Expecting the Rancher's Heir / Taming Her Billionaire Boss: Expecting the Rancher's Heir

Her answer surprised him. “But you’re not?”

“Not really.” She shook her head and shifted on the couch to face him. “Everyone is always in such a hurry to get somewhere or to do something. Then, when they do accomplish whatever they set out to do, they are in a huge hurry to do something else.”

“Life in the fast lane can be draining,” he said, wondering why she had chosen to go to college so far from home. “But I think it’s that way in most urban areas.”

She nodded as she removed the fluffy tie holding her hair in a ponytail. “It’s a little better in Malibu where I live now, but life still moves a lot faster than Aspen.”

“That is a nice area.” He had been to Malibu a few times and although it was way too crowded for his taste, Shane had found the view of the ocean to be beautiful. “Do you live near the beach?”

“I have a condo not too far from the Malibu Pier.” She smiled. “I like living on the beach and my spa and yoga center, Serendipity, is only a couple of miles away. That’s another plus for me.”

“Who’s running things while you’re away?” he asked, reaching out to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sure you left someone you could trust in charge.”

He ran his index finger over her hair. He loved the feel of the silky golden threads against his skin. He drew in some much-needed air and forced himself to concentrate on what she was saying. Lissa felt it was important that they talk and learn about each other. Besides, if he was going to get her to go along with his plans of getting married, he was going to have to pay a little closer attention.

“I have two wonderful assistant managers.” She smiled fondly. “Michael is very efficient at managerial duties and in the treatment room his hands are pure magic.”

“Oh, really?” For reasons he didn’t quite understand and wasn’t ready to analyze, the only hands Shane wanted her to consider magical were his.

Her enthusiastic nod caused a slow burn to start in the pit of his stomach. “Michael warms the oil with his hands, then when he puts them on your body and starts kneading the muscles …” She closed her eyes and smiled as if imagining the man’s hands on her. “… it’s pure heaven.”

The irritation in Shane’s gut exploded into all-out anger and he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Lissa seemed to enjoy having the man’s hands on her a little too much. It might even be the probability that she had been alone with the guy in a dimly lit room with nothing but a thin sheet draped over her nude body. Or more likely, it was a combination of all of it. Whatever the reason, he didn’t like it one damned bit.

But Shane couldn’t understand the proprietary feeling he had toward her. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been with his share of women before Lissa returned to Aspen. It would be ridiculous of him to expect her to have gone without companionship before they started seeing each other. Yet he couldn’t quite shake the territorial feeling that ran through him.

“Aren’t some of the women who work for you just as good at giving massages?” he asked, wondering why she hadn’t asked one of her female employees.

She nodded. “In their own way, yes, they are very good. But being a man, Michael naturally has more strength in his hands and gives a more thorough deep-tissue massage.”

“How long has he worked for you?”

“Let’s see, he and his life partner, Hector, moved from Florida into the condo below mine about three years ago, and I hired them both shortly after that,” she said, looking pleased with herself. “I was really lucky to get them before another spa snapped them up. Besides Michael being the best masseuse I’ve ever seen, Hector is a master yoga instructor and conducts most of the yoga and meditation classes at Serendipity. He’s my assistant manager for the yoga center.”

Shane’s anger cooled immediately when he realized neither of the men were interested in Lissa. The fact that he felt such relief was almost as disturbing to him as his possessiveness had been. He had never been the jealous type and couldn’t imagine what the hell had gotten into him.

Deciding it was time for a change of topic, he asked, “Do you miss not living near the beach?”

“Absolutely,” she said, nodding. “Listening to the waves is nice, especially at night when I’m ready to go to sleep. I like to sit on the beach sometimes and watch them roll in to shore. It reminds me of how small and insignificant my problems are compared to the big picture.”

“Don’t you miss watching the seasons change, angel?”

“They do change,” she admitted. “But it’s subtle and not nearly as big of a change as here. It’s beautiful here in the fall.” She grinned. “And I do love Aspen in the winter. There’s nothing like flying down the mountain on a pair of skis after a new snow.”

“You like the fresh powder?”

“Absolutely.” She tilted her head. “What about you? Do you like to ski?”

He gave her a mischievous grin. “I have been known to tear it up on a few of the slopes around here. I’ve also done a little cross-country skiing.”

Yawning, she leaned her head back against the couch. “I’ve missed being able to participate in the winter activities we have in the mountains.”

“They have some nice skiing in California,” he reminded her.

“Yes, but I would have to drive several hours to get there.” She smiled. “I like having a ski slope practically in my backyard.”

“Then why did you go to college in California in the first place?” he asked before he could stop himself.

Shane had a feeling it had something to do with her getting away from home and the control of Donald Jarrod. But she’d shied away from discussing her relationship with her father, and from her expression, she wasn’t interested in discussing it now.

She hesitated as if choosing a suitable answer. “I was young and wanted to spread my wings a bit.” Hiding another yawn behind her hand, she gave him a sheepish grin. “I think I need to go up to bed before I fall asleep right here.”

He knew she was making an excuse to escape before he had the opportunity to ask any more questions. “You’re probably right.” Turning off the television, he rose to his feet, then helped her to hers. “What do you say we go upstairs and see just how good I am at giving a massage?”

“But I don’t have a problem with tightness in my shoulders or neck,” she said as he led her toward the stairs.

“Angel, I wasn’t talking about massaging your back.” He couldn’t stop his wicked grin. “The areas I had in mind are on the front side of your body and a whole lot more interesting.”

Shane lay staring at the ceiling long after the woman in his arms drifted off to sleep. The evening had been perfect and given him a glimpse of what life could be like once he and Lissa were married.

Married. The word alone should have had him running for the hills, and he still couldn’t quite believe that he was actually going to take the plunge.

Two days ago, the idea of marriage and having a child never crossed his mind. It was simply something he had never allowed himself to contemplate. He had witnessed the hell his father went through when his mother left and that was more than enough to convince Shane he wanted no part of the institution.

He could remember the nights he had lain in bed as a small boy listening to his mother and father argue about how unhappy she was living out in the middle of nowhere. Eventually her pleading for his father to sell the ranch and move them all to a metropolitan area had turned to threats of her leaving.

Then, one day when he was nine, Shane came home from school to find his mother gone and his father passed out with an empty whiskey bottle at his feet. Cactus had stepped in to watch over him and when his father finally sobered up after a two-month bender, Shane asked several times where his mother was. “Gone” was all he could get out of his father each time he asked. Shane finally gave up and stopped asking.

But Hank McDermott was never the same after that. Other than being there to raise his son and instill a strong set of values in him, it was as if his dad had quit caring about everything else and reminded Shane of a horse that had its spirit broken. Once full of life, his father rarely left the ranch and removed everything in the house that hinted a woman had ever inhabited the place.

Shane had never wanted to give that kind of power over him to any woman. Never wanted a child of his to lie awake at night wondering where his mother was and why he never heard from her again. But with Lissa’s announcement that she was pregnant, he suddenly found himself determined to do the very thing he had vowed never to do—get married.

Glancing at her head resting on his shoulder, he took a deep breath and tried to relax. As long as he kept everything in perspective and his feelings for her under control, everything should be fine.

He would be a good provider, a faithful husband to her and a loving father to their child. That’s all any woman could ask of a man and all Shane was ready or willing to give.

Five

“It’s about time you hauled your sorry butt out of bed.”

At the sound of the elderly gentleman’s comment, Melissa stopped abruptly just inside the kitchen doorway. Standing at the stove, wearing nothing but a pair of long underwear and boots that had seen better days, the man had his back to her and apparently only heard her approach. She assumed he was Shane’s housekeeper, Cactus, and he obviously thought that Shane had come downstairs for breakfast.

How could she let him know that she wasn’t who he thought she was without startling him?

When he suddenly turned around, they both jumped. “God’s nightgown! Where in the name of Sam Hill did you come from?”

“You must be Cactus,” she said, unsure of what else to say. “Shane’s told me a lot about you.”

“Well, he never told me a damn … danged thing about you,” he stammered. “If he had, I sure wouldn’t be standin’ here in nothin’ but my long johns.” His wrinkled cheeks turned fiery red above his grizzled beard. “Excuse me, ma’am. I’ll go get myself decent.”

The man disappeared into a room off the kitchen as quickly as his arthritic legs would allow. A moment later, Shane walked up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist.

“How did you manage to get breakfast started so fast?” he asked, kissing her nape.

Her skin tingled from the contact. “I didn’t. It appears that your housekeeper, Cactus, has arrived home a little earlier than expected.”

He sighed as he rested his chin on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Lissa. I should have known this would happen. Whenever he goes to see his sister they always get into an argument and he ends up coming home early about half the time.”

“It doesn’t matter.” She turned within the circle of his arms to smile up at him. “Cactus probably doesn’t know anyone affiliated with the resort. Besides, I seriously doubt that he would tell them I was here, even if he did.”

Shane kissed the tip of her nose. “Why is that, angel?”

“Because he knows I could tell them I caught him cooking breakfast in his long underwear,” she said, laughing. “If his blush was any indication, I think I embarrassed him all the way to the roots of his snow-white hair.”

Rolling his eyes, Shane shook his head. “He definitely marches to the beat of his own drum. But don’t worry. He’ll get over it.”

“Boy, I got a bone to pick with you,” Cactus groused as he limped back into the room. “Why didn’t you tell me you were gonna have a lady friend comin’ for a visit this weekend?”

“I didn’t figure it would matter, since you weren’t supposed to be here,” Shane answered, unaffected by the older man’s irritation. Releasing her, he walked over to the coffeemaker. “Have a seat at the table, Lissa, while I pour us a cup of coffee. Lissa, this is Cactus Parsons, my housekeeper and the orneriest old cuss you’d ever care to meet.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Cactus,” she said, smiling.

He nodded. “Ma’am.”

Remembering something one of her friends had mentioned about not drinking caffeinated beverages while pregnant, Lissa shook her head. “Thank you, but I think I’ll pass on the coffee.”

When Shane walked over to sit beside her at the table, Cactus asked, “How do you like your eggs, gal?”

“Say scrambled,” Shane whispered. “That’s the only way he knows how to cook them.”

“I heard that, and it ain’t true,” the old gentleman retorted. “I know how to put cheese in ‘em or if your lady friend would like onions and green peppers, I can make ‘em that way, too.”

Shane laughed. “But they’re still scrambled.”

“It don’t matter,” Cactus insisted, his toothless grin wide. “They’re still different than just plain old eggs.”

Having grown up in the house where teasing and good-natured banter hadn’t existed, Lissa enjoyed listening to the exchange between the two men. It told her a lot about the kind of man Shane was.

Besides going out of his way to preserve an old man’s dignity by making bets they both knew were a complete farce, Shane went along with and even encouraged the man’s complaints because he knew it made Cactus happy.

That was something her father certainly would have never done for one of his employees. For that matter, he hadn’t bothered to do anything even remotely similar to that for his own children.

There wasn’t a single time in her life that she could remember her father teasing or playing with her or her brothers. He had reminded them on a daily basis from the time they were old enough to listen that if they weren’t excelling academically or working to somehow improve Jarrod Ridge, they were letting themselves down and disappointing him.

“Here you go, gal,” Cactus said, interrupting her thoughts as he placed a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her.

As soon as the plate touched the table, the food that had smelled so delicious only a few moments before caused a terrible queasiness in the pit of her stomach. Glancing at Shane, she watched his easy expression turn to one of concern and she knew she must look as ill as she felt.

Unable to make an excuse for leaving the table, Melissa jumped from the chair and ran as fast as she could for the stairs. She barely managed to make it into the master bathroom and slam the door before falling to her knees.

She had never in all of her twenty-six years been as sick as she was at that moment. If the fact that she was pregnant hadn’t sunk in before, it certainly had became very real now.

Feeling as if the blood in his veins had turned to ice water, Shane took the stairs two at a time as he chased Lissa. What the hell was wrong with her?

She had seemed fine when they got up and came downstairs for breakfast. Then, without warning, she’d turned ghostly pale and bolted from the room like a racehorse coming out of the starting gate.

As soon as he entered his bedroom he heard her and found the bathroom door locked. “Lissa, let me in,” he demanded.

“Go … away … Shane.” Her voice sounded weak and shaky.

“Not until I know you’re going to be all right.” If he had to, he would break the damned door down. But he wasn’t going anywhere until he found out what was wrong with her.

“I think … I have … morning sickness,” she said, sounding downright miserable. “Please leave … me … alone so I … can die … in peace.”

Feeling completely useless, Shane drew in a deep breath and walked over to sit on the end of the bed while he waited for her nausea to run its course. He felt guilty. If not for one of his swimmers, she wouldn’t be in there feeling as if death would be a blessing.

He rested his forearms on his knees and stared down at his loosely clasped hands. He wished there was something he could do for her, but he was at a total loss. Horses didn’t suffer through morning sickness and, since he never intended to have a wife and kids, he had never bothered to learn more than the basics about human pregnancies. Now he was going to have to play catch-up and learn all he could on the subject.

Several minutes later as he sat there mentally compiling a list of things that he wanted to research, he heard the bathroom lock click open and Lissa slowly opened the door. His heart slammed against his ribs at her appearance.

She looked as though she had just been through hell. Her usual peaches-and-cream complexion was still a pasty white, perspiration dotted her forehead and her long blond hair hung limp around her shoulders.

“I asked for privacy,” she said, sounding completely spent.

“I gave you as much as I thought you needed.” He might fall short with his lack of knowledge, but there was no way he would have left her on her own and gone back downstairs. “Does morning sickness last the entire length of the pregnancy or is it a short-term thing?”

Walking over to sit down on the bed beside him, she shook her head. “Every pregnancy is different. Some women have it for the entire nine months and others aren’t bothered by it at all. My friend in California only had a problem with morning sickness for a month or so before it disappeared.”

Nine months of being sick every morning? Just the thought made his skin crawl. In his estimation even a day or two was way too much.

“Is there something the doctor can give you to keep it from happening?” he asked, hoping there was.

He put his arm around her shoulders and tucked her to his side. Surely in this day and age there had to be something to help a woman get through it.

“I think there is medication to help with the nausea, but since I haven’t been to the doctor yet, it’s irrelevant at the moment.” She yawned. “Maybe it would be a good idea for you to take me back to the resort this afternoon.”

Shane didn’t have to think twice about his answer. “No way.” Rising to his feet, he pulled her up with him, then walked her around to the side of the bed. “There’s no one there to take care of you and as sick as you are, I don’t want you being by yourself.”

“If I need something or someone, I can call Erica,” she said, referring to the half sister the Jarrod children had learned of during the reading of their father’s will.

“We both know you wouldn’t do that,” he stated, pulling back the comforter. “Your sister would want an explanation, and you aren’t ready to give her one.” He motioned for her to lie down. “I told you that I was going to see you through all of this and that is exactly what I intend to do, angel. Now, stretch out and take a nap. Maybe you’ll feel better when you wake up.”

“You’re not going to be a bully about this, are you?” she asked. He thought she might dig her heels in and try to resist him telling her what to do, but to his satisfaction she climbed into bed. “Because if you are, I’m not—”

“Only if I have to be, to make sure I keep you and the baby safe and well,” he said, careful to keep his voice gentle. Pulling the cover up over her, he sat down on the side of the bed. “Now get some rest, Lissa.” It was only after he kissed her smooth cheek that he realized she had already fallen asleep.

Shane wasn’t certain when he had developed the fierce protectiveness that coursed through him now, but there was no denying its presence or its overwhelming strength. Staring down at the blond-haired woman in his bed, he silently made her a promise. No matter what it took, he would do everything in his power to keep her and their child safe and healthy.

“Where’s Cactus?” Melissa asked when she came downstairs to find Shane sitting at the computer in his office.

“He and a couple of the men who stayed around for the weekend are playing poker down at the bunkhouse,” Shane answered, looking up from the screen.

“What excuse did you give him about my … sudden exit from the room?” She could only imagine what the outspoken old man had to say about that.

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