“Yes.”Cord kissed her again.All the need and hunger that’d been dormant inside her ignited like a brush fire. She tugged him toward her bedroom.He gently dug his bootheels into the carpet. “Nuh-uh. No hanky-panky until you’re wearin’ my ring and you’re my wife.”“But—”He lifted an eyebrow. “That’s one.”“Can I have the swat now? I’ll even take my skirt off. Shirt too.” Her hands went to the buttons on her blouse.“Amy Jo. You ornery cuss. Keep them clothes on.”“I missed you. I want you. I don’t wanna wait.” She nipped his chin and scraped her teeth down his throat. “Bet I can getcha to change your mind.”“Probably. But we ain’t got much time, so there’s two things we hafta talk about first.” He reached inside his suit coat pocket and removed an envelope. “Your mama gave me this to give to you.”“What is it?”“I have no idea.”AJ opened the letter and her heart caught at the familiar formal handwriting: Sweetheart-I’m glad Cord finally knows the truth about what you did to keep ou
PrologueSkylar Ellison hated being naked in public.Not that she was positioned on a bridge waving her hoo-hoos and va-jay-jay at passersby, but damn, wearing just her birthday suit made her oh-so conscious of the flaws in that aging suit. The paper covering the patient’s exam table crinkled beneath her sweaty thighs. A cold breeze from the air duct wafted across her bare butt exactly where the itsy bitsy cloth gown gapped.That wasn’t as bad as having her lower half completely exposed, her knees spread wide, her feet in metal stirrups as she stared at the “Hang In There, Baby” poster plastered to the ceiling.Skylar dreaded pelvic exams, pap smears, shots, and teeth cleanings—anything resembling a medical procedure. So far she’d been poked, prodded and they’d taken a sample of damn near every bodily fluid imaginable; blood, urine, saliva, a throat culture, earwax, toe-jam—not so much the last two, but it’d sure seemed like it.She’d been cooling her heels in this sterile room for th
The fluttery sensation in her stomach solidified as the baby gave her a good swift kick.****Nine months later…The door slammed hard enough to shake the whole house.“Kade West McKay. I want to talk to you right now.”Kade sighed. He wondered what he’d done to invoke his mother’s wrath this time.Left the toilet seat up? Parked in her spot? Forgot to wipe his boots? Did she know how mortifying it was to be treated like a naughty eleven-year-old boy, rather than a thirty-two-year-old man responsible for running a ranch the size of Rhode Island?A thirty-two-year-old man who was living at his folks’ house. Again. Temporarily, he silently amended. He’d been back from the yearlong grazing experiment for just two days, and it felt as if he’d gone back in time twenty years.All five-feet-one inches of Kimi McKay barreled around the corner into the living room. Whenever she got her mad on, he and his brother Kane snickered and called her the blonde tornado—behind her back, of course.Nothi
Her lips curled in a cat-like smile. “Too bad you weren’t this honest the other night. I know just the place. Let’s go.”Ten minutes later, Kade lowered the menu. “I hate to break it to you, Skylar, but this ain’t a vegetarian restaurant.”“I know. It’s the most expensive restaurant in town. And since you said any place, I figured you owed me the very best.”“Bit of a hard ass, ain’t ya?”She shrugged. “What’re you having?”“Eggplant parmesan.”“Really?”“Yeah. Why?”“I figured you’d order the porterhouse.”“I don’t eat beef twenty-four/seven. I eat lots of other things.” He’d sure like to nibble on her. Scrape his teeth down to the base of her neck where her throat curved into her shoulder. Flick his tongue across the pulse point beating beneath her jaw. Sniff back up to see if she dabbed perfume behind her sweet little ears or if it was just the natural scent of her skin that smelled so heavenly.“You’re gawking at me, McKay.”Kade glanced up at her eyes. “Sorry.”Skylar folded her
Those luscious red lips divided and her moist chocolate-scented breath drifted out.He set the fork on her tongue. “Suck it off. Oh yeah, just like that.” His gaze zoomed to her throat. “I wanna sink my teeth into that hot spot where I see your pulse poundin’. I wanna lick it from bottom to top.”“Stop.”“What?” He dragged his eyes back to hers.“I think the crotch on my nylons melted you’ve gotten me so hot. And suddenly I could care less about cake.”Kade swept his thumb across the pouty swell of her bottom lip. He showed her the dab of chocolate he swiped before he brought it to his mouth and sucked it away.“Mmm.”“You are the devil.”“Devil’s food, baby, the best kind.” Kade allowed a smirk. “That mean I’ve redeemed myself?”“Uh.” She cleared her throat. “Yeah.”“Will you go out with me again, Skylar? For coffee. To a movie.” He smiled slyly.“Or just for dessert? Whatever you want.”She appeared to consider him carefully. “How about if you meet me out front of the feed store at
“She’s always hungry when she wakes up.”“I imagine.” He kept stroking Eliza’s face, staring at her with an expression resembling awe.“You wanna hold her?”“Like you wouldn’t believe.”“You have held a baby before, right?”“Not for a long time. And never mine.”Sky shifted sideways and gently placed Eliza in his arms.Kade stiffened.“Relax.”“Am I doin’ this right?” His panicked gaze sought hers. “Or am I squeezin’ her too tight?”“You’re doing fine, Daddy. Just make sure you support her head.” Sky fussed with Eliza’s blanket and murmured,” She likes to be snuggled close to your body.”“Like this?”“Uh-huh.” She studied his rapt face, bowled over by the raw emotion he didn’t bother to hide. “Be warned. She is squirmy.”“She don’t weigh much, does she?”“You won’t be saying that when you’ve been walking the floor with her all night because she won’t stop crying. Those fifteen pounds feel like a hundred.”He smiled and brushed his thumb across Eliza’s plump cheek. “I can’t wait. I can
He passed through another wide-open gate, which separated the Sky Blue factory from Skylar’s private residence. The old ranch house was blocked from view by a row of scraggly trees.Unlike most Wyoming residents, her front door was locked. Kade set his bags next to the staircase in the cool, dark foyer. He looked at the pictures lining the hallway, a mish-mash of snapshots, artwork, formal studio poses and old-time sepia toned groups of photos from a century past.The items on the opposite wall were hand-stitched family samplers. Mini-quilts, needlepoint, delicate doilies; all fussy female handiwork encased in glass and gilded frames. He wouldn’t have pegged Skylar’s decorating taste as old-fashioned, Western and homey.He didn’t snoop beyond checking out the rooms on the main floor. Baby stuff had overtaken the antique dining room table. Didn’t look like Skylar did much entertaining, which filled him with an odd sense of relief.The formal feeling of the front room—matching floral co
“Great.” He squinted at her and challenged, “Doesn’t sound like you like her much.”India’s blue eyes nearly turned black with anger. “I worship her, I’d do anything in the world for her, and I’m thinking about punching you in the mouth for suggesting I don’t, McKay.”Kade held up his hands. “Sorry.”“Skylar and I are polar opposites, but that doesn’t change the fact she’s the greatest person in the world and she’s a wonderful mother.”“Which is all good and well, even if she won’t agree to become my wife, I am movin’ in to help care for Eliza.”“You are?”He nodded.Another pause hung in the air. Then India smiled like a loon. “That’s hysterical. She won’t marry you, so you just bulled your way into being her roommate?”“Pretty much.”“Surprises me she allowed it.”“Me too. Sky might be all kinds of reserved, but I am damn determined to have my way on this, India.”“I can see that. Since I’ve already given you the 4-1-1 on her, I should also warn you Skylar is used to being in charge