Hot-Shot Doc, Secret Dad (Cowboys, Doctors...Daddies) Read online

  Trevor took the time to swallow a sudden thickening in his throat. So that was what all this was about. If they’d just made time last weekend…ah, hell, now was no time for guilt.

  “I am.” He thought of a dozen sentences to add, but something about the moment called for simple and straightforward. He’d let James lead the way on this particular conversation. Not as he and Julie had planned, but nevertheless.

  “Why didn’t you want me?”

  Not wanting to place blame anywhere, Trevor still needed to be honest. Julie would have to explain her side of the story when she felt the time was right. “I didn’t know about you until a few weeks ago, after you and your mother moved home, and she came to work for me.”

  Tears welled in the boy’s eyes. “All I ever wanted was a dad.”

  “And now you’ve got one. And I’m never letting you go, son. But you’ve got to understand that you have the greatest mom in the world. She’s done her best all these years to love you enough for two people.”

  “Why didn’t things work out with you guys?”

  “That’s a long story, and your momma deserves to be here when we tell it. Plus I can hear your stomach growling.” Trevor moved his hands up from the boy’s shoulders to around his neck, put him in a friendly headlock in the crook of one elbow and messed what he could of his short hair with the other hand. “I’m going to tell you a secret, just between you and me. Now that we’re all together, I want us to be a family just as much as you always wanted a dad. And you know what that means.”

  “You’re gonna marry Mom?”

  “I’m going to do my best to convince her, but, no matter what, you’re my son and I’m never letting you out of my life again.”

  To downplay the moment, as monumental as it was, Trevor eased the boy out of his arms and gently prodded him forward. “Let’s get you some food before you pass out on my boots.”

  “She’s pretty stubborn, you know,” James said as they walked across the circular driveway toward the house.

  “Tell me about it. But, hey, don’t let on about my plans to your mom, okay? We’re going to have to work this out one wrinkle at a time.” He held James with one arm as they walked, and speed-dialed Julie with the other hand, and the moment she answered said, “I’ve got something you’ve been looking for.”

  *

  Julie burst into the kitchen, smiling, crying and with her hair bouncing around her head, almost blocking her vision. Wondering how in God’s name she’d made the drive over. She made a beeline for James, the most beautiful sight in the world, who’d stood the instant she’d entered the room.

  “Mom, don’t get mad.”

  “I’m way beyond that, James.” She took him into her arms and squeezed him nearly down to the bone. He felt great, even though he smelled like he might have stepped in a pile of horse manure somewhere along the way. “But I do expect answers, like how in the world did you get here?”

  “The boy has a clever streak.” Monty spoke up. “How much did you pay that teenager in Laramie to drive you almost fifty miles?”

  Thankfully, James didn’t look proud, though Monty’s tone clearly said he admired her son’s ingenuity. “Twenty dollars.”

  “The money I gave you for snacks all week?” Once Trevor had told her that her son was safe twenty minutes ago, her full-out alarm had switched to a different kind of concern and worry, and, of course, anger for his putting everyone, especially her, through this mess today. Was this behavior going to be a pattern? “What about the rest of the way?”

  Trevor spoke up. “He rode in the bed of old man McGilvary’s truck, then broke in his new skateboard the rest of the way.”

  “Until it got too bumpy, then I walked.”

  She clutched him to her heart again, even as that particular organ seemed to retreat to her toes with fear. His risky plan could have gone wrong in so many directions. New panic over all of the possibilities took hold, and she refused to let herself go down that path. The boy was here, in her arms, safe. Thank you, God. “That was crazy and impulsive, and…”

  “And dangerous, I know, Mom, but—”

  “No buts, you can’t do things like this.” She stared her son in the eyes, forcing him to look at her. She saw his own brand of regret mixed with confusion and maybe a little anger.

  Trevor’s firm hand latched onto her shoulder. “His grandfather did a great job of reading him the riot act. And it seems James had something on his mind that couldn’t wait until the weekend.”

  His grandfather? “He knows?”

  “Evidently the question was burning a hole in his brain.”

  And heart? Oh, but she’d handled everything wrong.

  “If we’d told him last weekend like we’d planned,” Trevor continued, “none of this would have happened.”

  “Mom, I promise I won’t do anything stupid like this again. I was totally scared, too, but I needed to know if Montgomery was my dad, and I wanted to ask him in person.”

  She hugged him and kissed his stubbly hair, as a wet path trailed down her cheek. She sniffed, loving the stinky smell of her son, as long as he was safe and in her arms.

  “Please don’t make me go back to the academy. I promise I’ll straighten up. Why can’t I go to Cattleman Bluff Junior High?”

  He couldn’t be rewarded for running away, even if his desire to confront his father had been the reason. “Sterlings aren’t quitters. You finish off the semester at the academy, prove you can be trusted, that you’re back on track, then, after summer, we’ll see about the fall semester.”

  In frustration, James looked at Trevor, presumably for backup. They’d better not have already had this conversation with a different solution, the new dad taking a soft line. With her hackles raised and ready for a fight, she nailed Trevor’s unwavering eyes.

  Trevor had the good sense to raise his hands and step out of this battle. “I won’t interfere with whatever your mom decides. I wouldn’t dare,” he added, to lighten the quickly intensifying atmosphere.

  Surprisingly, James didn’t complain, he just nodded sullenly, in defeat. After all, it was his first encounter with both of his parents, and maybe, underneath the disappointment of not getting his way, he actually appreciated having rules he couldn’t stray from. Having parents, and a grandfather, who laid them down in a united front. Julie could hope anyway.

  Jumping back to even more practical thoughts. “Have you eaten?”

  “He had two sandwiches and three glasses of milk!” Gretchen spoke up, from her quiet spot in the shadows pretending to move crumbs around the counter with a sponge so she could stick around for the fireworks.

  “Thank you.” Julie looked around the room at what could be a bunch of strangers to James, but found three pairs of caring eyes staring at her son. “Then we need to get you showered and take you back to school. Oh, my gosh, we’ve got to tell them—”

  “Already taken care of,” Monty said. “I gave Chief Jorgensen a call. He said he’d see to everything else.”

  “I need to call the school and make sure they haven’t expelled him or anything, I guess.”

  “I doubt they’ll expel him, but I’m sure James will have some kind of punishment,” Trevor said. “You agreed to take it like a man, right?”

  James nodded again, if only halfheartedly. “I should probably leave my skateboard here, so they won’t take it away from me.”

  James’s last little attempt to get away with something made the entire group in the Montgomery kitchen crack up.

  After the day she’d been through, the laughter over the audacity of her son was welcomed beyond this frazzled mother’s wildest imagination.

  *

  Julie and Trevor managed to deliver James back to the academy twenty minutes before lights out, where he quickly learned of his fate. He’d miss out on free time for the next month, and he wouldn’t be able to go home the next weekend, instead having been assigned to the groundskeeper as extra help. He didn’t complain, maybe because Trevo
r was there and he didn’t want to come off as weak, but Julie was grateful he took his punishment without complaint.

  They did however learn that just because he couldn’t come home, it didn’t mean they couldn’t come and have dinner with him on Sunday, and so they made plans to bring him something special.

  After a long hug, and many silent prayers of thanks that her son was safe, Julie stepped back and let Trevor have his turn.

  Trevor moved in, and when James held out his hand for a shake he sidestepped it in favor of a fatherly hug. “Don’t even think about pulling any more lame-brain escapes, okay?” Though he said it sternly, it was clear he’d laid down the law with love.

  James must have realized the same thing, because he pulled back from the hug with a tentative smile. “Today’s will last for a while, I guess.”

  “The next time you have a hankering to come home, you call your mother or me and we’ll see what we can do. You’re too damn young to hitchhike. What were you thinking?” He grabbed James back and pretended to rough him up a little. James ate it up and dished some out, too.

  “Okay, you too, quit competing for most immature.” Julie smiled, though sad and feeling a little empty knowing they had to leave her son behind.

  As James was escorted off to his room, he looked over his shoulder. “Bye, Mom, I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Uh, do I call you Dad now?”

  “I’d be honored if you would.”

  *

  It was almost midnight when Trevor delivered Julie home. They’d been at it nonstop all day with work, two deliveries, news of James having gone missing, going crazy waiting for word about him, then the surprise beyond all surprises, James finding his way to Trevor’s ranch in order to ask if he was his father.

  What a day. Yet, spending so much time with Trevor had been her life saver. He’d kept her sane and functioning, and just thinking about how it would have been without his steady presence made her queasy. She reached across the car and took his hand. As always, his response was quick and welcoming.

  He glanced at her just before turning into her driveway, that familiar look she’d come to know as desire and something deeper. As emotionally wrung out as she was, his obvious need was contagious.

  When he parked, she leaned across, took his face in her hands and kissed him, silently promising they’d be spending more time together tonight. “I don’t know what I would have done without your help today.”

  His hand cupped her ear and eased her back toward his mouth. Tender, warm lips waited to start slow, but soon devour her mouth. The car windows steamed up and the thought of seducing him here versus on her big and comfortable bed helped Julie break away.

  “Let’s go inside. Will you stay with me tonight?”

  He didn’t need to answer; the sexy smile lifting the corner of his mouth said it all.

  *

  Over the past few weeks they’d explored just about every position and technique for making love, and Trevor proved to have quite a repertoire. She’d become the lucky recipient of his single-minded attention. Surprisingly, he’d brought out a creative side to Julie that she’d never known she had before. To be honest, though being with Trevor was exciting no matter what they did, she preferred good old vanilla, face-to-face sex, watching his eyes and expressions in the most intimate moments.

  Right now he sat with his back against the headboard, her on his lap, him straight and tight inside her. His hands held her hips as she moved over him, lifting, lowering, speeding up, slowing down, all while their heated stares fused together. His nostrils flared when she moved a certain way, her breath caught when he bucked from beneath. The scent of sex as intoxicating as the sounds of their bodies slapping together. The only time she wasn’t looking at him was when his mouth was locked onto hers, pillaging with his tongue, as she did the same. Frantic and crazy, they tore away at each other as if the cares, tension and worries of the day couldn’t be worked out any other way.

  They needed each other with a capital N, and the level of stimulation they’d whipped up in record time tonight felt nearly earth-shattering. She grabbed the headboard on either side of his ears to anchor herself as her desire heightened, driving her to bear down on his arousal, then let him work his wonders from beneath as she held perfectly still.

  Tongue deep in a kiss, he pulled away from her mouth, delving into the side of her neck with his wet lips, panting as she quickened her movements. “Marry me, Julie.” His strained whisper blew over the shell of her ear.

  She was over halfway to that wonderful land of sexual free fall when his words, like a taut bungee cord, pulled her back. What had he just said?

  He moved her arms from the headboard and pinned them behind her back with a single hand, then lifted her up and flipped her onto the mattress with the other, and came at her with purpose and determination she’d never experienced with him before. He slowed his thrusts just long enough to get the words out. “Marry me.”

  Stunned to silence, and nearly lost to sex-over-reason, she tightened her thighs around his hips and bucked into him, selfishly going for release to avoid his mind-boggling question.

  He obliged her raw need and took her deep, deep inside to the center of her universe where big things were about to happen. His rapid-fire penetration made tingles turn to shimmering eruptions, then delectable spasms before she went helpless to the explosions pounding through her nerve endings. Her guttural moan and inner gripping and throbbing around his rigid lunges soon took him to what she knew was his blackout place. All that seemed left of the world for those few priceless moments together imploded inside as she came again, and she sensed how his climax wiped him out, one synapsis after another, until he was totally spent, just like her.

  It took forever to recover, to crawl out from her cave of stimulation and release. But out of that sexual fog she emerged as her head cleared one thought at a time until she remembered. Trevor had just asked her to marry him!

  *

  Trevor held Julie by her arms, the fresh-from-sex blush blooming across her chest and cheeks. Her hair was damp and tightly curled around her face. This was how he loved seeing her, having been taken by him, defenseless against him, with Julie having the same effect on him. They needed each other. When he’d been with Kimberley, he’d thought he wanted sophistication and high breeding, but that had clearly backfired. His choosing a simpler life, loyal to his roots, had held little appeal for her.

  Julie was different; she’d come home to find what she’d left behind, hoping to make things right for her son. Little did she know it was exactly what she’d needed, too. Now older and wiser, how could Trevor make her see that if she didn’t get it?

  She’d avoided answering his proposal, and he couldn’t blame her, having been completely distracted by sex himself, but still, it burned and felt too reminiscent of when he’d opened up to Kimberley. How it had felt as if she’d ripped his heart out with her refusal.

  Would Julie do the same?

  A soft hand bracketed his face. “Trevor, you took me by surprise asking me to marry you.”

  He turned his cheek and kissed the palm of her hand. “I mean it, I want to marry you, be your husband and James’s full-time father.”

  Silence lingered between them; it tore at that last bit of scarred tissue. Her gaze intent, she seemed to study every millimeter of his face. Finally, she opened her mouth. “Sometimes the right thing to do doesn’t measure up to being right for each other.”

  “You don’t think we’re right for each other? We’re perfect for each other, and we have a kid. Don’t you see, our getting married will solve all your problems?”

  “James is still recovering from Mark leading him on, then ripping hope right out of him. Can you imagine how a boy would feel being told, ‘You’re in the way, kid. Let’s do something about that. I don’t want you. I just want your mother’?” She pleaded with her eyes. “I wouldn’t dare spring another relationship on him just yet. Not even w
ith his birth father.”

  He grabbed her shoulder and made sure her gaze turned back to his. “That sounds way too clinical. I’m his father, never knew he was born. That was your decision. Now I’m saying it’s time for me to make some decisions about the boy. I want to be a family, and I want you to be my wife.”

  She closed her eyes and crinkled her brows, shutting him out. “It’s not fair to work a girl up and pop that question out of the blue. I need to get things straight in my mind, and being naked with you doesn’t help at all.”

  “Are you asking for some space?”

  “I think so. Just a breather, some time out. Please understand, this can’t be some pat reaction. You deserve better. James deserves better.”

  “You deserve love, Julie bean. You deserve to be happy. I can make you happy. Hell, I already have. You can’t deny that.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not. I’m just asking you to give me a chance to work this out my way. When I get married I want it to be for all of the right reasons.”

  Trevor stood, grabbed his pile of clothes from the chair and headed for the bathroom. Five minutes later when he emerged, dressed and a little clearer headed, he found Julie right where he’d left her, lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Though now she was covered by a sheet. She glanced his way.

  “I want to know one thing before I leave here tonight.” He straightened his shoulders and took the plunge. “Do you love me?”

  She stirred, sat up; there was that look of doe in headlights again. How could he have misread all the signs these past few weeks?

  “I, uh, I’ve never felt this way about anyone but you, Trevor, but I—”

  She was taking too long, making terrible excuses; he couldn’t stand it. “Here’s the deal—I love you,” he said, matter-of-fact, then turned to leave the bedroom. He made it all the way out the front door without a peep from the woman he’d just admitted he loved and wanted to marry.

  Besides slamming his fist into a wall, what the hell was he supposed to do now?

  CHAPTER TEN