A Real Cowboy Never Says No (7 page)

She caught her breath, her heart pounding as his gaze met hers. He gave her a small salute, and then rolled up the window and the car drove off.

Sweat broke out down her back and slithered down her spine. "He's not going to give up," she said, softly. "He hates me for taking AJ away from him, and now it's his chance for payback. He wants to invalidate AJ's will and get his money, and he's going to use me to do it." She looked back at Taylor, who was standing up now, concern etched on her face. "He'll dig deep enough that he'll find out I bought the pregnancy test in town, won't he? He'll know I bought it before Chase ever came to town." Suddenly, she felt sick, sick all the way to the depth of her soul.

"Dammit, girl." Taylor walked over to the window and put her arm around Mira's shoulder. "You better get on that plane to Wyoming, and because I love you dearly, I'm going to hope like hell that Chase is the man you think he is, because if he's not, you might be out of your league."

Mira looked at Taylor. "You think I should marry him? Right away?"

"Right away sounds like an awfully risky step, but so is leaving yourself exposed to Alan." Taylor bit her lip. "I don't know, Mira. I just don't know."

"Yeah, me either." She put her arm around Taylor's waist and leaned her head on her shoulder, watching Alan's car disappear down the decrepit road.

"He's hot, right? Chase?"

Mira smiled. "Very."

"Good kisser?"

"Apparently. He managed to seduce me the night I met him, right?"

"Powerful?"

"He exudes power. He stood up to Alan at the reception, and Alan backed down."

"Really?" Taylor grinned. "I'd have loved to see that."

Mira smiled. "It was a good moment." She had been so shocked when Alan had grabbed her that she hadn't had time to prepare herself. When Chase had stepped in, it had been an amazing respite from the crush of emotions flooding her.

"Well, then, maybe this time, you're supposed to leap without a net." Taylor glanced at her. "You've been to hell and back, and you're going to be a mom. At some point you need to trust your gut."

"My gut says he's a good man." She didn't even hesitate.

"Then, my friend, just maybe it's time for you to get married." Taylor grimaced. "Or just buy a big gun. One or the other. I'm not sure which is the best choice."

Mira sighed. "Me either."

Taylor raised her brows. "So what are you going to do?"

Mira looked down at the phone still clutched in her hands, the one that AJ had programmed Chase's phone number into. "I’m going to call him," she said.

"And say what?"

She started to dial. "I don't know." But she did. She knew in her gut exactly what she needed to say to him. The shadow from Alan's drive-by still lurked, reminding her exactly how bad a wrong choice could be. Could she really bind herself to a stranger just to hide from Alan?

She couldn't. It wasn't worth the risk.

She knew what she had to do...but as she dialed the phone, she felt her stomach sinking, telling her that the choice she was about to make was wrong. Dead wrong. But she knew she had to do it anyway.

What the hell had he done?

Wearily, Chase drove up the long driveway to his ranch, his mind still spinning. When he'd left Mira's house that morning, he'd been feeling like a gallant hero doing the right thing. But the further he'd gotten from that small southern town, the more the doubt had set in.

What the hell was he doing? Marrying a woman and offering himself up as a father? He had no business doing either one. He didn't want to get tangled up with a woman, and he had no damned idea how to be a dad.

Swearing, he slammed his truck door shut and strode across the dirt toward his front door, his boots crunching into the rock. He vaulted up the front steps, then paused when he saw a familiar motorcycle parked in the shadows by the door.

Irritation flooded him at the sight of the motorcycle that belonged to one of his brothers.

He wasn't in the right frame of mind to deal with Zane tonight...shit. Had he really just thought that? He'd been working on his brothers since he'd bought the place, trying to get them to move to the ranch. Zane's appearance was a rarity, something Chase had been trying to cultivate for years. He should be fired up that Zane was at his place waiting for him, but he just felt
annoyed?
It was because of his preoccupation with Mira. Was he really going to let the distraction of a woman interfere with his relationship with his brothers? His reaction to Zane's motorcycle made it obvious that he couldn't go through with the deal with Mira.

He couldn't marry her or claim fatherhood of the kid. He'd give her money, set her up in a different town, but he was not going to bring her into his life. He couldn't afford it.

In an even worse mood now, he flung open the front door and strode into the foyer. He didn't bother to call out. He just walked straight into the family room. Sure enough, Zane was stretched out on the couch like he owned it, except for the fact that his boots were still on, as was his thick leather jacket, always ready to leave on a moment's notice. His jeans and his plaid shirt were the only cowboy left in him, but he'd been one of the best bull riders in the region at one time. He'd traded the bulls for a bike, and claimed to never think about his old life at all.

Chase didn't believe him. He'd seen Zane watching the horses in the corral when he'd thought Chase wasn't around. What he didn't know was why Zane had walked away from that life, and refused to ever look back.

"I poured you a drink." Zane nodded toward the tonic water sitting on the coffee table. "I brought you the hard stuff. Raspberry flavored, I think."

Chase sat down on the black leather couch and studied his brother, ignoring the water. He didn't drink alcohol, thanks to the lessons he'd learned from his father. "Where have you been? It's been six months. I thought you'd cracked up your bike for the last time. You good?"

"Always." Zane swung his feet to the floor, his motorcycle boots thudding on the polished wood. His dark brown hair was cut short for once, but the diamond earring glittered in his left ear. Where the hell was the guy who used to wear a cowboy hat and well-worn boots? "You look like shit," Zane commented. "What happened?"

Chase sighed, the weight of his recent decision returning with no mercy at the question. "A good friend died. He knocked up his best friend before he bit it. She's got no money, and his dad is like ours, only with serious leverage and power."

Zane whistled softly as he took a swig of the cold beer he'd helped himself to. Chase always kept his favorite brand in the fridge, for the occasions when he stopped by. "Brings back memories, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does." Chase watched his brother swig the beer, and suddenly, he wanted one as well. He wanted to feel that bitter taste coat his tongue and burn down his throat. Shit. He hadn't wanted a drink in years. Scowling, he tossed his hat on the table, and then bent his head, running his hands through his hair as he tried to pull himself together. "I told her I'd marry her and claim the kid. I gave her a plane ticket for tomorrow to move out here."

Zane didn't answer, and after a long moment, Chase looked up. His brother was spinning the bottle between his fingers, leaving prints on the condensation. He was studying the bottle intently, as if he hadn't even heard what Chase had said.

But Chase knew he had. That was Zane's way. Silence until he had something to say.

Zane finally looked up. "You heard from anyone else lately?"

Chase knew Zane was asking about their seven half-brothers, the legacy of their bastard father. "No." Chase had bought the ranch five years ago with the goal of bringing his family back together. He had enough acreage for every Stockton man to have his own ranch, but so far, no one had come. Granted, Steen was in prison, so he had a valid reason, but no one else had come back to the town they'd grown up in. Chase wasn't giving up, though. The bond between the brothers was intense and unshakeable, and he knew that every single one of them would drop everything for each other, if one of them needed help. The connection was there, and someday he was going to bring them back together. "You going to move into the ranch?" he asked Zane, knowing the answer, but unwilling to let his brother off the hook.

"No. I like the road." Zane raised his eyebrows. "At some point, you have to stop trying to fix what's broken, bro. Broken's okay."

"Yeah, I know broken is okay, but fixed can be better."

"You so sure about that?" Zane leaned forward, his beefy forearms resting on his muscular quads. There was a tattoo on his arm of his favorite bull, the one that had dumped every single cowboy, except for Zane, who'd ridden him three times. "You want to bring a woman into this house? You want to marry one?" He raised his hand. "Blood oath, bro, remember? Never let a woman come between us? Or did you forget that?"

Chase rubbed the mark on his palm that all the brothers carried. "I remember."

Zane studied him for a long moment. "So, you think she's different, then? You think she doesn't make you violate the oath?"

The oath had been a promise to never allow a woman to bring negative energy between the brothers or to take a position of power in any of their lives, which basically banned marriage or a significant relationship. All the Stockton men knew how badly women could screw things up, but none of them were willing to go celibate. Hence, the creatively worded oath that basically translated to "brothers first, women last, every single time."

"I’m not sure. I barely know her." But he felt like he did know her. She
was
different. This was the woman he'd known for a decade, and yet, at the same time, he'd known her only for a few hours. Shit. He stood up, restless. "I'm going to go for a ride."

Zane didn't move. "Sit down. It's almost midnight, and your pony is napping."

Slowly, Chase sat down, surprised by Zane's command. His brother never wanted to talk about anything. "What's up?"

"How bad's the dad?" Zane asked.

"Bad."

Zane was quiet for another moment. "How about her?"

"I trust her."

Zane looked sharply at him. "No shit?"

He shrugged.

"They won't come if there's a woman here," Zane said. "None of them will come."

He was referring to their brothers, the ones Chase had been working so hard to bring home. Chase ground his jaw, not answering, but he knew Zane had a valid point. His ranch offered a respite from women, a place for the brothers to bond. Although none of them had moved back, they all stopped in from time to time, just as Zane had done tonight. They were linked by a brutal childhood that had required them to fight for each other and protect each other. Nothing came between their commitment to each other, especially a woman. "I—" His phone rang suddenly, and he looked down. His pulse quickened when he saw it was Mira. "It's her." He answered it immediately. "You okay?"

"I can't marry you." She spoke without preamble, direct and to the point.

Something plunged through his gut like a knife, and he tightened his grip on the phone. "What?"

"I don't know you. I can't bind myself to you for life, or give you parental rights to my child. Forever is a long time." There was a panicky edge to her voice, and she was talking so fast that he knew she was on the verge of falling apart. "I'm running from one nightmare. How do I know I'm not running into another one? I can't risk it, Chase. I mean, I know you through AJ, but what does that mean? We don't know each other. This is my life, my baby, my everything. I just…I just can't."

Based on his conversation with his brother, her backing out should have relieved him, but it hadn't. It felt completely wrong, edging him toward panic. He felt like he was sinking into quicksand and it was closing over his head. "Mira, just get on the plane. Come out here. We'll give it four weeks. If you feel like you can't trust me by that point, then we'll call it off."

There was a moment of silence, then she took a deep breath. "Really? We don't have to get married right away? You're okay with that?"

"Of course I am." There it was. Such an easy solution. Bring her out there, but not tie himself down. It gave him time to see if he could find a way to repay his debt to AJ without sacrificing what mattered to him. If not, the marriage was off. "We won't even tell anyone you're pregnant. We'll just do a test run and see if it can work."

She laughed softly, her voice filled with relief. "Okay, then. I wanted to come, but I sort of panicked. I didn't want to come under false pretenses and not marry you once I got there. I feel better now. We'll just see how it goes, then."

He smiled at the sound of her laugh. The fact that she'd been panicking as well made his own tension abate, replaced by a need to step up and protect her. "It'll be okay. We'll get it right."

"Okay." She was smiling now. He could hear it in her voice. "I'll see you tomorrow, then, okay?"

"I'll meet you at the airport...unless you want me to fly down there and get you?"

She laughed again. "I'm very capable of navigating an airport by myself, but that's a very nice offer. I appreciate it, but I'm fine. See you tomorrow night. And…Chase?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For all of it."

He smiled. "My pleasure." He was still grinning when he hung up the phone, then his smile faded when he saw his brother studying him. "What?"

"The mighty has fallen."

Mira saw him the moment she walked through the gates into the luggage area.

Chase was leaning against the far wall, his hands jammed into his pockets as he carefully scanned the faces pouring through the gate. He was wearing a brown cowboy hat this time, and his faded jeans sat low on his lean hips. His plaid shirt was open at the collar, revealing tanned skin and the same gold chain she'd noticed before. He looked like a real life, untamed cowboy, and a ripple of anticipation pulsed through her. This man was here for
her.