One Hot Daddy-To-Be? (16 page)

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Authors: Judy Christenberry

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“Matches, huh? What are they worth?”
She paused to consider. “I don’t want to ruin you, so how about a penny a piece?”
“You sure you can afford to lose that much?” he teased as he worked on lighting the lamp, using one of those matches. As it lit, he adjusted the flame, then set it in the center of the table. “Hey, you’ve got your clothes on,” he suddenly said.
“As perceptive as you are, it’ll be a wonder if I win any matches,” she said in mock wonder.
“Watch it, woman,” he growled in return. “I went out in my blanket to take care of your horse. Why didn’t you say the clothes were dry?”
Her smile relaxed. “I didn’t think to check. Ready to pray?”
“Let me put on my clothes. Then I’ll be red-hot.”
He already was red-hot as far as Jessica was concerned. And when he touched her, he set her on fire.
Several hours later it appeared that Jessica had all the luck.
“I’d accuse you of cheating if I hadn’t dealt that hand,” Cal finally said.
“It must just be my luck. Good thing we’re not playing strip poker, or you would’ve been naked a long time ago,” she returned, then caught her breath
at the picture in her head. She only hoped the old saying, “lucky in cards, unlucky in love” wasn’t true, or he’d never make love to her again. The tension that filled her made the past hour’s pastime a waste. She knew what she wanted. She’d give all her matches for Cal’s heart.
“I might’ve played harder if it would’ve meant you without your clothes. That’s called incentive,” he said with a grin. Then he added, “Let’s call it a night. We need to be up at first light so I won’t be late to the office.”
He was thinking about tomorrow. She was worried about tonight.
“Um, okay. I need to make a trip outdoors.”
“You want to take the lamp?”
“No, the moon’s out.”
When she returned a few minutes later, Cal had done the housekeeping. One blanket covered the old mattress lying on a platform in the corner. The other was folded on one of the chairs.
“My turn,” Cal said, and stepped outside.
She stared at the small bed in the corner. Did he intend to sleep on the floor? And where did she want him to sleep?
That was the hardest question. She wanted to love Cal again, but she didn’t know if she should. She’d already realized how hard loving him would be when he didn’t feel the same way.
With a sigh, she looked at the bed again. Tonight, maybe she’d let him make the choice. One more time in his arms, one long night next to him, might be all she’d ever have. She shivered at the thought of his touch. Could she live without Cal in her bed?
Cal returned.
“You’re not going to sleep in your jeans, are you?” he asked, a smile on his face.
She didn’t smile. “Are you going to sleep on the floor?” Her heartbeat stopped as she waited for his answer.
His head snapped up and he stared at her. “Do you want me to?”
God help her, all she could do was shake her head no.
“Good,” he said with a gentle smile. Then he picked up the second blanket and nodded toward the bed. “We’ll need each other’s body heat to stay warm.”
Just thinking about sharing that small space with Cal was already warming Jessica.
“Slip off your clothes and get under the cover, sweetheart. I’ll turn out the lamp and join you as soon as I put more wood on the fire.”
With her back to him, she slid out of her sweater and jeans. Should she leave on her underwear? No, she was too honest for that. She wanted him to make love to her.
Removing her bra and panties, she put them on top of her clothes and slid under the cover.
He built up the blaze with several more logs, then removed his own clothes. She watched wide-eyed, enjoying the sight of his hard body. The fact that he was already aroused before he’d even joined her in the small bed filled her with joy and started a blaze in her heart and body that lasted long into the night.
 
THERE WASN’T MUCH conversation the next morning. Jessica brought out the oatmeal cookies and they
opened the last soda. The sun was rising in the east as they went to the corral to saddle the horses.
“Can you manage?” she asked Cal, remembering he’d said lifting hurt.
“Yeah. Are you warm enough?”
The air was brisk this morning, as it sometimes could be in late October, but her sweater was warm. “I’m fine.”
“I could get you one of the blankets.”
“No. You’re the one who’s only wearing a shirt.” Such dull conversation, after an incredible night. Even this morning, when awkwardness filled the air again, she’d delighted in waking up in Cal’s arms.
They managed the ride home with little trouble and even less talk. As soon as they’d taken care of the animals, Cal offered her the use of his second shower while he used the master bath.
“I’ll wait until I get home,” she assured him. “Can you drop me off on your way to the office?”
“Of course. I’ll hurry.”
She spent the ten minutes he was upstairs in the kitchen, cooking eggs and bacon. Even more importantly, she made a pot of coffee. Half a soda didn’t provide enough caffeine.
“I smell coffee,” Cal called as he rumbled down the stairs.
Jessica almost burst into tears. How normal he sounded. How wonderful. How impossible. She turned her back and poured him a mug of coffee.
“How about some food, too?” she offered.
“I wouldn’t turn that down,” he assured her with
a smile. “Especially from the second-best cook in the county.”
“Second-best?” Jessica challenged, her brows rising, grateful for his teasing to erase her sentimentality.
He took the cup from her and dropped a casual kiss on her lips. “If Mom heard I thought she wasn’t the best cook in the county, you know she’d never feed me again. You don’t mind being second-best, do you?”
“Of course not,” she told him with a smile before adding, “as long as you don’t expect me to cook for you!” Since she set a full plate in front of him, she knew he wouldn’t take her seriously.
“Hmm, I know. You can be first in something else, something that won’t put you in competition with Mom.”
“What?”
Having sat at the table with his plate of food, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap. “You can be number one in my bed, baby.” Then he kissed her.
She pushed her way up out of his lap. “Eat your breakfast.”
He frowned. “We haven’t talked about last night,” he said, watching her.
What was there to talk about? They’d had good sex. Great sex. And she’d loved him, as she had for years. But, for him, apparently, that’s all it was.
“Um, there’s no time this morning.”
“Jess, I want you to know I’ve never experienced anything like that, anything that incredible, before.”
Great. He thought she was really good at sex.
She said nothing and he chewed the bite he’d just placed in his mouth forever.
Finally he said, “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
Stiffening, she raised her gaze to his silver eyes. “You mean you want me to say it was good for me, too? I thought you already knew that.”
“A man likes to know,” he assured her, a lopsided grin on his beloved face.
“Well, your reputation is intact as a lady-killer, Cal Baxter. No fear.”
“That’s not what—”
“Time to go or you’re going to be late,” she said, jumping up from the table and putting her dishes in the sink. Then she hurried for his truck, determined to end the conversation before she started crying.
 
CAL DROPPED JESSICA OFF at her town house and headed for the office, after a searing goodbye kiss.
But he was uneasy.
Sex with Jessica had been more than he’d ever imagined it could be. Never had he physically been so satisfied. Satisfied, hell. He hadn’t been sure he’d ever stand upright again.
But he needed more than that. He needed to know that Jessica wanted to be with him for everything life had to offer. Not just the physical pleasure. To share the joy, the pain—to have those four kids he suddenly wanted.
But their conversation at the breakfast table hadn’t been reassuring. He’d had to press her just to get a response on their lovemaking, much less the future.
But he wasn’t going to give up. Or stop loving her.
“Hey, Cal, how was your day off?” Pete asked, a smirk on his face.
“Great, Pete. You get in any trouble while I was gone?”
“Nope. Nothing, I promise.”
“Good.” He passed through the big office into his own. As soon as he sat, he picked up the phone and dialed Jess’s number.
When she answered, he said, “Hey, baby, I forgot to mention something.”
“What?”
“I think you should move your things out to the ranch. Then we could take early morning rides and see a lot more of each other.” Especially at night.
Silence.
He began to sweat. Was she already through with him?
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Cal. I have a lot of work to do for the restaurant. I’ll need to be here.”
“Ah. I’d forgotten about the restaurant.”
“I’m meeting Jeff at the site again today. I want to go over everything one more time before I sign the contract.”
“Baby, I’m not sure opening another restaurant would be a good idea. I mean, it will take so much of your time.” Time away from him. He was greedy; he wanted her with him every minute.
More silence.
Then she spoke quietly, almost sadly. “But, Cal, if I don’t have my restaurant, what will I do with myself? I can’t just sit around all day.”
“But—”
“I have to go. I’m meeting Jeff in fifteen minutes.”
He hung up the phone. They were going to have to talk, he and Jess. But not over the phone. The best time would be after they’d made love, when they lay in each other’s arms. Then he could tell her that he never wanted to let her go.
That he loved her.
The door to his office opened and Betty’s head appeared. “Cal? I knocked, but you didn’t answer. Are you all right? You look hot.”
Oh, yeah.
Chapter Sixteen
J
essica spent most of the day at the location she’d selected. She and Jeff went over it inch by inch, calculating costs and discussing options.
She couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Everything seemed to be fine, but her heart wasn’t in it. When she’d started The Old Cantina, she’d worked night and day, driven by the excitement.
Today, her thoughts, her hopes, her dreams were centered on Cal, not The Last Roundup.
“I don’t know, Jeff. Something doesn’t feel right,” she finally said.
He frowned and checked the pages on his clipboard. “Everything looks okay to me, Jess, but it’s your decision, of course.”
She rubbed her forehead. “Maybe it’s just a bad day. Let’s stop now. I’ll take the figures home and study them, then call you in the morning.”
“Okay. I’ll go over everything again, too. Maybe I missed something.”
She smiled wearily and led the way back out to their two vehicles, shaking hands and sending him back to Lubbock.
Leaving her to deal with the real problem. Her future. She knew what she wanted, but it was out of her hands. Cal was the key to her happiness.
But if she couldn’t have Cal, she’d need something to keep her busy.
Cal’s baby would give her a reason to go on.
She scrubbed that thought at once. She had promised herself she wasn’t going to trap him. But she wished she had an answer to her problem.
What was she going to do?
 
“ARE WE PLAYING TONIGHT?” Edith Hauk asked Mabel over the telephone.
“As far as I know. It’s my turn to be hostess. I’ll call the others.” Mabel called her other two friends as soon as Edith hung up. “Bridge tonight?”
The other two agreed, and Mabel hung up the phone. It was hard to concentrate on bridge when she was waiting to hear from Cal or Jessica.
She’d done a terrible thing. She knew it. But the result would be wonderful. Mabel knew if Jessica turned up pregnant, the children would marry at once.
That was what she wanted.
But she felt bad about tricking them. And Ed would kill her if he ever found out.
But she hadn’t done it to win the bet. Oh, sure, that would be fun, but the most important part was that Jessica and Cal find each other. Something about the engagement didn’t seem quite legitimate. She was only trying to make sure they would carry through.
“Mabel? You heard from Cal or Jessica?” Ed asked from the kitchen.
“Um, no, I haven’t.”
“Why don’t you call Jess? Just to be sure they got back.”
“I already did. She didn’t answer. Do you want me to call Cal at the office?” She didn’t really want to call Cal, but it would be good to know they got back all right. And besides, she didn’t think he would’ve noticed what she’d done to the condoms. He’d be irritated with her because she’d included them, of course. Unless he hadn’t thought to bring any.
Ed agreed she should call Cal.
When he answered the phone, she spoke quickly, hoping he wouldn’t notice her nervousness. “Hi, dear. Your father wanted to be sure the two of you got back all right.”
“We’re back. And, Mom, you and I have to have a talk.”
“Oh. I was only suggesting—”
“You were trying to get Jessica pregnant.”
She sucked in a deep breath. Ed was watching her from the kitchen door. “They’re back, Ed. Everything’s fine.”
Thankfully, Ed nodded his head and disappeared.
“I—I—you said you wanted children.”
“If you do anything else as underhanded as you did with the condoms, you won’t be allowed to hold the first child for a year.”
She gasped. “Call You can’t mean it!”
“I mean it. Don’t force Jessica into anything. Okay?”
Sniffing, she nodded. Then, realizing he couldn’t see her, she said, “I promise.”
As he was about to hang up, she remembered to ask one more question. “Does ... does Jessica know what I—”
“Yes. I’m not sure she’ll forgive you.”
And he hung up the phone.
 
CAL WAS FRUSTRATED. He’d been trying to reach Jessica most of the afternoon. He thought about going to the building she was going to buy, the one she and Jeff had looked at across the square from the sheriff’s office.
Every time he’d called her town house and gotten no answer, he’d walked to the front of the office and look to see if her Lexus was still parked in front of the building.
“It’s still there,” Betty finally said after the fourth time. “Why don’t you walk over and see how she’s doing?”
“I’m too busy,” he growled, and stomped back into his office.
Suddenly the radio emitted static, then an excited voice. “Woowee! We got a movie star or something heading our way. A big black limo is about three miles out of town.”
Cal stepped around Betty’s desk and picked up the microphone. “Calm down, Ricky. Anyone can hire a limo. How do you know it’s coming here?”
“Well, it has to, boss.”
“But it probably won’t stop. Just do your job, okay?”
“Yeah, boss,” a subdued Ricky replied.
Betty glared at him. “You may be in a bad mood, but there’s no need to make Ricky have a bad day.”
Because he felt guilty for exactly that, he ignored Betty and retreated to his office.
A limo? Must be some big-city guy.
Could it be another man Jessica had never told him about? The last time it had been Jeff, a married man. He’d almost forgotten his idea that she loved a specific man. Could she have made love to him while she loved someone else? That thought disturbed him.
He didn’t want to believe she cared about someone else. But she hadn’t told him she didn’t. He worried over the whole situation again. Was there really someone?
He’d thought maybe she’d made the man up because there didn’t seem to be anyone she was interested in from Cactus. Did this limo explain that little problem? Was she in love with someone she’d met from a big city?
Was he going to lose her?
He leaped to his feet and rushed out of his office, heading for the square.
“She’s gone,” Betty announced as he reached the front door.
“How long ago?”
“About two minutes.”
He stood there, undecided, staring out at the square. When he saw a black limo pull to a halt at the one stoplight, he opened the door and stepped outside.
The light turned green and the limo moved forward slowly. He tried to see inside, but the windows
were darkly tinted. Then it stopped alongside him, and the front window went down.
“Excuse me, Officer, but where would we find The Old Cantina?”
 
JESSICA SAT at her kitchen table.
She was too weary to climb the stairs, too worried to cook any food, too discouraged to make any decisions.
The phone rang.
“Jess, it’s Nita. Some high-muck-a-mucks from the company that bought you out are here. They wanted me to call, to see if you could meet them for dinner at seven.”
Jessica frowned, trying to work out the significance of the men’s arrival. She had visited with them a number of times during the negotiations. “Yes, of course I can. Did they say why they’re here?”
“No. That’s all they said, just could you come eat with them. But they seem happy.”
“Okay, thanks, Nita. I’ll be there.”
She hung up the phone, concentrating on the conversation, her hand resting on the receiver, when it rang again.
She picked it up at once.
“Hi, baby. How’d your day go?” It was Cal.
She shivered, stirred just by hearing his voice. “Fine.”
“Will you let me take you to dinner?”
“I can’t.”
Before she could explain about what had happened, he said, “Jess, you can’t shut me out.”
“I’m not trying to, Cal. Some of the officers of
the TGM Corporation are in town, at The Old Cantina. They want me to have dinner with them.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. But I promised I’d be there at seven.”
“Would you let me come with you? I promise I won’t interfere, but I don’t like you facing these guys alone.”
Cal to the rescue. But she wouldn’t mind a little support tonight. “Okay.”
He didn’t respond, and she wondered if he’d changed his mind. “Cal? Do you want to come?”
“Yeah. What time do I pick you up?”
“We’re supposed to be there by seven.”
“Right, I’ll pick you up at six forty-five.”
 
CAL WENT HOME and showered and shaved again. Then he took one of his business suits, seldom worn in Cactus, out of the closet. But he knew big-city executives wouldn’t be dressed in jeans. And he didn’t want Jess ashamed of him.
Besides, he had plans for after dinner that didn’t include anyone from Dallas. Tonight, he was going to be honest with Jessica, tell her he loved her. Ask her to many him. And hope and pray she’d give him a chance.
It occurred to him that he should’ve proposed at the line cabin last night. Then he’d have the right to demand she refuse any offer these men made. And they had come to make an offer, he was sure.
But he couldn’t, wouldn’t, keep Jessica from doing what would make her happy. He just hoped he was what she wanted.
He pulled up in her driveway at the exact time he’d promised. When she opened the door to his knock, he sucked in his breath. She was wearing a tailored forest-green suit, with a silk vee-neck blouse. Gold earrings were her only jewelry except for her emerald and diamond ring.
The sight of his ring on her finger filled him with pride. She was going to meet these men with his brand on her. He liked that.
He helped her into his truck, then joined her. “Have you figured out what’s going on?”
“No, unless they’ve heard about my new restaurant.”
“Think they’ll give you some grief over it?”
“No. I called Alex again, just to be sure, but she told me they have no ground to stand on.”
“Then we’ll relax and enjoy our meal—on them.”
They didn’t talk much on the short drive to the restaurant, but Cal was encouraged when he took her hand in his before they walked into the restaurant and she didn’t pull away.
They approached the table around which sat three men in suits. Everyone else in the restaurant was dressed in jeans and boots.
Cal was proud of Jessica as she calmly greeted the three men who stood. “Gentlemen, welcome back to Cactus. I hope you don’t mind that my fiancé, Cal Baxter, accompanied me.”
Yep, he was proud of her.
“Not at all. Welcome, Mr. Baxter,” the first man said. The other two nodded, and one of them reached for another chair.
As soon as they were seated, Nita appeared. “Jess, what would you and Cal like to drink?”
“Iced tea,” she replied, and Cal nodded.
“I’ll have those nachos right out, sir,” Nita said to one of the gentleman and quickly disappeared. No chitchatting as usual.
Jessica, however, had social chitchat down to an art. Cal listened in amazement as she carried the conversation. discussing weather and travel until both their iced teas and the nachos had been delivered to their table.
During the nachos, the conversation turned to their engagement and questions about Cal’s occupation. He answered calmly, but he was thinking about better ways of spending his evening...with Jess.
When the meals they’d ordered had been delivered and the men seemed to be settling in to an evening with no significant information to be discussed, Jessica cut to the chase.
“Okay, I know you didn’t travel all the way out here to eat at one of your new restaurants. Why are you here?”
All three men put down their silverware and looked at her. Finally, the one next to Jessica—Bill, he thought—nodded.
“You’re right, Jessica. Our manager here reported that you were thinking of opening another restaurant.”
“Yes.”
“Our contract says—”
“It’s not a Mexican restaurant, Bill. It’s a steak house. I checked with my attorney, and our contract doesn’t restrict me in that area.”
“We know, but—well, we have a proposition for you.”
 
JESSICA HAD A LOT to think about. And some of it didn’t even have anything to do with Cal.
The corporation had an offer for her, but they didn’t want to discuss details until after they tasted her new steak recipe tomorrow. She hadn’t really wanted to cook for them, but she’d felt she owed them consideration.

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