Unexpected Mates

Parker wrinkled her nose at the mention of Gordon. He was the son of her dad’s bank manager and a sniveling, pretentious little weasel. He had been even back in elementary school.

“At least we know he’d be good for her. He’s a good man with a great job,” her dad retorted.

Parker held her hands up as her mom opened her mouth to reply. “It doesn’t matter what kind of man Gordon is. I’m having Ty’s baby, and no matter what happens between us, he’ll always be in my life. Even in yours. He’s your grandchild’s father. I love you, Daddy, but you’re going to have to get used to that.”

“Are you staying in town, Parker?” Her mother asked as her dad sat back in his chair, grumbling under his breath.

“For the foreseeable future, yes. It’s possible I may move back here. I don’t need to stay in San Diego to work, and I have the baby to think of now. Everything is kind of up in the air right now, though. Ty and I have a lot to work through.”

“I think having both parents close would be best for the baby, and your father and I would be absolutely thrilled to have you close again. I’d love to be able to get my hands on that baby whenever I wanted, too,” her mom said. “I agree, though, that you need to work through this with Tyler. It’s a big change, and more than anything, we want you to be happy.”

Her dad sighed. “Your mom is right. Your happiness, and the happiness and well being of the baby, are what matters the most. If you say Tyler is a good man… well, I’ll believe you for now, but I reserve the right to change my mind whenever I want. Can I go get your bags, now that we’ve worked that out?”

Parker shifted on her chair. “I’m staying at Red Moon. Now don’t look like that, Daddy. You just said you were going to give Ty a chance. Besides, I’m back home to try to get to know Ty better. I can’t do that very well if I’m here all the time.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” her mom said with a quelling glance at her father. “You should bring Tyler to dinner sometime soon, Parker. Let us get to know our grandbaby’s daddy. Maybe then your father will chill out,” she added pointedly.

“I’ll ask when he’s free,” Parker promised, inwardly sighing. Coming here for dinner was probably the last thing Ty would want to do, but she thought it was a necessary evil. Her dad was going to be uptight about Ty until he got to know him better.

“You do that. You should tell Tiffany soon, too. She’ll be hurt if she hears about your pregnancy from someone else.”

Parker agreed, and they spent another thirty minutes or so catching up before Parker left with a promise to call and visit often.

She got in her car and then just sat for a moment. That had gone better than she’d ever imagined it would, even with her dad’s reluctance toward Ty. Now she just needed to tell her sister, but she wasn’t near as nervous about that as she had been about her parents.

Putting the car in drive, she backed out of the driveway and headed back to Red Moon with a smile on her face. Everything seemed to be working out.

Parker pulled her car to a stop at the farm and killed the engine before getting out. She waved at Chase, who was coming out of the equipment shed, as she walked to the house. She took a deep breath of the pure country air, as she always did, before she let herself inside. After living in the city for so long, she couldn’t get enough of the clean air here. Something else she’d missed about home, and something she’d never even known she’d missed until she was here.

She paused inside the door, taking in the delicious smell of dinner permeating the air, a bit surprised at the sense of homecoming she felt. She’d only been here for a few days and yet this place felt like hers already. That was dangerous thinking, though. Even if she did move back home, the odds were heavily in favor of her not living here.

She was trying to push away the sudden sadness that had swamped her at that thought when Ty came out of the office. Her breath caught as she saw him. He was big, powerful, and was looking more gorgeous than a man had a right to. She still sometimes had trouble believing she was here because she’d had sex with him. Him! Her childhood crush and a man most women would give their right arms to sleep with.

It had felt like a dream afterward, when she’d gone back to California. It wasn’t until she’d found out that she was pregnant that it had suddenly become very real. Sometimes, though, even with the pregnancy, it was hard to believe.

Ty spotted her and walked over. “Hey, Parker. How did it go?”

“Pretty well. Better than I thought it would, although my dad thinks you’re a hoodlum.”

Ty laughed, his deep baritone washing over her and giving her goosebumps. “He’s not wrong. I used to be a bit of one, but I like to think I’ve grown up now.”

“I think it’s all the tattoos that give off that impression now,” Parker responded with a smile. “I had to remind him that I have a tattoo myself, so if that makes you a hoodlum, so am I.”

Ty’s eyebrows shot up on his forehead. “You have a tattoo? How did I not know this?”

Parker turned her leg to the side and gestured at it. “It’s just a small rose. Most people don’t notice it.”

Ty studied the rose on her ankle before his eyes slowly came back up, tracing her bare legs. When his eyes met hers, Parker couldn’t stop the shiver that wracked her body

at the heat in his gaze. “Still, I paid thorough attention to that gorgeous body of yours that night. I thought I had seen everything, but then again, I wasn’t paying too much attention to your ankles. Much better places for me to focus my attention.”

Parker couldn’t tear her eyes from his. She shifted a bit as she felt her nipples pucker and an ache start deep in her core. She watched as his eyes dropped to her lips, and her own did the same to his. He had full lips, the lower one slightly fuller, and she had the sudden urge to nip it, hard. She felt herself leaning toward him and felt nothing but relief when he did the same. She needed his lips on hers. Needed it with an intensity that stole what was left of her breath.

She jumped when she heard Chase calling Tyler’s name from somewhere in the house. Cursing Chase’s rotten timing as Ty pulled back and looked the other way, Parker struggled to control her breathing. She was going to combust if something didn’t give soon. And if it was this bad after only a few days, how in the world was she going to survive here for so long?

Ty turned back to her, studying her face as he did so. “I better go see what he wants. I wanted to let you know that I have some stuff on the farm that I need to check out after dinner, so I’ll be out of the house for a couple hours tonight.”

Parker nodded her understanding, not trusting her voice enough to speak, and watched as he turned to find his brother. Feeling unsettled by the depth of her emotions, she went to get her laptop. Maybe doing some work would help her get her mind off of things. She’d heard pregnant women were hormonal and felt things strongly. She hoped that was the case, because if this need, this yearning, she felt for Ty was real and how she truly felt… She wouldn’t recover when she had to walk away. And it sure seemed like she would have to, because Ty couldn’t seem to make up his mind about what he really wanted from her.