Snowbound Baby

She was darned gorgeous. He couldn’t believe any man was capable of speech around her, let alone capable of leaving her once he married her. Then he realized she had to be a shrew for her husband to have left her. So far her behavior around him sort of hinted to that. Even the way she always had to be one step ahead of him was an indication that she needed to be right.

No man liked that kind of one-upmanship in a woman. Hell, no man liked that in another man.

He drew a quick breath. “Well, excuse me for trying to help.”

Zoe had been on her way to the kitchen again to take one of Daphne’s bottles out of the fridge where she had stored them the night before, but his comment stopped her. She wasn’t sure why he thought she was simple-minded or stupid, but she knew from their conversation the night before that he worried that she would be a burden. She’d thought she’d already put that doubt to bed, but apparently he was still skeptical.

“I found the TV, too,” she added.

“I was just trying to tell you about the storm.”

There was that tone again. As if she were an idiot. This guy might be the sexiest man on the face of the earth with his whipcord-lean body very nicely showcased in his worn workshirt and perfect-fitting jeans. Add his silky-looking black hair, and she couldn’t pretend that she didn’t notice his physical attributes. But he also had chauvinist written all over him and she simply wasn’t putting up with it.

“Here’s the deal, Bryant,” she said, deliberately using his last name to keep them on totally impersonal terms, so he could stop treating her as if she were a ninny. “I have a child. I don’t just pay my own way. I also pay hers because my ex doesn’t believe in child support. No matter how many court orders get issued, if he runs fast enough he can always evade them. So, I work. I take care of a household. I can fix a faucet. I can fix a tire. I can make a fire. I can turn on a TV.”

“Very funny.”

“No. It’s not funny. It’s not one damned bit funny that I have to tell you I’m a capable adult because you clearly think I’m some kind of spoiled princess or something. I’d like to get that squared away so we can move on.”

“We can move on.”

“Great. Because if we’re stuck here for the weekend I don’t intend to be the only one cooking and doing the dishes.”

“That’s fine by me because, just like you, I work and take care of my own house…and run a ranch.” He smiled tightly. “I guess you could say I have you beat.”

She turned to go into the kitchen again. “You won’t have me beat until you also add in caring for a child.”

He followed her. “Last year, three of my cows had calves.”

She slammed the refrigerator closed. “Did you have to get up with them at two in the morning?”

“Once. And I’m painfully familiar with colic.”

“Well, good for you. You’re the first man I consider myself equal to.”

His eyes narrowed as if he knew she’d insulted him—or somebody—but he couldn’t figure out how. Zoe took Daphne and her bottle into the great room. She settled on the rocking chair and fed the baby one of the five bottles of formula she had prepared the night before. Even if they could leave tomorrow, and she knew they couldn’t, Daphne would be out of bottles before that. Zoe would have to again prepare formula from the faucet water and there was no guarantee that wouldn’t eventually upset Daphne’s system.

Preoccupied with the baby, Zoe didn’t notice that an uncomfortable silence had settled over the small house or that Cooper Bryant was pacing until Daphne had fallen asleep and Zoe rose from the rocker to take the baby into the bedroom. Even then, she didn’t say anything. It was not her problem that Cooper Bryant was pacing the room, obviously bored.

She laid Daphne in the center of the double bed and began to arrange the pillows around her. But, on second thought, she pushed the bed against the wall, giving Daphne two sides of protection. It wasn’t the best situation in the world, but they were stranded. As long as Zoe checked on the baby every few minutes, Daphne should be fine.

Satisfied, Zoe ambled into the great room. She wasn’t much for TV, but she had seen a deck of cards. It had been a while since she’d played solitaire. Entertaining herself that way would be fun. In fact, it was a great deal of fun to be away from her house that always needed to be cleaned, the mountain of bills she couldn’t pay and the notice that told her her house was going up for sheriff’s sale because no one had paid the taxes.

She entered the great room and found Cooper Bryant staring out the French doors behind the poker table. If it weren’t for him, this weekend away from reality might actually be a nice break.

He didn’t turn from staring at the mounting snow, which Zoe had earlier watched just as he was doing right now. She was sure the look of disbelief on his face probably mirrored the one she’d worn staring at the sight.

Approaching the poker table, Zoe said nothing. She opened the top drawer of a cabinet, found the cards, pulled a chair away from the table and sat. The only sound in the room was the noise the cards made as they slid against each other when she shuffled.

“I’m not much of a card player.”

“Great. I was going to play solitaire.”

He turned. Crossing his arms on his chest he said, “Okay. I get it. I get it big-time. You are not a helpless female who needs someone to take care of her.”

She began to lay out the cards. “Thanks for recognizing the obvious.”

He scowled and Zoe dropped the cards and studied him for a second before she said, “Look, I know you’d rather be alone. Frankly, so would I. But since we aren’t, the alternative for us is to form some kind of a truce.”

“A truce?”

“Sure. We agree to share chores. We agree to be civil. And we declare each other off-limits romantically. That way, we can talk pleasantly without worrying that one or the other is getting any ideas.”

Because what she said made sense, Cooper almost agreed until a tantalizing thought entered his head. Whether she knew it or not she had just backhandedly admitted that she found him attractive, too. They were stuck together. They were both attracted. Neither one of them wanted a relationship with the other.

This weekend could be a lot of fun if he could figure out a way to convince her that they should take advantage of their two days away from real life by having a bit of no-strings-attached sex.

But before he could come up with a way to form the suggestion, Daphne cried and Zoe was off her chair and in the bedroom like a bolt of lightning. Cooper realized that was the reason he and Zoe couldn’t have no-strings-attached sex. Women with babies had a guaranteed, built-in defense mechanism. Every time things heated up, Daphne would probably start crying.

Zoe came out of the bedroom carrying Daphne. The baby looked tired, but not sleepy, and though Cooper knew little to nothing about kids, he didn’t think this was a good sign. Zoe didn’t say a word. She simply walked back to the table, sat on the chair, put the baby on her lap, and continued her solitaire game.

Cooper turned to look at the snow again. “I think a truce is a good idea.”

“Okay. Great. Now we can be civil.”

He nodded and relaxed a little, but not completely. He may no longer fear that she wanted something from him, but that didn’t stop his sexual attraction. Because he was a responsible adult he would curb it, but controlling it required being wise about distance and proximity, and also being careful about the conversational topics he chose.

Luckily, the weather was always safe. “I’ve never seen snow fall like this before.”

“I have. A few times.” She paused, then said, “Daphne, honey, don’t grab the cards.”

Cooper faced the table again. Zoe held the baby on her lap with one arm and used the other hand to grasp Daphne’s little fingers to keep them away from the cards.

She smiled up at him. “Would it be out of line for me to ask you to put that red seven on that black eight?”

He glanced down, saw the play she mentioned, and shifted the seven of hearts to the eight of spades.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He almost turned again to the window, but courtesy wouldn’t let him. “Want the red four on the black five?”

“What red four?”

“This one,” he said, taking the card from its spot on the board and placing it on the five.

“Oh. Didn’t see that. Thanks.”

He took a seat across the table, grabbed the card stack, and asked, “Do you play one card at a time or three?”

“Three.”

“Do you shuffle them or play them in order?”

She gave him a horrified look. “I play them in order. Anything else is trying to beat the odds! I play fair.”

He stifled a smile. This woman had some set of morals. “Okay. Whatever.” He counted off three cards and placed them face up so she could see her play options.

She sighed. “That card goes nowhere. Try again.”

He counted off the next three cards and slapped them on the table.

“Oh, an ace!” She glanced at him. “You know where that goes.”

He stifled another smile at her enthusiasm and put the ace of spades at the top of her play area. He jutted his chin toward the cards on the table. “Want that two of spades up here?”

She nodded, but said nothing else as she examined the board. Daphne screeched, trying to pull her hand free of Zoe’s.

“If I let your hand go,” Zoe said to her baby, “will you promise not to touch the cards?”

Daphne only screeched again.

“I’m not sure I’d take that as a yes,” Cooper cautioned and the little girl grinned toothlessly at him. She was an adorable kid. Her eyes were big and blue, like her mom’s, and her hair was so light it sometimes looked white.

“I agree. But I can’t sit here holding her hand all morning. It’s probably driving her crazy.” She released Daphne’s hand and the little girl instantly pounded it on the table.

Cooper began sliding the cards in play away from Daphne and closer to himself. He was surprised that he only had to move them three inches to get them out of her reach.

Zoe smiled her thanks.

Cooper’s heart did a somersault. It was so damned unfair to be alone in a cabin with a woman this good-looking and not be able to even try to seduce her.

“You’re a natural at handling babies.”

He cleared his throat. “Like I said, I did have those three calves last year.”

She laughed. Cooper counted out three more cards and set them on the growing stack.

“Put that red nine on the black ten.”

He did as she asked.

“Black eight on the red nine,” she said with a nod toward the card. He made the move.

Studying the board, looking for additional plays, she said, “So, you own a ranch.”

He realized he’d set himself up for the question since his ranch was the only thing he’d spoken about and the only conversational opening she had. But the last thing he wanted to talk about was the ranch. It only reminded him that he was forking out his herd money because his brothers hated him.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t ignore her when they’d finally found a way to be amiable. “Yeah. I own a ranch.”

“And you drive a truck?”

“Yeah.”

“So who watches the calves while you’re away?”

“They’re not exactly like Daphne. I don’t have to put them in day care.”

She nodded. “So you just leave everything alone, jump in your truck and go?”

“No. It’s not that easy, either.”

Daphne patted Zoe’s face and screeched. Zoe caught her hand. “Would you mind…” She sighed. “No. Forget it. I’ll do it.”

“Do what?”

“Get a rattle from her diaper bag,” Zoe said, but she rose and began walking toward the bedroom where he knew she had stashed the baby’s things. When she returned, Daphne was chewing on something that looked like a blue plastic pretzel.

“I could have gotten that.”

Zoe shook her head. “Right.”

“Are you back to showing me how strong you are?”

She glanced at him. “I don’t know. Are you going to tell me who babysits your cows?”

“You’re basing how you react to me on the fact that I didn’t tell you I have a partner?”

“I’m basing how I treat you on how you treat me. You’ll help with my card game because you’re bored, but you won’t tell me about your life—even the insignificant fact that you have a partner—because you don’t trust me. And since you don’t trust me, that makes you suspicious. People are typically suspicious of other people because they aren’t trustworthy themselves…. So…” She shrugged. “I didn’t think it wise to let you rummage through my stuff.”

He stared at her. “Are you kidding me? You think I’m some kind of criminal because I won’t tell you about myself?”

She shrugged. “No, I just don’t think you’re trustworthy.”

“I’m one of the most trustworthy people on the face of the earth!”

“Yeah. Right. That’s why you’re so suspicious.”

“I’m not suspicious. I’m simply not much of a people person.”

She didn’t answer, only stared at him until he couldn’t take it anymore and said, “What?”

“I’m waiting for you to tell me why you’re not a people person.”

He laughed. “Why should I?”

“Oh, come on. We’re here in the middle of a snowstorm. Nine chances out of ten when we get out of here Monday, we’ll never see each other again. This is like a fantasy or something. It’s our one chance to pour our hearts out to a member of the opposite sex and get some answers.”

He stared at her. “That is your fantasy.”

She was silent for a minute, then she said, “Well, I never actually thought of it as a fantasy, per se. But I have thought that just once I would like to sit a man down and ask him some pointed questions so I can figure out what the hell makes your gender tick.”

“Well, honey, I’ve got a fantasy, too. And it also involves being stranded with a member of the opposite sex. And we communicate, too. Except we don’t talk. We communicate on that extraspecial level that doesn’t require talking. You know what I’m saying?”

Her eyes narrowed. “You want me to have sex with you?”

He smiled.

“A stranger?” she said, horrified.

“Women.” He laughed and shook his head. “Look, honey, it’s every bit as preposterous for me to pour my heart out to someone I don’t know as it is for you to have sex with someone you don’t know.” He shoved his chair away from the table and started toward the kitchen. “I’m going to make another pot of coffee,” he said, but he stopped suddenly because something she’d said had finally penetrated his thick brain. They really wouldn’t see each other after the snowplow went through. Monday morning when they parted company, it would be as if they had never met. He could tell her every damned tidbit and morsel about his life and it wouldn’t matter.

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