Brenda Harlen – Merry Christmas, Baby Maverick! (страница 2)
A strand of her hair had come loose from the fancy twist at the back of her head and it fluttered in the breeze, tickling his throat. The scent of her skin teased his nostrils, stirring his blood and clouding his brain. He tried to think logically about the situation—just because she was an attractive woman and he was attracted didn’t mean he had to act on the feeling. But damn, it was hard to remember all the reasons why he needed to resist when she fit so perfectly against him.
As the song began to wind down, he guided her to the edge of the dance floor, then through the crowd of people mingling, until they were in the shadows of the pavilion.
“I thought, for a moment, you were going to drag me all the way to your room at the boarding house,” Kayla teased.
The idea was more than a little tempting. “I might have,” he said. “If I thought you would let me.”
She held his gaze for a long minute then nodded slowly. “I would let you.”
The promise in her eyes echoed her words. Still, he hesitated, because this was Kayla—
He gave in to the desire churning through him and lowered his head to kiss her.
And she kissed him back.
As her lips moved beneath his, she swayed into him. The soft press of her sweet body set his own on fire. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss. She met the searching thrust of his tongue with her own, not just responding to his demands but making her own. Apparently, sweet, shy Kayla Dalton wasn’t as sweet and shy as he’d always believed—a stunning realization that further fanned the flames of his desire.
He wanted her—desperately and immediately. And the way she was molded to him, he would bet the ranch that she wanted him, too. A suspicion that was further confirmed when he started to ease his mouth away and she whimpered a soft protest, pressing closer.
“Maybe we should continue this somewhere a little more private,” he suggested.
“More private sounds good,” she agreed without hesitation.
He took her hand, linking their fingers together, and led her away.
Kayla walked out of the specialty bath shop with another bag to add to the half dozen she already carried and a feeling of satisfaction. It was only the first of December, and she was almost finished with her Christmas shopping. She’d definitely earned a hot chocolate.
Making her way toward the center court of the mall, she passed a long line of children and toddlers impatiently tugging on the hands of parents and grandparents, along with babies sleeping in carriers or snuggled in loving arms. At the end of the line was their destination: Santa.
She paused to watch as a new mom and dad approached the jolly man in the red suit, sitting on opposite sides of him after gently setting their sleeping baby girl—probably not more than a few months old—in his arms. Then the baby opened her eyes, took one look at the stranger and let out an earsplitting scream of disapproval.
While the parents fussed, trying to calm their infant daughter so the impatient photographer could snap a “First Christmas with Santa” picture, Kayla was suddenly struck by the realization that she might be doing the same thing next Christmas.
Except that there wouldn’t be a daddy in her picture, an extra set of hands to help console their unhappy baby. Kayla was on her own. Unmarried. Alone. A soon-to-be single mother who was absolutely terrified about that fact.
She’d always been logical and levelheaded, not the type of woman who acted impulsively or recklessly. Not until the Fourth of July, when she’d accepted Trey’s invitation to go back to his room. One cup of wedding punch had helped rekindle her schoolgirl fantasies about the man who had been her brother’s best friend. Then one dance had led to one kiss—and one impulsive decision to one unplanned pregnancy.
She owed it to Trey to tell him that their night together had resulted in a baby, but she didn’t know how to break the news when he apparently didn’t even remember that they’d been together. Even now, five months later, that humiliation made her cheeks burn.
She wasn’t at all promiscuous. In fact, Trey was the first man she’d had sex with in three years and only the second in all of her twenty-five years. But Trey had also been drinking the wedding punch that was later rumored to have been spiked with something, and his memory of events after they got back to his room at the boarding house was a little hazy. Kayla had been relieved—and just a little insulted—when he left Rust Creek Falls to return to Thunder Canyon a few weeks later without another word to her about what had happened between them.
But she knew that he would be back again. Trey no longer lived in Rust Creek Falls but his grandparents—Gene and Melba Strickland—still did, and he returned two or three times every year to visit them. It was inevitable that their paths would cross when he came back, and she’d have to tell him about their baby when he did.
Until then, she was grateful that she’d managed to keep her pregnancy a secret from almost everyone else. Even now, only her sister, Kristen, knew the truth. Thankfully, she’d only just started to show, and the cold Montana weather gave her the perfect excuse to don big flannel shirts or bulky sweaters that easily covered the slight curve of her belly.
Regardless of the circumstances of conception, she was happy about the baby and excited about impending motherhood. It was only the “single” part that scared her. And although her family would likely disapprove of the situation, she was confident they would ultimately support her and love her child as much as she did.
The tiny life stirred inside her, making her smile. She loved her baby so much already, so much more than she would have imagined possible, but she had no illusions that Trey would be as happy about the situation. Especially considering that he didn’t even remember getting naked and tangling up the sheets with her.
She pushed those worries aside for another day and entered the line in the café. After perusing the menu for several minutes, she decided on a peppermint hot chocolate with extra whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and candy-cane sprinkles. She’d been careful not to overindulge, conscious of having to disguise every pound she put on, but she couldn’t hide her pregnancy forever—probably not even for much longer.
Which, of course, introduced another dilemma—how could she tell anyone else about the baby when she hadn’t even told the baby’s father? And what if he denied that it was his?
The sweet beverage she’d sipped suddenly left a bad taste in her mouth as she considered the possibility.
A denial from Trey would devastate her, but she knew that she had to be prepared for it. If he didn’t remember sleeping with her, why would he believe he was the father of her child?
“It really is a small world, isn’t it?”
Kayla started at the question that interrupted her thoughts, her face flaming as she glanced up to see Trey’s grandmother standing beside her table with a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. Not that Melba Strickland could possibly know what she’d been thinking, but Kayla couldn’t help but feel unnerved by the other woman’s unexpected presence.
She forced a smile. “Yes, it is,” she agreed.
“Do you mind if I join you?”
“Of course not.” There weren’t many empty chairs in the café, and it seemed silly for each of them to sit alone as if they were strangers. Especially considering that Kayla had known the Stricklands for as long as she could remember.
Melba and Gene were good people, if a little old-fashioned. Or maybe it was just that they were old—probably in their late seventies or early eighties, she guessed, because no one seemed to know for sure. Regardless, their boarding house was a popular place for people looking for long-term accommodations in Rust Creek Falls—so long as they didn’t mind abiding by Melba’s strict rules, which included a ban on overnight visitors. An explicit prohibition that Kayla and Trey had ignored on the Fourth of July.
“Goodness, this place is bustling.” Melba pulled back the empty chair and settled into it. “The whole mall, I mean. It’s only the first of December, and the stores are packed. It’s as if everyone in Kalispell has decided to go shopping today.”
“Everyone in Kalispell and half of Rust Creek Falls,” Kayla agreed.
The older woman chuckled. “Looks like you got an early start,” she noted, glancing at the shopping bags beneath the table.
“Very early,” Kayla agreed, scooping up some whipped cream and licking it off the spoon.
“I love everything about Christmas,” Melba confided. “The shopping and wrapping, decorating and baking. But mostly I love the time we spend with family and friends.”
“Are you going to have a full house over the holidays this year?” Kayla asked.
“I hope so,” the older woman said. “We’ve had Claire, Levi and Bekka with us since August, and Claire’s sisters have hinted that they might head this way for Christmas, which would be great. I so love having the kids around.”