The Littlest Wrangler

“Here, sweetheart, let me get your horse.” She pulled the stuffed horse from the diaper bag and gave it to Will, who settled on the floor with his favorite toy.

The room echoed with loneliness after the time she’d spent with James. Funny, she’d lived alone until Will’s birth, then it had been just the two of them. After only one day with James, she realized how much she’d missed adult conversation—almost as much as she’d missed him. Sure, she’d been around other students, but they were always listening to lectures. After class, she’d rushed to her job. And then there’d been Will.

Kelly’s thoughts drifted back to James. She had wanted to stay with him, but no telling what she would have done if she had. That’s why she’d created rule fifteen, to prevent that from happening. Though, actually, he had surprised her. He hadn’t done any of the things she’d expected when he’d learned he had a son. With only minimal ranting and raving, he’d taken her home with him, and even after she’d made a mess of explaining things by blurting out her feelings, he’d offered them a room.

She wasn’t sure the cowboy she’d once known would have sat still while she questioned his character. And if he had, he certainly wouldn’t have asked her to stay.

And now, thinking back on all she’d said, Kelly couldn’t remember when she’d wanted anything more than to be with James. Her reasons for leaving had everything to do with the way James had made her feel, just as it had before she’d left town three years ago.

Seeing him again had been a shock. The hurt she’d glimpsed when he’d thought she was married had almost been her undoing. But she’d prepared herself, knowing being around him again after all this time would be difficult. She’d formulated several new rules especially for the occasion. Still, it had taken all her strength to keep from walking into his arms, the only place she wanted to be.

Maybe she should call him. After all, he had asked how he could locate her. What could it hurt? She could smooth things over, make sure he hadn’t taken offense to her refusal to stay with him. If he got angry, he might change his mind about getting to know Will, and that’s why she’d put them both through the hell of telling him he had a son.

Kelly sat on the edge of the bed and punched in James’s home phone number. She knew it by heart, having dialed it hundreds of times in the past. Kelly clutched the phone so tightly her hand ached. After the sixth ring she replaced the receiver on the cradle as she had so many times before.

She stood and paced the room, so tired she wanted nothing more than to go to bed. What if he had gotten upset? What if he’d had an accident? What if he had gone out with another woman? Kelly patted Will’s head as she hurried back to the phone, her pulse racing as she dialed James’s cell phone number.

He answered on the fourth ring. “It’s your nickel.”

The twang of country music drifted through the phone line, all but drowning out his voice.

She started to hang up, thinking that he might actually be with someone else. One glance at Will made her change her mind. “James?”

“Kelly?”

She imagined him seated in some honky-tonk with a voluptuous blonde on each knee. “I—I wanted to let you know where I’m staying, in case you need me.”

“Just a sec.” The crackle of paper sounded. “Okay, shoot.”

“I’m at the Country Inn.”

“What room?”

Kelly paused, trying to decide whether to tell him. What could it hurt? If an emergency arose, he would need to know how to contact her. Besides, she’d missed him and their friendship and hoped they could regain the easy camaraderie they’d always shared, though secretly she would always want more. If his friendship was all she could have, then that was better than nothing. Nothing is what she’d had the past three years. She’d missed him more than she’d believed possible. There were worse things than being just his friend.

“Kelly, are you still there?”

“Yeah. It’s room twenty-two.”

“Have you had supper?” he asked, his voice a seductive rumble that sent a shiver of awareness through her.

“No, I thought once we got settled maybe we’d get something.”

“Would you let me take you and Will out to eat?”

Her pulse sped up. She wanted to say yes, but feared it would be a repeat of their earlier conversation. “I’m really tired, and tomorrow will be another full day of looking for a place to live.”

“What if I grab some burgers and swing by?”

Kelly knew she should refuse, but she really was more exhausted than she’d thought. “I’d like that, James. But could you bring a grilled cheese sandwich for Will?”

He didn’t respond for a moment, and if it hadn’t been for the music blaring over the phone line, she would have thought they’d lost their connection. Finally he said, “Great. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“All right,” she said, the words coming out thick, sounding like someone else. The connection went dead then, and Kelly listened to the buzz for a minute before returning the phone to its cradle.

Inviting James to her room had been foolhardy. She knew better. The knowledge that he would be there shortly sent an adrenaline rush through her. But she had a responsibility to her son. She’d made a promise to him and to herself, a promise she intended to keep. She wasn’t about to let an excess of hormones and one sexy cowboy get in the way of her child’s future.

When James arrived, she would take the food, thank him for his trouble and ignore him while he visited with Will. She had fallen for James’s good looks once. No, that wasn’t necessarily true. It had been so much more than just his looks, and she reminded herself of why she’d come back.

Kelly had only invited James over because she was too tired to go and get Will’s dinner. Anyone could make a mistake…once. From now on, she would stay focused on her goal. She would not fail. Her son’s future depended on it.

As of this minute James Scott could walk naked into the room and she would not notice. It was a simple matter of discipline and concentration.

Of course, she’d never been able to hold a thought around him.

With or without his clothes.

Chapter Three

James parked in front of room twenty-two of the Country Inn and shut off his truck. He opened his door, grabbed the sack of food and tray of drinks and slid from the pickup, kicking the door shut.

Two disreputable-looking thugs sat on the hood of a car a few rooms down. Another three straddled motorcycles. They watched James, their body language challenging and belligerent, something he knew about firsthand. Without turning his back on them, he knocked on the door. After the way things had gone earlier with Kelly, he would welcome a good fight, but first he needed to make sure she and Will were safe.

When the lock turned and the door swung open, he stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. “Pack your bags.”

Kelly’s mouth fell open, and she sputtered.

“Do you have any idea of the lowlifes that roam this area?” he asked. “There are five waiting outside right now, probably planning what they’ll do to you when I leave. You can forget staying here.”

He knew she’d gone from shock to anger when her mouth pursed and her eyes turned cold as the pond in his south pasture in January. And he didn’t think her spine could get any more rigid.

“In case you didn’t notice, James, there is a lock on the door and a safety chain.”

“Yes, and those guys out there can probably pick it faster than you can open it from the inside. In fact, they’d probably kick it in to save time. And that stupid chain is more for your peace of mind than protection. One good shove from the other side, and it’ll pop.”

A tug on one leg of his jeans made him look down. Will stood reaching for him. He bent to gather his son in his arms. It felt so strange, this intense need to protect.

Picking up Will had been as natural as drawing a breath. The boy leaned his head on James’s shoulder, then seemed content to play with the snaps on his shirt.

Trying to sort through the things Will made him feel, James glanced around the shabby room, then turned to Kelly. “Get your stuff together. We’re leaving.”

She paced the length of the room, then turned back to him. “With the rodeo in town, there aren’t any other rooms.”

“Then you’re staying with me.”

At the uncertainty in Kelly’s eyes, he stepped toward her. “I promise not to crawl into your bed when you go to sleep if that’s what you’re thinking.”

She lifted her chin a fraction. “No, that’s not what I thought.”

“Good, because if you insist on staying here, then I’m staying, too. And frankly I’m not sure that bed is big enough for the three of us—but I’m willing to give it a try.”

“I guess under the circumstances it wouldn’t hurt to stay with you, just for one night,” she said, unable to hide the worry in her voice. “Hopefully, I’ll find a place of my own tomorrow.”

It annoyed him that she seemed determined to put as much space as possible between them. “Like you said, Kel, this is about what’s best for the boy.”

She finally nodded as she covered a yawn. “I’ll get our things.”

When she’d packed their bags, James carried them out to his truck, then made sure she and Will were securely locked in her pickup without incident before he climbed into his. The five men were still seated outside the motel but were busy talking with a couple of women who had arrived.

When Kelly parked at the motel office to turn in the key, James pulled up beside her and told her to stay put. Ignoring her frown, he took the key and tossed it to the night clerk.

Once inside his truck, James signaled for Kelly to go on ahead. He didn’t like the idea of her being out alone at night and intended to keep her in sight until they reached his place.

James was pleased Kelly hadn’t put up much of an argument over staying with him. She sure hadn’t much liked the thought of him sharing her motel bed. He probably shouldn’t have said that. Not that it mattered. She already had a low opinion of him. In fact, it probably couldn’t get much worse. For some reason that bothered him.

But he wouldn’t dwell on that. He chose to recall the warmth that had spread through him earlier when his son had lifted his arms, wanting James to hold him.

His son.

Kelly rolled the blanket James had tossed her and tucked it into the crack between the bed and the wall. “I hate to take your bed again, James. I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”

“No. I stayed awake most of last night, trying to keep Will from rolling off that couch. It’s best to put him in here with you. I’ll sleep out there until I can get the spare bedroom cleaned out.”

Despite his words, Kelly knew James’s legs would hang over the edge of the couch. He wouldn’t get any rest. Still, she knew it was better for her and Will to be in the bed. Used to a baby bed, her son twisted, turned, and flopped in all directions while he slept. Even with her on the outside as a barrier, she’d be lucky to keep Will from falling out during the night.

James lifted Will from the temporary pallet they’d made for him on the floor. Leaning across the bed on one knee, he settled the child on the far side.

Kelly rolled another blanket and put it down the center of the bed to keep Will from traveling too far.

“Well, I’ll see you in the morning,” James said as he headed toward the door. He paused and turned back to her. “I didn’t mean to bully you, but I couldn’t leave you at that motel.”

She knew he had done the right thing. “I hadn’t realized that area of town had run down so much since I’d left. I wouldn’t have checked in if I’d known.”

James didn’t move to leave. He hooked a thumb in a belt loop and watched her watching him.

His day-old growth of whiskers lent him a sexy look. He wore it well. “James,” Kelly said, her voice husky, “you never asked me about Will, you know, whether or not he was yours.”

A sadness she didn’t understand filled his eyes. “You want me to ask for proof that he’s mine?”

Actually, she wished he would shout, demand proof. Maybe that way she wouldn’t feel so bad about not telling him. “I thought you would.”

“I was your first, Kel. I don’t deny that.” His gaze moved over her, burning her with its intensity. “Of course, we only spent that one night together. And I was careful. I used protection every time.”

“That’s what I thought, but as you can see—” she inclined her head toward their child “—something went wrong. I don’t remember you stopping to read the directions. Maybe you put them on wrong.”

James laughed. “Me? Come on, Kelly, I’m not some snot-nose kid. I’ve used my share of condoms. I know what to do without reading the back of the box.”

“And I’ve only been with one man. Ever.” Now why the devil had she told him that?

Her admission brought a lazy smile to his lips, making Kelly wish she could take back the words.

“Why did you run out on me, Kel?”

She could hear the hurt in his voice, but knew well enough from her youth that people often forgot promises when it was convenient. She knew the pain of waiting for someone who never returned. At some point she’d quit believing anyone ever would.

After their one night together, she couldn’t stand by not knowing whether he, too, would withdraw from her emotionally. Past experience had forced her to leave, so she wouldn’t have to face him pulling away. But she couldn’t tell him that now. He wouldn’t understand; she wasn’t sure she did, either. Not anymore. Not after missing him so much.

She shrugged. “I had to get back to school.”

James shifted his weight to the other hip, drawing her attention to the soft jeans molded to his powerful thighs and the shirt stretched tight across his broad shoulders.

His amber eyes beckoned, darkening until she could no longer distinguish his pupils from the irises. Time had deepened the creases that fanned outward from his eyes and set off an avalanche of memories of the last time they’d shared this room, that night after he’d won the rodeo.

They hadn’t talked. They had communicated with tender caresses that made her burn, heated kisses that left her breathless and an insatiable need for each other that had kept them from sleeping until dawn.

Then she’d awakened. Alone. Even after learning he’d had an early clinic appointment, she couldn’t shake her growing fear of abandonment.

She suddenly was almost too weary to stand. “If there’s nothing else you want to know, I’d better get some sleep.”