The Tycoon's Tots (10 page)

Closing his eyes, Wyatt pressed his cheek against the top of her head. “Your inability to have children has nothing to do with your womanhood. You're the sexiest woman I've ever known.”

Sniffing, she shook her head. “That isn't enough for most men.”

“Is that what this Richard told you?”

“More or less.” She lifted teary green eyes to his. “You see, at the time we were dating he was acquiring a degree in political science. He had dreams of running for a state office and eventually for governor of New Mexico. And, of course, the correct image for a politician is a wife and children.”

“You could have adopted,” Wyatt reasoned.

Her laugh was laced with acid. “That wasn't what Richard wanted for himself. And who could blame him?”

Wyatt could. But deep down he was damn glad the bastard had been too selfishly absorbed with his own career to realize what he was losing in Chloe.

“You know what I think, Chloe? I think you made a lucky escape. You would have had a miserable life with a politician. Especially one who didn't love you. And he didn't, you know.”

He was right. But no matter how you reasoned rejection, it was still a bitter pill to swallow. “Don't tell me it
wouldn't matter to you that a woman you wanted to marry couldn't have children, Wyatt. We both would know you'd be lying.”

“I'm not going to tell you it wouldn't matter. Of course it would. Most people do want children of their own. But I wouldn't give up a woman I loved just because she couldn't get pregnant. There's more to a marriage than just having kids. At least, I think there is.”

“Are you saying this to make me feel better about myself, or to make me see reason about you taking the twins?”

Dear God, he'd been so caught up in his feelings for Chloe, he'd forgotten about the twins. How could he think about taking them to Houston now? How could he think about going himself?

“I'm…I don't want to talk about the twins tonight, Chloe. This is just about you and me.”

He was still on that? After all she'd told him? “There is no me and you, Wyatt. There never could be.”

His features grew soft as his eyes glided over her precious face. “How can you be so sure of that?” he asked huskily.

“You're Belinda Waller's brother,” she said, but deep inside, Chloe knew that no longer meant anything.

“And you're Tomas Murdock's daughter. But neither one of us can help that.”

“Maybe we can't help it,” Chloe said, “but we can't forget it, either.”

The breaking point for Wyatt had finally come. “Maybe not,” he said gruffly, “but can you forget this?”

Chloe saw his face drawing down to hers, yet she couldn't move her head, or pull away. She was like a piece of steel clinging helplessly to a magnet.

“Wyatt,” she breathed in protest, then sighed as his lips settled over hers.

She'd wanted this man all week and all week she'd resisted
letting him know. But tonight her will to keep him at bay had broken. She'd told him she was barren, yet here he was holding her, kissing her as though she was all he would ever want. The idea left her as giddy as the drugging taste of his lips.

“Chloe, who we are or what we are doesn't matter. This is all that matters.”

Her body in total agreement, she clutched his shoulders and her head fell back as he planted a row of kisses down her neck, then lower to where her sweater veed at the valley between her breasts.

A firestorm was ripping through Wyatt, blanking his mind of everything except the need to have her. Making short work of the buttons on her sweater, he quickly shoved it off her shoulders and down her arms.

Her breasts were encased in bright red lace. The sensual color was an intoxicating sight against her white skin and he groaned as he dipped his head and suckled first one nipple and then the other.

The thin barrier of lace did little to dull the sweet, soft taste of her. Like a drink of straight bourbon, it shot to Wyatt's head, fuzzed his thinking and filled him with heat

Clutching her bottom with both hands he pulled her hips tight against the ache of his arousal and Chloe moaned at the onslaught of sensations rushing through her. She'd never wanted any man like this. She hadn't known she could want a man this badly.

Bending, Wyatt slipped an arm beneath the back of her knees and carried her to a small sofa at one end of the room and gently deposited her on the cushions. Then lying down beside her, he took her in his arms and ravaged her mouth with another hungry kiss.

Wave after wave of desire washed over Chloe, urging her to press her body against the hard length of his, spread her fingers against the back of his scalp and hold his mouth fast to hers.

Not until they were both starving for air did the kiss end, but as far as Wyatt was concerned his thirst for her hadn't nearly been quenched.

“I've never wanted any woman like this, Chloe,” he murmured against her ear. “I don't understand it, but you've done something to me.”

Wyatt had done something to her, too, Chloe thought with sudden clarity. He'd given her a glimpse of all that she'd been missing in her life, all the things she would miss in the future without a husband to love her, fulfill her, to simply be a part of her.

As Wyatt's hand slipped up the warm curve of her thigh, Chloe wanted nothing more than to make love to him. But where would that leave her? What would it mean, if anything, after the flame between them had cooled? He was going back to Houston, and she had a ranch to run. And the twins. Dear Lord, even in this moment of passion she couldn't forget them.

Her hands bracketing both sides of his face, she lifted his head and looked at him with pleading eyes. “Wyatt, we have to stop,” she whispered. “Don't make me want you like this. I can't—”

She stopped as tears began to slip from the corners of her eyes and roll down her cheeks. Her anguish tore a hole right through his heart and Wyatt knew in that moment he could never do anything to hurt Chloe. He wanted to protect her, cherish her, make sure she never cried another tear. But how would he ever be able to convince her of that?

“Chloe, I thought this was what you wanted.”

She moaned with sheer hopelessness. “Dammit, Wyatt, I do want it. That's what makes it…” A sob clogged her throat, and she jumped to her feet before he could stop her. “That's what makes it so awful.”

Sobbing, she whirled and ran from the room. Wyatt stared after her, his body aching, his thoughts whirling.
His first impulse was to go after her, but then he heard the door to her bedroom slam shut and knew there would be no reasoning with her tonight.

He would have to begin all over again tomorrow, he decided, and hope that she would soon grow to trust him.

By the next morning the weather had taken a bitter turn. Rain blew in from the north drenching the ranch and making it impossible for Chloe to gallop any of her horses.

When Rose arrived at nine, Chloe was sitting on a wooden keg outside the tack room door. Her gloved hands were cradling a thermos cup of coffee and her nose and cheeks were red from the cold.

“What a morning!” Rose exclaimed. She took off her yellow slicker, gave it a hard shake, then pulled it back over her heavy work clothes. “I nearly didn't make it over the river. The water is almost over the bridge. And to think a few months ago everything around here was dying from lack of rain.”

“Do you want some coffee?” Chloe offered her sister. “There's plenty more where this came from.”

“No. I just stopped by a minute to see you before I went on up to the cattle barn.”

She eased down on an overturned feed bucket leaning against the wall. Water was still running in rivulets from her slicker and hat, and her boots looked as though she'd just waded across the Hondo River. But there was a smile on her face, and her cheerfulness almost made Chloe ashamed of her own gloomy mood.

“Well, the rain has put a damper on my work,” Chloe said. “But I guess it'll give me a chance to clean out the rest of the stalls this morning.”

Rose's gaze slipped over Chloe's shadowed face. “You look exhausted. Didn't you get any rest last night?”

Rest? How did a person rest once they'd had a fire built
inside them? Chloe wondered. Aloud, she said, “Not much.”

Rose pulled out a handkerchief and mopped her wet face. “You were awfully quiet last night. Are you still worrying about Wyatt?”

Chloe's eyes narrowed at her sister. “What do you mean?”

Rose made an impatient swipe through the air with her hand. “You know what I mean. About his taking the twins. Why else would you be worrying about him?”

Chloe opened her mouth, closed it, then decided Rose was the most understanding, open-minded one of the whole family. If she could talk to anyone, it was Rose.

With a grimace on her face, Chloe said, “I guess you haven't noticed there's, uh…friction between us.”

Rose's brows lifted. “Friction? I thought you were glad he was helping you out.”

“I was. I am. I mean, oh, dammit, Rose, Wyatt says he thinks he's in love with me.”

Her expression barely flickering, Rose continued to study her sister. “And how do you feel about him?”

Chloe groaned. “Does that really matter? Surely you can see the absurdity of it?”

“There's nothing absurd about two people loving each other. Believe me, Chloe, now that I have Harlan I can tell you how precious love is.”

Chloe glanced away from her sister as pain filled her chest. Rose was so very happy now. And Justine was blooming with child. There was no sense in denying she wanted what her sisters had. But she wasn't fool enough to expect to find it with Wyatt.

“I didn't say I loved Wyatt.”

“No. You didn't. But I can see you're in agony and nothing can put a look like that on a woman's face except loving a man when she doesn't want to.”

Trying her best to appear impassive, Chloe tossed away
the last of her coffee and tightened the lid back on the thermos. “I've only known Wyatt for a couple of weeks. How could I be in love with him?”

Rose chuckled knowingly. “I think I fell in love with Harlan the first night I talked to him. It just took me awhile to realize it.”

Chloe let out a long breath. “Wyatt isn't like us, Rose. He lives in a condominium in Houston, for goodness sake. He deals in oil like Daddy used to deal in livestock.”

A lopsided smile touched Rose's face. “Maybe that's why you love him. Because he's a little like Daddy.”

“No!” Chloe frowned at her. “He's nothing like him. He's not a rancher. He's an oilman.”

“So he is. But he's got the same drive and ambition. And the same fairness, I think. Otherwise, he would have already taken you to court over the twins.”

Chloe speared a hand through her auburn hair. “The twins. That's another thing. Who's to say he isn't trying to get to me to clear his way to the twins?”

“He didn't have to tell you he loved you,” Rose reasoned.

Chloe got to her feet. “No. But you and I both know that some men will spout anything just to get what they want. And I've got to remember that Wyatt came here for the twins. And it's most likely the twins he's still after.”

Rose got to her feet and fished a pair of dry leather gloves from her slicker pocket. As she pulled them on she said, “Chloe, you've grown so bitter it scares me.”

A spurt of anger shot through Chloe. “Hellfire, Rose, don't you think I have a right to be?”

Rose stepped over to her sister and laid her hand gently alongside Chloe's cheek.

“You also have a right to be happy, sis. Please think about that.”

Happy?
She was falling in love with a man she could
never have. A man who had the power to take away all she'd ever wanted in life. That didn't sound like happiness to her. It was pure hell.

“W
yatt, darling, I really think I ought to send a psychiatrist, or at least a therapist out there to check on you. You've definitely slipped a cog or two. Have you forgotten you have a job, an oil company to run back in Houston?”

Wyatt frowned at Sandra's inane question. “I know perfectly well what I have in Houston. I have capable people working for me. And if I'm needed all they have to do is pick up the phone to get me.”

“Well, I'm not so sure I'd like being that dispensable. Besides, what in the world were you thinking agreeing to be a baby-sitter and cook for those people? It's incredible! Don't you remember you went there to
get
the twins? Not to be their nanny! I thought you'd already be back home with them by now.”

Wyatt had planned to be away from here sooner, too. But things had changed since he'd come to New Mexico. A lot of things. “I know, Sandra. But Chloe was in a bad spot with her aunt being down for a while. And I felt it was the decent thing for me to do.”

“Decent? Your sister wanted you to get her babies. Apparently
she didn't think the Murdocks were fit to raise them.”

Wyatt cringed and closed his eyes. “My sister was not altogether sane when she wrote that letter, Sandra.”

He could hear her sharply indrawn breath. “Wyatt! That's an awful thing to say. I thought you loved Belinda.”

Wyatt drummed his fingers against the desktop. He'd always been able to talk to Sandra before about things. She was a good listener and looked at things realistically. Or so he'd thought. Now he felt like a fool or a masochist for even calling her. And if he hadn't been so damn torn over Chloe, he wouldn't have.

“I did love her, Sandra. Very much. But that doesn't mean I'm blind to her faults. Since I've come here I've found out she was…in far more trouble than I could have imagined. And as for the Murdocks, the only one of them she knew was Tomas. So she could hardly know if they were fit to raise the twins.”

As he waited for her to reply, he could hear Mozart on the CD player in her living room. Sandra only listened to the classics. But so did he, now. The only music on the Bar M was a radio in the kitchen and the nearest radio station that could be picked up without too much static played pure classics. George Jones, Hank Thompson, Carl Smith. He was even becoming addicted to Patsy Cline.

“Okay, so your sister was having some problems. That doesn't mean you owe the Murdocks your help or anything else. I think that high mountain air is starving your brain for oxygen. You can't think straight.”

As far as Wyatt was concerned he was thinking more clearly than he ever had and seeing things he'd never taken the time to see before.

“I know what I'm doing,” he said while rubbing a finger over his furrowed brow.

Sandra's shrill laugh was full of disbelief. “Just what
are you doing, Wyatt? Learning how to be a ‘daddy,' or letting these people use you?”

Suddenly the image of Chloe, the babies and the rest of her family laughing and talking around the fireplace filled Wyatt's head. Yes, he'd been used before. And maybe he was setting himself up to be taken. But he was beginning to see that being rich didn't necessarily mean having money. Sandra wouldn't understand that. But Wyatt did. Now.

“Maybe. And maybe I'm just learning how to be a human being.”

“Wyatt—” she began to scold only to have Wyatt cut her off.

“I've got to go, Sandra. Anna's crying.”

On the way to the nursery, he met Chloe in the hallway. Anna was cuddled in her arms. The baby was cooing happily and tugging on a strand of Chloe's hair.

“What are you doing coming back to the house this early?” he asked, glancing at his wristwatch. “It's only ten.”

“Rose sent me after more coffee.”

She walked past him toward the kitchen. Wyatt followed, his eyes on her curvy little bottom encased in faded denim and outlined with a pair of worn leather chaps. Her boots were muddy and her hair was damp. She smelled like wind and rain and he longed to take her in his arms and kiss the cold from her face.

“I didn't hear you come in. I was on the telephone.”

She put Anna in a high chair and gave her a rubber teething ring.

“Distributing oil and gas already this morning?”

Since he'd been staying here on the ranch, she'd rarely asked him about his job. It surprised Wyatt that she did now.

“No. Talking to a friend.”

She went to the cabinet and began putting on a fresh pot of coffee. Wyatt went over and took hold of her arm.

“What are you doing?” she asked sharply, her senses on instant alert.

“I want you to sit down while I make the coffee.”

“Oh,” she murmured, her face flushing with embarrassment. She knew it was crazy of her to be leery of his every move, but after tasting the heat of his ardor last night, she knew how quickly passion could flare between them. She couldn't let it happen again. Next time she might not have enough willpower to resist him.

She settled into a chair at the end of the table and watched him as he measured coffee grounds and water. “I suppose you're missing all your friends back in Houston.”

He thought about her assumption as he flipped the switch on the coffeemaker and walked over to her. “I don't really have that many friends. Or at least friends as you would call them. There're a few co-workers I'm close to. But only at work. I guess I haven't taken the time to do a lot of socializing.”

“Socializing isn't the same as being with friends,” she told him.

He grinned and the sight of his white teeth and crinkled eyes filled her with uncommon heat. She didn't know why he looked so good to her. He wasn't exactly a beautiful man. And he certainly wasn't the cowboy type she usually associated with. But damned if he wasn't the sexiest male she'd ever been around with his black hair, dark skin and cloud gray eyes. And the way he kissed her was sinful and scary and she didn't know how she was going to be able to keep on living here with him and keep her wits about her.

“I know what you mean,” he said. “While my Dad was still living he used to throw lots of parties for fellow businessmen. I never got so sick of mixing and mingling and saying nice things just because it was the profitable thing to do. Now the guys out on the rigs who I called my friends were a different matter. I could and did say anything
to them.” His grin turned lopsided and a bit wistful. “I guess I sort of miss those old days when I was still working out in the field. And Dad was still around.”

Up until now, Wyatt hadn't mentioned his father or his personal life all that much. She figured there was still a part of him that blamed the Murdocks for his sister's death and Chloe was the last person he wanted to share himself with. Yet there was so much she longed to know about him.

“What exactly happened to your father, Wyatt? Did he die suddenly?”

Glancing at the coffeemaker he saw the carafe was full. Walking over to the cabinet, he took the lid off the empty thermos, then filled it with the hot brew.

“My father had flown out to an offshore drilling rig in a helicopter and was trying to get back to the mainland when an unexpected storm blew in. He and the pilot were both killed in the crash. He was only fifty-three when it happened.”

There wasn't much to read on his face as he carried the thermos to her, but she'd heard the loss in his voice and it touched her more deeply than she cared to admit. “Did you—were you close to him?”

She took the thermos from him but didn't hurry to her feet.

He said, “When you talk about having friends, Chloe, I guess my father was the best friend I ever had.”

Her eyes shadowed with lingering grief, she nodded. “My father was the best friend I ever had, too. Justine and Rose loved Daddy, but I was the one closest to him.” Sighing, she rose slowly to her feet. “You know, of all the problems we've had here on the ranch, none of them compare to losing him. “I…don't think I'll ever stop missing him.”

Wyatt gently touched her cheek. “No. You won't ever
stop missing him completely. But the pain of it will get better with time. Believe me.”

The fact that he was trying to comfort her, even in this small way, went straight to Chloe's heart. Since he'd first come here, she tried to convince herself he was a materialistic man without much compassion for anyone. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he could be falling in love with her. The idea left her trembling inside.

Glancing over at Anna, she murmured in a husky voice, “Some people might think I'm crazy, but I thank God everyday for letting Daddy have the twins. He's a part of them and I cherish that.” Clearing her throat, she looked at him and added, “But I suppose you look at them and see Belinda.”

Funny, but he didn't. Maybe that was because the babies looked so much like Chloe and her sisters and nothing like Belinda. Or maybe he'd just never been close enough to Belinda to feel a spiritual connection with her and the twins.

“When I look at the twins I see you, Chloe.”

The simple words shook her to the very core of her being. “Are you being…honest with me?”

He inclined his head toward Anna. “Look at that baby.”

Chloe grimaced. “I'm not talking about physical appearance.”

He shook his head. “I'm not either. True, I came here because of Belinda and because she wanted me to get the twins. But now that I've gotten to know them I…don't see my sister. God help her now. I see you. And me.” She sucked in a breath as he took a gentle hold on her shoulders. “I happen to think the twins need a mother and a father.”

Everything inside her went stock-still. Did he mean him and her? Raising the twins together? No! It would never work. She couldn't deal with that idea at all!

Clutching the thermos, she pulled away from him and
started out of the room. “I…uh…Rose is waiting on me, and I've got lots to do.” Pausing at the door, she forced herself to glance over her shoulder at him. He was watching her intently and the close scrutiny of his gray eyes set her pulse to pounding. “I'm going to try to be back in early for lunch. I need to drive in to Ruidoso and do some…banking business.”

In other words, she needed money, Wyatt thought. “I'll go with you.”

She shook her head. “A bank is no place for two babies. You'll be chasing them all over the lobby. Besides, there's nothing you can do.”

“I don't know about that. I usually have quite a bit of influence on bankers. Especially with loan officers.”

Her brows shot upward. “How do you know I'm not going there to make a deposit?”

He didn't want to be flip. Not when he knew she was consumed with worry over the ranch's welfare. But to help her in any way, he had to be honest. “Where would you have gotten anything around here to deposit? As far as I know you and Rose haven't sold any livestock.”

He was too observant for his own good, Chloe thought with frustration. “We could. If we…had to.”

“I understand that. I'm just asking where you got any money to make a deposit.”

Stamping her foot, she glared at him. “Dammit, Wyatt. This is none of your business.”

He quickly went over to her and took the thermos from her hands. “I'm going down to the barn and get Rose. She can watch the twins while you and I drive into the bank in Ruidoso.”

“She has work to do!” Chloe exclaimed.

“You can help her with it later. Now go.” He nudged her in the direction of the hallway. “If you hurry we can get there before lunchtime.”

* * *

Thirty minutes later they were on their way to Ruidoso in Wyatt's plush sedan. As Chloe stared out at the misty clouds hanging over the mountains, she wondered what Rose was thinking back at the ranch and wondered, too, what Wyatt was really doing coming with her to the bank like this. Maybe he thought she'd been lying about her troubled finances all this time. Perhaps he believed Belinda hadn't really taken their money and he could find out the truth by tagging along.

The dismal thoughts had her sighing out loud and Wyatt glanced over at her.

“Chloe, I think I can count on one hand the times I've seen you smile this past week.”

“I'm sorry I'm such bad company, Wyatt. But remember, I asked you to stay home.”

“Hellfire, I'm not complaining about your company! I don't like to see you so worried.”

Shaking her head, she lifted her eyes to the roof of the car. “Wyatt, you can't understand what I'm feeling. You've never had to…wonder where your next dollar was coming from. I need at least fifty tons of cattle and horse feed delivered to the ranch. The feed mill won't bring it until I pay them what I already owe them. And that's only a part of what the ranch needs.” She looked over at him. “I'm sure you're wondering why I don't sell some of the cattle or horses?”

He nodded, and she turned her grim gaze back out the windshield. “I suppose if I'm turned down today, I'll have to. But once the livestock is gone, there won't be much of a ranch left. There won't be anything to build on. It'll just be a bunch of empty land and stables and barns. “I can't…bear to think of it that way.”

As Wyatt listened to her, he knew a lesser woman would have already broken long ago from the strain. And he thought of the women in the past who had asked him for
money. They had made their needs sound so desperate to him at the time. But now looking back, he was struck by how frivolous their wants had been. A car. A trip to Mexico. A piece of jewelry for investment. Stock in a new company that was sure to make a fortune. He'd been a gullible soft touch back then and because he'd been used, he had turned, almost drastically, the other way. If anyone even mentioned the word money to him now, he resented it.

“Have you already borrowed from the bank?”