The Cowboy's Secret Baby: A BWWM Pregnancy Romance (2 page)

He lowered his mouth to hers and teased her gently, giving her soft little kisses as his hand moved from her hip to her thigh and he squeezed her there too.

“I’m good at dancing,” he said between kisses. “I’m really good as kisses.” He smiled as he slid his thumb firmly up her inner thigh. “And... I’m incredible at loving a woman.”

She didn’t doubt it at all, because he was setting her on fire just making out with her there on a park bench in a dark corner of the park. His mouth closed over hers again and his tongue slipped around hers, making her moan and need him even more.

“Jonathon...” she whispered, “we can’t stay here.” She broke the kiss and looked at him with ravenous eyes. The chemistry between them was powerful and it was driving her wild.

He didn’t say anything, but he stood up and took her hand in his, walking with her out of the park. “Where do you want to go?” he asked with a husky voice.

She smiled. “I don’t live very far from here. We can go to my place.” She slipped her arm in his and they walked together through the streets until they reached her home. She lived in a small house that opened onto the street, with no yard in front or back. It was simple, but it was very clean and decorated with pretty touches to the simple furniture and decor in each room.

Maggie felt a little nervous when they went in. She couldn’t believe she was taking a strange man into her home, it was completely unlike her, but there was something about him that made her feel an electric connection to him, and as he drew near to her again, taking her in his arms and kissing her, the need that had abated slightly was brought back to the surface with a rush, and as their lips moved together in a ravenous kiss, she knew that she would not regret what was passing between them.

Jonathon felt like he was alive and on fire. Her simple opinion on his dreams...
just go
... had awakened something in him. Something that felt like it was ripping through the darkness in him and making its way swiftly toward the light. No one else had given him even a word of encouragement, no one else had made it seem even remotely possible. His family expected him to stay at the ranch and work all of his life, but there was a wanderlust in him that had been suddenly set free by her words, the words of the woman in his arms who was vibrant and beautiful, one who went after what she wanted and who, he had no doubt in his mind, would change the world because she wanted to so much.

The passions in them both were stirred to a flying frenzy, their hands moving over one another as they breathed heavily and began to pull one another’s clothes off. As they kissed, they walked a few feet and then stopped to kiss, then he gave up on walking and lifted her off of the floor, carrying her to her bedroom where he set her down and pulled every stitch from her until they were both nude and in dire need of one another.

Maggie felt like he was causing a bonfire in her, and he was somehow the only thing that could put it out. They laid down on the bed together, their arms and legs wrapping around one another as they touched and squeezed and kissed, as they teased and tasted and wanted without limits. They gave to one another generously and took from each other without inhibition, and as he entered her, thrusting himself deep into her body as she clenched herself tightly around him, they both knew that it was something special that neither one of them would ever forget, or regret.

They moved together, their kisses hot and hungry, their hands touching every part of each other as they connected in every way. She arched her back to take more of him into her, and his mouth canvassed her breasts, tugging on her nipples with his teeth.

Her hands held tightly to his shoulders and she wrapped her legs around his, pulling him further into her until they both let go, and reached their orgasms together, holding one another close, their lips locked onto each other, their bodies tense with the power of their pleasure, and as they fell back into the bed in satisfaction, they heaved great sighs of happiness and he closed his arms around her and they fell asleep.

In the morning when she woke, her beautiful blue-eyed cowboy was gone, and she would have thought it was a dream, but he had left her a note.

Thank you for the greatest night of my life, and for encouraging me to go after my dreams. XO

She smiled as she read it, and thought to herself,
Me, too, Jonathon, me too.

Chapter2

The dark, paved, rural highway gave way to a dirt road, hard-packed, long and winding, as it curved through enormous pine trees that almost obscured the bright blue sky overhead. Behind the thick rows of pines on either side of the road were more pines, and they all stretched upward over the mountains, with little forest ground between them until they reached the timberline near the top of the mountain where nothing would grow for lack of oxygen.

The dirt road wound along and finally, at the end of it, big buildings came into sight; an enormous ranch with three floors, the lowest of which opened up onto a field behind the house, and the highest of which overlooked a great pasture that stretched far out until it met the trees. There was a metal warehouse, a big red wooden barn, and a smaller wooden barn near it. There was a guest house near the big house, and there was an enormous five car garage that connected to the lowest level of the house.

In front of the ranch was a winding walk and there were smooth, rounded river stones that had been set into a staircase that led up to the wide front deck, where sat two swings, a table, and two rocking chairs. There were massive columns of wood and river stone around the deck, and set back from the deck, there were two great doors that were closed together. On either side of the door were large windows that were set close together all around the house, so that sweeping views of the valley and the mountains could be enjoyed from within the ranch.

His hand reached for the handle on the front door and he pushed the door open, stepping inside and grinning as he called out, “Mom? I’m home...” He looked around and saw no one, and for a moment it was silent, but then there was a cry of joy that sounded from far to the right of the main floor, and as he stepped in fully, his hand holding her hand and leading her in with him, his mother came rushing into the room to him, her eyes filled with tears and a wide smile on her face.

“Jonathon!” she shouted as she flung her arms around him. “My god, Jonathon... I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again! I can’t believe this! You’re home!” She held his face in her hands and gazed at him, looking like she might never let him go.

“Keith!” she called out loudly. “Keith! He’s home!”

There was a crash in the basement and a few moments later the sound of footsteps on the stairs as his father came hurrying up them to reach him. He stopped at the top of the stairs and caught his breath for a moment and then he hurried to his son and wife, and wrapped his arms around them both.

“Jonathon! My god, son! I wasn’t sure if you were ever going to come home!” he cried out happily.

Jonathon hugged his parents back and then finally let them go and they all three turned to look at the woman who was standing behind him.

She was tall and slender, with very light blonde hair that was pulled back in a bun at the nape of her neck. She had big blue eyes and a thin line of red lips, and a fine delicate bone structure. Pearls were held in her ears and around her neck, and she was dressed in a silk blouse and jeans with sandals.

She smiled at them, and Jonathon took her hand and introduced her to his parents. “Mom, Dad, I want you to meet Janis Preston. Janis, these are my parents, Keith and Eva Tanner.”

He took a deep breath and smiled at them. “Mom, Dad, Janis and I are engaged.” He grinned happily and his parents could not have been more surprised.

Eva blinked and stared for a moment and then smiled and extended her hand to the younger woman. “Engaged! Well! Congratulations and welcome to our home my dear!” She leaned forward and hugged Eva and then stepped back as Keith did the same.

Then Eva looked at her son and shook her head as tears filled her eyes once more. “I can’t believe you’re here! It’s been almost two years! I...” She closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her mouth.

Keith wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze as Jonathon reached for her hand. “I know I’ve been gone a long time Mom, but I’m home now, and I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere again for a long time.”

She smiled at him and wiped her eyes, taking a deep breath as she looked around her at all of them.

“Well! We can’t just stand here at the door!” She took Jonathon’s hand in hers and said, “Let’s go into the kitchen and sit down. It’s obvious that we have a lot to catch up on.”

They followed her into the kitchen and sat around the table, Eva on one side of Jonathon, and Janis on the other side of him. Keith helped his wife with refreshments and soon they were sharing wine and some of the surprise and excitement had died down a little bit.

Eva kept looking at her son as if she wasn’t really sure that he was there, but now and then she would look at the young woman beside him and smile, her eyes quietly taking all of it in.

Jonathon felt the nerves in his stomach begin to ease up. He’d been anxious and excited to get home, and nervous about how his parents would react when they saw his new fiancée.

“You know, when you called and said you were coming home this week, I wasn’t sure if I should believe you or not,” his mother chastised him. “After all, here you are, gone for two whole years and you have not come home even once, not even for holidays, and then the last time we talked, you said you were coming home and I just didn’t know if I would believe it until you walked in the door, and now that you’ve walked in, I still don’t know if I believe it.” Eva laughed and shook her head, taking a long drink of her wine.

Jonathon nodded. He knew she would be saying a bit to him about having been gone so long, even though they had talked about it on the phone so many times.

“It’s good to be here, Mom, and you look beautiful.” He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. She sat there in her blouse and slacks, her brown and silver hair neatly curled and set, and her blue eyes, eyes that matched her son’s cobalt blue ones, were steady on him.

Keith sat up in his chair and leaned toward his son. “I still don’t understand why you ever wanted to leave in the first place; after all, just about everything you need is right here. Except, I guess, for this lovely young lady. Tell me,” he said, smiling kindly at them both, “how did you two meet?”

Janis grinned and looked at Jonathon, reaching her hand over to him and covering his hand with it.

Jonathon smiled back at her and launched into the story of how they met.

“Well, I had been living in Manhattan for the last few months and I was in one of the nice shops on Fifth Avenue when I saw Janis in the same store. I talked to her and she was shopping for her mother in there, the same as I was. She said she was just visiting New York and didn’t really know her way around. I’d been there long enough that I told her I could give her a good tour of the city, so we went out to lunch and then we spent the next few days looking at the city, and then those next few days just kind of spilled over into a couple of months. When I said I was coming home here to the ranch, she was heartbroken that I was leaving and she said she just couldn’t lose me after all we had shared, so I asked her to marry me, and she said she would come out here with me.” He rubbed his thumb over her hand and smiled at her.

Eva blinked a few times and then nodded at the couple. “That’s a sweet story. Jonathon always was really good about helping people out, no matter what they needed, but I guess you noticed that right away, didn’t you? I just never thought it would be something that got him engaged! It’s so wonderful, and of course we are so glad to have you here in the house. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.” She nodded to them both.

Jonathon looked at his parents and raised his eyebrows. “Well, I was thinking that we could buy the guest house from you and stay there.”

Keith looked stunned. “Buy it? Jonathon, this whole place is as much ours as it is yours. That guest house is yours if you want it.”

Jonathon nodded and grinned. “Thanks, Dad. I think we’ll stay up here in the big house with the two of you for a little while, maybe a few weeks or so, while we get the guest house all set up for Janis, and then we’ll get moved into that.”

He looked at his mother and smiled. “Janis was wondering if you might want to help her plan the wedding, as we want to get married real soon; maybe within a couple of months at most.”

His mother lowered her brows at him slightly. “Oh of course, dear!” she said with a smile, but then her look changed to concern. “That’s a very short engagement. Is there some reason that you want to be married so soon?” she asked curiously, eyeing Janis.

Jonathon laughed. “No, Mother, no reason other than that we want to be married. That’s it.” He winked at her and Eva blushed slightly and drank more wine.

“Well, Janis, where are you from?” Keith asked, looking at her with kind eyes.

She smiled a little and tilted her head to him, looking serene. “I’m from Boston, actually, but my parents moved to Costa Rica and bought a place there, so I stayed in Boston for a while, but then I thought I’d give New York a try, and that’s when I met Jonathon. He’s so wonderful, I just fell in love with him right away. He’s so good, so sweet and thoughtful, and he’s so kind and generous.” She turned and looked at both Keith and Eva. “And now I can see where he gets it from.”

The older couple smiled at her and Jonathon felt like everything was going to go very well for all of them. He might not have seen his parents in two years, but he had certainly kept in touch, telling them where he was and how he was doing, sharing some of his adventure stories with them as he traveled around the United States, but he had not told them about Janis at all; it had happened so fast, right before he had left New York, and he had wanted to keep it a secret until he got to them, so they could hear the news in person, rather than over the phone.

They talked for a long while, discussing places that Jonathon had been to on his long, adventurous trip around the country, and then he looked at both of his parents and asked, “So what’s been going on here? Anything change? Any news at all? You two never tell me what’s going on here.” He laughed.

His mother pursed her lips and shook her head. “No, dear, nothing has really happened here at all.”

Keith looked at her and caught her eyes and she shook her head almost imperceptibly, and then he smiled broadly at his son and lowered his brow, “Well, Harold Kemp became the sheriff, which I was none too pleased about, but that has been about it.”

Jonathon shook his head and smiled. “I’ve kind of missed the simplicity of small town life. It’ll be nice to be home. I’m looking forward to seeing most of the folks in town,” he said as he stood up and stretched.

“Well, we had a long day traveling, we should get to bed for a nap and then we can get up for dinner in a while,” he said with a yawn.

His parents stood up and he looked at his mother. “Mom, we’ll need to put Janis in one of the guest rooms, please.”

His mother looked at him in surprise. “In a guest... oh... uh, certainly!” she smiled and led Janis down the hall to the nicest of the guest rooms where she got her settled and showed her where everything was, and then she came back out to her son who was waiting patiently for her.

He was hopeful that they would like her, and he looked at his mother in anticipation as she came back into the kitchen.

“Is she settled in, Mom?” he asked hopefully.

His mother nodded and smiled a little. “She is. Why isn’t she staying with you in your room?” she asked curiously. “I mean, if you’re getting married...”

Jonathon cleared his throat. “Well, she’s a traditional girl, so she wants to wait until after we’re married to share a room and a bed.”

Eva and Keith both looked at him in amazement.

“Well my goodness! I haven’t seen a girl like that in a long time. I’m so pleased!” his mother said with a wide smile.

“Do you like her?” Jonathon asked his parents with hope in his heart.

They nodded, almost in unison. “She’s a lovely girl. I’m sure she’ll fit in here nicely.”

He hugged them both. “Thank you, Mom and Dad; you two are the best. I couldn’t ask for more understanding, compassionate, loving parents, than you both.”

They hugged him back, and his mother held him tightly. “I’m just so relieved to have you back here in our home with us,” she said as another tear rolled down her cheek.

He shook his head. “I won’t leave again,” he said. “This is where my family is, and nothing is more important to me than my family.”