Tied Up, Tied Down (Rough Riders 4)

Lord, she was easy on the eyes. An earth goddess in a floaty turquoise dress, which exposed her swan-like neck to perfection. A scarlet sash tied around her waist brought his attention to the sexy curve of her hips. Be-ringed bare toes peeped out from beneath the jagged skirt hem. Her auburn hair was longer, curling near the bottom of her full br**sts, but it suited her gypsy image.

Kade cleared his throat and met her wary gaze head-on. “Is it true, Skylar? Do we have a baby?”

Her response was a long time coming. Finally, she nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I tried to, Kade. I called your parents’ house. You weren’t there. I was told you’d moved. I didn’t know where. I didn’t know if you’d care.”

Rather than snap bullshit at her, he expelled a frustrated sigh. “That means you didn’t get my letter?”

Her green eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What letter?”

Shit. “I sent you a letter about a month ago. Tellin’ you I was comin’ back. Askin’ if we could let bygones be bygones and start over.”

“Start over as in… Start dating?”

“Uh. Yeah.”

“I didn’t receive any such letter.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. “What else did it say?”

Her expression clearly said she thought he was lying. He had sent the damn thing.

It’d taken him nearly a week to pen a few lousy paragraphs. “We can talk about all that later. Right now, I’d like to see my daughter.”

“She’s sleeping.”

“I don’t care. Wake her up.”

Skylar’s mouth opened. Then closed. “I’ll be right back.”

That had to be the longest, most excruciating minute of Kade’s life. His whole body shook. He even had to lock his damn knees to keep them from quaking like a newborn colt’s. Sweat dripped down his spine and soaked the waistband of his jeans. He clenched his teeth and his fists.

Just when he thought he couldn’t stand the wait another second, Skylar appeared.

She approached him cautiously, holding a bundle wrapped in a fluffy yellow blanket, nestled against her lush br**sts.

Kade couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t take his eyes off that tiny bundle. Lord. It was so damn small. How could there be a living, breathing human baby in there?

When Skylar sidled up next to him and peeled back the blanket, revealing a sweet, perfect, beautifully pink face, Kade had a moment of utter pride and joy before his vision dimmed.

He swayed and everything went black.

Chapter Three

Terrific. One glimpse of his fifteen-pound baby daughter and the big, tough cowboy had passed out cold. Skylar rocked Eliza side to side, waiting for Kade to come around on his own. She was half afraid to rouse him because he might come up swinging, as the McKays were rumored to do when backed into a corner.

Finally, he groaned. “What happened?”

“You fainted.”

Kade pushed to his knees. “Can you blame me? Ain’t every day a man learns he’s a daddy.”

Huh. No macho posturing. No excuses for his swooning behavior. That surprised her. “You okay?”

“I guess. Good thing I gotta hard head.” He rolled to his feet and snagged his hat.

“What’s her name?”

“Eliza.”

“Eliza what?”

“Eliza Belle.”

“No. What’s her last name?”

“Ellison.”

“Like hell. That’s the first thing that’s gonna change.”

“Kade—”

“Give me a second to think.”

The more Kade paced and muttered to himself, the more nervous Skylar became.

Suddenly he stopped and was right in her face. “Fine. We have a baby. You can change her name the same time you change yours. We’ll get married.”

“What!”

“Married. As in you and me are gettin’ hitched as soon as possible.” He looked down into Eliza’s face and the hard line of his mouth softened. “She needs a mother and a father and luckily she’s got both.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re getting married, McKay.”

“Why not?” Kade lifted those blue eyes, eyes identical to their daughter’s. His dark gaze seemed to pierce a hole in her resolve.

“Because you cannot barge in here and make demands. It may work riding roughshod over cattle and horses but it won’t fly with me. We don’t even know each other.”

“The hell we don’t.”

“Think about it. We had what? A dozen dates? We haven’t seen each other in a year?

We are basically strangers.”

“Strangers? We created a child together. That makes us one helluva lot more than strangers.”

“I disagree.”

“I don’t give a rat’s behind whether you agree or not. This little gal,” he pointed a thick finger at Eliza’s dark head, “ain’t gonna be a stranger to me any longer.” That fiery blue gaze snagged hers again. “Maybe you’re right. You don’t know me. So let me tell you something. I ain’t walkin’ away from her. Ever. I take care of what’s mine. Period.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You don’t wanna get married? Fine. We’ll get to know each other better first, since that’s what’s got you all fired up, thinkin’ that we’re strangers.” He paused. “In fact, that’ll work out better anyway.”

“What will?”

“I’ll just move in with you. We’ll see how that goes first.”

Warning bells clanged in her head. “Oh no. Absolutely not.”

Silence.

Kade sighed. “Look. Be reasonable. This ain’t about you and me, what we were, or weren’t, or what we will be in the future. This is about her. I know it ain’t easy bein’ a single parent. I watched my cousin Cord struggle with it. You’ve been doin’ all this pregnancy and baby stuff on your own and for that I’m truly sorry, Sky. I can’t change the past. But I am here now. I will be a hands-on father, not to help you out, but because I wanna be in my daughter’s life all the time, not just as a weekend daddy.

“So, for now, it’d be best if we didn’t pass her back and forth between us, until I get to know Eliza where you and she are both comfortable. And that is in your house, under your watchful eye so I don’t do something stupid or wrong.” He smiled shyly. “To be real honest? I don’t know nothin’ about girls. Especially baby girls.”