“At the time I wasn’t thinking. I don’t think you were, either.”
She couldn’t argue with that. She was still trying to swallow the fact that Cole was her dream man. And it had nothing to do with money. Their coming together in New Orleans was like something out of a movie or a romantic novel. At least it had been until she’d confirmed she was pregnant.
But now she had her answer. If she told him she was carrying his child he would accuse her of all sorts of awful things. Tears welled in her eyes at the complete finality of the situation. Any dream that he would believe her and maybe even ask her to marry him was gone. She would raise the baby herself. She now knew without any shadow of doubt that was what she must do. He’d made it clear he wasn’t a family man. He wanted no kids.
Considering how unconcerned he was about their time together in New Orleans, he wouldn’t care two hoots about a baby. Or he would accuse Tallie of getting pregnant on purpose. She could think of a half dozen scenarios and none of them was pleasant. Tallie refused to bring a child into this world and subject him to a father who was never going to show up. Every child deserved better. Hopefully, someday she would find a good man who would raise her baby as his own and Cole would never be the wiser. And her baby would not lack for anything in spite of the fact that she had no money to speak of. Love was more important than money. As long as she could provide a roof over their heads and food on the table, they would be fine.
In minutes, Cole had replaced the flat tire with the spare. He handed her the jack and tossed the flat into the back of his truck.
Tallie tried to maintain a grip on her emotions. She inhaled deeply to clear her mind of what she’d just learned. Better save it for later; she could work through all this devastating information when she was alone.
“I think the tire is fixable. I’ll take it to the local garage and have it repaired.”
“Thank you, Mr. Masters. I am in your debt,” she choked out. He looked at her as though he just now realized her words said one thing but her body language said quite another.
“I think we’re past the ‘mister.’ My name is Cole.”
“I don’t care what your name is, Mr. Masters. If I wasn’t worthy of knowing it three months ago, I don’t want to know it now.”
“Tallie, you’re being stubborn.”
For the briefest of seconds she struggled with his comment. She did not want to be on a first-name basis with this man. He was not the same man she’d met in New Orleans, although she had to admit his current attitude matched the first glimpse she’d had of him: dark and ruthless. Dangerous. Being on a first-name basis was the first step to a relationship. She didn’t want a relationship that had nowhere to go. It wasn’t on her bucket list.
But neither was bearing his child.
Why did she have such bad luck with men? Her last relationship was a case in point. John Mosby, a guy she’d dated for a year, had been an egocentric control freak. She’d done everything he’d asked her to do and still he’d dumped her, sneaking his stuff out of her apartment while she was away on a dig. It hurt. Eventually she’d decided it was the best thing that could have happened to her. Like she’d had a choice. He hadn’t even bothered to leave a note. She’d had the humiliating task of asking her girlfriends if they’d known what had happened to John.
But at least she was free of his constant, overbearing, fault-finding harassment. She wasn’t about to jump from that frying pan into the Cole Masters’s fire.
“Go ahead and I’ll follow you to your camp site just to be sure nothing else happens.”
“No.”
She turned to go back to her vehicle when he seized her shoulders and spun her around. She opened her mouth to ask what he thought he was doing and his lips came down over hers. For seconds she struggled, but his lips, the taste of him, were potent, overcoming her stubborn resolve to not make another mistake with this man. As soon as she relented he kissed her long and deep, and moments later raised his head, leaving her lips swollen. Leaving her wanting more.
“I want to start fresh, learn more about you other than how insanely phenomenal you are in bed.” His deep voice was raspy. Her body immediately responded.
He lowered his head, his lips almost touching hers. “Could we start over, Tallie?” Then he was kissing her again, and this time she felt his hunger and it drew her to him. His tongue moistened her lips before plunging deep inside the cavern of her mouth. She felt his hand at the back of her head, holding her to him as he continued to blow her mind. She heard him groan then he was backing away, making the heat of the day drop to below freezing.
She wanted his arms around her. She wanted him to kiss her some more, to make love to her. She was putty in his arms, encircled by the scent and strength and touch of him. She’d often dreamed of the night they had spent together, burning the sheets and making love until most sane people would have been satisfied. Not them. Every climax he’d given her would satisfy her for a while then he would say something to her in that remarkable voice or kiss her and nibble her jawline or find her breast with his hand and lips and she would be lost again.
But he was Cole Masters. The Cole Masters. Playboy of the western world. He knew what he was doing. He knew a woman’s body as well as his own, so under the circumstances she couldn’t agree to starting over. Eventually he would feel her enlarging belly and he would know. Then his professed interest would change into loathing because he would think she’d set him up; that she had gotten pregnant on purpose.
“I suppose we could talk.” That was the most she was willing to do.
“If that’s all you can give me right now, I’ll take it. Maybe I can convince you otherwise. Go ahead and get in your car. I’ll follow you to the cabin.”
She got into her wagon, started the engine and looked in her rearview mirror. She had to grudgingly admit it had been nice of him to stop and help her change the tire. She had no experience with millionaires, let alone billionaires, but she doubted if anyone else of his social status would do what he’d done, especially after all the times they’d butted heads over the past several weeks.
After a twenty-minute drive, she pulled up next to the shack. By the time she got out of the truck Cole was already opening the back door to her wagon, asking where she wanted things to go.
“Okay, that’s everything,” Cole said as he closed the doors to her vehicle.
“I appreciate all you’ve done. I really—”
Cole pushed her against the side of his truck and, in the glow of the setting sun, kissed her again.
Tallie tried to push out of his arms but Cole was determined. It didn’t take very many seconds until she was kissing him back. Her belly tightened as the heat ran rampant through her veins.
His hands moved to cup her face, holding her to him and sending sparks of pleasure along her spine. Finally she placed her smaller hands over his and he allowed her to push him back.
“Cole.” She was breathing hard. Her lips were inches away from his, moist, swollen from his kisses, slightly open, wanting more. His member was rock-hard, just like before. And there would be no relief for either of them until he took her to his bed.
“Tallie, are you involved with anyone?”
Was it any of his business? “No.”
Then he was kissing her again with an intensity that proclaimed his ownership. He pressed his erection against her and growled his claim.
She felt the intense heat from his body and fought the urge to slide her arms up over his shoulders and pull him closer to her. As she turned away, her breasts brushed against the hard contours of his chest. Her nipples jumped to full attention, sending an electrifying sensation through her entire body. She could sense the sexual charge between them when his body responded. She didn’t move. She didn’t have to. The awareness of her arousal was noted and returned.
“Tallie,” he murmured as his mouth came down over her lips once again. The kiss was amazing, his lips soft and pliable yet firm at the same time. She wanted to melt into them. Into him. With a small whimper, she turned away but she’d had a reminder of just how seriously sexy, how potent, Cole Masters could be. It was enough to leave her wanting more. A lot more. She could sense his desire. They barely knew each other yet her body was throwing off hormones like fireworks on Independence Day. Fighting her own desire as well as his, she pushed out of his arms.
“I told you before, with the exception of our night in the French Quarter, I don’t sleep around.”
“Then why me?” he asked. “Why did you let me seduce you? Why was our night together different?” He looked at her long and hard before dropping his hands to his sides. It might be the first time in his life Cole Masters had been turned down.
“I suppose I drank too much. I lost track of who I really am.”
“No. I think you found out who you really are. A beautiful, passionate woman who let her attraction to a man overcome her staid impractical beliefs.”
With John it had taken months of knowing him to even get remotely close to the state Tallie was in right now if, in fact, she ever did. John had never cared enough to make the effort to turn her on. He was only in it to please himself.