Authors: Cindy Kirk
A
fter helping Mary Karen give the boys a bath, Travis sat on the sofa with a twin on each side and a three-year-old on his lap.
If the gang at Wally’s could only see me now.
His lips lifted in a wry smile.
Mary Karen placed the book she’d just read beside her in the chair and pulled out another from behind her back. “I have a special treat for you tonight,
The Terrible Troll-Bird.
”
The boys took one look at the mean-looking bird on the cover and brightened.
“I read that when I was a boy,” Travis said. The memory brought with it a rush of warmth. He’d been about Connor and Caleb’s age and there had been four—or was it five—children in his family by then? No matter how busy they’d been, his parents had always made time for stories. As they grew, older children took turns
reading to the younger ones. “
The Terrible Troll-Bird
was one of my favorites.”
“Mine, too,” Mary Karen said.
They shared a smile and Travis realized with a jolt he didn’t miss the bar and the darts and the music. At this moment, he was right where he wanted to be.
Mary Karen’s blond hair shimmered like spun gold in the lamplight. Like the boys she was dressed for bed. Unlike their cartoon pj’s she wore a silky blue nightie covered by an equally soft short robe.
At least Travis assumed it was soft. He hadn’t yet gotten close enough to touch. But he vowed he would, before the night was out. It had been a long time since their night in Vegas.
“I want Travis to read it,” Connor said.
“Please, Travis,” Caleb echoed.
“I think you’re elected.” M.K. handed him the book with a flourish. “Logan, honey, why don’t you come sit on my lap while he reads to us?”
“No.” The three-year-old shook his head, his lower lip jutting out. “I stay here.”
Travis glanced down at the boy and the twins on either side, fighting a rush of unexpected emotion. “He’s okay where he is, M.K. Logan will make sure he sits back so the others can see the pictures.”
The child responded by flinging himself back against Travis’s T-shirt clad chest. Unlike everyone else in the room, Travis was still fully dressed. But the promise in Mary Karen’s eyes told him that once they hit the bedroom, his clothes—and hers—would soon be on the floor.
But that wouldn’t happen until the book was read and the children in bed.
Just as it had when he’d been seven, the story quickly
drew Travis in. The children’s eyes grew wider with each page.
“That bird is super mean,” Caleb said.
“If the Troll-Bird tried to steal my horse,” Connor’s eyes blazed, “I’d shoot it, too.”
Logan glanced at his mother, a frown worrying his brow. “I don’t want the birdy to fly away with Blakken.”
“It’ll be okay.” Travis shot the boy a reassuring smile then resumed reading. By the time he finished they were begging for another story. He glanced at Mary Karen.
She shook her head and leaned forward to pick up a book that had slipped to the floor, her robe gaping open to reveal an enticing amount of cleavage. “It’s time for bed.”
Travis hid a smile. He couldn’t agree more.
“Your mother is right,” he told the boys. “Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”
Since Travis had been a small child, Independence Day had been his favorite holiday. Because it was the same every year he knew exactly how the day would go. The Jaycees would kick off the festivities with their annual pancake breakfast, followed by the Howdy Pardners’ Fourth of July Parade and the Episcopal church’s kids games. Then in the evening, “Music In the Hole,” featuring the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, would bring everyone in front of the outdoor stage at Alpine Field in west Jackson to enjoy patriotic music and a picnic dinner. The night would be capped off by fireworks at the base of Snow King Mountain.
This year, instead of simply enjoying the fireworks, Travis would experience all the events…with his new family. He found himself looking forward to tomorrow.
While the boys and their dog ran ahead down the hall, Travis followed, holding Mary Karen’s hand. He
couldn’t believe what a difference a day made. Yesterday he’d been worried she might shut him out of her life forever. Now he’d never felt closer to her.
M.K. released his hand as they stepped inside the small room crowded with a set of bunk beds, a junior bed and three noisy boys.
Growing up, there wasn’t a time Travis hadn’t shared a room with a brother or two. There hadn’t been money for a home big enough for everyone to have their own room. Well, Travis was going to make sure when their new home was built that each boy had his own room.
He found himself thinking of the house he and Mary Karen would build. Perhaps one at the base of the Tetons, near Nick and Lexi’s home. M.K. would like living near friends. And he realized, so would he…?.
Travis made a mental note to ask Joel Dennes to pull together some house plans for them to review next week.
“Time for prayers,” Mary Karen said.
As if on cue, Henry, the cockapoo, obligingly jumped on the bed and rested his head on his paws. If that wasn’t strange enough, the three rowdy little boys immediately dropped to their knees by Logan’s bed.
He watched in stunned surprise as Logan and then Caleb went through a “thank you, God” list, ending with asking for blessings for everyone from Grandpa and Grandma to Henry.
When it came to Connor’s turn, he slanted a look in Travis’s direction before lowering his head. “Thank you for bringing us a daddy. Amen.”
Swallowing past the sudden lump in his throat, Travis glanced at Mary Karen and found her blinking back tears.
“Okay, munchkins,” she said, after clearing her throat. “Give me a hug.”
One by one, the boys hugged their mother then surrounded Travis and hugged him, too. Like three little monkeys, the boys climbed into their beds. Travis tucked Logan in while M.K. did the same for Connor and Caleb.
He paused, unsure what came next. When Mary Karen headed for the door, he followed her.
She flipped off the light. “Good night, boys.”
“Good night, Mommy,” they called. “Good night, Daddy.”
Travis exchanged a glance with Mary Karen in the darkened doorway while the boys dissolved in giggles.
M.K. pulled him out of the room and closed the door behind him. Two bright spots of pink colored her cheeks. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “I’m flattered.”
“Connor and Caleb hardly remember Steven. They were only two when he left.” The smile that had been on Mary Karen’s lips most of the night disappeared. “Logan has never even seen his dad.”
Now that she mentioned it, Travis couldn’t recall seeing Steven since he’d left town when Mary Karen had been pregnant with Logan. Yet, until this moment he hadn’t realized that the jerk had abandoned his children so completely.
Travis clenched his jaw.
“David has done his best to fill in,” Mary Karen said. “But an uncle isn’t the same as having a father in the house.”
“You’re right,” he said, remembering Uncle Len. “It isn’t the same. Not at all.”
Travis understood more than most how much having a dad around meant and the loss it could leave in a boy’s heart when he was gone.
M.K. was treading carefully, knowing he hadn’t been keen on having kids. Now he had two on the way and three who desperately needed a dad. Travis could no more walk away from them than he could have walked away from M.K. Or from his brothers and sisters all those years ago.
“You’ve got great kids,” he said. “If they want to call me Daddy, that’s okay with me.”
“Really?” She turned, her eyes shining like sapphires in the hallway light. “You don’t mind?”
“If Steven doesn’t care—”
“Steven,” Mary Karen snorted, “doesn’t seem to recall that he has children. I doubt he remembers their names.”
Travis reached past her and opened the bedroom door. He herded her inside her room—their room—then locked the door behind them. “That’s his loss.”
“Thank you, Travis.” M.K. wrapped her arms around him resting her head against his neck. “I love you so much.”
His heart somersaulted in his chest. He slid his hands up and down the sides of her body, breathing in the clean, fresh scent of her. She’d been his friend as long as he could remember. A friendship that had become “friends with benefits” six months after Logan’s birth. Her divorce had been final and she’d been feeling lonely and down on herself.
Building his practice had left him with little free time. While Travis had dated off and on, he hadn’t wanted any of those women to get the impression he was looking for anything serious. His unique relationship with Mary Karen had filled a void in both of their lives.
Now she was his wife.
“I can’t imagine being married to anyone but you,” he said, realizing it was true.
“That’s sweet of you to say.”
“Do you realize we can now make love anytime?” He untied the ribbons at the top of her robe and gently slipped it off her shoulders, letting it drop to her feet. “We can get naked and crazy like we did in Vegas—”
He reached for her nightie but she shook her head and took a step back.
“I don’t have the body I had back then.” Though her tone was light, he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. “I now have a baby bump the size of a large melon.”
Not for the first time, Travis cursed Steven for his past comments, for his insensitivity, but most of all for making this beautiful desirable woman doubt her appeal.
Travis met her gaze, willing her to see the truth in his eyes. “Even when your belly looks like the Great Pumpkin, you’ll still turn me on.”
Mary Karen didn’t want to doubt him but Steven’s hurtful comments were seared into her soul.
“I was thinking that maybe—” she swallowed and forced a bright smile “—we could keep the lights off?”
She knew Travis had never been an in-the-dark kind of lover but the thought of being naked in the stark light made her tremble.
Travis gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze then moved to the window.
“What are you doing?” she asked, watching him adjust the blinds.
“You’re right. Moonlight is much more romantic.” After getting the wood slats so that the golden light streamed in while still maintaining privacy, Travis moved to the clock radio at her bedside. He fiddled
with the controls until soft instrumental music filled the room. Then he turned and held out his hand.
“What do you have in mind?” Mary Karen didn’t move a muscle and his hand slowly dropped to his side.
“I thought I’d give you a back rub,” he said.
Without realizing what she was doing, Mary Karen dropped a hand to her bulging midsection, now covered by blue silk. “With my nightie on?”
“With. Or without,” he said as if it didn’t matter either way. “Your choice.”
“A back rub sounds wonderful.” Mary Karen propped pillows around her baby bump and stretched out on the bed. By the time he’d kneaded most of the knots from her shoulders, she was relaxed and warm. Very warm. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll take this off.”
His eyes glittered in the dim light but his smile gave nothing away. “Whatever makes you most comfortable.”
M.K. slipped off the silky gown but when she lay down, she pulled the nightie up against the front of her.
If Travis noticed he gave no indication. He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly then began slow, sensual movements up and down her spine. Every now and then his fingers strayed, catching the curve of her breasts. It wasn’t long until Mary Karen found herself wiggling, hoping to push his hand off course.
She was ready to demand he touch her breasts when he planted a kiss against the back of her neck and sat back.
“You’re not stopping, are you?” she said, her voice filled with dismay.
“Nope.” He grinned. “I’m simply finished with your back. Now it’s time for the other side.”
Mary Karen clutched the gown tightly to her chest. She knew she was being foolish but she couldn’t stop
the fear. If Travis berated her for being fat and left her alone in their bed…
“I’m not Steven, sweetheart. I won’t hurt you like he did.”
The words were so soft Mary Karen wondered if she’d only imagined them. She drew a shaky breath and sat up. Before she could say anything, Travis brought both hands to her face and kissed her. His mouth was soft and gentle, a warm caress, a reassurance of support and…love.
“Hoo-kay,” she managed to say after the second slow kiss.
With great gentleness, he eased her back on the bed, lowering the silky gown to her waist before she realized what he was doing.
His hazel eyes darkened, looking like liquid chocolate in the light.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said in a husky voice that made her blood feel like warm honey sliding through her veins.
Suddenly he lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss in the palm, letting her feel the soft stroke of his tongue.
A smoldering heat flared, a sensation she no longer bothered to fight. This was Travis. Her best friend. Her husband. A man she could trust.
“It’s getting warm in here,” she murmured. “You have to be hot in those clothes. Perhaps you’d be more comfortable without them.”
Mary Karen felt the last of her nervousness fade at his quick laughter. She certainly didn’t have to ask twice. His clothes landed in a heap somewhere behind him.
Her gaze slid over him and her lips pursed with fe
male appreciation. If she’d had any doubts whether her pregnant body turned him on, she had no doubts now.
Travis slid his hands up her arms, his stroking fingers sent shock waves of desire coursing through her body. Her nipples stiffened, straining toward the remembered delight of his touch.
Still, he continued to play nice, until she couldn’t take it anymore. She captured his wrists then placed his hands on her breasts.
“Not moving fast enough for you, M.K.?” His words might be teasing but the look in his eyes told her he liked her boldness. Even as he asked, his fingers were giving her what she’d demanded.
His hand lifted and supported her yielding flesh as his thumbs brushed against the tight points of her nipples.