Tied Up, Tied Down (2 page)

A thirty-two-year-old man who was living at his folks’ house. Again.
Temporarily
, he silently amended. He’d been back from the yearlong grazing experiment for just two days, and it felt as if he’d gone back in time twenty years.

All five-feet-one inches of Kimi McKay barreled around the corner into the living room. Whenever she got her mad on, he and his brother Kane snickered and called her the blonde tornado—behind her back, of course.

Nothing about the mean glint in her eye invoked his secret chuckle today. Something serious had put the starch in her spine. Out of reflex, he sat up straighter. Rather than risk saying the wrong thing, Kade said nothing.

She bent close to him, her face a mask of fury. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you. I raised you better than that.”

“Better than what?”

www.samhainpublishing.com 11

Lorelei James

“Don’t you get smart with me.”

Count to ten
. “I’m not.”

“Don’t you lie to me, neither.”

“Ma. Calm down. Lie about what? What’s wrong?”

“What’s
wrong
? Your behavior is what’s wrong.”

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“I’m talking about you being such a…” She tossed up her arms. “A McKay!”

“Huh?”

“I never pegged you as the love ’em and leave ’em type, Kade. I’d hoped you were different.”

“Ma—”

“Why is it so damn hard if you can’t keep your damn pants zipped to remember to wear a damn condom?”

Baffled, he just stared at her as she ranted and swore a blue streak.

“So you were caught up in the moment of passion, I understand that. But I expected you’d do the right thing, Kade, not walk away. Or run away as the case may be.”

“Have you lost your mind? What in the
hell
are you babblin’ about?”

“You—” she drilled his chest hard with her index finger, “—neglecting to tell me you’d knocked up a woman and then flitted off to the north forty of the McKay ranch, leaving her to deal with the pregnancy and the baby all alone.”

“What woman? What baby?”

Kimi McKay snapped upright. Her pale blue eyes searched his. A mixture of surprise and resignation replaced the anger on her face. “Oh, good Lord. You really don’t know, do you, son?”

“Know what?”

“Know that you’re a father.”

“What? Run that by me again.”

“You heard me right. You’re a father.”

12

www.samhainpublishing.com

Tied Up, Tied Down

Kade remained calm in light of his mother’s delusions. “Remember where I’ve been the last twelve months. I’ve barely seen a woman in that long, let alone touched one.”

Why don’t you just brag about your lack of a sex life to your mother of all people?

“Which fits, because that baby is over three months old.”

Kade’s heart damn near stopped. His mouth dried up like a summer stock dam as he did the math in his head. Last time he’d had sex was last year with Skylar. In their single, spontaneous, passionate bout of lovemaking, they’d forgotten to use a condom.

Not that they’d talked about the “oops” incident afterward. She’d been livid when she learned of his duplicity; he’d resigned himself to losing her for good after she wouldn’t return his phone calls. He’d left town within two weeks. Kade realized—for the first time—it was entirely possible that he might’ve gotten her pregnant.

Oh yeah? If that’s true, then why didn’t she contact me after I sent her that letter?

Whoa. Talk about acting like a surly eleven-year-old.

“Kade?”

“You saw Skylar?”

“Aha!” She shook her finger in his face. “You aren’t denying it?”

“No, but you’d better start at the beginnin’ and tell me exactly how
you
came across this information.”

“Fine. I popped into Sky Blue in Sundance for a bottle of hand cream. India always helps me. So imagine my surprise when I see the owner working the cash register.

Imagine an even bigger surprise when I see a sweet baby nestled in her arms. And that baby sports a shock of black hair and looks at me with blue eyes,
McKay
blue eyes. I’ve seen my share of McKay babies in the last thirty-six years and there wasn’t any doubt I was lookin’ at one.

“When Skylar saw the name on my check, she stammered and couldn’t get rid of me fast enough. I knew that baby had to be yours. Or Kane’s.” A pause. “But Skylar is too classy and ambitious to be Kane’s type. Then something triggered my memory. Kane mentioning after Dag died you’d suffered a bad break-up with a woman. Is she the reason www.samhainpublishing.com 13

Lorelei James

you were so eager to disappear last year and take a job in the boondocks that no one else wanted?”

“Partially, but I sure didn’t know she was pregnant because I never woulda left.

Never. You know that, Ma.” This was so unbelievable he was having a devil of a time focusing. “Did you ask her if…?”

“Of course I didn’t ask her.” She leaned forward again. “Do you know how hard that was? To see that darlin’ little girl baby, all pretty in pink ribbons and bows, smilin’ and cooin’ at me, knowin’ she was my granddaughter?”

“Skylar had a
girl
?”

“Yep. Only the second McKay girl born in a hundred and twenty-three years. And she’s yours.”

His. He had a baby daughter. “Holy shit.” If Kade hadn’t been sitting down, he’d’ve been falling down. He repeated inanely, “A baby? Skylar had a baby? I’m a father?”

“It appears so.”

“What’s her name?”

“Eliza.”

Eliza. Pretty. His head spun. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“I don’t know, son, but I suspect you’d better find out.”

Kade heaved himself out of the chair. “Damn straight.” He snagged his hat off the coat rack and stormed out to his truck.

14

www.samhainpublishing.com

Tied Up, Tied Down

On the drive into town, Kade replayed his first meeting with Skylar Ellison. He’d thought of her and his dumb mistake in the endless days he’d lived alone up on the most remote part of the McKay ranch. He’d obsessed about her to the extent he’d memorized every damn word of every encounter. Every kiss, every touch.

That afternoon from last summer floated into his mind in perfect detail.

As Kade had stood on the sidewalk debating on whether to eat lunch before heading home,
click click
had sounded and he’d turned to see a woman in heels hustling down the sidewalk.

Mercy. She was all curves: hips, ass, thighs, and breasts. He loved women who looked like women and not a skeleton with skin. Her straight brown hair had a hint of red in the bright sunlight. Kade tipped his hat to her and stepped out of her way, figuring she’d pass right on by.

But Miss Sexy Curves bumped her pointy-toed purple shoes against his shit-covered boots and glared. “You were a total jerk to me the other night, Kane McKay. I don’t appreciate you ditching me at the restaurant. What kind of shithead—”

“Whoa. Wait a second. I’m not—”

“—the least bit sorry, yeah, I can tell. Why are you here? Trolling for a new woman who’ll give you a piece of ass on the first date since I wouldn’t?”

www.samhainpublishing.com 15

Lorelei James

That fucker Kane was such an asshole. At times like this it plain sucked they were identical twins and few people could tell them apart. This woman must be Kane’s date from the other night.

His brother was an idiot too. He’d just up and walked away from such a smoking hot firecracker?

“Got nothing to say, McKay?”

A really good idea occurred to him on how to make this right.

No. It was a bad idea. A terrible idea, his conscience warned.

The devil on his shoulder screamed,
Do it. You and Kane used to switch places all
the time. You’re not misleading her; you’re protecting the McKay name from another
round of nasty gossip

Big surprise the pitchfork side won the battle
.

“Actually, I do have somethin’ to say to you.” What the hell was her name again?

Something hippyishly weird. Aha. “
Skylar
.”

“I’m listening.”

“I’m sorry. I lost your number or I woulda called to apologize for bein’ a first class jerk. But I’d…ah…taken some allergy medicine and did it do a number on me. Normally I don’t act like that. Not that I remember a whole helluva lot besides goin’ home and crashin’.”

Skylar stared at him skeptically.

Crap. She wasn’t buying it. “Can I make it up to you? Buy you lunch? I swear I won’t run out again.”

“When?”

“How about now?”

“Sure. You don’t mind vegetarian?”

Fuck
. Kade slapped on a fake smile. “Not at all.”

She laughed; it made him think of bells. “You are such a liar. Your family raises cattle. You probably shoot vegetarians.”

16

www.samhainpublishing.com

Tied Up, Tied Down

“Only if they’re part of PETA protestin’ inhuman treatment of our stock. That pisses us off.”

“I can imagine.”

“Besides, I eat salad. Not crazy about tofu. Or beans ground up and passed off as burgers. A burger is supposed to be meat. Beans are only good in tacos and chili.” Kade looked up. Damn. He’d been babbling.

Her lips curled in a cat-like smile. “Too bad you weren’t this honest the other night. I know just the place. Let’s go.”

Ten minutes later, Kade lowered the menu. “I hate to break it to you, Skylar, but this ain’t a vegetarian restaurant.”

“I know. It’s the most expensive restaurant in town. And since you said any place, I figured you owed me the very best.”

“Bit of a hard ass, ain’t ya?”

She shrugged. “What’re you having?”

“Eggplant parmesan.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I figured you’d order the porterhouse.”

“I don’t eat beef twenty-four/seven. I eat lots of other things.” He’d sure like to nibble on her. Scrape his teeth down to the base of her neck where her throat curved into her shoulder. Flick his tongue across the pulse point beating beneath her jaw. Sniff back up to see if she dabbed perfume behind her sweet little ears or if it was just the natural scent of her skin that smelled so heavenly.

“You’re gawking at me, McKay.”

Kade glanced up at her eyes. “Sorry.”

Skylar folded her menu. “We aren’t going to do this again, are we? Sexual innuendos and you ogling my boobs?”

“I wasn’t oglin’ your boobs. I was oglin’ your neck.”

She blinked.

www.samhainpublishing.com 17

Lorelei James

“What I meant to say, is you have a sexy—I mean, a nice neck, Skylar. Wasn’t my intention to make you uncomfortable.”

After the waitress took their order, Kade fiddled with his silverware, wondering how many more times he’d stick his boot in his mouth over the course of the meal.

“So they let you off the ranch today?”

He frowned. “Whaddya mean?”

“The other night, you made it sound like you never get to town, you’re always stuck out in the middle of nowhere by yourself.”

Kane would play the I’m-such-a-lonely-cowboy-on-the-range angle, figuring she’d be inclined to take a tumble with him if she thought he wasn’t a horndog whooping it up all the time—which is exactly what Kane was.

“There’s enough guys workin’ I can take off now and again.”

“It’s a family operation, right?”

“Sort of. There are four separate spreads. Ours, my Uncle Carson’s, my Uncle Casper’s and my Uncle Charlie’s. My cousins help my uncles, they’ve all bought land of their own, but we do ranch together. So the original homestead is twenty-five times the size it was when my great-great-grandfather settled in Wyoming territory and it’s spread out in three counties.”

“So, did you always want to ranch? Or was it another one of those family legacies where you didn’t have a choice?”

How did he explain to someone who didn’t possess the same mindset that there was no choice? And it didn’t bother him most days his path in life had been set the day he was born? “It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. The only thing, actually.”

“How many acres do you guys have?”

Kade shifted and reached for his water glass.

“Did I say something wrong?”

When he didn’t elaborate, she angled across the table. “I’m new here, remember?

Cut me some slack if I’ve broken a code of the West or something.”

18

www.samhainpublishing.com

Tied Up, Tied Down

“Truth is, you don’t ask a rancher the size of his spread. Or how many head of cattle he runs. Kinda like askin’ someone how much money they make.”

“In other words, crass.”

“Yep.”

“Sorry. Tell me more about your family.”

Did she suspect he wasn’t Kane? “Why?”

“Big families fascinate me, since mine is so small.”

“What I’ve told you don’t even take into account my ma’s side. The Wests have been ranchin’ in Wyoming almost as long as the McKays. Sort of a Hatfield and McCoy rivalry goin’ on there. But there’s just me and my brother in our immediate family.”

Skylar stirred sugar substitute in her iced tea. “Older or younger brother?”

“Younger.” By about four minutes. “What about you?” After he asked, he kicked himself. She’d probably told Kane. And wow, hadn’t he been babbling like a spring creek? Did she really care about every damn member of his family and their sordid history? His cheeks grew hot.

“I have one younger sister. India. She defines rebellious since she works in a tattoo parlor.” Skylar grinned. “She’s awesome. Now that I’m settled and out of LA, she’s relocating here from Denver.”

“Not a lot of tattoo artists round these parts.”

“Hopefully that means her business will thrive. My mother grew up here and moved to the coast. Grandma died two years ago and left the small acreage to me and my sister.”

“She didn’t leave the homeplace to your mother?”

Skylar shook her head. “Mom died seven years ago. Dad four years before that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. After Gran passed on I needed a change from the rat race. The state of Wyoming offered me a financial incentive to expand my hobby into a business, so I did.