Brady’s here. Brady’s here. Brady’s here.

It was a chant in her head and it made her want to drive off into the sunset without a word to anyone. Never to return and have to reveal the truth. Not to her family. And certainly not to Brady Brown.

But Kate couldn’t do that and she knew it. She was going to have to go out there and look him in the eye again. And pretend she wasn’t more confused, more scared than she’d ever been in her life.

“You have to go out there,” she told her image in the mirror. “You don’t have a choice.”

But maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, she tried to convince herself. With her family around, he would hardly know she was there. He probably wouldn’t even have a thought about their rash wedding or what had followed.

And he also wouldn’t have the slightest inkling that at this very moment she was pregnant with his baby.

A RANCHING FAMILY:

Though scattered by years and tears, they share mile-deep roots in one Wyoming ranch and a singular talent for lassoing the unlikeliest hearts!

Dear Reader,

When Patricia Kay was a child, she could be found hiding somewhere…reading. “Ever since I was old enough to realize someone wrote books and they didn’t just magically appear, I dreamed of writing,” she says. And this month Special Edition is proud to publish Patricia’s twenty-second novel, The Millionaire and the Mom, the next of the STOCKWELLS OF TEXAS series. She admits it isn’t always easy keeping her ideas and her writing fresh. What helps, she says, is “nonwriting” activities, such as singing in her church choir, swimming, taking long walks, going to the movies and traveling. “Staying well-rounded keeps me excited about writing,” she says.

We have plenty of other fresh stories to offer this month. After finding herself in the midst of an armed robbery with a gun to her back in Christie Ridgway’s From This Day Forward, Annie Smith vows to chase her dreams…. In the next of A RANCHING FAMILY series by Victoria Pade, Kate McDermot returns from Vegas unexpectedly married and with a Cowboy’s Baby in her belly! And Sally Tyler Hayes’s Magic in a Jelly Jar is what young Luke Morgan hopes for by saving his teeth in a jelly jar…because he thinks that his dentist is the tooth fairy and can grant him one wish: a mother! Also, don’t miss the surprising twists in Her Mysterious Houseguest by Jane Toombs, and an exciting forbidden love story with Barbara Benedict’s Solution: Marriage.

At Special Edition, fresh, innovative books are our passion. We hope you enjoy them all.

Best,

Karen Taylor Richman

Senior Editor

Cowboy’s Baby
Victoria Pade

www.millsandboon.co.uk

VICTORIA PADE

is a bestselling author of both historical and contemporary romance fiction, and mother of two energetic daughters, Cori and Erin. Although she enjoys her chosen career as a novelist, she occasionally laments that she has never traveled farther from her Colorado home than Disneyland, instead spending all her spare time plugging away at her computer. She takes breaks from writing by indulging in her favorite hobby—eating chocolate.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter One

Most of the McDermot family was gathered in the living room when the roar of an airplane flying so low over the house made it impossible for normal voices to be heard. Conversation halted and all eyes turned upward as an excited Matt McDermot said, “That’s gotta be Brady. Four o’clock on the dot, just like he said.”

Matt’s expression showed his pleasure. But the arrival of her brother’s old college roommate and best friend had just the opposite effect on Kate McDermot. She felt a wave of pure panic.

“Where are you going?” her brother demanded when she stood suddenly to leave the room.

“I thought I might take a little nap before dinner,” she lied.

“Now? Just when Brady’s gettin’ here? Don’t do that. I told him to land in the north field and I’m going out to pick him up right this minute. I’ll have him back here before you know it and you’ll want to see him, won’t you?”

Not really, she was inclined to say. In fact, not at all. Brady Brown happened to be the last person on the face of the earth she wanted to see.

But she couldn’t say that, so instead she said, “Sure. But maybe I’ll just freshen up first.”

Then she made a subtle dash to her suite of rooms, closed the door tightly behind her and leaned against it for added measure.

As if that would help.

But unfortunately it was only a stopgap measure, and she knew it. Eventually she was going to have to face Brady Brown whether she liked it or not.

Her family didn’t know how she felt. They didn’t know any of what had happened between her and Brady Brown. They didn’t know anything about what was going on now.

But plenty had happened.

And there was plenty going on now.

To Kate’s dismay.

She’d moved to the small Wyoming town of Elk Creek at Christmastime to live on the ranch she and her four brothers had owned since their grandfather had turned it over to them. She’d needed a change of scenery. A change of lifestyle. A change all the way around.

If only she’d made the move and let it go at that.

But after a Christmas during which her brother Matt had become engaged to a woman named Jenn Johnson, who he’d found in a snowstorm on the side of the road, Matt had talked his brothers and sister into a trip to Las Vegas. He was to meet up with Brady to celebrate their mutual thirtieth birthdays on New Year’s Eve.

Kate had been reluctant to go.

Taking off on the spur of the moment, without making plans, to a place like Las Vegas, wasn’t something the ultraconservative accountant usually did. But she’d been in a pretty bad funk, and in an effort to lift her spirits all of her brothers had put pressure on her to go.

So, more to humor them than anything else, she’d let herself be persuaded.

Of course, only after she’d arrived in Las Vegas had she realized that Matt had an ulterior motive. He was fixing her up with Brady Brown. And since all four of her brothers were paired off with their wives or soon-to-be wives, it was impossible for Kate and the also solo Brady not to be thrown together as a couple.

Luckily—or maybe not so luckily—Brady had made things easy on her. She was reasonably sure the cowboy crop duster hadn’t had any advance warning that he was going to have Matt’s sister on his hands, but he’d been great about it. Fun, funny, charming, courtly. Kate had found herself having a surprisingly good time in spite of the impromptu arrangements and being with a man she’d heard of but never met before.

But the truth of it was that she’d had too good a time.

New Year’s Eve. Two birthdays. A lot of champagne. Being left alone with Brady after everyone else had gone off to celebrate privately in their own rooms. Las Vegas lunacy. And something that had run deeper in Kate. Much, much deeper…

At a time in her life when old feelings of being undesirable, unappealing and unattractive had resurfaced with a vengeance, Brady Brown had made her feel very desirable, very appealing, very attractive.

And the impact of even a false sense of being desirable, appealing and attractive to a jaw-droppingly handsome man who made heads turn when he walked into even the most crowded room was nothing to sneeze at. Especially in addition to way, way too much champagne. It had all gone to her head.

So when passion had erupted between them and Kate had confided her deepest secret to Brady—that she was still a virgin at twenty-nine and was fed up with saving herself for a marriage that never materialized—inebriated reasoning had somehow made it seem like a good idea for him to whisk her off to a wedding chapel at the stroke of midnight where an Elvis impersonator had performed the ceremony that gave permission to relinquish her virginity in a night of abandon that she barely remembered the next morning.

The next morning…

Kate couldn’t think about that next morning without cringing.

Married. She’d actually gotten married, she shrieked silently, pushing away from the door and beginning to pace, because thoughts of what she’d gotten herself into left her too agitated to stand still any longer.

The whole thing seemed unreal.

But then, how could a person take a ceremony seriously when it was performed by an Elvis impersonator? Plus, she’d had so much to drink beforehand that everything had had a fuzzy glow to it.

But fuzzy glow or no fuzzy glow, the wedding had been real and the marriage certificate on the hotel room’s bureau had proved it.

She hadn’t been gracious about it. Which was part of why the memory of that next morning made her cringe. And part of why she didn’t want to face Brady again.

She’d behaved pretty abominably. She’d let him know in no uncertain terms that if their marriage was real and legally binding it needed to be unbound. In a hurry.

Brady had agreed. He’d even been nice about it. He’d tried to calm her down. To make her see it in a lighter vein. To infuse a little humor into the situation.

But Kate had been having none of that.

It was a horrible, horrible thing they’d done, she’d told him. An incomprehensible, unconscionable thing. A completely irresponsible, foolish, foolhardy, immature, stupid thing. And it needed to be rectified immediately.

Brady had given up his attempts to reason with her or put things into a different perspective. He’d finally just assured her he would take care of it. He’d even conceded to her insistence that they not let Matt or any of her other brothers know what they’d done.

“Just relax. It’ll be okay,” he’d said. “I’ll have the marriage dissolved one way or another.”

Those were the last words he’d spoken to her before Kate had slipped out of his hotel room, sneaked back into her own room across the hall and pretended to have the flu for the remaining day of the trip so she didn’t have to see Brady again.

And that had been the end of it. At least the end of any time she’d had to spend with him. Or so she’d thought. Until now.

A week ago she’d received a plain, type-written envelope containing a note from him informing her he would have divorce papers for her to sign when he got to the ranch for the visit she hadn’t known he was about to make.

And since then she’d learned that seeing him again wasn’t her only problem.

The thought of just how complicated things were suddenly deflated Kate. She sat on the edge of her bed and sighed a sigh that was really more of a groan.

For what seemed like the millionth time she asked herself how she could have gotten into this predicament. After all, she was the most careful person she knew. In every way. Careful, cautious, conservative. She never took a wrong step because she never took a step without thinking about it ahead of time. Without analyzing it. Without judging it from all angles first.

She drove a plain, practical sedan. She saved her money. She had a retirement plan. She wore muted colors and high necks and flat-heeled shoes and heavy coats in winter and sunblock in summer. She didn’t speak out of turn. She ate in moderation. She exercised. Her whole life had been in order.

Well, it had been until Thanksgiving, anyway, when her longtime fiancé, Dwight, had pulled the rug out from under her by eloping with someone else. But even then she’d still tried to keep her life as neat and tidy as possible. She’d worked hard to keep her devastated emotions under control and undercover. And she’d given long thought to moving to Elk Creek before she’d made her decision to actually do it.

But then in one single night she’d completely blown it. All that order. All that control. All that conservatism and caution. Out the window.

“Shouldn’t I have been allowed just one indiscretion without paying for it like this?” she asked the unseen forces that seemed at work in her life now.

And even if she had to pay for that one night of indiscretion, why did the payment have to be so steep? It just wasn’t fair.

“Brady’s here!”

Kate heard someone make that announcement in the distance right then, and tension renewed itself and turned into needles prickling along the surface of her skin. So much so that sitting still suddenly became impossible for her.

She lunged to her feet and started pacing the room once more.

Brady’s here. Brady’s here. Brady’s here…

It was a chant in her head, and it made her want to run away. It made her want to just get in her practical sedan and drive off into the March sunset without a word to anyone. Never to return and have to reveal what was really going on with her. To anyone. Certainly not to her family. And certainly not to Brady Brown.

But she couldn’t do that and she knew it. She couldn’t even stay in her bedroom hiding out from everyone. From him. She was going to have to go out there and look him in the eye again. And pretend she wasn’t more confused, more scared, more worried, more muddled than she’d ever been in her life.

Good luck….

“Kate? Are you comin’ out? You didn’t fall asleep in there, did you?” Matt called through her door.

“I’ll be right there,” she answered, hoping her brother didn’t hear the uncertainty in her voice.

She straightened her posture in hopes that a stiff spine might lend her courage, and took a look at herself in the mirror on the dresser.

The clothes she had on were okay—jeans and a heavy-gauge mock-turtleneck sweater with a single diamond knit into the front. But her face was so pale.

She pinched the high crests of her cheekbones until they turned color but that didn’t help the wide, deer-caught-in-headlights look of her light green eyes.

“Buck up,” she ordered her reflection as she ran a brush through her chin-length, riotously curly brown hair pulled back with a headband.

Then she applied a light shade of lipstick and massaged some lotion into her hands and up her arms to her elbows in hopes that that would help alleviate some of the skin-prickling tension that was still attacking her.

“You have to go out there,” she told her image in the mirror as she did. “You don’t have a choice.”

But maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, she tried to convince herself, picturing in her mind how the next several hours were likely to play out.

She would slip into the living room and say a simple hello from the sidelines—which was also where she would stay.

Brady would be involved with Matt, catching up, trading stories. He would probably hardly know she was anywhere around. He definitely wouldn’t whip out the divorce papers in the middle of her whole family and demand that she sign them on the spot.

They would all have dinner and she’d keep herself as busy in the kitchen as she could so she wouldn’t have to spend too much time in the same room with Brady. Then the evening would end and he’d go off to his rooms and she’d go off to hers and that would be that. He probably wouldn’t even have a thought about their rash wedding or what had followed it.

And he also wouldn’t have the slightest inkling of what she’d found out only four days earlier.

That the consequence of their single night of abandon was that at this very moment she was pregnant with his baby.

Chapter Two

Everyone in the living room was laughing when Kate finally ventured back there. She was only guessing, but she assumed they were laughing at something Brady had said. He could tell a joke as well as any professional comedian, which had made him the life of the party the whole time they’d all been in Las Vegas two months before.

Her family was so caught up in him, in fact, that no one noticed her standing in the arched entry from the foyer, and it gave her a chance to take a look at him.

How could he be more handsome than she remembered?

But he was.

He was as tall as her brothers—at least six foot three. A tower of long legs, narrow hips, flat stomach, wide chest, broad shoulders and big biceps.

There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him, but there were muscles galore. Muscles his clothes couldn’t hide. Especially since he was wearing jeans tight enough to show off his great thighs, and a long-sleeved knit shirt that hugged his perfectly veed torso like shrink-wrap.

And as if the body wasn’t enough to give her heart palpitations, he had a face to die for, too.

He had swarthy good looks. His hair was the color of French roast coffee beans—not quite coal-black but close. He wore it just a touch long and combed it with a hint of a part on the right side, sweeping all of it casually away from his face.

His skin had a natural tan to it, a golden glow that would brown up in the summer but merely gave him the look of robust health and vitality now.

And there were his features to top it all off.

Oh, he was gorgeous!

But not pretty-boy cute. He had a masculine, rugged, almost craggy kind of beauty that said he was born that way and didn’t do anything to accentuate it.

His chin was strong and well defined, his lips turned up at the corners as if he were in perpetual good humor. His nose was straight and perfect, his eyebrows slightly full, and his eyes were a pale blue-gray beneath long lashes.

And when he smiled the way he did right then, there were creases that animated his face. Creases that hammocked his chin from dimples in his cheeks, creases that crinkled the corners of those eyes that glimmered with vibrancy, creases that bracketed that lissome mouth full of blindingly white teeth.

It all made for a powerful package. Powerful enough not to help the muddle Kate was already in and making something flutter inside her that had nothing to do with the baby she was carrying and everything to do with that baby’s daddy and the pure animal magnetism he exuded.

A magnetism that made her step farther into the room even as another part of her wanted to run in the opposite direction just so she could get things under control.

“There she is!” Matt said from the center of the group when he spotted her. “We thought you’d gotten lost.”

She had. For a moment. In the sight of Brady Brown.

But now she struggled to find her way back to some semblance of normalcy so she could play the charade she needed to play to keep her secrets.

“Say hello to Brady,” her brother urged.

“Hello, Brady,” she parroted, trying to make a joke out of the obvious return of Matt’s overt matchmaking attempts.

But there was no joke in that first moment Brady’s eyes rested on her.

Her heart started to beat double time, she felt her face flush, and although her skin still felt prickly, it didn’t seem to originate in tension anymore but in something entirely different.

“Hi, Kate,” Brady said in the lush baritone voice she’d forgotten about. His tone was edged with formality, though. A formality she thought might indicate he was leery of her.

But then why wouldn’t he be leery of her after the way she’d treated him New Year’s morning?

“Brady was just telling us about being stranded in a one-runway airport in the middle of nowhere for the past twenty-four hours,” Matt said to update Kate.

“Which is why I need a shower before keepin’ company with civilized people,” Brady added, directing the comment at Kate. “How ’bout you show me where you folks want me to bunk? Let me clean up some?”

Kate’s pulse redoubled at the prospect, even as she wondered why he didn’t have Matt show him to his rooms.

But she couldn’t be rude and deny a guest his request, so she forced a small smile she hoped looked better than it felt and said, “Sure.”

Brady poked his chin in the direction of the front door. “My bags are there. Just let me grab ’em, and you can lead the way.”

Kate saw Matt nudge her other brother Ry with an elbow and knew Matt was feeling pleased with himself, thinking that he was in the midst of a second chance at getting Kate and Brady together.

If only you knew how much trouble you’ve caused, Kate thought. But she turned and retraced her steps out of the living room rather than saying anything.

Brady followed behind as Matt called after them. “We thought we’d put ’im in the rooms next to yours, Kate. Junebug got ’em all ready.”

Terrific. This just gets better and better.

The house had two wings on either side of the central portion where the living room, dining room and kitchen were lined up. Both wings contained bedroom suites that allowed for privacy no matter how many of the McDermots were in residence.

The suites all had their own bedroom, bathroom and sitting room, complete with fireplaces, wet bars and French doors that allowed entrance from or exit onto the porch that wrapped around the front and sides of the place.

There was also a den and a recreation room, but Kate didn’t want to prolong her time with Brady enough to give him the whole tour, so she merely took him down the hall to the right of the entrance. She went past her own door to the one beside it without saying a word, until they’d reached the entrance to the guest room Brady would be using.

“There you go,” she said simply, opening the door for him but not stepping inside.

Brady craned his neck just enough to peer through the opening before he tossed in his duffel bag and slid his suitcase after it. Then he turned toward Kate, but his gaze didn’t drop to her face until after he’d glanced over her head, as if to be certain they were alone in the hallway.

“I wanted to have a minute with you right away to let you know I’ll be discreet about everything,” he said then. “In case you were worried that I might blurt out something.”

“I wasn’t worried. About that,” she added under her breath.

A small frown tugged at his dark brows. “Are you okay?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be okay? Don’t I look okay?” She was too quick to answer and she regretted it.

“You look great,” he said as if he meant it. “But you don’t look happy to see me.”

Which wasn’t very hospitable. And he was being more than polite. There was thoughtfulness in his effort to reassure her he’d be keeping their secret.

Kate took a deep breath and called upon her own manners. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a shrew. This whole thing is just—”

“Weird. Uncomfortable. Embarrassing. I know. It is for me, too.”

It was odd, but knowing that, knowing he not only understood how she felt but was feeling the same things—well some of the same things, anyway—helped. It was comforting. Like having a comrade in arms.

“What do you say we start over?” he suggested then. “Wipe the slate clean of Las Vegas and of everything up to this minute and pretend we’ve just met?”

Oh, if only it were that easy.

But nothing was made any easier by her being contrary or nasty so what was the point? Especially when there was so much more they were going to have to deal with than he knew yet.

She held out her hand to him. “Hi. I’m Kate McDermot. Matt’s sister. Happy to meet you.”

Brady chuckled a little and accepted her hand to shake.

Not the best idea in the world.

Because only when that big callused mitt closed around hers did she recall what truly wonderful hands he had. Strong, adept, powerful, commanding. And with a touch that felt like kid leather. A touch she suddenly remembered feeling on other parts of her body and liking much too much.

“Friends?” he said then, still holding her hand and apparently having no idea what it was doing to her.

“Friends,” she confirmed through a constricted throat.

Then he let go, and Kate told herself to breathe again, to act normal, to ignore the fact that that one touch had made her blood run faster in her veins.

“You wanted to shower,” she reminded, since he was still just standing there, still giving her the once-over.

“Right.”

“There should be towels in the cupboard in your bathroom and fresh soap in the dish. The wet bar is probably stocked—feel free to help yourself. If you need anything else just holler.”

“Thanks. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Then I guess I’ll just see you at dinner. With everyone else,” she said, wondering if her cheeriness sounded as false to him as it did to her.

She finally managed to take a few steps backward, and as she did he said, “It’s good to see you again, Kate.”

“You, too,” she answered mechanically.

Then she gave him a little wave and hightailed it back to her own rooms where she again closed herself in and leaned against the door.

Only this time she needed to wait for everything Brady Brown had put into motion inside her to settle down—her pulse, the blood racing through her veins, the prickles on her skin, the warmth where his hand had held hers….

This wouldn’t do, she told herself firmly. It just wouldn’t do to be susceptible to the man. She had to keep a level head and view this situation from a practical standpoint. She’d veered off the straight and narrow with Brady once, and look at how much trouble she’d gotten into. She wasn’t going to let it happen again. Regardless of how great looking he was or how charming or how nice or how sexy.

No sir. Not her. Never again.

Not if it was the last thing she ever did.

But as she pushed away from the door with the strength of her determination not to let Brady have any effect on her, she realized that even if it wasn’t the last thing she ever did, it just might be the most difficult.

Brady unpacked a few things, shucked the clothes he’d been wearing too long now and headed for the shower.

Matt had a nice place here, he thought as he went from the bedroom that was as big as a studio apartment into a bathroom luxurious enough to have been in a four-star hotel.

Yep, a nice place all right. A nice place filled with nice people.

So far it seemed as though his friend’s idea that he check out Elk Creek for some property to invest in was a good one. Which was part of why he was there—to see the spreads Matt had called him about.

And none too soon.

Matt had told him that three different ranches were either up for sale or had owners who were making noises about selling, just when Brady had been looking for an excuse to get up here. Just when he’d been looking for something that he could use as a cover for his other reason for coming.

He needed to have Kate McDermot sign the divorce papers that would dissolve their marriage.

Their marriage. It shouldn’t be called that. It wasn’t a marriage, after all. At least not in any way that counted.

What it was was the most insane thing he’d ever done in his life.

He still couldn’t believe he’d actually married her.

But then, he’d been in a crazy state of mind, he recalled as he stepped into the steamy spray of the shower.

Of course, he hadn’t realized he’d been in a crazy state of mind at the time. In fact, he’d thought he was over the craziness that had struck after his breakup with Claudia. After all, they hadn’t been married. They’d only been living together. And not for long. Sure, he’d known his pride was still bruised from her walking out on him, but he’d really thought he’d gotten past everything else.

And even the bruised pride had felt on the mend the longer he’d been with Kate in Vegas.

That had come as a surprise to him. But then, having a good time with her had come as a surprise to him, too.

Brady had known within fifteen minutes of meeting up with Matt and his family that his old college roommate had a fix-up up his sleeve. To tell the truth, Brady had been initially PO’d about it. A fix-up with his best friend’s sister? That was just asking for trouble as far as Brady was concerned. It was a no-win situation.

Then he’d met Kate.

He’d liked everything about her on sight. She was more beautiful than she seemed to realize, with that buttermilk skin and those huge eyes the color of kiwi fruit.

Her mouth was lush, and she had high cheekbones any supermodel would envy, plus curly hair that danced around a face as perfect as a Greek goddess.

And then there was that compact body with those great breasts that were just the right size….

Oh, yeah, one look at her and he’d gone from PO’d to thinking it might not be so bad to spend some time with her. As long as he kept everything light and friendly and aboveboard. What harm could it do to escort her here and there? he’d asked himself. And the answer he’d come up with was: no harm at all. A few days of enjoying her company and making Matt happy, then they’d go their separate ways.

For a while he’d thought he was pulling that off, too. He’d just been having fun, looking forward to meeting Kate at breakfast every morning and filling the rest of the day and evening with gambling or sight-seeing or shopping or taking in a show together.

Then little things had begun to strike him.

Like how sweet she could be. How nice. Like how much more fun he had when he was with her than when he wasn’t. Like the fact that she had the most terrific laugh that came out sounding like wind chimes and turned her from terrific looking to stunning and made a sparkle come into her eyes that could light up a whole room.

And then it was New Year’s Eve.

His and Matt’s birthdays.

And there he’d been, with his best friend and his best friend’s family, with Kate, having one of the best times he’d ever had. Which had included a record number of toasts with plenty of champagne—not his drink of choice but it had been poured like water that night. And the result of everything put together was that he’d gotten carried away.

Okay, so taking Matt’s sister to a wedding chapel and marrying her on the spur of the moment probably qualified as more than just getting carried away.

But that’s where the insanity part had kicked in again.

By then he’d been aware that he was attracted to Kate. But maybe not how much. And if she’d been another woman he would have just tried coaxing her into spending the night with him.

But she hadn’t been another woman. She was Kate. Sweet Kate. Matt’s little sister. And a virgin.

Brady still didn’t know how she’d arrived at twenty-nine years old with her virginity intact. Or why. But when she’d confided in him that she was a virgin, he’d known he couldn’t just make love to her because they’d both been so inclined. There had to be more to it than that. It had to be special. It had to be ceremonious.

And what had his liquor-soaked brain come up with?

Marriage. They should get married….

Brady stood under the pelting spray of the showerhead and let it beat down on his face as if it might wash away the stupidity in that reasoning from two months ago.

But it didn’t help. What else but stupid could you call marrying your best friend’s virgin sister and then taking her to bed?

Monumentally stupid.

Especially when that sister woke up the next morning feeling about it the way Kate had.

What a rude awakening that had been!

Before he’d so much as thought about what they’d done, she’d been out of bed, frantic and ordering him to rectify it.

Sure he agreed what they’d done had been dumb. But did she have to be so appalled? So outraged? So downright repulsed?

His pride hadn’t just taken another strike, it had taken a full body blow—and then a knee to the groin when she’d gone on to let him know she was so horrified by having married him and slept with him, that he had to promise never to tell her brothers.

Of course, telling her brothers was not high on his top-ten list of things to do, either. But again, it wasn’t an ego booster to know the extent to which Kate was disgusted by the whole situation.

That was about when he’d decided he wanted to kick himself for having fooled around with her in the first place. For having put his friendship with Matt in jeopardy. For not having seen ahead of time that Kate wasn’t anywhere near as attracted to him as he’d been to her.

And rebruised pride or no rebruised pride, Brady hadn’t been left with a doubt in his mind that the best thing for everyone was to do exactly what Kate had ordered him to do just before she’d run out of the room as if she couldn’t stand to spend another minute with him—dissolve the marriage.

Which was what he had contacted a lawyer for the very next day.

So now, as soon as she signed the papers and they filed them, it would finally be over and they could put it behind them. Once and for all.

Finished with his shower, Brady got out of the stall and wrapped a towel around his waist. Then he used another towel to clear the mirror to shave.

As he did, he couldn’t help wondering if, when he could put this fiasco behind him, he would also be able to get Kate McDermot off his mind.

Because that’s where she had been for the past two months. Stubbornly, continuously, vividly on his mind. No matter what he tried to do to dislodge her.

But would some simple paperwork accomplish that? Especially when seeing her again had done what it had done to him?

Even surrounded by her family and at a distance, he’d still felt her presence the very instant she’d walked into the living room. It had been as if the temperature had suddenly risen. As if everything were brighter. As if all the colors around him were more vivid.

And that was before he’d so much as glanced at her.

Then he’d looked up and seen her for the first time since New Year’s morning, and he’d been struck all over again by how beautiful she was in that quietly understated way of hers. With those sparkling green eyes and that wildly curly honey-brown hair shot through with streaks of gold, and those tender lips he remembered kissing until they’d grown puffy….

Damn if he hadn’t wanted to walk away from the rest of her family and go to her, take her in his arms, kiss her again the way he had that night….

Brady nicked himself with his razor, drawing blood.

“That’s what you get for thinking those kinds of things,” he told himself as he tore a corner from a tissue and pressed it to the wound.

And why the hell was he thinking about this now?

He’d already made one huge mistake with that woman and she’d let him know what she thought of him for it.

So what good did it do to be wallowing in this damn attraction to her?

No good, that’s what.

“So shake it off,” he ordered.

And that’s exactly what he was going to do.

Even though a part of him was itching to do something entirely different. To do a little courting. A little charming. A little wooing…

But that was the stupid, crazy part of him.

Because if there was one thing he’d learned in the past year—and learned the hard way—it was that no amount of tenacity or persistence, no amount of wooing or wining and dining or gift giving, could change a woman’s feelings once she’d decided she didn’t want him.

And Kate McDermot had made it more than clear the morning after their wedding that she didn’t want him. Or anything to do with him.

So he was here to visit Matt, to look at some property, to get the divorce papers signed, and that was it.

And if Kate McDermot could still rock his world just by walking into a room? Too bad.

He wasn’t giving in to the attraction. He wasn’t letting it put him in any position where he could be dealt another emotional body blow the way Claudia had done.

And if he and Kate had had one incredible night together? Obviously it hadn’t been as incredible for her as it had been for him.

So that one night was all they were ever going to have together. Because he just didn’t need any more grief.

And that’s all there was to it.

Chapter Three

“Go on in with your company,” Junebug Brimley told Kate, making a shooing motion with her hands in the direction of the door that led from the kitchen to the dining room.

Junebug was the McDermots’ housekeeper. All six feet, three hundred pounds of her.

“I want to help,” Kate informed her, trying to do what she’d decided to do to get through dinner that evening—make herself as scarce as possible by staying in the kitchen.

“Don’t need your help,” the booming-voiced woman told her bluntly. “Raised a passel of sons who ate like bears comin’ out of hibernation at every meal. I think I can put on this dinner without too much strain.”

“But we’re all here tonight,” Kate reminded her.

All being those family members who lived in the big house built to accommodate them—her twin brothers Ry and Shane, their wives, Tallie and Maya, and Ry’s nearly three-year-old son, Andrew, Matt, Jenn and Kate, along with Bax—Elk Creek’s doctor who lived in town—and his wife Carly and his going-on-seven-year-old daughter, Evie Lee, plus Brady.

“All or not, I can do it myself,” Junebug said, holding firm. “You’re missin’ time with Matt’s friend in there.”

“That’s just it—he’s Matt’s friend. Not mine. I don’t have anything to say to him.”

“I heard the two of you liked each other fine in Las Vegas,” Junebug said slyly.

“He’s a nice enough man. But that was then, and this is now, and he’s here to visit Matt, not me.”

Junebug eyed Kate as if she could see right through her. “He’s a handsome cuss. And single, same as you. Maybe you ought to try thinkin’ of somethin’ to say to ’im.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Could be you could get a little romance goin’.”

“I’m not in the market for a romance. If I was, I might go after one of those six handsome cuss, single sons of yours,” Kate countered, teasing the gruff older woman.

“Which one would you like? I’m tryin’ my best to get ’em married off but they’re too mule-headed for their own good.”

Kate laughed in spite of having her bluff called. “I don’t want one of your sons, either, Junebug. I’m not interested in fooling with any man right now.”

“Should be.”

“Well I’m not. And Matt’s as bad as you are about Brady—he’s trying to throw me together with him by hook or by crook. So do me a favor and put me to work in here.”

Junebug looked her up and down, as if debating about granting Kate’s wish.

Then she went to the swinging door that connected the dining room and said, “Would somebody get Kate outta my kitchen so’s I can do some dishin’ out of this food without her underfoot?”

“Thanks,” Kate said under her breath.

Junebug grinned. “Two by two—that’s how we’re meant to walk this earth.”

Kate just rolled her eyes at the woman as demands for her to go into the dining room were voiced in answer to Junebug’s request.

So, with no other choice, that was what Kate had to do.

Rather than serving appetizers buffet-style Junebug had had everyone take their seats at the dining table. But the only place setting that wasn’t already occupied when Kate joined her family was the one directly across from Brady.

She would have preferred being situated farther away from him and without much of a view of the houseguest, but as it was she had to take the sole remaining spot.

The McDermot family was once more laughing at something Brady had said as they passed hors d’oeuvres of bruschetta, cherry peppers stuffed with proscuitto and cream cheese, and blue-cheese torta served on crackers. Kate didn’t attempt to join in the fun but merely slipped into her seat, wondering as she did if she’d been manipulated once more by Matt, or if all her brothers, sisters-in-law and Matt’s fiancée were conspiring against her.

“Brady’s been in Alaska since we saw him in Vegas,” Matt updated Kate then.

“Ah,” she said, unsure what else she was suppose to contribute to that.

But Shane saved her the trouble by asking if Brady had done any hunting or fishing while he was there.

As Brady talked about his adventures, Kate couldn’t help checking him out.

He’d obviously taken that shower he’d been headed for. He looked refreshed, and she could smell the spicy scent of cologne or soap or whatever it was he’d used. She only wished she didn’t like it so much.

He had changed into a less-worn pair of jeans and a crisp white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled to midforearms and the top button unfastened. It wasn’t unusual attire by any means, but what those slight exposures let her see made her all too aware of more details about him than she wanted to be aware of. His thick, straight neck, for instance, and the wholly masculine hollow of his throat. Powerful-looking forearms and wrists that were unaccountably sexy. Not to mention big, blunt-fingered, capable hands.

He’d washed his hair, too, and recombed it, along with shaving away the shadow of a day’s growth of beard so that his raffishly handsome face was free of anything that could hide its glory. And even the way his razor-sharp jaw flexed when he chewed somehow tweaked a sensual nerve inside her.

Why hadn’t Junebug let her stay in the kitchen? Kate lamented to herself as she fought not to look at Brady, not to be so impressed by him.

But there she was, with nowhere to run and a mysterious disability that left her unable not to study his every movement, unable not to hang on his every word as he told stories about Alaskan winter days when light only dawned for a few brief minutes.

Alaskan winter days that left Kate thinking about endless hours of darkness that someone else might have shared with him….

She was grateful when Junebug finally served dinner and allowed her a distraction from that thought. And the odd bit of something that felt like jealousy that came with it.

The older woman had made Caesar salad, a crown rib roast, braised potatoes and carrots and home-baked rolls. Ordinarily Junebug either prepared dinner in advance and left it to be reheated when the McDermots were ready to eat, or left the cooking for someone else to do so she could go home to her own family. But on special occasions she catered and served the whole meal.

Tonight was one of those nights. So not until all the food was on the table did she inform them that dessert was ready and waiting in the kitchen whenever they wanted it and that she was leaving them to their own devices.

As everyone bade her a nice evening and dug into her delicious fare, Matt said, “I have it set up for you to take a look at those three spreads tomorrow, Brady. Ted Barton’s ranch next door is probably the best of the lot but he hasn’t made a firm decision to sell yet. The other two have been on the market for a couple of months. The houses on them aren’t in as good shape as the Barton place. ’Course I know you care more about the land and the barn than where you’ll be livin’, but still.”

Kate stopped cold and paid closer attention to what was being said as her other brothers chimed in with information on land that was for sale around Elk Creek.

Was she understanding this correctly? Was Brady buying property? Here? Was he moving here?

It was news to Kate. And not good news. She’d thought that after getting through this visit he would go back to Oklahoma. It had never occurred to her that he might be in Elk Creek permanently.

Suddenly she could feel the blood drain from her face and a cold clamminess settle over her.

“You want to buy a ranch here?” she heard herself blurt out with no small amount of alarm.

For the first time since she’d sat at the table, Brady leveled blue-gray eyes on her. “Thinkin’ about it,” he answered simply enough.

Her brothers continued filling him in on the pros and cons of each property and what might or might not be factors in the sale prices as they all ate. But Kate couldn’t seem to swallow so much as a morsel of food from that moment on. She just kept thinking, He could be here to stay. He could be here to stay….

Most of the rest of the evening was pretty much a blur to her after that. She pushed the food around her plate and pretended to be interested in what was being said at the table. She even managed a remark or two when she’d been silent for longer than she should have been.

But the truth was, she heard almost nothing as the idea of Brady ending up as her next-door neighbor tormented her.

And when she could finally excuse herself without raising eyebrows, she stood to do just that.

Only, before she actually got to say her goodnights, Matt said, “By the way, Kate, we’re all tied up tomorrow, so I thought maybe you could show Brady those properties he needs to see.”

“Me?” Kate said, the alarm again in her tone.

“You know your way around well enough now. None of the places are hard to find. It’ll give you somethin’ to do.”

“Who says I need something to do?” Kate said lamely and much too quickly, sounding like a put-upon younger sister who didn’t appreciate her big brother taking liberties with her time.

“What do you have to do?” Matt challenged.

For the life of her, Kate couldn’t think of anything except that she wanted to strangle her brother.

Then Brady piped up. “It’s all right. Just draw me a map. I’m sure I can find the places myself.”

It was clear that Brady had noticed she didn’t want to play tour guide, and Kate not only knew she was being rude again, but she could feel the tension in the room because of it.

Yet Matt still wouldn’t let her off the hook. “Kate doesn’t have anything planned she can’t rearrange. Do you?”

All eyes were on her, and she knew her next words would set the tone for the rest of Brady’s visit. If she refused, everyone would be aware of just how much she didn’t want to be around him. They would all want to know why—especially since she and Brady had seemed to hit it off so well in Las Vegas. And her entire family would be embarrassed by her behavior and feel awkward whenever everyone was together.

But if she didn’t refuse she was going to end up spending the whole next day with Brady. Alone with Brady. And all the unsettling things merely being around him did to her.

Maybe strangling Matt wasn’t harsh enough punishment.

Kate took a breath and opted for keeping the peace and maintaining appearances. “Sure I can rearrange things. No problem. I’d be happy to show you around,” she said without enthusiasm.

“Great,” Brady answered much the same way.

With nothing more to be said, Kate finally told everyone good-night and went to her rooms, thinking of ways to get even with her brother as she did.

That was still what she was thinking about an hour later when a soft tap sounded on her door.

“If this is you, Matt, you’re dead meat,” she muttered to herself.

She’d undressed by then, and before answering the knock she pulled on a navy-blue velvet robe over the supersize T-shirt she was wearing to bed. But she didn’t fasten it, because she assumed her late-night visitor was her brother and he’d seen her in her sleep-wear innumerable times before. He’d probably come to gloat about his victory or chastise her for not being more warm and friendly to Brady, she thought, letting the robe hang open to her ankles and padding in bare feet to fling open her door.

But it wasn’t Matt standing in the hall outside. Or any of her other brothers, either. It was Brady.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, fumbling instantly with the open sides of her bathrobe to pull them around her.

But not before Brady’s gaze dropped enough to take in the Wyoming Women are Wild, Wicked and Willing printed across the front of her shirt—a gag Christmas gift from Matt that caused just the corners of Brady’s mouth to tilt upward.

Kate yanked the tie belt around her waist and tied it to make sure she was wrapped up good and tight.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” Brady said in a hushed voice, obviously to keep his impromptu visit clandestine. He raised his chin, pointing in the direction of the room behind her. “Can I come in?”

She wanted to say no and avoid more of what it was doing to her to merely think about having him in her rooms, alone, this late at night, wearing nothing but a T-shirt and a bathrobe.

But he had a manila envelope in one hand and enough of an air of formality about him to let her know he was only there on business.

Business she needed to attend to.

So Kate stepped back and motioned him into the sitting room.

He didn’t hesitate to come in, but he did take a quick glance up and down the hall a split second before. And he made sure to close the door behind him as soon as he could. Very quietly.

That spicy scent that had caught her attention at dinner wafted in after him, and Kate had the urge to close her eyes and take a few deep breaths. But she resisted. She also tried not to notice how Brady seemed to fill the room just by his presence in it, tried not to feel the warm rush of something that seemed dangerously like excitement.

But trying and succeeding were two different things.

Brady held up the manila envelope. “Divorce papers. As promised,” he said, as if he’d brought a treasure map they’d both been searching for.

It didn’t feel good to her, though, and Kate didn’t know why.

“I wanted to go over them with you,” he continued. “To make sure you know what’s in them. Not that they’re complicated, but just to make sure we’re clear on everything.”

“Okay,” she said, hearing the clipped tone of her voice and resolving to amend it. The divorce had been at her insistence, she reminded herself. It was what she wanted. It was the logical thing to do.

And the baby? a little voice in the back of her mind asked.

But she didn’t know yet how she was going to handle letting Brady know about the baby, and she certainly wasn’t inclined to blurt out the news to him right then.

“Why don’t you sit down?” she invited primly, nodding toward the sofa, two overstuffed chairs and the coffee table that were positioned to face the fireplace and the French doors on the outside wall.

“Thanks.”

He crossed the room in long strides of massive legs she had no doubt could control a stallion with nothing but their pressure.

But the fact that he went ahead of her to the couch left Kate with a view of his backside, too. A view she couldn’t resist taking in. A view of broad shoulders and a straight back that narrowed to his waist and to a rear end that made her mouth go dry.

She might have been a virgin until two months ago but that didn’t mean she hadn’t done her fair share of looking at men’s physiques—especially their derrieres. And Brady’s was the best she’d ever seen.

Only when he sat down and deprived her of the sight did she realize she’d been ogling him and cut it short to follow him to the sitting area of the room.

He was at one end of the sofa, so she sat in the chair that was at a forty-five-degree angle to it, grateful that she wouldn’t have to sit beside him to see the papers he was setting out on the coffee table. But even from there she caught a whiff of the clean, spicy scent of him, and it went right to her head.

Maybe it was the pregnancy, she told herself. She’d noticed that her sense of smell was heightened, so maybe it wasn’t so much that he really smelled wonderful, but that she merely had some kind of illusion that he did.

Except that it didn’t seem like an illusion. It seemed as if he just plain smelled terrific.

“This is pretty straightforward,” he said then, flipping through the pages as he spoke. “A simple dissolution of marriage. Basically what’s on all these pages amounts to declarations that we have no joint property or assets to split up, no mutual residence for one of us to keep and the other to move out of, no children so no custody or visitation issues.”

Kate’s mouth went dry, and she didn’t hear the rest of what he was saying.

No children so no custody or visitation issues…

Somehow it hadn’t occurred to her that the baby she was carrying should be included in the divorce papers. Custody and visitation? Those were things she hadn’t even thought about.

Of course, she hadn’t really thought about much of anything in terms of Brady and the baby. She hadn’t had time to think about it. In the four days since she’d had her pregnancy confirmed, she hadn’t thought about much of anything except the fact that she actually was pregnant.

It had come as such a shock. The first period she’d missed hadn’t even made her curious. Her cycles had always been irregular and it wasn’t unusual for her to skip a period, so she hadn’t thought a thing about it. It was only when she realized she’d missed a second one that she’d put two and two together.

And in those four days since she’d taken the home pregnancy test and then gone in to see a doctor in Cheyenne to have it verified, she’d mainly been walking around in a daze. About the only thing she’d actually thought through was that she wanted the baby. But beyond that, well, she was still just trying to come to grips with everything.

“Don’t sign anything,” Brady was saying, the first words to penetrate her thoughts since child custody and visitation. But “Don’t sign anything” seemed to come as a reprieve, so maybe that’s why it got through to her.

“Read it all when you have a chance,” he advised, “that way you’ll know what’s there. Then it has to be signed in front of a notary. When we’ve done that, I’ll send it back to the lawyer and he’ll file it with the courts.”

“A notary,” Kate repeated to prove she was listening and to cover up that she hadn’t been before.

“It’s all just a formality, but we have to do it right for it to be legal.”

“But Elk Creek is a small town. If we get a notary here word is bound to leak, and this won’t be only between you and me anymore.”

“We’ll work something out. Maybe we’ll trump up an excuse to fly into the nearest town and do it there in a day or so.”

That seemed like a reasonable solution. And with Matt in matchmaker mode, her brother would likely not question any time she and Brady shared.

“And that’s about it,” Brady concluded, tapping the edges of the pages on the coffee table to make sure they were all even before he laid them on top of the envelope. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to get here with this. But my buddy in Alaska had an accident that put him in the hospital, and if I hadn’t gone up there and flown for him until he was back on his feet, he would have lost his charter company.”

“It’s okay,” Kate assured. “I thought it would take some time.”

The mention of Alaska brought a return of that strange twinge of jealousy she’d felt earlier. And that strange twinge of jealousy compelled her to say, “So Alaska, huh? You talked at dinner about all you did there, but I imagine you met a lot of interesting people, too.”

“Sure. I met a lot of interesting people. It’s an interesting place.”

“Anyone…special?”

She didn’t have the courage to look straight at him when she asked that, so she pretended to restraighten the divorce document before slipping it back into the manila envelope. But out of the corner of her eye she saw Brady smile for the first time since he’d come into the room. A small smile, but a smile she remembered well from Las Vegas. A smile that made a warm rush of something she couldn’t pinpoint run through her.

Unless of course the smile was due to a happy thought about another woman….

“Did I meet anyone special?” he repeated.

“You know, like did you run into Eskimos or fur trappers or bear hunters?” she persisted.

“I met a few of all those.”

“But not many women, I imagine. I read not long ago that there’s still a low ratio of women to men. Is that true?”

“Are you askin’ if we should add adultery as grounds for the divorce?” he joked.

“No,” she said as if the very thought were outlandish.

“Well, you can relax. I was too busy for romance, and what you read is right, I didn’t run into many women. Especially not many available ones. The irreconcilable differences as grounds for the divorce will have to stand.”

“That doesn’t matter to me. I was really only curious about Alaska’s population,” she fibbed. Badly.

“Either way.”

Despite the fact that he seemed to have seen through her, the news that he hadn’t hooked up with another woman in the past two months brightened Kate’s spirits considerably. Although she didn’t want to think about why it should.

Then he changed the subject. “Seems like you’ve managed to keep the whole marriage thing under wraps.”

“Nobody knows anything,” she confirmed. And you don’t know all you think you do.

“That’s good. Then we’ll be able to take care of it without anyone being the wiser.

Oh, if only that were true for the long run….

“And what about you? Are you still mad at me?” he ventured carefully, as if he were afraid he might set off the same reaction he had on New Year’s morning.

Kate was embarrassed at the memory of her behavior and decided this was the opportunity she needed to apologize for it. “I know I went a little wacko the next morning. It’s just that doing what we did… Well, it was so out of character for me. I’m such a straight arrow….” She wished this were coming out more smoothly, but the awkwardness of the situation was making for a bumpy road. “Anyway, I want you to know that in spite of what I said then, I accept that I’m just as responsible as you are for this whole thing.”

“So I’m not the devil incarnate anymore?” Brady asked with a note of wry levity to his voice.

“No. I was out of line that next morning. My memory of New Year’s Eve isn’t clear but it’s clear enough to know that no one twisted my arm. I was all for getting married. And the rest,” she added under her breath.

Brady’s smile stretched into a grin. “Why am I gettin’ the impression that you’re blamin’ yourself now?”

Maybe because she was. Or at least she had been for the past four days, ever since finding out she was pregnant.

Which also happened to be about the same time she’d begun hearing her mother’s voice in her head.

Her mother’s voice from her growing-up years when her mother had done a lot of preaching about the girl in any girl-boy relationship being the guardian of the gate.

It wasn’t something Kate had thought about in years. But suddenly there it had all been again.

The guardian of the gate.

The guardian of the gate, who wouldn’t be in this pickle if only she’d maintained some control, some moderation in the amount of champagne she’d consumed on New Year’s Eve. If she hadn’t given in to her own baser needs, no matter how strong they’d been. If she’d resisted the temptation of sweet, seductive words, the temptation of the handsome cowboy. If she hadn’t allowed herself to be swept away by the desires he’d raised in her….

Maybe Brady read the answer to his question in her expression, because when she didn’t say anything he said, “Things are pretty foggy in my memory, too, but as I recall, getting married was my idea. You just thought it was a good one and went along with it. I think that makes the blame pretty much equal.”

Kate shrugged, still feeling at fault no matter what he said. But what was the use in arguing about it? “I just wanted you to know I don’t bear you the kind of ill will I did that next morning.”

Brady chuckled—a deep, rich sound that rolled from his throat. “That was definitely ill will all right. I was grateful there were no knives in the room or you might have gelded me. You made it clear you thought I was a big bad beast.”

Kate flinched at the reminder. And the truth in it. “I’m sorry. I was out of line. It isn’t what I think of you now.” What she thought of him now was that he was too good-looking and charming and charismatic and sexy for her own good.

“But you still weren’t too happy to see me today,” he said, sounding as if he doubted her claim.

“Were you happy to see me?” she challenged in return.

He didn’t answer right away. Instead he stared at her with eyes so intense she could almost feel his gaze. So intense she finally had to look directly at him, too, to see if she could read what he was thinking.

But before she could he let out another of those wry chuckles and said, “I didn’t expect to be happy to see you, no.”

Did that mean he had been? Because that’s what it sounded like. And the possibility that he’d been happy to see her made something inside her dance.

Then he looked away, as if he didn’t want her to see what was in his expression. And he changed the subject once more. “Don’t feel like you have to go through with showing me around tomorrow. I know Matt railroaded you. He seems to have his matchmaking hat on again. Or is it still?”

“You don’t want me to show you around?”

“No, it isn’t that,” he said quickly. “I had a good time checking out Vegas with you. It’d be nice to learn about Elk Creek the same way. It’s just that if you’d rather not—”

“No, it’s okay,” she heard herself say for no reason she understood. Here he was, giving her a break, and rather than take it, she was getting herself in deeper by making it seem as if she wanted to be his tour guide.

Maybe it was because memories of what a good time she’d had with him in Nevada had sprung to mind and made the prospect of repeating it appealing to her. So appealing that she’d forgotten for a moment that she was supposed to be steering clear of him.

“You’re sure?” he asked.

Too late now even if she wasn’t.

So, trying to cover her tracks, she said, “Matt will never let up if he doesn’t think he’s getting his way.”

“Matt,” he muttered, as if he’d thought her reasons had been her own. And for a split second he looked disappointed.

But then he seemed to rebound. “You think we should play along with his matchmaking, just to keep him off our backs?”

“It might be our only chance.” Oh, you fraud, you, a little voice in the back of her mind chastised, when a part of her knew full well that she wasn’t merely agreeing to spend time with Brady to appease her brother.

“We’d only be pretending, of course,” she said. “And there wouldn’t be anything to it but things like letting ourselves be thrown together once or twice. We talked about being friends, and that would really be all we were doing. It’s just that Matt wouldn’t know it.”

“Only pretending,” Brady repeated.

But there seemed to be some reservation in his tone, and Kate wasn’t sure why.

“Unless you don’t want to,” she said, reversing course in case he was having second thoughts. “I mean, if you want to just hang out with Matt, we can sit him down and tell him point-blank that what he wants to happen is not going to happen, no matter what he does.”

“You think that would help?”

Kate hated that he sounded so hopeful.

“It might.”

“Or it might not,” Brady pointed out. “But if we go along with a few of his maneuverings—”

“And then tell him we’re just going to be friends after that, we’ll have something to back it up. We can say we tried but we just didn’t click.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Brady agreed. “And it’ll be the perfect cover for getting to a notary with these papers, too.”

“True.”

“So, tomorrow. Matt wants to give me the tour of this place in the morning. Why don’t we shoot for leaving around one in the afternoon? After lunch?”

“Fine.”

Had they really just talked themselves into spending part of Brady’s visit to Matt with each other instead?

They had. And Kate couldn’t believe she’d let it happen. Hadn’t she spent nearly every minute since she’d found out Brady was coming thinking of ways to stay away from him?

What had gotten into her?

But Brady stood just then, and she stood with him, hoping that if he left, she could get a handle on what she’d just done.

He didn’t leave, though. Instead he was studying her again, as if he wanted to relearn her face.

“You really do look good,” he said after a moment.

“You, too.” She’d meant that to be a simple volley, but it had come out much more seriously, much more heartfelt, and she had the sense that she’d just exposed something she shouldn’t have.

“Tomorrow then,” she reminded, hoping he’d take the hint before she gave away anything else.

He didn’t respond, though. He just continued staring at her, looking into her eyes now in the same way he had just before he’d kissed her for the first time in Las Vegas.

Was he going to kiss her?

Alarms went off in her mind that told her to move away. To shove him toward the door, if she had to, to get him out of there.

But that wasn’t what she did.

Instead she stayed rooted to the spot, gazing up into those eyes that were the color of a summer sky before a storm, her chin tilted, thinking about the way his lips had felt against hers New Year’s Eve—sweet and gentle and oh, so adept….

But a kiss didn’t come.

All of a sudden he broke the hold he’d seemed to have over her and repeated, “Tomorrow. Afternoon. To keep Matt happy.” Then he headed for the door.

Kate didn’t follow. She couldn’t have, even if she’d wanted to, because thinking about him kissing her and then not being kissed had somehow left her drained. As if dashed anticipation had sapped her strength.

Brady opened the door, peered out to make sure the coast was clear and then said, “’Night.”

“Good night,” she answered, watching him step out into the hall.

Only after the door closed softly behind him did Kate feel as if she were breathing freely once more. But as she found the strength to go into her bedroom, it occurred to her all over again that she’d just agreed to precisely what she shouldn’t have agreed to—spending time with Brady.

What was there about the man that always had her doing the wrong thing? Even when she knew just how wrong it was? How much of a mistake it was? What was it about him that attracted her to him even when she didn’t want to be? That had her thinking about kissing him even when she wanted him to leave her alone?

She didn’t understand it. Not any of it. But then, there were a lot of things she didn’t understand about herself and her actions since meeting Brady. In fact, she’d been more confused than she’d ever been in her life.

Maybe she’d had some kind of breakdown over Dwight and just hadn’t known it, she thought, as she got into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. And then she’d met Brady right after that, and maybe meeting someone in the middle of a breakdown caused a person to do bizarre, out-of-character things. And to go on doing bizarre, out-of-character things.

But she didn’t actually think a person could have a breakdown and not know it.

Which left her back where she’d started—with no explanation for why she’d done the things she’d done with Brady on New Year’s Eve or why she was doing the things she was doing now.

Right now.

Because even as she hashed through it all in her mind, at that moment there was still a part of her that was actually disappointed he hadn’t kissed her.

And if that wasn’t confusing, nothing was.

Chapter Four

One of the good things about knowing she was pregnant—if you could call it a good thing—was that Kate finally knew why she’d been waking up nauseous every morning. Without revealing her condition, she’d done some subtle, conversational questioning of Shane’s wife, Maya—who had found out she was pregnant at Christmastime—and garnered some help for it. Maya had said she’d had morning sickness early on, and to counteract it she’d kept soda crackers on her nightstand to eat before she’d even raised her head from the pillow each morning.

So that was what Kate had started doing—sneaking soda crackers into her room at night to nibble the minute she woke up.

The next morning, as she lay in bed doing that her thoughts trailed back to the previous evening. To Brady. And to what to do about him in conjunction with this baby that was making her feel so bad at that moment.

Should she tell Brady she was pregnant now, before the divorce went through? she asked herself. Or later? Or at all?

She really hadn’t had time yet to think about whether or not to tell him, but Brady’s offhand mention of custody and visitation had made her realize she had to at least consider what she was going to do.

It was tempting not to tell him at all. Ever. To just keep the baby to herself. To have it be her baby and her baby alone.

But in spite of the temptation, she knew that wouldn’t be the right thing to do. The baby wasn’t hers alone, and she knew Brady had a right to know about it.

But when? Sooner rather than later seemed to be the answer to that. At least it was the answer since he might be moving to Elk Creek. If he ended up living nearby, eventually he would notice. And count back. And know. And she didn’t want him finding out that way. That was the coward’s way.

But that still didn’t mean she had to tell him immediately. Immediately being before the divorce was final.

And waiting until it was final appealed to her. With good reason.

It hadn’t been easy for Kate to grow up with four brothers. And not just in terms of bumps and bruises, practical jokes and teasing and horseplay that overlooked the fact that she was a girl at all. Growing up surrounded by men had also given her an insider’s view into some other aspects of that gender. Good-looking men had plenty of wild oats to sow and just as many women willing to have a part in sowing them.

She learned how men talked—and thought—about some women and some situations with women. Also, regardless of the fact that they might enjoy the favors of a woman who got drunk and spent the night with them, men didn’t think highly of her the morning after.

And if that woman got pregnant? Then they considered the man trapped.

Trapped…

That wasn’t only a concept she’d garnered from her brothers, though. She had proof. Kelly McGill—her best friend since kindergarten.

Kelly had gotten together with a friend of Matt’s when they were all in high school—Buster Malloy. Kelly and Buster had been madly in love. Inseparable. They’d even been voted the couple most likely to grow old together, and they’d assured everyone that was true.

Then Kelly had gotten pregnant and everything had come apart, even though a quickie marriage followed Kelly’s graduation and the end of Buster’s first and only year of college.

Maybe the baby wasn’t even his, Kate had heard him say to Matt one afternoon when they hadn’t known she was in the next room. Matt had discouraged that idea, reminding Buster that Kelly hadn’t so much as looked at anyone else.

“Then I’m trapped, is that what you’re saying?” Buster had demanded, sounding furious.

Trapped—the same thing Kate’s brothers had said about other guys in Buster’s predicament. The same thing she’d heard them talking about after Matt’s conversation with Buster, agreeing that, yes, Buster was trapped. Stuck. That he had no way out….

The cracker Kate was slowly munching wasn’t helping as much as usual because suddenly she felt her bile rise in spite of it.

Or maybe it was what was going through her mind that was churning her stomach. Because she had no doubt that Brady felt the same as her brothers did about things like an inebriated woman he hardly knew spending the night with him.

And getting pregnant.

He would feel trapped. Stuck. And nothing good could come of that. Nothing good had come of it for Kelly, that was for sure.

Kate knew all her friend had gone through since her shotgun wedding to Buster, because Kate had been right there to hold Kelly’s hand through the worst of it. Like right after Buster’s frequent rants at Kelly for ruining his life. Like when Buster had shirked his responsibilities to Kelly and the twins she’d delivered six months after their wedding and Kate had needed to pay Kelly’s rent so she and the twins wouldn’t be evicted because Buster had disappeared with their rent money. Like when Buster had announced that he wanted out—that was how he’d put it, as if he were demanding his release from the cage of his marriage to Kelly.

Kate had been there to hold her friend’s hand then, too, when Kelly and Buster’s relationship had become one battle after another over everything. Poor Kelly had been left not only with two boys to raise and support on her own, but with a broken heart and a whole lot of questions about how Buster could have stopped loving her so suddenly, so completely. How he could have turned into someone Kelly didn’t even recognize. How he could have come to hate her.

But the answer had always been the same—Buster had come to all of that because he’d felt forced to marry Kelly since he’d gotten her pregnant. He’d felt trapped and stuck.

And if it wasn’t enough for Kate to have seen with her own eyes how bad a situation the unplanned pregnancy had put her friend in, she’d had Kelly on the phone the night before her doctor’s appointment reminding her how bad things still were, even ten years later.

Kate fought another overwhelming spell of nausea, wishing even as she did that Kelly hadn’t been leaving for a vacation in Mexico the same day Kate had gone to the doctor in Cheyenne. Kate had told her friend she was afraid she might be pregnant but now that she knew for sure, now that she was facing Brady, she craved Kelly’s support.

Not that she couldn’t guess what her friend would tell her if she could talk to her, Kate thought.

Kelly would say to let the divorce go through before Kate told Brady anything. Kelly would say that just learning about the baby would likely make Brady feel some sort of obligation, but at least if he was already off the hook in the marriage department Kate could make it clear that she didn’t need anything from him. That besides being part owner of the ranch she was also opening an accounting and bookkeeping service in town and would make an adequate living at that, so she could afford to support both herself and the child. And, while raising a child alone was a daunting proposition, millions of women did it and she could, too. Kelly was, after all.

“But if I tell him before the divorce is final, he won’t believe I mean it,” Kate said out loud, as if she were actually talking to Kelly. He would believe she didn’t want the divorce at all. That she wanted him to stay married to her.

And he’d most definitely feel trapped.

But Kate was bound and determined that Brady Brown was not going to feel—or be—trapped by her.

No man was going to be married to her because he had to be. No man was going to accuse her of the things Buster had accused Kelly of. No man was going to blame her for ruining his life.

The cracker hadn’t worked at all and Kate flung the covers aside and made a mad dash to the bathroom where she spent the next twenty minutes being miserable.

When the bout was finally over, she went to the sink, splashed cool water on her face and brushed her teeth.

Being alone in all this was definitely not something she would have chosen for herself. In fact, recalling what Maya had told her about Shane made Kate feel a little jealous. Apparently her brother had waited outside the bathroom door for his wife every time she’d gotten sick, ushered her back to bed and served her fresh crackers when she’d thought she could tolerate them again.

That would be nice. Much nicer than the way things were for Kate—having to suffer through the illness alone, all the while hoping no one realized she was ill at all and why.

And if the person keeping her company, taking care of her, could be Brady?

She chased that notion away, knowing it was dangerous to even entertain such a fantasy. Because in reality, if he knew and if he were there by her side for this, it wouldn’t be because he wanted to be, the way Shane had, but because he felt he had to be, the way Buster had. And he would resent her the way Buster had. He’d resent her the way Buster resented Kelly. He would resent the baby the way Buster resented his twins. He’d resent being trapped….

Kate took a few deep breaths in an attempt to fight off another wave of nausea, feeling more convinced by the minute that thinking about Brady this morning was making her more ill than usual.

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