The Rancher's Christmas Baby

How could someone be too nice? Amy wondered, incensed.

“There weren’t enough fireworks. Vanna needed drama and I couldn’t…or to hear her talk—wouldn’t—give it to her. So she handed me back my engagement ring and left.” Teddy reached over and absently squeezed Amy’s hand.

“At the time I was pretty hurt,” he continued reflectively. “Now I realize she did us both a favor. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself, Amy, is that I like ordinary. I probably even like dull as long as life is one smooth ride.”

Amy blinked. “Wow.”

He grinned, looking relieved to finally have that off his chest, gave her hand another squeeze and let it go.

He gave her another nudge. “Your turn.”

Hoping the candlelight hid her blush, Amy drew an enervating breath. “It’s embarrassing.”

Teddy scoffed, not about to let her off the hook. “And mine wasn’t?”

He had a point.

Reluctantly, Amy plunged into her own confession. “I found out I wasn’t Ken’s only fiancée. He had another one in his hometown of Boise, Idaho. And a third one in California, where he went to grad school.”

His eyes widened. “All at once?”

Amy scowled, wishing she still didn’t feel like such a fool for letting her romantic notions about the magic of falling in love with Ken overshadow what had really been happening. “That’s the beauty of life as a winery sales rep. Apparently, you can have as many lives as you want while you travel the world.”

Sympathy radiated in Teddy’s eyes. He took a packet of mints from his pocket, handed her one, took another for himself. “How’d you find out?”

Another ugly tidbit. “I surprised him on a business trip to Vermont. He was staying at this very posh bed-and-breakfast, where he’d told me he also had business, but he wasn’t in when I arrived. When I tried to check in as his fiancée, I was told that was impossible—his fiancée was already there. I thought it was a joke until I looked into the clerk’s eyes.”

“So you waited for him.”

“No.” Amy savored the flavor of spearmint melting on her tongue. “I told the woman at the front desk that it was all a terrible mistake, a last-ditch effort on my part to save a relationship that obviously could not be saved, and begged her not to mention it to Ken or his ‘fiancée.’ She seemed relieved—the last thing she wanted was some ugly domestic scene upsetting the other guests—and I left.”

“Did she tell Ken after you left?”

“Apparently not, because he showed up in Laramie two weekends later, as if nothing had ever happened. I acted like nothing was wrong, too, and sent him off on a fool’s errand. While he was gone, I checked out the travel logs on his laptop and read his e-mail.” The guilt Amy had felt about invading Ken’s privacy had been knocked out by her need to know the truth about the man she’d been planning to spend the rest of her life with. She sighed. “By the time Ken came back from town, I knew everything.”

“What did he say?” Teddy demanded gruffly.

“A bunch of bull. You know… It was really me he loved. He was going to break up with the other two fiancées. He just hadn’t figured out a way yet, because he didn’t want to hurt their feelings.”

The gleam in Teddy’s eyes told Amy he knew damn well how that had gone over. “What did you say?”

“Get out. Don’t call—and don’t ever come back. And then I picked up the phone and clued the other two women in. Turns out Ken wasn’t the guy any of us thought he was. And the worst part of it is, he’s probably out there with two or three fiancées right now, doing it all over again.”

Teddy studied Amy. Finally he said, “I’m not like Ken.”

“I know you’re not,” Amy huffed. “That’s why I married you.”

Something inscrutable flickered in Teddy’s expression.

“Because I’m the opposite of Ken?”

“Yes.”

“Not cover-of-GQ handsome and exciting?”

Amy wrinkled her nose in exasperation, irked by his baiting tone. “You’re plenty handsome.”

“But not exciting.”

Amy opened her mouth to reply, but then didn’t know what to say about that.

A determined glint in his eyes, Teddy shifted all the way toward her with a bad-boy smile that was enough to make her stomach drop. “Time we changed that, don’t you think?”

The next thing Amy knew she was all the way in his arms. His mouth was lowering to hers. She barely had time to brace herself and then his lips were locked on hers in a hot, passionate kiss that took her breath away. He caught her head in his hands, and she melted against him, completely overwhelmed by the minty, masculine taste of his mouth, the unhurried pressure of his lips and the gentle stroking of his tongue. And then there was nothing but the feel of his mouth on hers. Seducing. Evoking. Commanding. Her lips parted and she sighed in contentment as he deepened the kiss even more, first sweetly and then erotically. She felt the sandpapery rub of his evening beard against her skin, inhaled the scent of man that was uniquely him, and sank deeper into the comforting warmth of his arms.

Teddy hadn’t meant to kiss her this evening.

Oh, he’d known it was coming.

Living with her, being married to her, wanting a life and a child with her, had opened the door to all sorts of forbidden notions. At least in his mind. And he hadn’t been the only one rethinking their decision to try to remain platonic friends while settling into their new life together. He’d known, from the way she had been looking at him when she thought he didn’t see—and the way she had been avoiding being alone with him—that she was feeling the new tension between them, too.

But that knowledge was nothing compared to the experience of having her in his arms, feeling her cling to him and return his kisses with such sweet, torturous need. Amy might not be ready to acknowledge it yet, but she needed the comfort and satisfaction a real marriage could bring. She needed him. And he wanted to be there for her, he realized, as he felt her surrender to his will and surge against him. He wanted to honor and cherish her, in a way she had never been honored before. He wanted to give her all the tenderness and love she had obviously been missing. And he wanted to extract the same kind of devotion from her.

But that was going to take time, Teddy realized as her breasts flattened against his chest.

And some old-fashioned pursuing…

The kind he would have taken up had they ever actually dated.

Knowing he had to slow down or face the consequences, Teddy reluctantly broke off the kiss.

Amy looked at him with soft, misty eyes. He noted she made no move to pull away. “What was that for?” she whispered, seeming every bit as stunned as he was by the free-flowing passion between them.

Teddy tightened his arms around her. “I’m not sure.” He loved the way she felt, snuggled against him. Savoring the way her heart pounded in cadence to his, wanting to make sure this passion they were feeling was real, he cupped her face between his hands. “We better try it again.”

Her breath caught in her throat as his lips touched hers. “Teddy…”

He caught her lower lip gently between his teeth. “One more time, Amy.” Gathering her close once again, he gave in to the feelings stirring inside him. He kissed her long and slow, soft and deep, until she was as caught up in the all-consuming passion as he. Not about to take her for the first time in the cab of a truck, he drew back once again.

She splayed her hands across his chest, looking as if she wanted to continue making out every bit as much as he did, even while she held him deliberately at bay.

Her breath hitched in her chest. “Seriously, now…”

He grinned and stroked both his hands through the mussed strands of her hair. “Seriously,” he echoed, mimicking her low tone, not about to let her confusion derail them. “There’s no pretending you and I don’t have physical chemistry, because it’s clear we’ve got it in spades.” And that changed everything.

Amy slumped back against the seat and covered her face with her hands. “Which maybe makes things worse than before,” she lamented out loud.

Would he never understand women and what drove them? He’d felt her trembling. Knew she had been kissing him back. “I don’t get it.”

Her delicate brows knit together. In a low, troubled voice, she informed him, “That kind of chemistry usually goes hand in hand with romantic feelings, which—we have both agreed—we don’t have for each other.”

Didn’t have, Teddy corrected mentally. He wasn’t so certain what the situation was now. But not about to push Amy any more than he already had this evening, or go back on the word he had given her—which was that he would be satisfied with a friends-only arrangement and would never push her for anything more—he shrugged. “So maybe the only thing missing from our marriage will be romantic love,” he said casually.

He’d meant to reassure Amy.

She looked more dismayed than ever. “Oh, Teddy. What happens if—instead of being okay with that—we just end up feeling worse? What then?”

Chapter Five

“Heard you had a bit of trouble yesterday,” Teddy’s grandfather, John McCabe, said Wednesday, when Teddy arrived to help him and his grandmother put up the outdoor decorations. Married for sixty years, the seasoned couple set the gold standard for marital happiness in the area.

“That must have been very frightening, getting stuck in that terrible weather.” Lilah gently extracted the wreath from the packaging that kept it safe year-round.

“It wasn’t too bad.” Teddy sat on their wide front porch, untangling the string of lights that would be placed along the front-porch roof. It had been surprisingly enjoyable, sleeping in the truck, with wool blankets drawn over them and Amy cuddled up next to him for warmth. The sound of the sleet and the rain thrumming on the truck had lulled them to sleep. “The temperature rose during the night, so by dawn, it was no longer icy, just muddy. A couple of truckers came by and helped us pull Amy’s truck out of the mud, and we were on our way.”

“How is married life?” Lilah asked.

A glib remark was on the tip of his tongue. “Actually, I was hoping to talk to you about that,” Teddy said after a moment.

“Be glad to help in any way we can,” John said kindly, untangling the last of the lights.

“You two had an arranged marriage, didn’t you?” Teddy knelt to plug in all the cords and make sure every strand worked. To his relief, they did.

John watched as Teddy set up the ladder at the far end of the porch roof. “It was a different time.”

“We fell in love during our engagement.” Lilah hung the wreath on the front door. “If we hadn’t, I’m not sure I would have been able to walk down the aisle.”

Teddy turned to his grandfather. “How did you feel?”

John held the lights while Teddy fastened them on the hooks. “I wanted to marry Lilah. But when we met, I wasn’t nearly as romantic an individual as she was. I thought marrying a pretty woman who was kind and gentle and understanding, who wanted a family every bit as much as I did, would be enough. But then I fell in love with Lilah and I understood what she had been hoping for all along.” John stepped back as Teddy climbed back down the ladder and moved it several feet to the left.

“Do you think you and Amy have made a mistake?” Lilah asked.

“No,” Teddy replied, sure about this much. “I think it’ll work. Amy’s the one who already seems to be having second thoughts.”

Lilah and John exchanged a worried look that spoke volumes.

“I want us to be a family,” Teddy continued. “And I need it to happen soon.” Before Amy changes her mind and wants an annulment. “I was hoping you might have an idea how I could make that happen.”

“The first step is to act like a husband and wife.” Lilah arranged a small potted pine on either side of the front door. “Become a team.”

“And you can do that,” John added, “by working toward a common goal.”

AMY SPENT THE REST OF Wednesday working in the greenhouse, trying to forget about the way she and Teddy had kissed each other. She was still there at eight that evening, when her husband strode in.

“If I didn’t know better I’d think you were avoiding me,” he drawled.

As it happened, that was exactly what she was doing. Not about to admit that to him, however, she retorted, “I’m catching up on everything that would have been done this week if Sheryl hadn’t been put on bed rest.”

“How’s she doing?”

“Better. Her mom flew in today—earlier than Sheryl expected.”

“So Ed’ll be back soon, won’t he?”

“Yes.”

“So this could probably be done then.”

Amy shrugged. “I need to get the seeds in the planting mix if I want to have starter plants to sell to the nurseries, come February.”

Teddy nodded his understanding and ambled closer.

Trying not to think how handsome he looked in the suede jacket, the rim of his hat drawn low across his brow, she asked, “Did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?” Or were you just hoping to snag a few more kisses and see where they led?

Teddy settled on the edge of one of the heavy wooden planting tables. He stretched his long legs out in front of him and braced a hand on either side of him. “It occurred to me today when I was over helping my grandparents put the lights up on the outside of their house that you and I haven’t done anything to decorate our two places for the holiday.” Mischief glimmered in his eyes. “With less than three weeks to go until Christmas, that’s shameful.”

Yes, Amy thought, it was. Generally, she had a ton more Christmas spirit than she had this year.

Refusing to let him steer her into anything, however, she replied, “I usually just plug in this little pre-lit tabletop tree and stick a wreath on the door.”

His lips curved in understanding. “Well, you’re ahead of me because I’ve never even done that much.” He reached over to trace his fingertips from her elbow to the top of the glove on her hand. “I want it to be different this year.” He waited until she looked him square in the eye. “I want a tree and wreaths on the door in both places.”

As much as she was loath to admit it, his was not an unreasonable request. “Okay. We’ll work that in.”

“And I want something else from you,” Teddy continued, even more firmly. “I want you to go to the Laramie Community Hospital fertility specialist with me tomorrow afternoon.”

Again, the joy she should have felt was nowhere to be found. Amy tensed, cautioning, “We’re going to need an appointment.”

His cheeky grin widened. “We’ve got one.”

Amy narrowed her glance in surprise. “How’d you manage that?” she demanded.

“My grandparents helped start the hospital. I asked them to pull some strings for us, and they did.”

Finished, Amy took off her gloves and set them on the table, next to the spade. “You work fast.”

“Not fast enough.” Teddy stood and took her hands in his. He looked down at her so seriously that her heart fluttered. “Look, Amy, we’ve gotten off track. Let ourselves get distracted trying to set up the rules between us instead of focusing on the Christmas gift we want to give to each other.”

She drew in a quavering breath. “A baby.” His baby…

“Yes.” Teddy squeezed her hands companionably. He looked down at her, like the very good friend he had always been, and heaven willing, always would. “I figure the sooner we make that wish a reality, the sooner our life together will become as happy as we both know—deep down—that it can be.”

AS AMY EXPECTED, IT WASN’T easy explaining their plan to the newest obstetrician on the Laramie Community Hospital staff.

“Let’s make sure I understand,” the young and personable Donna Hudson said. She sat back in her chair and ran a hand through her short dark hair. “The two of you just got married last week. You want to have a baby. And you haven’t yet had intercourse.”

“Nor do we plan to—which is why we want to have our baby via artificial insemination,” Amy interjected, trying not to blush. Discussing such intimate subject matter in front of a member of the medical profession would have been difficult enough without Teddy sitting completely poker-faced beside her.

Dr. Hudson looked at Teddy, as if wondering if he, too, was okay with the plan.

To Amy’s relief, Teddy came through for her like a champ, explaining casually, “Our marriage is based on the kind of deep, abiding love that comes out of a lifelong friendship—not romance. We both want to have a family very much.”

“For a lot of reasons this seems like the right course,” Amy concluded.

Apparently Dr. Hudson was satisfied they both knew what they were doing, because her manner shifted from serious to cheerful. “Well, it can certainly be done. We’ll start by giving Amy a physical. Teddy, I suggest you get one from your family doc.”

“Just had one two weeks ago with Amy’s brother, Jeremy—he’s a family doc on staff here. I’m in perfect health.”

“Good. Then we’ll just take care of Amy. Once the exam is complete, the nurse will set her up with an ovulation-predictor kit.”

Teddy went to the waiting room, Amy to an exam room. After her physical was complete, the office lab tech came back in. She handed Dr. Hudson a slip of paper.

“Why don’t you ask Teddy McCabe to come back in?” Dr. Hudson said, after perusing the note.

Unease sifted through Amy. “Is anything wrong?” she asked from her perch on the exam table.

Dr. Hudson smiled reassuringly. “Quite the contrary.”

Teddy walked in, a mixture of concern and curiosity on his face. His glance slid over the pink cotton gown she was wearing and the matching sheet over her lap.

“We just tested the urine sample Amy gave us. Her luteinizing hormone has surged, which means she’s ovulating. You two have a thirty-six-hour window in which to get pregnant. So if you want to go ahead and try today, I can inseminate Amy.”

Joy bubbled up inside Amy.

Teddy looked equally thrilled and excited.

“Sure!” they said in unison.

“Amy, why don’t you hang out here, just read a magazine, and Teddy—you can go with the nurse.” Dr. Hudson grinned at Amy. “See you in a few minutes.”

Amy took a magazine from the shelf mounted on the wall and sat down to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

A half an hour went by.

Then another.

The more Amy sat there, the more nervous she became.

She wanted a baby with Teddy so much, but the circumstances were colder, more sterile, than she had expected.

Finally, the nurse came back in. “I’m sorry, Mrs. McCabe. It’s not going to happen today.”

“Wh-why?”

“You should ask your husband. Let him explain.”

The nurse gave Amy another sympathetic look, then slipped out of the exam room.

Amy’s knees trembled. She slipped off the table and began to get dressed.

Teddy was waiting for her in the reception area. His eyes gave nothing away.

She paid the bill for the visit, then walked out with him.

Their footsteps echoed on the polished linoleum flooring of the hospital annex, where the doctor’s offices were located. Teddy was flushed and tight-lipped. “What happened?” Amy asked as they reached the elevator.

Teddy took her elbow and followed her into the elevator. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well, I do!” Amy said as the doors slid shut, wrenching free of him. “What in the world happened in there?” Why had everything that had suddenly been going right suddenly gone wrong?

Teddy leaned back against the opposite wall. “I changed my mind!” He pushed the words between clenched teeth.

Amy blinked. “About having a baby?”

Teddy gave her a droll look. “About doing it the new-fashioned way.”

It took a moment for the meaning behind his words to sink in. When they did, Amy felt heat well in her chest, before moving to her neck and face. “We agreed!” she whispered, stunned and dismayed. The fact they could have a baby together without actually ever having sex with each other was the entire reason they had risked their friendship and gotten married!

His handsome jaw took on the consistency of granite. “Well, now I’m un-agreeing!”

Amy stared at him in consternation, barely able to believe they had been so close to getting what they both wanted, what would make all their mutual dreams come true, only to have him chicken out! “Teddy—for this to work…for us to have a baby—you have to do your part!” she cried, just as the elevator doors slid open. The involuntary chuckles and gaping expressions on the faces of the people waiting on the other side let Amy know the onlookers had indeed caught every word of her last sentence.

Teddy turned and glared at Amy. Reclaiming his grip on her elbow, he rushed her past the sea of shocked faces and raised eyebrows. “Nice, Amy.”

She cringed and bit down on an oath. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

He increased his strides, forcing her to struggle to keep up. “Too late. That horse already left the corral.”

Amy dug in her heels. “I still don’t get why…”

He pushed out the front doors of the lobby, still hurrying her along. The moment they were out of earshot of others, he wheeled on her. “You think what they asked me to do was easy?” He lowered his face till they were eye to eye. “Well, let’s go back up to Dr. Hudson’s office and have you go in the room and work yourself up to a fever pitch, knowing the nurse and the doctor and the office lab tech and Lord only knows who else, are all out there, waiting for you to—”

Amy lifted both hands in surrender, unable to hear more. “Okay, okay. I get the picture!”

“Do you?” Teddy straightened, six foot four inches of furious male. “Because I don’t think you do—although that easily could have changed, since the nurse asked me if I wanted her to go and get you so you could assist me in doing what I needed to do. Should I have asked her to do that?”

Amy’s face burned as much as her conscience. She stepped back a pace. “No. Heavens, no!”

Teddy braced his hands on his waist. “So we’re going to have to come up with another way of accomplishing this.”

Amy wrinkled her nose in confusion. “What other way is there?”

He merely looked at her.

“Oh…no…” she whispered, as the image he wanted to evoke came to mind.

Teddy put his hands on her shoulders, his touch gentle. “Amy, we have the chemistry.” He looked deep into her eyes. “We proved that when we kissed the other night.” He paused and tightened his grip on her persuasively. “I’m fairly certain if we were to think of this as a necessary ‘procedure,’ we could rally to the occasion and get into the spirit of the big event.”

To Amy’s shock, the idea of making love to Teddy wasn’t nearly as unnerving as it should have been. Nor was the idea that he might use the desired end result as a way to satisfy his basic male needs. Hadn’t he been more open to lovemaking without traditional romantic involvement from the very first?

“There has to be another way,” she insisted nervously.

His expression grim, Teddy released his hold on her and stepped back. “Well, if you think of it in the next thirty-six hours, you let me know.”

THEY’D DRIVEN TO THE appointment in his truck. Hence, Amy had no choice but to accompany Teddy back to the Silverado. As soon as they arrived, she got out of his pickup truck and into hers. Without another word to him, she started the engine and drove to her ranch. She needed time alone. To think. To figure out if she could continue on with this charade of a marriage she had entered into with Teddy McCabe.

Wishing—not for the first time—that she had a big soaking tub like the one in Teddy’s master bathroom, she shucked her clothes and climbed into the tiny vinyl shower stall. As the hot water sluiced down on her tense shoulders, she leaned her head against the wall and waited for the tears to come. To no avail. She could no more cry and release her deep disappointment that way, than Teddy had been able to…