The Cowboy's Saving Grace, an erotic western novella (Taming the Cowboy) (3 page)

***

Weak morning light bled through the curtains, and for a moment, Liam didn’t know where he was. He opened his eyes and saw a little kid standing beside the bed, blond-haired and green-eyed. He closed his eyes again, thinking he was seeing things, then opened them to see the kid had moved closer to the bed and was looking at him warily. Belatedly, Liam realized that was what had awakened him.

Behind him, Grace shifted on the bed, and he heard her admonition to be quiet. She climbed out of bed and circled it. He closed his eyes quickly, not wanting her to know he was awake, but couldn’t resist peeking.

She wore his shirt. Damn, he’d always thought that was sexy. She bent to pick up the little boy.

“Shh, Noah, okay?”

“Mama, who’s that?”

“It’s okay, baby. Let’s go get something to eat. Daddy’s sleeping.”

Daddy’s sleeping? What the hell?
As soon as the door was closed, Liam flopped on his back and stared at the ceiling. No, no, no, he must have heard that wrong. Or she was fucking with him.

Okay, so Grace was a mom. That explained the changes in her body, the reason she wasn’t stripping anymore. But him? A daddy? He closed his eyes and pictured the little tow-headed boy and the bright green eyes. Green eyes like the ones that stared back at him from a mirror every day.

Shit. No.
Shit
. If Grace had come up pregnant, she would have told him. She would have told him, right?

He shoved the covers off and grabbed his jeans, yanking them on without underwear. He needed to clear this up, and now. He swung open the bedroom door into the living room he hadn’t gotten a look at last night, a living room with baskets of toys lined up by the window, a little tent in the corner, and a daybed on the wall with dinosaur sheets shoved to the foot of it. All signs he’d missed in the dark. But if she was hiding this, why had she brought him home?

Voices carried from around the corner, Grace’s soft tones and the higher pitched voice of the boy. Liam approached as if a sniper was waiting for him, and leaned against the doorjamb to watch.

Grace, in his shirt and nothing else, had her back to him as she worked at the stove, making pancakes, by the smell of it. The kid sat in a booster chair at the small table, tracing lines on a placemat with his finger. The kid noticed him first, and twisted around to grab Grace’s shirt.

“Hang on, baby, hang on,” she said, distractedly, holding up a spatula in one hand.

“Mama. Mama!”

She turned, her attention on her son first, then she shifted to Liam. Her cheeks colored and she turned back to the stove, flipping a pancake with precision.

“We didn’t mean to wake you,” she murmured.

He pushed away from the wall and walked into the kitchen, helping himself to a cup from the dish drainer and pouring some coffee.

“I thought you didn’t drink coffee.”

“I don’t, but my roommate does. I thought you might like some.”

He stared at the liquid in his cup for a long moment before inclining his head toward the boy. “Is this your roommate, then?”

“One of them.” Her tone was breezy, as if this wasn’t a big deal. “Liam, my son Noah. Noah, this is Liam.”

She’d called him Daddy earlier. Why was she backing off now? “I never took you for a coward, Grace.”

She slid the pancake on the plate and poured more batter in the pan before she turned, placing the plate in front of her son, buttering it, pouring syrup, then cutting off a few pieces with the side of the fork.

“Not a coward.”

“I’m thinking we need to talk.”

“After breakfast.” She looked up at him then, her eyes solemn before she turned back to the stove. “Have a seat. I’ll have you some pancakes here in a bit.”

Cautiously, he sat across from the kid, wanting a good look at him. “Is your other roommate here?”

“She’s a teacher’s aide, so she’s already gone to work. We work opposite shifts so she can help me with Noah.”

“She’s a good friend, then.”

“The best. And Noah loves her.”

“How old is he?”

“Noah, tell Liam how old you are.”

Daddy
. He wanted to hear her say it again, so he knew his ears weren’t playing a trick on him.

“This many.” Noah held up his hand and folded down two fingers.

Liam’s stomach felt all fluttery, like before he got on a renegade horse. “When’s his birthday?”

Grace looked over her shoulder. “We’ll talk later.”

Hell, he didn’t see how that was going to happen with the kid around. “You always get up this early to take care of him?”

“I’m not usually awake so early.”

Her voice carried a smile, and her words hit him right in the groin, which chose now to misbehave.

“But he goes to preschool in a little while, so we can talk then.”

Liam tried to drag his mind away from the subject, but kept circling around to it.

“He’s why you changed jobs?”

She nodded. “Claire sent me to bartending school as soon as I started showing.”

Why the image of her with a little baby bump gave him a twinge, he didn’t know.

The kid was out of bite-sized pieces and was trying to emulate what his mom had done with her fork, but syrup was sloshing over the side of his plate. Liam took the fork, cutting more pieces for the kid. When he looked up, Grace was watching him, her expression unreadable.

She said nothing, just placed a plate of three pancakes in front of him. He felt guilty eating while she was still cooking, so merely buttered his stack and waited.

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” she chided a few moments later when she slid into the chair beside him, one pancake on her plate.

Guiltily, Liam looked at his own stack, speared one and placed it on her plate.

“There’s more batter, and I’m watching my calories. I don’t burn as many since I’m not dancing.” She placed the pancake back on his plate.

“You look good to me.” He glanced at the kid, who didn’t seem to be paying attention. This morning would be so different if he wasn’t around. If Liam had come into the kitchen to see Grace in nothing but his shirt, he would have set her on the counter and fucked her. Or maybe the kitchen table. He shifted as his imagination gave him a hard-on.

He battled it back, reminding himself he was having breakfast with a kid who could be his. How had that happened? She’d been on the pill, he’d used condoms, every time but that once in the shower. Jesus, could that have been it?

There was always the possibility the kid wasn’t his. Grace could have gotten with another green-eyed guy around the same time, after he’d left town. But something in his gut told him he was the father.

Christ, he’d never given much thought to being a father. His own father had been an asshole, though the father of his heart, now dead, had showed him and his brother Luke what a man should be. But hell, he was already starting behind the curve with Noah. He’d missed so many milestones already.

And left Grace with the burden.

Of course, she could have found him if she wanted to. She knew he rode in the rodeo. And he would have come back to set things right.

Wouldn’t he have? Hell, he hoped so.

When breakfast was over, she rose and carried the dishes to the sink. She brought a washcloth over to wash up the sticky Noah, then lifted him into her arms.

“I’m going to take him to preschool. Will you wait?”

Hell yes, he would wait. He wanted answers. He leaned back in his chair. “Are you going to give me my shirt back?”

“Not if it means you’re going to leave.”

He met her gaze steadily. “I’ll be here.”

***

Grace’s hands shook as she pulled the car keys out of the ignition and looked up at her apartment. His truck was still here, so at least he hadn’t been lying to her.

Part of her was hoping he’d take advantage and bolt. That way she wouldn’t have to explain why she’d kept his son a secret for almost four years.

Drawing a deep breath, she opened the car door and mounted the steps. When she unlocked the door, she heard movement in the kitchen, and entered to see Liam had done the dishes and was wiping down the stovetop.

“You didn’t have to do that.” She placed her purse on top of the refrigerator.

He folded the towel and turned, leaning against the sink, his hands behind him on the counter, feet crossed at the ankles. “What’s going on, Grace?”

“Do you want to sit down?”

“I’m good.”

Well, she needed to sit down because her legs were so shaky. She got herself a glass of water, more to have something to hold onto than because she wanted it, and sat at the table, where he’d sat for breakfast.

“He’s yours.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched, but he didn’t move otherwise. “I figured.”

That was his only reaction? Where was the anger? The outrage? The hurt? Shouldn’t he be yelling? She knew if someone kept a secret like this from her, she’d be screaming the house down. His flat acceptance confused her and the story came tumbling out. “I didn’t know I was pregnant for awhile, and then I wasn’t sure what to do. I thought about telling you, finding you and telling you, but I didn’t know what your reaction would be. I didn’t know what you would want me to do. I knew what I wanted to do, though, so I did it. I kept him and and I made some sacrifices and I’m not sorry. He’s a great kid.”

Liam was silent a long moment, every line of his body still. Finally he took a deep breath, started to say something, then changed his mind. “I deserved to know. Hell, he deserved—you deserved—for me to know. You’ve been doing this all by yourself, and with less money.”

Off balance, since she’d been ready for a fight, she hesitated. She could have done with the child support, but she’d heard such horror stories about the rights men wanted if they paid. When she’d thought about it, she hadn’t been able consider sending her baby to stay with Liam for a weekend, couldn’t surrender him for a holiday. And what experience did he have with children? She couldn’t trust that he’d take care of the boy.

“We were together two weeks, and most of that was in bed. I had no idea what your reaction would be, no idea how you’d treat my son.”

“
My
son,” he countered, uncrossing his feet and straightening. “Let me ask you this. Why did you bring me back here? Hell, why did you fuck me in the club last night?”

She winced at the word, one she’d cut from her vocabulary when Noah started to talk, and to parrot everything she said. She gripped her glass tighter, her throat so constricted she dared not take a sip. “I didn’t intend to bring you back here. I wanted to—have sex with you because, well, we used to be good, and it’s been awhile for me. But coming back here—” She shook her head, at a loss. When she’d seen him, she wanted nothing more than to be in his arms, to taste his mouth, to feel his hands. She had thought being with him at the bar would take the edge off. But it hadn’t been enough. She’d taken a risk bringing him back here, knowing he’d find out about Noah if he stayed. He’d showed up for a reason, though, right? Now she’d see if the risk paid off.

“You wanted me to know.”

“I didn’t think I’d see you again,” she said honestly. “I didn’t think you’d come back to the club, that you’d look for me. It’s been four years.”

“And I’ve been busy making a name for myself, making money. I hadn’t qualified for nationals until this year. I couldn’t get back.”

Right. Just like she thought. She wasn’t important enough for him to come back to. She was just a stripper he’d had fun with, not someone he went out of his way to see. She nodded.

“I wish you’d looked for me. I wish I’d known, Grace.”

Her stomach squeezed. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m here for two weeks. I want to get to know him, spend time with him.”

Her palm, where it rested on the top of the table, began to sweat at the idea of handing over her little guy. “Liam. He doesn’t know you.”

Liam shook his head. “I’m not—hell, I’m not going to take him away from you, Grace. I want to spend time with you, too.”

She frowned. “Why aren’t you angry?”

He sighed and released the counter for the first time, scrubbing his hands down his face. “I don’t know what I am, honestly.” He pushed away from the sink. “You working tonight?”

She nodded hesitantly. Another fear gripped her then. Could he take Noah away from her because she worked in a strip club?

He pushed away from the counter and started toward the door. “I’ll be in after the rodeo, see you home.”

She opened her mouth to say he didn’t need to. She wished she understood his expectations, but maybe he didn’t even know. He had to still be processing the new information. So she nodded.

He paused at her chair, kissed the top of her head, and walked past her out the door.

***

“You ride like that, you’re going to be going home broke. Or laid up for a few months,” Santiago Ortiz, Liam’s mentor, shouted across the arena, as Liam lay on his back and stared at the lights overhead. The arena was quiet this afternoon, but would be buzzing with rodeo fans tomorrow night. “You have no focus today.”

No shit. He had lasted two seconds on his practice mount. He stayed on his back a moment longer, catching his breath, before he rolled to his knees and retrieved his hat from the dirt.

“I can do better than that.”

Liam pivoted to see his brother Luke leaning against the rail, grinning.

Despite the ribbing, something in Liam’s chest loosened. Until this morning, Luke had been his only family. He’d been thinking about how he was going to break the news to his brother when he showed up. He didn’t expect him until next week, since Luke wasn’t competing. Like him, his brother rode the rodeo, but Luke was a steer wrestler. He hadn’t qualified for the nationals, so he’d come to cheer Liam on, though it meant leaving his farm back in Texas.

Liam stood, a little stiffer than he expected, and hobbled over to his brother.

“Good to see you, bro. Hey, want to go get some lunch?”

Luke narrowed his eyes. “Are you kidding? You don’t ever walk away after a bad ride like that.”