it was. She’d never tell him that though; the man would simply laugh her right into bed.

Mia fell back on the mattress with a thump. Sex was what got her into this mess, so she shouldn’t be daydreaming of making love to Luke—yet daydreaming about Luke’s hands on her body got her through a lot of difficult hours. It could never happen in real life. She’d slipped once and she wouldn’t slip again, but—oh, God—she wanted to. She wanted Luke on top of her. She wanted to wrap her legs around his waist. She wanted to kiss the underside of his chin, just where she knew it would drive him wild.…

A slam of the front door told her Luke had finished his earliest chores and had stopped at home to say good-morning before heading out again. She was constantly in awe of how hard the men worked on this ranch, especially Luke now that all his brothers were busy with their own concerns. The Double-Bar-K employed ranch hands that came in from town every day, but Luke still labored from before sunrise to after sunset—physical work, too. His body was hard and muscular from all that work, taut and enticing. If only she was marrying Luke today.

Mia jumped up. She had to get ready for the wedding. She had to stop thinking about him like that. She had to stop thinking about him at all. Soon she wouldn’t be able to hide the evidence of her pregnancy anymore and she had no illusions about what Luke’s reaction would be when he noticed her belly bump. Disgust pure and simple—that she’d slept with a married man, that she’d lied by omission about being pregnant, that she’d allowed him to think she was available.

Of course, she was available, but even if Luke truly cared for her, that didn’t mean he’d welcome another man’s child into his life. If he couldn’t do that, she couldn’t be with him. It was that simple.

She shoved the check into the top drawer of her dresser and examined her appearance in the mirror. Hair, eyes, cheeks, lips, clothing, posture and expression. Check, check, check, check, check, check, check. She never could see her reflection without falling back into beauty pageant mode, running through her checklist so that her exterior was perfect before she stepped outside. Some lessons you never forgot.

If only Luke knew what it cost her to keep her distance, maybe he’d have some sympathy. She smoothed her hand over her belly and turned sideways to see her profile. Her belly swelled slightly, but she was sure no one else would notice it. Not yet. If Luke only knew how much she loved the child growing within her, would he choose to love him too?

Twice in the last month she’d actually seen Luke fuss over a baby in public. Once he even consented to hold one. The sight of the little mite in Luke’s big, strong hands, its sweet face nestled against Luke’s wide shoulder almost brought Mia to her knees.

She wanted him to hold her baby. To love it.

To love her.

She wanted it so bad.

Her thoughts broke off when she heard Luke’s steps on the stairs. She wasn’t usually in her room at this time. Usually she was almost ready to head to work, but this wasn’t a normal day. He hesitated outside her closed door. She heard a clink and a quiet thump, then he moved to his own room. His door shut with a click and a minute later his en suite shower started.

As soon as the coast was clear, she opened her door and discovered a cut glass vase full of a dozen pink roses. Beside it sat a generous box of Ghirardelli chocolates and a small gift-wrapped box. She scooped the presents up, put the flowers on her dresser, sat back on her unmade bed and opened the box of chocolates. Biting into the rich, satisfying sweetness of a raspberry truffle, she heaved a sigh and unwrapped the box. The pretty bracelet that lay inside brought tears to her eyes.

She brushed them away impatiently. Luke might think he wanted her to be his Valentine, but it could never be.

She tried the bracelet on, considered it, and took it off again. If she wore it now, it would be too hard to part with when she left, and she knew she had to leave. She set the box on her dresser beside the roses. When Luke found out about her baby, he’d surely want it back.

It was definitely time for her to move on. Tomorrow she’d deposit the check in the bank and start hunting for an apartment. The minute she found one she’d confess everything to Luke.

Today she wouldn’t have time for any of that.

Today she needed to concentrate on Fila. Her friend deserved her fairy tale wedding. Mia had no doubt Fila and Ned’s marriage would go the distance because they’d been through so much together already.

As she finished her truffle and went to fetch her dress, Mia bit her lip. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, wasn’t that how the saying went?

Her shoulders slumped. It didn’t get much more accurate than that.

Luke hurried through
his shower and dressed quickly. He needed to get back to his parents’ house to help set up for the wedding. At least the location was convenient—no rushing around town today. The tables, chairs, and extra place settings for the dinner would be delivered any moment.

He banged his shin on his bedpost and cursed under his breath. He needed to pull himself together if he was going to be of any use to anyone—but he couldn’t help it. He was distracted.

He still hadn’t seen Mia so far this morning, and he was starting to second-guess the gifts he’d bought her. Flowers, chocolates and jewelry weren’t very original, but he’d noticed that Mia loved flowers, and she always wore jewelry, and who didn’t like chocolate? Still, it bugged him that he didn’t know Mia better—well enough to know for sure what she’d like. Despite living with her for more than two months, he sometimes felt he hardly knew her at all. She had a way of shutting down conversations whenever he came close to teasing out what made her tick. He should have been put off. Instead, he was only attracted to her more.

Mia Start was every man’s dream. There was something about her that caught the eye and wouldn’t let go, and it wasn’t just him—he’d seen everyone from teenage boys in the hardware store to men older than his father on the street follow Mia with their gaze. Every flip of her long, straight-as-nails, thick, dark ponytail drew men like flies. She was petite, but curvy, her breasts something to behold even under the old baseball T-shirt she wore when she cleaned house. Her hips widened out from her tiny waist and her ass filled a pair of jeans to perfection, begging to be touched. Her pouty red lips were made for kissing. Every time Mia was around, his body responded to her. Hell, most times she wasn’t around he had to force himself to stop thinking about her. When she’d agreed to move into his place in December, he thought he’d had it made.

He’d thought wrong. One stupid comment from him early on had soured any chance he had to convince her to date him. It was one of those things you said when you weren’t thinking. Jake and Hannah had been feeling their way toward marriage at the time, trying to reconcile their different visions of life. When they slipped up and faced a possible pregnancy, it made things even more complicated, and when it turned out there was no baby, Luke had thought it might be a relief—one problem off their plates, so to speak.