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Shaking off her uncharacteristic gloominess, she finished unpacking, then took a deep breath and stepped out into the hallway as she headed for the stairs. She had known her time with Shane would end at some point. She just hadn’t realized it would be so soon. Nor could she have anticipated that she would be pregnant with his baby when it happened.
“When do you intend to call the doctor’s office for your first appointment?” Shane asked, reaching for his glass of iced tea. Lissa had been extremely quiet for most of the meal and it was past time they addressed the issue that had been on both of their minds since she made her announcement that afternoon.
When she looked up from the bite of steak she had been pushing around the plate with her fork, she shook her head. “I really haven’t thought that far ahead. I only took the test this morning. Then, before I had the chance to recover from the shock of the results, I was called to take over the yoga class at the spa and later met Avery for lunch.”
“Shortly after you finished that, I showed up at your door and here we are,” he guessed.
She nodded. “I still haven’t had time to fully comprehend the fact that I’m actually going to have a baby.”
“It is pretty unreal, isn’t it?” He was having a hard time wrapping his mind around that fact himself.
Her vivid blue gaze reflected some barely contained panic and he was fairly certain he had that deer-in-the-headlights look about him, as well.
“I knew it was possible,” she said, finally laying her fork down. “But seriously, only one time unprotected and I get pregnant? The odds against that happening have to be pretty high.”
“Looks like that’s all it took for us.” He reached across the table to cover her hand with his. “But I want you to know, you aren’t going to have to go through this alone. We’re in this together. I’ll be there to support you every step of the way, Lissa.”
“I appreciate that.” She stared at him for several long moments before she finally sat back from the table. “But if you mean monetarily, I think we both know that isn’t necessary. I’m financially independent and have more than enough to handle whatever expenses there are before and after the birth.”
Given their initial agreement to keep things casual, he could understand her misinterpretation of his promise, as well as her reluctance to believe he would commit himself to anything more than monetary assistance. But the idea that she considered him so shallow and irresponsible that he would just walk away from her and the child they created still didn’t sit well.
“I’m not talking about child support,” he stated, doing his best to keep his tone even.
“What are you talking about, Shane?” she asked, looking confused.
Rising to place their plates on the kitchen counter, he turned to face her. “I’m telling you that I’ll be with you for doctor appointments, the baby’s birth and raising him.”
“In other words, you’re telling me you’re going to want joint custody.” She nodded. “I can understand that and I don’t see a problem. I’m sure we can work something out.”
“Custody is going to be a nonissue,” he said, shaking his head. He walked over to squat down beside her chair, then reaching up to brush a strand of long blond hair from her cheek, he smiled. “I’m pretty sure that sharing the responsibility of a child is automatic when his parents are married.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth opened and closed several times as she obviously tried to find her voice. “Married?” she finally gasped.
“Yes.”
Her expression stated louder than words ever could that she didn’t believe him. “Married as in the tiered cake, white dress and ‘I do’?”
“Yup.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
She closed her eyes, then opening them, shook her head as she pinned him with her crystalline gaze. “Have you lost your mind, Shane? You can’t possibly be serious.”
“Angel, marriage is one subject I never joke about,” he said, meaning it.
“We can’t get married, Shane,” she insisted. “Beyond the basics, we really don’t know that much about each other.”
“Sure we do.” He stood up and, lifting her into his arms, sat down in the chair to settle her on his lap. “I know you like when I do this.” Kissing the side of her neck, he was rewarded with her soft sigh. “And you really like this,” he added, slipping his hand beneath the tail of her aqua T-shirt. He used his fingertip to trace the satiny skin covering her ribs. As he slowly lowered his head, he moved his hand. “But you love this.”
His mouth covered hers at the same time his hand cupped her breast and to his immense satisfaction, Lissa didn’t so much as put up a token protest. Encouraged by her response, Shane deepened the kiss and once again marveled at her sweetness and the feeling of completion he always experienced when he held her.
He had kissed a lot of women in his time, but not one of them made him feel the way Melissa Jarrod did. Her slender body fit perfectly against his and her passion never failed to excite him in ways he could have never imagined.
His lower body tightened predictably and he decided he had better break the kiss before things got out of hand. At the moment, Lissa needed his comfort far more than she did his lust.
Drawing in some much-needed air, he smiled. “I told you I knew a lot about you.”
She shook her head as if to clear it. “I wasn’t talking about pleasing each other sexually and you know it.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that a huge part of marriage?” he asked, unable to keep from grinning.
“Maybe for a man, but a woman needs more from a relationship than just good sex,” she insisted. “I need more.”
He raised one eyebrow. “Would you care to enlighten me?”
Leaning back, she stared at him for a moment as if she thought he might be a little on the simple side. “Do you realize we’ve never spent more than a few hours together at any one time? I may know you intimately in bed, but I don’t know anything about you otherwise. I don’t know what you like to read, what kind of movies you prefer or even what your favorite color is.”
He frowned. “I don’t see how any of that would make or break a marriage.”
She pulled from his arms and stood up. “Don’t you see? Those are the kinds of things you know about the person you are committing to spend the rest of your life with.” Sighing heavily, she turned to face him. “I don’t even know what side of the bed you sleep on or if you snore.”
“So you’re telling me that knowing whether I snore or not is more important than a gratifying love life?” he asked, laughing.
If looks could kill, the one she sent his way would have him laid out in two shakes of a squirrel’s tail. “Will you be serious, Shane? I’m trying to explain what constitutes a committed relationship.”
Oh, he knew exactly what she was driving at. Lissa thought she needed to know what made him tick. But she was wanting more from him than he was comfortable giving. He had never been in the habit of sharing more than the surface details about himself with anyone and he wasn’t inclined to do so now.
Unfortunately, if he wanted her to go along with his plan, he was going to have to give her something she considered relevant. “Nonfiction, action-adventure, red and left.”
She looked confused.
“I mainly read nonfiction and my favorite movies are action-adventure. I like the color red and I prefer the middle of the bed. But if I had to choose a side, it would be the left.” He grinned. “As for the snoring, you can let me know about that tomorrow morning.”
“Those things are nice to know,” she said, looking a little more satisfied with his answers. “But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
Before she could press him further and delve into areas he would rather not go into, he decided to turn the tables and ask a few questions of his own. “What about you? What is there about Lissa Jarrod that you think I need to know?”
He gave himself a mental pat on the back at her pleased expression. “Let’s see. I like pizza, I hate Brussels sprouts—”
“Who doesn’t?” he said, making a face.
She laughed. “And I adore romantic movies.”
“What about horses?” he asked, wondering if they had that in common. “Do you like to ride?”
“I haven’t ridden in several years, but I used to enjoy going on some of the trail rides offered at Jarrod Ridge.” Smiling, she added, “I even had a favorite horse named Smoky Joe that I always rode.”
Shane stood up and took her into his arms. “I don’t remember you going on any of the rides I guided.”
Loosely wrapping her arms around his waist, she gazed up at him. “That was because I was too young. When you were eighteen and leading those trail rides, I was only eleven.”
“Now hold on just a minute,” he said, frowning. “Didn’t you tell me one time that you worked at the resort when I did?”
“Yes.” He felt her body tense. “Of course, I wasn’t on the payroll. But I started doing simple things like delivering messages from one office to another. That was when I was eight.”
“Ah, the pre-e-mail and text-messaging days.”
She nodded. “By the time I turned ten I had graduated to showing guests how to find their way around the resort grounds. Then, at sixteen, I started working the front desk.”
Shane wasn’t opposed to a kid doing a few chores. Hell, his dad had him mucking out stalls and feeding horses from the time he was old enough to carry a feed bucket. But it sounded as if Donald Jarrod had his kids doing more than just simple chores.
“Whose idea was it for you to go to work at such an early age?” he asked, remembering that he had seen all of the Jarrod children working various jobs around the resort.
She shrugged one slender shoulder. “My father wanted all of us to know the business inside and out. I suppose he thought by starting us out young, we would learn what made Jarrod Ridge the premier resort in Aspen.”
He could tell by the tensing of her muscles and the tight tone of her voice that they were skirting a touchy subject. “Do you think it would be all right for you to go riding tomorrow?” he asked, deciding to lighten the conversation. It was obvious she didn’t care to talk about her father or the resort and he would have a much better chance of her agreeing to marry him if she were in a better mood. “I’d really like to show you the rest of the ranch. But if you think it would hurt you or the baby, we can wait,” he hastened to add.
Her expression brightened. “I would really like that. I’m pretty sure it will be all right. I have a friend in California who rode her horses until she was six months pregnant and everything was fine.”
“Great.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “If you think what you saw of the ranch from the top of the ridge is beautiful, you’ll really like seeing Rainbow Falls.”
Her eyes twinkled with excitement, making him glad that he had thought of taking her to see it. “You have a waterfall on your property?”
“Yup.”
“I love waterfalls. They’re always so peaceful and relaxing. We even have the sound of a waterfall piped into the massage rooms at the spa.”
“We’ll have to get up early,” he warned. “It will take us several hours to get there because of the terrain, but believe me, it’s well worth it.” For reasons he didn’t understand and wasn’t inclined to dwell on, he wanted to make the outing special for her. Thinking quickly, he added, “I thought we could pack a few sandwiches and have lunch by the falls.”
“That sounds absolutely wonderful, Shane.” She covered her mouth with her hand to hide a yawn. “I can’t wait.”
“I think you’ll have to.” He chuckled. “Aside from the fact that it’s already dark outside, you’d probably fall asleep in the saddle before we rode out of the ranch yard.”
“You’re probably right.” She yawned again. “For the past few days, it seems that I can’t get enough sleep.”
“Is that because of the pregnancy, too?” He knew a whole lot more about pregnant mares than he did about pregnant women, but he figured it could be the reason behind her fatigue.
“I assume that’s the reason,” she said, resting her head against his chest.
Shane tightened his arms around her and lowering his head, covered her mouth with his for a quick kiss. Then, reluctantly stepping back, he turned toward the kitchen counter. “Why don’t you go into the living room and put your feet up while I load the dishwasher and clean up?”
“Are you sure I can’t help?” she asked, sounding tired.
“Positive. It won’t take but a few minutes.” He rinsed their plates and started stacking them in the dishwasher. “There is one thing you could do for me, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Turn on the sports channel and see if you can catch who won the game this afternoon between the Rockies and the Cardinals.”
“You’re a baseball fan?”
Looking at her over his shoulder, he grinned. “I like baseball as much as the next guy. But this game is kind of special. I have a bet going with Cactus and I’d like to see who wins. He thinks the Cardinals will sweep the Rockies in this three-game series and I say they won’t.”
Laughing, she shook her head as she started toward the living room. “Men and their sports.”
As he started the dishwasher, he couldn’t help but think about how fast his plans had changed. When he had first come up with the idea of bringing Lissa to the ranch for the weekend, he had thought they would be spending the majority of their time within the confines of his bedroom. But that had changed in the blink of an eye with her announcement that she was going to have his baby.
Now, even though it made him as jumpy as a day-old colt, his main priority was convincing her to let him do the right thing by her and the baby. He wiped off the counter, then turning out the kitchen light, headed for the living room.
He had three days of uninterrupted time with her to figure out how to get her to say yes. Given her argument about their not knowing enough about each other, it probably wasn’t going to be easy.
Smiling to himself as he walked down the hall, he decided he was more than ready for the challenge. His personal code of honor demanded that he make her his wife and help her raise their child. And there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that before he took her back to Aspen, she would agree to be just that.
Three
When Shane turned off the television, Melissa asked, “How much money did you win from your housekeeper?”
“None. If he had won, I was going to have to cook for the next month.” Shane laughed. “But since he lost, the old boy is going to have to keep the driveway cleared of snow until spring.”
“How old is Cactus?” she asked, hoping he was younger than Shane made him sound.
“I’m not sure,” he said as he rose from the couch to take her hand in his. “He’s a little sensitive about his age, but I’m pretty sure he’s at least seventy and probably a few years older than that.”
“He’s that old and you’re going to make him get out in the cold to clear the snow?” she asked, allowing him to help her to her feet. She didn’t like the idea of Shane taking advantage of the older gentleman. “Tell me you’re going to take pity on him and let him out of this stupid bet.”
“Not on your life.” Grinning, he shook his head. “I don’t feel the least bit sorry for him. He’ll be on a tractor with a heated cab, a built-in CD player that he can crank up as loud as he wants with his favorite bluegrass music, and if I know Cactus, he’ll have a Thermos of Irish coffee to keep him company.”
“You make it sound like he was going to win either way.”
Shane nodded as they climbed the stairs. “We go through this every fall. He’ll come up with a bet he knows he can’t win in order to do something he enjoys.”
She didn’t understand that kind of logic. “Then why doesn’t he just volunteer for the job?”
“Because that’s not how the old guy works,” he explained. “When his arthritis started making it hard for him to do some of the ranch work, I knew he didn’t want to leave the ranch. It’s been his home for as long as I can remember. So I started complaining about needing someone to cook and take care of the house.” Shane grinned. “I didn’t really need anyone to do that, and he knew it. But he couldn’t come right out and ask me for the job.”
“So that’s when the bets started?” she guessed.
Shane nodded. “He bet me that I couldn’t beat his time at saddling a horse. If he won, I had to buy him a new pair of boots and if I won, he would take the housekeeping job.”
She liked that Shane would go to those lengths to preserve the older man’s dignity. It told her a lot more about his character than he realized.
“You did it to save his pride.”
“Exactly.” Chuckling, Shane opened the door to the room he had shown her earlier. “So, with this latest bet, he not only gets to drive the tractor and pretend he’s doing ranch work again, he has something to gripe about while he’s doing it. And if there’s anything he likes better than complaining, I don’t know of it. He got his nickname because he’s prickly as a cactus.”
Melissa smiled as she entered the room. “He sounds like quite a colorful character.”
