LITMIR.BIZ

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by the angry voices, Amber started to cry. She crawled over to Kaylee and wrapped her arms around her mother’s leg. “M-mommy!”

      Ignoring Colt, Kaylee picked up the baby and held her close as she continued. “You can’t take matters into your own hands and make a decision like that for me.” She stopped to glare at him. “I can’t afford to take time off. I have rent, a car payment and—”

      “I’ll take care of it.”

      “Oh, no, you won’t.” She clutched Amber. “I don’t want anything from you.”

      Standing, he walked over to her. “Be reasonable, Kaylee. The way I see it, I owe you a little over two years of back child support, and besides, I’d like to hire you to help me get back in shape for the PBR finals the first part of November. You can return here after we get back from Vegas.”

      “I don’t want your money,” she said stubbornly. “And I won’t help you regain your strength just so you can go back into an arena and risk your life riding a bull for eight seconds’ worth of thrills.”

      “When I come to pick up you and Amber tomorrow morning, I’ll stop by the manager’s office and take care of the rent, as well as having him see that the utilities are shut off,” Colt went on as if he hadn’t listened to a word she’d said. “Besides, Kaylee, you owe me.”

      “Oh, really? How do you figure that?” she asked hotly.

      His intense blue gaze held hers captive. “You deprived me of Amber’s first two years. You owe me the right to get to know her now.”

      Kaylee felt her life spinning out of control with no way to stop it. She had a frightened baby screaming in her ear and an infuriating, sexy-as-sin cowboy standing over her, telling her that he was taking over her life. It was enough to wear the Rock of Gibraltar down to an insignificant pebble.

      “Please, don’t do this to me, Colt,” she whispered, feeling more trapped than she’d ever felt in her entire life.

      He reached out to cup her cheek. “I love Amber, and I want her to love me. Please give us the chance to develop a relationship, Kaylee.”

      The weight of guilt settling over Kaylee’s shoulders couldn’t possibly have felt heavier. As much as she disliked having to admit it, she had been unfair to both Colt and Amber by keeping her secret. Kaylee knew beyond a shadow of doubt that no matter how much he wanted to forget their night together had ever happened, he would have loved and cared for his child from the very moment he learned of her existence.

      Tears filled Kaylee’s eyes. She’d kept Colt from knowing about his child because of her own hurt feelings and disillusion. In the process, she’d deprived Amber of a daddy who cared deeply for her.

      “What do you say, Kaylee?” he asked, wiping a tear from her cheek with his thumb. “Will you and Amber came home with me to the Lonetree?”

      She gazed up at the man she’d once loved with all her heart and soul. He was right. She did owe him and Amber the time together. But it was going to take everything she had in her to keep her wits about her while she was with him. If she didn’t, she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t end up falling under his magnetic spell all over again. And that was something she couldn’t allow herself to do. Her survival depended on it.

      “I can’t believe I’m actually going to say this,” she finally said, feeling her insides shake like a bowl full of Jell-O.

      “You’ll go?” he asked hopefully.

      Taking a deep breath, Kaylee felt as if she was stepping out onto a tight rope with no safety net below. “Yes, we’ll go to the Lonetree with you. But only until you get ready to leave for the season finals. Amber and I won’t be going to Las Vegas with you.”

      “We’ll see about that.”

      The smile he sent her way curled her toes and already had her regretting her decision to go to the Lonetree Ranch with him for the next two months.

      Three

      “Dammit all,” Colt muttered, cursing the fact that he still couldn’t use his left arm. Not being able to use both hands made installing Amber’s car seat in his truck extremely difficult.

      “Problems?” Kaylee asked.

      Turning, he watched her walk toward him. She held Amber in her arms.

      “I could use another hand getting this car seat secured,” he said, hating that he looked helpless and inadequate in front of her.

      Kaylee set Amber on her feet. “Stay right here, sweetie, while Mommy helps Colt with your seat.”

      “Daddy,” he said firmly. “I’m her daddy, Kaylee.”

      She stared up at him a moment before she gave a quick nod. “I’m going to help your…daddy, Amber.”

      Her reluctance to acknowledge him as Amber’s father cut like a knife, but Colt ignored it. Once they got to the Lonetree they’d have plenty of time to sort things out and, hopefully, to rebuild the friendship they’d once shared. It would make their raising Amber together a whole hell of a lot easier.

      A small sound caught Colt’s attention. Glancing down, he noticed his daughter curiously watching him. But the moment she saw him look at her, she ducked behind Kaylee’s leg.

      “How long do you think it will take for her to be comfortable with me?” he asked, wondering the same thing about Kaylee. Would she ever again be at ease when she was around him?

      “I’m not sure.” She stared at him for endless seconds before she added, “This is new territory for all of us. It’s going to take time.”

      Colt knew she was referring more to herself than their daughter. Deciding not to push for more, he reached into the truck to position the car seat. “Are you about ready to leave? I’d like to get on the road. We have a long drive and I’d like to get as far as we can before we stop for the night.”

      “Stop?”

      When she turned to look at him, Kaylee’s breast brushed his arm. His mouth went as dry as a pile of sawdust. “I—” he had to stop to clear his throat “—thought it would probably be best for Amber if we broke the trip into two days.”

      It took everything Colt had in him not to groan out loud when Kaylee’s tongue darted out to moisten her perfect coral lips. “You’re probably right,” she finally answered. Backing away from him, she picked up Amber and started toward the stairs leading to the second floor of the apartment building. “I’ll go check to make sure we brought all of the luggage down and grab Amber’s bag of toys.”

      Colt waited until Kaylee climbed the steps and disappeared into her apartment before he finally managed to take another breath. Glancing at his scuffed boots, he kicked a pebble and watched it skitter across the asphalt parking lot. He hated that he’d had to resort to making her feel guilty to get her to go to the Lonetree with him. But, dammit, he needed time to get to know Amber, time to work out some kind of shared custody agreement, and time to make amends with Kaylee for what had happened three years ago.

      He ran his hand around the back of his neck in an effort to ease some of the tension that had knotted his muscles since Saturday afternoon and his discovery that he’d fathered a child. How was he ever going to convince Kaylee that she wasn’t the reason he’d walked away that morning? How was he going to explain that he’d felt as if he’d betrayed Mitch’s friendship? And how was he going to make her understand that he’d been so ashamed of his actions, he hadn’t been able to face himself, let alone face her?

      “If they gave medals for screwing up, you’d win hands down, Wakefield,” he muttered disgustedly.

      He wasn’t quite sure how to go about doing it, but he was determined to straighten everything out with Kaylee. He had to. His, hers and Amber’s future happiness depended on it.

      “Out,

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