Her Bull Rider's Baby Read online

  His hat covered his close-cropped dark curls, but the line of his neck was exposed, dark skin glowing golden in late-morning sun.

  “Hey,” she called out.

  He turned and her heart stopped. This, this was where he differed from the average cowboy. Deep bronze skin stretched tight over high cheekbones, his jawline razor sharp. And his eyes… lighter than his skin, they glowed like chunks of the finest amber.

  Yes, he would be a perfect match for Style Magazine with those looks.

  He studied her for a long moment, his gaze so intense she would have sworn the temperature rose ten degrees. “Hey. How are you?”

  Jesus, she’d forgotten how devastating his accent could be. The syllables seemed to slide around his tongue. It just wasn’t the same hearing it over the phone—it didn’t hit her right in her belly. And other places.

  “I’m good.” She shoved her hands into her back pockets, rocked on her heels. She’d known it would be awkward, but this lust mixed with self-consciousness made for excruciating awkwardness. “Thanks for coming.”

  “No problem.” But his voice went tight, as if it were a problem.

  She gestured to the resort behind her. “I got reservations for lunch. So we can talk.”

  He tipped his hat back, studied the resort with narrowed eyes as if the thing was a personal affront to him.

  She’d seen that look before, the one that said, You don’t deserve all this, spoiled princess. Her teeth ground together. Yes, her family had money. Lots of it. But she worked as hard as anyone else. Nobody could say that she didn’t get her hands dirty in her job. All that money would come in handy when she was raising their child.

  “All right,” he drawled. “Let’s go.”

  She led him through the hotel to the steak house, thankful that no one would think it strange she was having lunch with a random dude. She entertained clients of the stock operation all the time—everyone would simply think Adriano was one of them. They could figure out he was the father of her baby later when she was more mentally prepared to handle the stares.

  The table in the private room in the steak house was already set when they arrived; Hank, the waiter, was ready to take their order.

  Adriano’s expression remained grim as he helped her into her chair. This was going to be super fun if he kept that attitude up. Too bad she couldn’t sip some liquid courage while she did this—but no more liquor for her for another several months.

  “What’ll you have?” Hank asked, all brisk professionalism in spite of the fact that Adriano continued to scowl at her.

  “The seared ahi salad,” Lil said without looking at the menu. “And a coffee, thanks.”

  “Tuna?” Adriano asked. As if tuna were some kind of supervillain.

  She stared at him. “Uh, yeah.”

  “The book says no tuna.” He said book as if it were the Bible and no tuna was the first commandment.

  “Why can’t I have ahi?” She loved the stuff. Yeah, it was kind of expensive, but it wasn’t like she was dripping furs and jewels. She wore button-downs and jeans and battered ropers, same as everyone else. She could have some damn ahi for lunch.

  “Too much mercury. It will ruin the baby’s brain.”

  Her mouth fell open. “It will what?”

  Hank took a step toward the door. “I’ll just come back in a few minutes.”

  “No,” Adriano said. “I’ll have the steak frites. She needs something high in protein and iron. And folic acid. But no fried food.”

  Hank nodded. “I can put something together that fits that.” He practically ran toward the door.

  And now he knew she was pregnant. Awesome. This was already just awesome.

  She stared at Adriano. “How did you know I needed to eat all that?”

  He stiffened, the lines of his neck going stark. “Just because I’m a bull rider doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

  She gentled her tone. “I never meant that. I didn’t even know I needed all that.”

  He bent down, rummaged in his gear bag. “This is what you need to read. I picked it up before my flight left, read it on the plane.”

  She took it. Your Best Pregnancy: How to Maximize Your Baby’s Potential Before Birth. It was actually bigger than a Bible, nearly a thousand pages. “Wow.”

  “Yes.” He tapped the cover. “There’s an entire chapter on things you should not be eating. And another five chapters on all the things you should not be doing.”

  A whole book on what she couldn’t do. How wonderful.

  “You can keep that copy,” he offered. “I’ll get another one for myself.”

  She blinked. “You bought an entire book on things I shouldn’t be doing?” Control freak. She did not want a control freak watching her every move. Or her child’s.

  “I’ve never dealt with a pregnant woman before. I wanted to be prepared.”

  Wait, how much dealing was he planning on doing with her?

  His gaze intensified. “How are you?” His voice was low, urgent. “Have you had any sickness?” His grim expression had dissolved into worry. Pretty serious worry.

  “No, I’m fine,” she assured him. Concern was sweet. Concern was nice. She could work with that. “So fine that I didn’t suspect anything was wrong until a few days ago.” It was kind of stupid to not realize you were pregnant until three months in, but she’d been fine, still been getting her period up until last month… not even gaining any weight. She understood those women on the “I Never Knew I Was Pregnant!” shows a little better now.

  If she hadn’t finally missed her period, she might have never known. Until the baby took a good kick at her liver.

  His mouth twitched at the word wrong. “Have you seen the doctor? Does he think everything is fine?”

  “The doctor is a woman, and I’ll see her tomorrow.” Guilt moved in her—but she hadn’t known. If she had, she’d have been to the doctor long before now. She wasn’t neglectful.

  “I’m coming with you.” Oh, the command was back in his tone. As if she’d suggested he couldn’t come and he was slapping her down.

  Her own mouth twitched. “I never said you couldn’t.” Although she wasn’t enthusiastic about it. But he was the father. “We can get you a room at the hotel if you like.” Which brought up another sticky situation. “So, you don’t have a place of your own?”

  “No. It didn’t seem necessary—” His jaw tightened. “I didn’t need a place here since I always planned to return to Brazil.”

  There it was. She released a slow breath. Okay. Okay, they could still make this work. Somehow. “I take it you’re still planning on doing that?” She was proud of how steady her voice was.

  “Yes.” Quiet and solemn. “Although my main plan is to support the baby as best I can.”

  She shifted in her chair. “Good.” Time to tackle the biggest hurdle. “When would you like to have visitation? Maybe during the summer? Do you even want visitation?”

  Please say no. Make this easy for both of us.

  “Your summer is our winter,” he pointed out. As blandly as if they weren’t discussing their child’s future. “And I wasn’t thinking about something like visitation.”

  “Oh? What then?” Maybe he was simply going to waive all his parental duties.

  “I propose that we marry and that you and the baby come back to Brazil with me.”

  She choked on her next inhale. “Marry?” No. “I hardly know you. I’m not going to marry you. And as for leaving—I can’t leave Cabrillo. My family, my job, my entire life is here.” Her pulse hammered in her throat, as hard as if her heart had actually jumped up there.

  “Your job? But once the baby is here, you won’t be working any longer.”

  Her temper ignited. “Excuse you? Of course I’m going to keep working.” Even if the bull breeding failed, there was still the stock operations. She had to pass that on to this baby. “I don’t think you understand how important my job is.”

  “What does the doctor say?”
He was infuriatingly cool.

  She stumbled on that. “I… I haven’t asked.” Of course she wouldn’t do any of the really dangerous stuff anymore, but the rest should be fine. Right?

  “Hmm.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Let me see if I understand. You mean to keep the baby. You mean to keep working. Which means while the baby is with you, someone else will be caring for it most of the time. And you’re willing to offer”—he cocked an eyebrow—“summers for me? Do I have it right?”

  He did, but he didn’t sound pleased. Not a bit. “What, do you want the entire year and me to have summers?” She laughed in disbelief.

  He didn’t. “Yes. Why not? This year I will finish in the top ten. Next year, I win the championship. And then I return home, ready to enjoy my retirement.”

  That was… very detailed. She frowned. “You can want to do those things, but that doesn’t mean they’ll happen. No one can plan for that.” But looking into the deep glow of his golden eyes, she wasn’t so sure.

  “Watch me.”

  Oh boy. This was a lot more determination than she’d been expecting to be up against. “And who’ll watch the baby while you’re riding? A nanny?”

  “Yes.”

  “So it’s okay for you to use a nanny but not me?” Infuriating. Absolutely infuriating.

  “Only for a year. You’d have the baby with the nanny always.” As if she meant to hand the baby over to some stranger and just forget about the kid.

  “I don’t think you understand.” She knew he didn’t understand. “This baby has a legacy to inherit.” She gestured to everything around them—the resort, the ranch, the entire mountain valley. “Our family has been here for over a century. We’ve had the ranch just as long. That’s what Merrills do—they run this ranch. My child can’t grow up not knowing that legacy.”

  “And you think that our child doesn’t have a legacy in Brazil? No grandmother, no aunts, uncles, cousins, waiting there? That there isn’t an entire country, a culture, that’s also her legacy? One that she’ll never truly know, not in only two months out of the year. To say nothing of her father.” A muscle in his jaw clenched. “Not to mention that my mother is ill. Our child might only have a few years to get to know her. Or should I say two months out of a few years. Why is it automatically right that the baby be with you most of the time and not with me?”

  Because I’m the mother. Emotionally it was the only answer. Logically it wasn’t an answer at all. Because he was right—why should Lil simply assume she’d get the baby most of the time?

  Because I just should.

  “I’m very sorry about your mother,” she said.

  Something flickered deep in his gaze—pain? No, she couldn’t let that sidetrack her. It was sad, but that didn’t mean she had to hand the baby over to him.

  “I’m very sorry,” she tried again, because she was, “but I still think the baby should live with me.”

  “And yet you give no compelling reason why.”

  Because she just should.

  She shook her head. This wasn’t working. Only five minutes into this and they’d already stumbled into a massive knot. She pressed a fist into her belly, trying to push away the sourness there. “Maybe we should each get a lawyer. Work things out that way.”

  A retreat, but one she needed. He couldn’t take her baby away from her, away from the family who already loved the child.

  But he had a point—the baby had another family in Brazil. One that probably would love the baby as much as the Merrills.

  “No.” His eyes widened for half a moment in what looked like panic, then he went back to being stone faced. “No lawyers.”

  “You don’t know anything about babies.” Perhaps not the greatest counterargument, but it was all she had. But she’d never imagined he’d want to raise the baby on his own.

  “Neither do you.”

  “I don’t… Look, I don’t know what to think.” She ignored his scowl. That was more than fair, for her to be confused about all this. She’d only just found out she was pregnant. “We had a weekend together—an amazing weekend—but that was all. And now we’re having a baby. But we hardly know each other. You want to get to married or have me simply hand the baby over to you…” She gestured futilely. “I just don’t know.”

  “What can I do to convince you?” As coolly said as if this were only a business deal.

  “Maybe I need to convince you.” Yes, that was exactly what she needed to do. The gears whirred in her brain. “Why don’t you stay here for a while, see the ranch, the history here—my family’s history—see the kind of life I can give the baby, then decide?”

  Oh yes, that was how she would do this. She’d prove that the baby being with her was best. That he’d be robbing the baby of a terrible opportunity if it lived with him. The baby would be part of a massive ranch, a family legacy that spanned over a century—who would turn that down for their child once they really understood it?

  He leaned back, his mouth tightening as if he were holding in a smile, and she had the terrible impression she’d stumbled into a trap. “And perhaps I need to convince you. That I’d be a wonderful father to our child and the best thing would be for me to have the baby in Brazil most of the time. No nannies, no day care—with me, once I retire from the rodeo.”

  Aw, hell, it was a trap. Or at least a very dangerous bargain.

  Best to tread carefully here and spell out exactly what they were proposing. “So I try to convince you the baby should stay with me most of the time? And you’re trying to convince me of the opposite?”

  He nodded. “Once the baby is here, we decide who was the better convincer.”

  She blew out a long breath. It was cold—but was a custody arrangement hammered out through lawyers any worse? “And if we don’t come to an agreement by then?”

  His gaze shuttered. “Then we bring in the lawyers.”

  She didn’t want to do that any more than he did. Because if the lawyers got involved and they went to court, that offer of his to raise the baby without a nanny was going to look very good for his case.

  She only had to make certain that she won their bargain. Easy as pie. “How do you plan to convince me you’re the better option?”

  “Well, I can’t take you back to Brazil and show you what our child would be missing if he or she stayed with you. So I’m going to take care of you. Proper care of you.” His voice was like velvet, dark and softly rough. Any other woman probably would have melted to hear him say in that voice that he wanted to take care of her.

  Too bad for him she wasn’t into being taken care of.

  She had the feeling he was calling a bluff she hadn’t even known she’d made. Or that she was wandering into yet another sticky situation with him.

  Or perhaps he was bluffing, with all the getting to know you and wanting to take care of you. They were both probing for weak spots here.

  If he was bluffing, she ought to call it.

  She looked him square in the eye and laid out her hand. “Since you don’t have a place of your own and you want to take proper care of me, why don’t you just move in with me?”

  She was as audacious as ever.

  Adriano stared back, knowing she was throwing out a dare with that last suggestion. The spark in her eyes, the jut of her jaw—she was begging for a reaction from him.

  He hadn’t expected her to say yes to his marriage proposal. That had only been a spur to see which way she bucked.

  But look where he’d steered her to in the end.

  He wanted to smile, but that wouldn’t be taken well. Living together—yes, he could show her exactly the kind of father he’d be then. She’d realize that he was right, that the baby would have a better life with him, and he’d win. He always won when he put his mind to it.

  Living together brought up the question of sleeping together though.

  No. No, they should not be sleeping together. Not that she was offering it. He had to stay focused through this entir
e ride with her, just as he would a bull. And when he was focused, there was nobody better.

  When he wasn’t focused though… He’d been so distracted by her news last night he’d been thrown in the final round. Any more distractions from her and this year would be a complete bust. He’d simply have to learn to keep thoughts of her and the baby away when he was competing. Having more memories of her naked and wrapped around him wouldn’t help with that.

  But Lord, when Liliana had come walking toward him, all long legs and fierce stride, his body had kicked into high gear, his every instinct screaming at her nearness.

  With her fall of dark brown hair swinging in time with her step, she’d looked much as she had in Vegas—determined green-gray eyes the color of the ocean at dawn and skin that was kissed by the sun every day. She’d strode across that convention hall toward him, and he could only stare as she’d stalked him—and he hadn’t been able to look away from her for the next three days.

  If there was ever a woman who demanded a man’s attention, it was Liliana Merrill.

  She’d been at the NFR as the head of her family’s stock operations, and he’d been there to ride bulls. When they hadn’t been doing what they were supposed to, they’d been naked, sweaty, and entwined.

  The more he’d had of her, the more he wanted. And she’d felt the same way. When they’d parted that last day, the regret had been almost more than he could handle. But there was no place in his life for a woman. Not even one like Liliana.

  Even if he was going to be living with her.

  “I’m guessing you don’t have a little apartment you rent somewhere in town,” he said, sarcasm biting in the words.

  She colored just a hair but didn’t deny it.

  He glanced around the room. He didn’t want to stay here, on her family’s territory. He’d known the Merrills were rich—you couldn’t be in the rodeo world and not know that. But Adriano hadn’t quite known how rich. It made his skin itch to know that no matter how much he earned on his own, it would never match what Liliana had earned simply by being born.