The Expectant Executive

“This is fun.”

“Holy hell!” They spoke at the same time.

It had been ten years since he’d taken Jess out in the same pasture for her first driving lesson, but he remembered it as if it were yesterday. They’d raced across the field and barely missed running off into a small pond.

As the truck bounced across the pasture, Travis tightened his shoulder harness.

It seemed that mother and daughter were similar in more ways than just their looks. They both had a foot made of pure lead.

“You might want to take your foot off the front bumper and slow down a little, honey,” he said, pulling his hat down tight on his head. He felt like he had in his younger days when he’d ridden broncs in the local rodeo.

When she eased off the gas a bit, Travis breathed a little easier. The pond had been filled in a few years ago, and even though the pasture was wide open and there was nothing Fin could crash into, he was still glad the horses were safe in their stalls in the barn.

“I should have learned to drive years ago,” she said, her cheeks flushed with excitement. “This is a lot more fun than having a driver take me where I want to go.”

“I’ve created a monster,” he groaned. His stomach clenched into a tight knot just thinking about her trying to drive in New York City traffic. “You aren’t thinking about getting a license and a car, are you?”

“Hardly. There isn’t enough room in the city for all the cars now. And parking is an absolute nightmare.” She gave him an indulgent look. “I’ll limit my driving to the Silver Moon and this pasture.”

His heart stalled, then took off at a gallop. She was talking as if she’d be visiting the ranch quite frequently and that pleased him to no end.

“That makes me feel somewhat better,” he said when she turned the truck in a tight circle and headed back the way they’d come. As they barreled toward the barn, he decided the horses might not be as safe as he’d first thought. “When you put your foot on the brake, give yourself plenty of room. These things don’t stop on a dime.”

Apparently, she took him at his word because in the next instant, Fin planted her foot on the brake and the truck skidded to a bone-jarring halt. “I suppose there’s a trick to making a smooth stop,” she said, frowning.

Reaching over to the steering column, he turned off the key and put the truck in Park. “We’ll work on that the next time,” he said, thanking the good Lord above for whoever invented antilock brakes.

She surprised him when she unbuckled her shoulder harness, then leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Travis.”

“For what?”

“I’m learning all kinds of incredible things this weekend,” she said, giving him a smile that sent his temperature skyward.

He grinned as he pulled her close. “Is that so?”

The impish sparkle in her emerald eyes as she nodded fascinated him. “Some of what I learned was particularly amazing.”

Lowering his head, he kissed her soundly. “What do you say we go back to the house for a while?”

“Did you have something in mind?” Her whispered words in his ear had him harder than hell in about two seconds flat.

Nodding, he unbuckled the shoulder harness, got out of the truck and walked around the front to slide in behind the steering wheel. “I want to show you something.”

She grinned. “Is it incredible?”

He started the truck and, putting it into gear, laughed as he drove toward the house. “Honey, prepare yourself to be downright amazed.”

“Have you given any thought to our situation?” Fin asked as she and Travis prepared dinner together. She was supposed to return to New York tomorrow morning and they still hadn’t discussed anything about the baby, let alone made a decision.

“A little, but I haven’t come to any conclusions,” he said, tending to a couple of breaded steaks he was frying in a big cast-iron skillet.

“Me, either.” Cutting up vegetables for a garden salad, she thoughtfully nibbled on a sliver of carrot. “I think it’s only fair that we have equal time with her.”

“Or him.” Travis gave her a grin that sent her pulse racing. “There’s a fifty percent chance the baby is a boy.”

“True.”

She turned back to the task at hand before her hormones diverted her attention from the subject. It seemed that with nothing more than a look or a touch, she and Travis gave in to the electrifying passion between them and found themselves in each other’s arms.

Slicing a cucumber, she arranged the circles on top of a bed of lettuce. “I don’t think we’ll have much of a problem with equal time until he or she reaches school age.”