Her Bull Rider's Baby Page 21
As he’d held her last night while she sobbed as if her heart was breaking, he’d hoped. As he led her back to her room to tuck her into bed to sleep off her tears alone, he began to plan.
The past three weeks of not touching her, of living with her as a kind of glorified roommate, had been painful. But they’d needed it, to prove that they could get along without giving in to the fire between them.
They could work things out for their daughter. It was possible for them to be parents and nothing more.
But it would be damn painful. And empty. He knew that now—and after Lil’s tears last night, he suspected she felt the same.
Last night… when he’d imagined going back to Brazil, leaving her here alone, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He’d begged her to tell him she felt the same, that she loved him as madly as he did her.
But he couldn’t say it in English—it would only come in Portuguese in the moment. She had no idea what he’d asked and after when she was weeping as if her heart would break… he was too afraid. He could climb onto a bull, over and over again, but he couldn’t tell her how he felt. Because she might not feel the same.
Now that the doctor had lifted the bed rest, Lil could return to her life. She didn’t need him anymore. He needed her though. And he had one last bargain for her, one last way to keep her by his side. Or him by hers. Either way.
“Looks like everything’s fine,” she said as she stared out the windshield. Full of bright cheer and forced happiness.
Adriano suspected the doctor had other reasons for keeping Lil on bed rest so long, reasons that didn’t involve her blood pressure. But he hadn’t said anything, not when it fell in so well with his plans. He only had to play this last hand, win this last hand, and the final piece would fall into place.
“You can head out now if you want,” she went on. “No need to nurse me anymore.”
Her voice was all sunshine, but she was gripping the shoulder belt. Very tightly. She was a hell of a liar when she wanted to be.
“I suppose so.” He kept his expression blank so as not to spook her away. To let her creep toward her feelings for him on her own time.
Come on, Lil. Come back to me.
“I mean, you can go back to Brazil. Isn’t that what you always wanted?”
He savored the uncertainty in her tone. That was what he’d been waiting for. It was time to reveal all, to lay out his hand and see if she called him on it.
“I do want to go back. I’ve always wanted to go back.” He turned to her then, let the intensity of his feelings shine in his eyes. “But now I want to go back with you.”
There it was. But would she want to go back with him? She’d said once that their family ties held them tight—too tight for her to choose him?
She drew in a sharp breath. “I can’t just move. My family, my work; it’s all here.”
Her legacy. The one she had to pass on to their daughter. His heart sank. That same old story. After these weeks together, she was circling back to where they’d started.
He had to turn her back. One last time. If this didn’t work, he’d let her be. No matter how badly it would hurt.
“I can’t just move either,” he reminded her. “I’ve got more bull riding to do here, remember? At least once my suspension is over.”
And his mother had told him to stay until he won Lil back. Couldn’t disappoint her, now could he?
Tell her. Just tell her. But he held back, not certain why. Perhaps because this was the biggest gamble he’d ever taken, more risky than climbing onto any bull.
Lil held his heart and would hold it for the rest of her life. Not just eight seconds of it. Her and their daughter.
He couldn’t go home without them.
“Then what?” she asked. “Because I know you’re not offering to stay. You can’t.”
She wanted more from him, he could tell by the push in her tone. She didn’t want to be back where they’d started either.
He’d show her where they could go instead. Together. “How would you like to own a ranch in Mato Grosso do Sul?”
Her eyes widened with interest. “Brazil?” But she didn’t make it sound impossible.
“We breed bulls here and there. And help train riders there.” He was talking a little too fast, his accent thickening, but he’d gone over the details so many times—finally he could share them all with her. “Split our time between both countries. And let our daughter know both places, with both of us beside her. To inherit both her legacies.”
He caught his breath, waited for her to jump in. It had come to him during their weeks together, as he’d discovered that he liked running a ranch and breeding bulls. Realized that there was a way to build a life together that could be split between their two homelands.
“Oh.” Her gaze turned inward, and he could see her weighing the idea, turning it over in her head, exploring the edges of it.
He smiled wryly. “A compromise. Which is what we should have been working on all along.”
Perhaps, once they’d worked the kinks out of that, they could have more.
She chewed her lip, her eyes narrow. She was going to dare him, to challenge him, he already knew. “We agreed before, no sex. To keep it focused on the baby.” Her gaze was sharp now.
“And we blew that up.” They couldn’t help but blow that up. He was counting on them doing it again.
“What are you proposing this time?”
Proposing. He felt the same calm come over him that did when he climbed onto the back of a bull. He took his heart into his hands, trusted that it would be safe in hers.
“Not a bargain like before,” he said. “Not both of us pitted against each other and how we feel.” He took a quick breath, the same kind he pulled when he nodded to the gate man to swing open the chute and start the ride. “Besides, I don’t think I can agree to not sleep with the woman I love.”
With those words, gave himself right to her.
Her eyes opened wide, her expression softening, a sharp, small inhale parting her lips.
He set a hand at her cheek, savoring the warmth of her, and went on. “To not touch her, to not show her all the ways I love her with my hands, my lips—”
She put her hand over his mouth. “You—why didn’t you tell me sooner? I’ve been in agony here, being in love with you and thinking you didn’t love me!”
He laughed against her hand. Only Lil would get pissed when he finally told her he loved her. And when she finally told him she loved him.
She loved him. He laughed harder, his heart bobbing in his chest. It had all worked out.
He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and brought her knuckles to his lips, kissing each in turn. Someday one of those fingers would wear his ring. He’d make certain of it.
But just in case—“It was wrong of me, to react that way about Crane. And to suggest this bargain with you.”
She dropped her head, her gaze flitting away. “Yeah. I… I was going to tell you that night, about the baby—”
He put a finger to her lips. “I was going to tell you that night—you’re right. The baby should be with you.”
“And I was going to tell you the baby should be with you.”
They smiled at each other, her expression as rueful as he felt. “I guess we’ve both proven that neither of us won this bargain,” he said.
“Nope.” She grinned now. “Which means that the baby should be with both of us. All the time. Only way to make it fair.”
His heart slowed, the pump of it going deeper, more powerful. “Will you do it then? Make a life here with me? And in Brazil too? Not just for the baby, but because I love you?”
She had to say yes; he knew she would say yes—and yet he still held his breath.
“Are you trying to tie me down, Adriano Silva?”
He laughed. Forever and always a dare from her. “Can I tie you down?”
She gave a slow smile. “Maybe. Or tie me up. Or a few other things I can think of.” She p
ulled him to her for a kiss. “Here. And in Brazil.” Her lips met his, audacious as always. “Just not in front of the baby.”
EPILOGUE
Liliana stared down at the strange, tiny creature in her arms, bafflement and wonder beating through her chest. How was such a thing as this even possible?
“God, she’s beautiful,” she breathed. “You’re beautiful,” she told her daughter, her words solemn and true.
Gabriela’s head was flattened, her face was scrunched, her eyes some muddy gray Lil had never seen before, and when she uncurled her fingers and toes, they were unnaturally long.
Somehow it all came together into the most wondrous thing she’d ever seen.
She’d helped make this thing. She felt as if her brain would no longer fit into her skull with that realization, as if the way she felt for her daughter was already so immense it was seeping out of her.
Or maybe that was just exhaustion. It had been a long labor, almost twenty hours. Even with the epidural, which—surprise!—you didn’t get the moment you walked into the hospital, it had been hard.
Adriano made a low, rough noise of agreement, his eyes suspiciously bright. Poor guy. He broke bones without even blinking, but one baby girl brought him to tears.
She caught his hand with her free one, the two of them sharing an infatuated smile. They’d done it. They were parents. And they couldn’t be more in love. With each other or with Gabriela.
Then Lil ruined the moment by yawning. God, she was tired.
Adriano scooped Gabriela up, rocking her as she settled into his arms. When the nurse had first handed his daughter to him, he’d begun to sway automatically, his body instinctively trying to soothe his baby. He was going to be such a wonderful dad—he was already a natural.
“Do you want some water?” he asked. The nurse had told Lil to drink a liter of water for every nursing session, so Lil knew what Adriano would be bugging her about for the next few weeks.
But he worried because he loved.
Lil shook her head, rubbed her eyes. “I’m so tired. And so hungry. All I want to do it stare at her, eat a pizza, and take a nap.” Where was Luke with her pizza? She hadn’t eaten since she’d gotten to the hospital, and she’d just gone through the most physically draining experience of her life. She deserved some pizza after all that.
“Luke’s on his way.” But most of Adriano’s attention was on the baby. The expression on his face, so open, so wondering, so filled with love, made her heart swell.
Thank God he knocked me up.
They’d spent the past few months building the bull operation—a transcontinental bull operation, even flying to Brazil to look at ranches. It had been tough, compromising with Adriano, juggling that and the stock operations and trying to get everything together before the baby came. Tough, but enjoyable. They were making it work.
And in Mato Grosso do Sul, Adriano had been so happy. It had been a joy to see him there, surrounded by family. Lil had met his mother, whom she found utterly delightful. And who had been moved up the transplant list—in two months, Lil and Adriano would fly back to be by her side during the ordeal. But after that, his mother would likely have a good, long life, her children and grandchildren surrounding her for many years.
Her family had all come earlier to coo over Gabriela, but now they were alone, their first night together as a family. Adriano would have to sleep in the chair next to Lil’s bed, but she guessed that this was only the first of many nights with little to no sleep for them.
She yawned again, her eyes fluttering closed. Speaking of sleep…
No, wait. She had a pizza coming. She’d never done more to earn a meal in her life.
“You can sleep,” Adriano said. “I’ve got her.”
Lil smiled fondly. Yes, he did. She had nothing to worry about with Gabriela in his arms.
“She’s so beautiful.” Lil felt like she could never say that enough, could never fully impress on everyone how remarkable this baby was.
“She is. And so is her mama.” He caught up her left hand and studied it. “When do you think the swelling will go down?”
“Hey! That’s a hell of a thing to ask a woman who’s just had a baby.” Her indignation was partly deflated by the sleepiness in her voice.
He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles, let his smile stretch wide. “I only want to know when the ring I bought you will fit.”
She blinked at him. Of all the times to bring this up… Only, maybe it was exactly the right time. “Are you proposing to me? Because we’ve already got something permanent right there.”
The most perfect piece of permanence ever made.
“I know. But I want to give you more.” The words were filled with love, so much that she didn’t understand how the syllables could hold it all.
She put her lips to his, gave him a soft kiss. “First the baby, then a marriage. We’ve done everything ass backward, haven’t we?”
He kissed her back. “Maybe. But it was the perfect way for us.”
She wouldn’t have wanted them to get here any other way than that.
Thanks for reading Her Bull Rider’s Baby—I hoped you enjoyed it! If you’re so inclined, please leave a review. Reviews help other readers find books!
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Turn the page for a sneak peek at Rescued by Her Firefighter!
A Cowboy of Her Own, Book Three
Trapped together in the wilderness, they’ll discover opposites don’t just attract—they ignite…
Russell Cheng is always ready to swoop in and save the day, which along with his superhero good looks makes him the perfect fire fighter. He readily agrees to take a professor on a wilderness research trip, but when she turns out to be the one-night stand who’s haunted him, he vows to get her back in his bed. Only this time, he won’t let pull a disappearing act.
Beatriz Schuler doesn’t waste time on blind dates or finding Mr. Right—and she definitely doesn’t do one-night stands. But when she comes face-to-face with the smoking hot fire fighter who broke all her rules, there’s nowhere to run come morning.
When their trip takes a turn into danger, Bea and Russ have to pretend to be married in order to survive. But as their pretend marriage begins to feel all too real, can their relationship move from fiction to fact?
Available Now!
Turn the page for a sneak peek at Rescued by Her Firefighter!
RESCUED BY HER FIRE FIGHTER
Bea’s eyes were half-closed, her lips parted… Russ knew that look. He’d seen it before, in his bed, as she’d tossed with pleasure beneath his hands.
He slowly rose, cupped her jaw with his hand. Her eyes went wide.
“Tell me no,” he ordered, because she had to say yes. She couldn’t get away—her jeans were trapping her—but she couldn’t cry foul on this if she said yes.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“Not good enough. You’ve got to tell me no. Or yes. Pick one.”
“I—”
“Don’t tell me I can’t. You can do anything you set your mind to, and we both know it. Pick, Beatriz. You’re not drunk, I’m not bought—this is just you and me. No excuses.”
A sharp inhale. She was frightened. Of him, of her desire—he couldn’t say. Her chin came forward, too enticing to be a jut, and she said, “Yes.”
He captured her mouth, just as he’d wanted to do since he’d seen her climb out of her car at the trailhead. She tasted sweet and bright and intoxicating. He slid a hand into the silk of her hair, anchoring her as he nudged her mouth open.
The moment her tongue touched his was electric, a spark arcing between them to sizzle through his veins. He’d gladly let the desire between them burn out each and every one of his neurons—she was worth it.
She bobbled, moaning a little into his mouth. He wrapped his free arm around her
waist. “I’ve got you,” he murmured into her ear. “I’ve got you.”
“Russ.”
God, the shaky, needy way she got that out—it hit him hard. “Yeah, babe?” He’d give her anything she wanted. Everything she wanted.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing a book is always a collaborative process, but this book was more collaborative than most. My deepest thanks go to Gisele and Nospheratt for their wonderfully detailed notes on Brazilian culture and for correcting my mistakes. Any remaining errors are entirely my own.
Thanks also go to my critique partner, Emma Barry, for helping me to finally make it to the finish line on this book. Jill Sorenson and Kate Pearce gave me invaluable help on strengthening the story. And thanks to the team at Victory Editing for making the book shine (and for putting up with the endless deadline shuffles.)
Finally, thank you to my family. This one was a tough one, but you put up with everything.
OTHER BOOKS BY GENEVIEVE
Las Morenas
Summer Chaparral
Autumn Sage
The Sheriff Takes a Bride
High Country Spring
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Las Morenas: The Complete Series
A Cowboy of Her Own
Her Billionaire Rancher Boss
Her Bull Rider’s Baby
Rescued By Her Firefighter
Her Cowboy Rival
Reunited with Her Cowboy
Always a Cowboy
Forever a Soldier
Forever a Maverick