Kings of California: Bargaining for King's Baby

Adam did a quiet seethe. She could see it in his narrowed eyes and the tense lock of his jaw. Then she watched him flick a glance at Travis before turning his gaze back to her. Clearly there was more he wanted to say, but Travis being a witness wasn’t something he was interested in.

Taking her upper arm in a firm grip, he steered her farther away from his brother and didn’t stop until they were standing in the shade of the open barn doors. “You don’t have to put on a front, Gina. We both know that this marriage isn’t real.”

Another barb that hit home with deadly accuracy. But damned if she’d let him know it. If she was going to make Adam see her, really see her, then she had to stand up to him. Let him know right up front that she wasn’t going to be ignored or placated or pushed around.

“You’re wrong,” she said shortly. “This marriage is very real.” She held up her left hand and wiggled her ring finger at him. “Whatever you’d like to think, Adam, we’re legally married, for however long it lasts.”

He released his grip on her arm, but her skin kept buzzing as if his touch had branded her. “I know it’s legal, but it’s not your ordinary marriage, now is it?”

“What marriage is ordinary, Adam?”

He blew out a frustrated breath. “You’re purposely misunderstanding me.”

“Oh, I understand just fine,” she said and tapped the tip of her index finger against his chest. “You want to pretend that I’m not really here. The only place you want to see me is our bedroom. Well, get over it. I am here. And I’m not going anywhere just yet.”

“I know that.” He shot a look at Travis, lowered his voice and said, “I’m just saying it doesn’t make much sense to uproot your horses. Besides, there’s no room for them here. Not to mention the fact that you could have talked to me about this before arranging for their arrival.”

Okay. Love him or not, Gina wasn’t going to be walked on. “There’s plenty of room on this ranch for the horses, Adam. You don’t even use the front corral and the barn’s half empty.”

“That’s not the point—”

“You just made it the point. Plus,” she said, rushing on before he could get started again, “you knew going in that I work with those horses.”

“I didn’t think—”

“What?” Her eyes widened and she waved both hands in the air. “You didn’t think I’d work with them here? Where I live?” She lowered her voice a little and leaned in. “What did you think, Adam? That I’d just stay tucked up in the bedroom waiting for you to service me? I said I wanted a baby, but I also have a life. One I’m not interested in giving up.”

“You could have told me—”

“Maybe I should have. But I didn’t realize I would have to discuss every one of my decisions with you to get your approval.”

“I didn’t say that—”

“What did you say then?” She was almost enjoying this, Gina thought. Adam looked confused and off balance. But it was better than disinterested. At least he was looking at her. Talking to her. Actually, she thought, keeping him off balance might be just the answer.

He scrubbed one hand across his face in an impatient gesture. “Fine. I’m not going to argue about this.”

“Too late.”

“You want the damn horses here, then fine.”

“Oh,” she said, laying one hand on her chest. “Thanks so much.”

His mouth worked, he pulled in a long breath and then said, “You’re really starting to irritate me, Gina.”

“Good,” she said and gave him a smile. Irritated meant she was getting to him. Keeping him confused could only help her. “I like knowing that I can make you feel something.”

When she turned to leave, he grabbed her arm again, spun her around and before she could ask what else he wanted to complain about, he kissed her. He covered her mouth with his in a fast, hungry kiss that left her knees wobbly. He let her go then took a step back as if even he were surprised by what he’d done. “Be careful what you wish for, Gina. Not all feelings are pretty.”

She lifted one hand to her mouth, rubbed her lips with her fingertips and looked up at him. “Even that would be better than feeling nothing.”

“Now you’re the one who’s wrong,” he said. Then he jerked his head at the trailer, where the driver was jumping down from the truck cab. “Go get your horses settled in.”

He turned his back on her and walked away, stepping into the darkness of the van without another look her way.

Adam stalked to the rear of the barn and turned into the small ranch office that had been built into what had once been just another stall. He took a seat behind the battered desk his ranch foreman usually used. Today, though, he was damn glad that Sam was somewhere out on the ranch.

Travis stopped in the open doorway, leaned one shoulder against the jamb and looked in at him. “You really enjoy being a jackass?”

“Butt out.” Adam propped one boot up on the corner of the desk and folded his hands atop his middle. He could still taste Gina and that wasn’t good. He hadn’t meant to kiss her. But she’d prodded him until damned if he could control the urge to touch her.

Since coming back home from Vegas, he’d done his damnedest to avoid spending much time with her. If he kept himself busy enough, it was almost possible to pretend that she wasn’t living there. That nothing had changed in his life. He went about his normal routine during the day.

But every afternoon, his mind started drifting to thoughts of her. His body started yearning. And every night, he went to her like a man on fire.

He hadn’t counted on this. Hadn’t planned on being affected by Gina’s presence at all. This was just one more deal made. One more bargain struck.

But she was wriggling her way into his thoughts, his life, with a surety that bothered him more than a little.

“Gina deserves better than the way you’re treating her.”

Adam shot Travis a look through narrowed eyes that should have fried him on the spot. Naturally Travis was unaffected. “What’s between Gina and me is just that,” Adam said. “Between Gina and me.”

Travis pushed away from the doorjamb, walked into the room and pushed Adam’s foot off the edge of the desk before sitting down. One eyebrow lifted and a corner of his mouth tipped into a half smile. “She’s getting to you.”

“No,” Adam lied. “She’s not.”

“She could if you let her.”

“And why would I do that?” Adam’s fingers, laced together atop his stomach, tightened until the knuckles went white.

“Let me answer that with another question. Do you really like living like a damn monk?” Travis demanded. “Do you enjoy locking yourself away on this ranch? Shutting out everybody but me and Jackson?”

Adam inhaled slowly, deeply, getting a rein on the flare of anger that had erupted inside him. “I’m not shut away. I’m working. The ranch demands a lot of time and—”

“Tell that to somebody else,” Travis said, neatly interrupting him. “I grew up here, too. I know what it takes to run this place. Didn’t I watch Dad do it year after year?”

“Dad didn’t have the same plans for it I do.”

“Yeah,” Travis agreed amiably. “Dad wanted a life, too.”

“I have a life.”

Smiling, Travis nodded. “After seeing that kiss, I’m guessing you’ve got a shot at one, anyway. If you don’t screw it up.”

Adam fixed him with a frown. “Is there a reason you came by here today? Or are you just here to be another thorn in my figurative paw?”

“The thorn thing appeals, I’ll admit. But I did have a reason.” Standing up, Travis stuffed both hands into the pockets of his black slacks. “I’m taking one of the family jets to Napa for a couple of weeks.”

“Bon voyage,” Adam said, standing himself. “But what’s that got to do with me?”

“Just wanted to let you know. There’s a winery there doing some interesting stuff with cabernets. Want to see what I can find out about their operation.”

“So why is it when you do something related to the vineyard it’s okay, but when I’m concentrating on the ranch I’m a recluse?”

“Because—” Travis grinned “—I make time for the ladies, too. I don’t live and die by the grape, Adam. And now that you’ve got yourself married again, maybe it’s time for you to remember that there’s more to life than this damn ranch.”

“You know exactly why I’m married. Don’t make it out to be more than it is.”

“Doesn’t mean it couldn’t work out. For both of you.”

“Not interested.”

“Just because you and Monica—” He stopped short when Adam flushed a dark red. “Fine. We won’t talk about it. Even though you should—”

“I don’t need to be psychoanalyzed, either.”

“Wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Travis said, then continued. “Go ahead, Adam. Bury your future because of your past. But—” he half turned to point toward the ranch yard beyond the barn “—that’s a fine woman out there. Too good for you to use and toss away. She deserves better.” When his brother didn’t say anything else, Travis added, “Hell, Adam, you deserve better.”

He didn’t want to talk about any of this. “Don’t you have a winemaker to seduce?”

“I do indeed.” Travis headed for the door and stopped on the threshold. “But do me a favor while I’m gone?”

“Depends.”

“Try not to be such a complete ass all the time. Give Gina a chance. Give yourself a damn break, will you?”

When Travis was gone, Adam couldn’t settle. He paced the narrow confines of the office and listened to the sounds from the yard. The clatter of hooves on a metal gate, the nervous whinnies, Gina’s delighted laughter.

He stopped dead, concentrating on the near magical music of it.

And he told himself that no matter what he felt or didn’t feel for Gina, once she was pregnant, deal done. Marriage over. She’d move out and he’d move on.

Despite what Travis seemed to think, there was no hope for a future here. Adam had already proven to himself that he simply wasn’t the marrying kind.

Eight

Gina left Adam sleeping in their big bed. She grabbed her robe from a nearby chair, tugged it on and belted it at the waist before slipping out of the bedroom. She couldn’t seem to fall asleep no matter how long she lay there in the darkness. So why not get up, make some tea and have a few of Esperanza’s cookies?

At the doorway, she looked back at her husband and her heart turned over as she studied him in the dim light. Even in sleep, Adam managed to look powerful, aloof. As if his emotions were closed up so tightly they couldn’t even find the surface when he wasn’t actively guarding them. Apparently she would have to do battle with his subconscious, as well.

She sighed a little, shut the door quietly behind her and wandered down the hall toward the stairs. The house was quiet, tucked up for the night, resting after a long day. Gina only wished she could rest, too. But her mind was just too busy. She couldn’t stop thinking about Adam, their argument earlier and the way he’d watched her from afar as she settled the Gypsies into their new home.

Why had she thought she’d be able to reach him easily when he’d spent the last five years sealing himself off from the entire world? What if he didn’t want to be reached? Would she be able to outlast him? Would he guess there was something going on when she didn’t get pregnant right away? A headache burst into life behind her eyes and she blew out a breath as she headed downstairs.

There were no lights on, but moonlight shone through the skylights, illuminating the dark staircase in a pale silver glow. Her bare feet made no sound on the carpet runner and as she walked downstairs, she looked at the framed photographs lining the wall.

Pictures of the King brothers from infancy to adulthood stared back at her. There was a smiling Jackson, boasting a black eye, standing between his older brothers, each of them with an arm draped over his shoulders. There was Travis, holding the trophy the high school football team had won when he was the quarterback. There was even a twenty-year-old photo taken at a Fourth of July picnic. The King brothers were there, but so were Gina and her brothers. Adam was the tallest and he was standing right behind a ten-year-old Gina. As if even then, she’d been arranging things so she could be close to him. Had he noticed? Smiling to herself, her gaze continued over the faces frozen in time and as she looked, she noticed that there weren’t any pictures of Monica, Adam’s late wife. Or even of his lost son, Jeremy.

That made her frown thoughtfully for a minute and think about the other photographs she’d noticed throughout the house. Now that she was considering it, she realized there weren’t any pictures of the family Adam had lost five years ago. Strange. Why would he not want to see them? Remember them?

Then she pushed those thoughts aside and went back to studying the framed photographs on the wall. She blurred her vision to all but the shots of Adam.

Gina studied them, one at a time, remembering some, wondering about others. There was Adam as a kid, with torn blue jeans and a baseball cap shading his eyes. Adam as captain of the high school baseball team. Adam at his prom. Adam with a blue ribbon won at a local rodeo. Adam smiling. God, he should do that more often, she thought.

Reaching out, Gina touched her fingertips to that captured smile and wished she could reach the man as easily. He was so close to her now, yet he felt even further away from her than ever.

A chill swept along her spine and she hunched deeper into the soft folds of the green cashmere robe. But this chill came from her heart, not the temperature of the room, so nothing she did helped with it. She took the last of the stairs and stopped in the foyer.

In the silence, she looked down the long hall toward the kitchen and Esperanza’s cookies—-then to the front door and the night beyond. She made up her mind quickly and opened the door to step outside.

The night air was cold and damp and still. Not a breath of wind moved. Overhead, the sky was clear and spatter-shot with bright stars. The moon was half-full and the light that shone down was bright enough to cast shadows across the ground.

Gina stepped onto the dirt driveway and walked quietly across the yard toward the corral where the Gypsies slept. Tomorrow, they’d be assigned stalls in the barn, but for tonight, they were here, getting used to their new home.

She leaned her forearms on the topmost rail and whispered, “I hope you guys catch on faster than I am.”

One of the mares whickered softly and moved to her. Gina reached out, stroked the horse’s nose with a gentle touch and smiled when the animal moved in closer for more. “Hi, Rosie. Did you miss me?” The horse shifted from foot to foot, the long, delicate feathers about its hooves waving lightly. Gina looked from Rosie to the other horses beyond and then back to the mare that had been her very first Gypsy.

“Feeling a little out of your element?” she asked, fingers stroking through the mare’s silky mane. “Yeah, I know just how you feel. But we’ll get used to it here. You know, Adam’s not a bad guy at all. He just acts crabby.”

“I am crabby.”

His voice came directly behind her and Gina jolted so hard, the mare skipped away, dancing back from the fence to join the rest of the horses on the far side of the corral. Gina caught her breath and turned around to face him.

“You could have said something instead of sneaking up on me and giving me a heart attack!” Her hand slapped to her chest and she felt her heartbeat thundering hard and fast. “Jeez, Adam.”

“What the hell are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

Gina fought back the last of the adrenaline pumping through her and took her first good look at him. His naked chest gleamed gold in the soft light. His hair was rumpled from sleep and his jaw carried the shadow of a dark beard. Barefoot, he wore a pair of threadbare jeans that he’d apparently dragged on in a hurry. The top couple of buttons were undone and her gaze tracked the narrow line of dark hair that disappeared beneath the denim fabric.

He looked way too good.

Shaking her head, though, Gina asked, “Is this another rule, Adam? Do I have to ask permission to come outside, too?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what?”

He came closer and the scent of him, soap and male, drifted to her and seemed to coil in the pit of her stomach. She took a breath, hoping to steady herself, but all she succeeded in doing was dragging more of that scent deeper inside.

“I woke up and you were gone.” He said it with a shrug.

A small note of hope lifted inside her. “You were worried about me?”

He glanced at her, then shifted his gaze to the animals wandering the corral enclosure. “I wouldn’t go that far,” he said. “I…wondered about you.”

That was a start, Gina thought.

“You were sleeping and I couldn’t,” she said, turning to lean on the railing again and watch the horses moving through moonlight. “I was going to go for some of Esperanza’s cookies, then I decided to come out and check on the Gypsies.”

He shook his head and took up a spot beside her at the fence. Amusement colored his voice when he said, “What is it about these horses that’s so damn special?”

She shot him a quick look, smiled and said, “Everything.”

“Care to vague that up for me?”

“Wow. A joke?” She laid one hand on his forearm and when he didn’t flinch and pull away, Gina considered it a win. “This is a real moment for me, Adam.”

“Very funny.” He turned to look down at her. “But that doesn’t tell me why you’re so nuts about these horses.”

“They’re gentle. And smart. And so good with kids, its nearly eerie.” She blew out a breath and watched as one of the foals jolted into a one-horse race around the corral. Smiling as she watched the spindly legged baby run, she said, “They’ve been bred for centuries to become part of a family. They’re strong and loyal. I admire that.”

“Me, too,” he said and when she looked at him, she noticed he hadn’t been watching the horses, but her.

Nerves fizzed inside her, but in a good way. The night was quiet, but for the sounds of the horses. The wind was still, the sky brilliant with stars and it suddenly felt as though the world itself was holding its breath.

He was silent for so long, her nerves buzzed even harder, so she spoke to break the hush building between them. “I saw my first Gypsy about six years ago, at a horse show.” Her gaze slid from his to the corral again. “They were so beautiful. Elegant somehow, yet their eyes were liquid and kind, as if there were very old souls looking back at me.”

“If you love them so much, how do you bring yourself to sell them?”

She laughed. “It’s not easy. And I’m very careful who they go to. I check out prospective buyers so thoroughly, the CIA would be impressed.”

“I know I am.”

“Really?” Gina turned her head to look up at him again and saw his dark eyes flash with something she couldn’t quite read.

“Really,” he said and leaned his bare forearms on the top railing of the corral fence, alongside hers. Jerking his chin at the horses milling around like wallflowers at a high school reunion, he continued, “I’ve seen my share of horse breeders who couldn’t care less about the animals in their charge. They’re only interested in the money they can make.”

Gina’s mouth tightened. “I’ve seen a few like that myself.”

“Bet you have.” Glancing down at her, he said, “Sorry about earlier today.”

“Sorry?” Gina blinked at him, shook her head as if she hadn’t heard him right and smiled. “Wow. A joke and an apology. This is a red-letter night for me!”

“You’ve got a smart mouth on you, that’s for damn sure.”

“True. My mom always said it would get me in trouble someday.”

“Do you always listen to your mother?”

“If I did, we wouldn’t be married right now,” she pointed out, then wished she hadn’t when he frowned.

“She was right, you know. About me. About warning you off.”

“No, she wasn’t. I love my mom, but sometimes she worries more than she should.” Gina looked up at him and felt that maybe, just maybe, he was reaching out to her for the first time since their hurried wedding. Everything in her yearned for it to be true. She laid one hand on his forearm and tried not to notice that he nearly flinched from her gentle touch. “I know you, Adam…”

“No, you don’t.” He looked down at her hand on his arm and his stare was so steady, she finally pulled her hand away in response. When she had, he said, “You used to know me, Gina. I give you that. But I’m not that kid anymore. Time’s gone by and things have changed. I’ve changed.”

“You’re still Adam,” she insisted.

“Damn it.” He pushed away from the railing, grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face him. In the starlight, his features were hard and cold and his eyes were deep, dark, filled with shadows. Gina felt the strength in his hands and the heat of his skin, burning through the thick, cashmere robe right into hers.

“Don’t mistake what’s happening here, Gina.”

She wouldn’t be intimidated. And she wasn’t afraid of him at all—even if that’s what he was trying to do. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean.” His grip on her gentled slightly even as his eyes became darker, nearly black with the intensity of his gaze. “You’re fooling yourself, Gina. You think I don’t see it? Feel it?”

“Adam—”

“This bargain we made? That’s all we share,” he assured her. “We each want something from the other and when that bargain’s fulfilled, it’s over. Don’t get comfortable here. Don’t expect more from me than there is. And for God’s sake, stop looking at me with those golden eyes of yours all soft and dewy.”

“I don’t—”

“Yeah, you do. And it’s time to stop, Gina. For your own sake if nothing else. There is no us. There won’t ever be.”

Her heart ached.

Literally ached.

Her stomach churned and tears stung the backs of her eyes, but she fought them back, buried the swell of emotion that threatened to choke her. Everything he said, she knew he really meant, and yet, wasn’t there more here than he would—or could—admit? Or was she just fooling herself as he thought? Was she setting herself up for a crashing fall at the end of their time together? Was she expecting to find the boy she’d once known inside a man too changed to remember him?

“We have now,” she said, lifting both hands to lay her palms on his chest. The hard, sculpted muscles felt warm beneath her hands and the pound of his heart shattered something inside her. When he hissed in a breath, she took it as a sign to continue. “And for now Adam, there is an us.”

“Gina…” He shook his head and blew out a breath riddled with frustration. “You’re making this harder than it has to be.”

“Maybe,” she admitted. “And maybe you’re making this far less fun than it could be.”

She moved in toward him, closing the spare distance between them with a single step. Her hands moved over his chest, fingertips exploring, smoothing across his flat nipples until he took a breath and held it, trying not to surrender.

But she wanted his surrender and was willing to fight for it.

He caught her wrists and held them, staring down into her eyes like a man lost in unfamiliar territory. “You’re playing with fire here, Gina.”

“I’m not fragile, Adam,” she said. “I don’t mind a burn or two.”

“This kind of fire consumes.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” she asked, smiling up at him despite the blackness of his eyes, the tight, grim slash of his mouth. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, the Adam she’d once known and fallen in love with was still there, hidden inside him, and she wanted to set him free again. To remind him that love and life and laughter were worth having. Worth cherishing. “We’re married, Adam. This fire is what most people dream of finding.”

“Fires usually burn out fast.”

“Sometimes,” she said with a short nod. “But while they burn, it’s an amazing thing.”

“You’re not going to listen to anybody about this, are you?”