Jill Lynn - The Rancher's Unexpected Baby

Before Nicole had run off with James the Homewrecker, Emma had dated him.

The whole ordeal was embarrassing. Mortifying. She’d been so naive and foolish. Emma should have known immediately that everything James spouted was a lie—as if anyone would ever find her as irresistible as he had claimed she was—but she’d allowed herself to be swept away by his flattering words and gestures. He’d been as fake and slimy as the toy goo her niece Ruby liked to play with.

“Morning.” Gage’s voice had that scratchy, unused-as-of-yet quality.

“How’s Hudson? How’d the night go? Did either of you sleep?”

His mouth tugged up at the corners, and her girlish hopes and dreams gave a collective sigh at what would never be. “Come in, Emma.”

She did, the quiet click of the door sounding behind her. There was no sign of the baby anywhere...

She took off her coat, and Gage hung it in the front closet, storing her purse, too. She set her tea on the entry table as Gage motioned for her to follow him. They walked down the hall and into the guest bedroom. With beige walls and a simple olive green bedspread on the full-size bed, the room was masculine. If Hudson stayed, she’d offer to help redo it into something more fitting for a baby boy. Maybe with a vintage airplane theme in honor of his father, Zeke. A nice framed sketch or two, with a light blue color on the walls. Brown accents.

Getting ahead of yourself, girl. Rein it in.

Emma didn’t even know how the night had gone, and here she was, planning the future.

Hudson was asleep on his back in the portable crib, one chubby hand above his head in a fist like he was cheering in victory. As if sensing their presence, his eyelids fluttered, then opened.

“What a good boy you are! You slept in your own bed? Such a big boy.” Emma had him in her arms before he could consider crying.

“Actually, he slept with me in the recliner for most of the night.” Visions of Hudson snoozing on Gage’s chest made her own constrict.

Was there a more attractive picture than that?

Emma laid him on the bed and proceeded to change his diaper while he studied both her and Gage. Hudson arched his back when she tried to put his footie pajamas back on his feet, so she tickled his tummy, distracting him so that she could finish the task.

“Are you hungry?” Emma asked Hudson as she picked him back up.

“Ba.”

“Ba,” she repeated back to him. “That could mean yes. Or no. Or nothing.” Her amusement earned a drowsy smile from him in return. “Do you like scrambled eggs?” Those were soft. Or he might prefer a bottle or pureed baby food. “Let’s go figure out some breakfast.”

The three of them moved into the kitchen. “Here.” She handed the baby to Gage and retrieved the eggs from the fridge. She knew they’d be inside because she’d asked Mackenzie to pick up groceries yesterday morning to leave at Gage’s. Just in case he didn’t have much. He was, after all, a guy. And based on past conversations, she didn’t think Gage was much of a cook.

Gage held Hudson facing out so he could see his surroundings. Still not perfectly at ease, but better than last night. “Andrea—his previous nanny—already texted this morning to check on him.”

“That was nice of her.”

“Definitely. I told her he’s doing well. Not that I knew exactly how he would wake up. But at least then you’d be here, so I wouldn’t have to worry.”

“Sounds like you two did great.” Emma flashed a grin at Hudson as she made her way to the stove with the eggs and a carton of milk. He kicked and waved his arms in answer. “Sweet boy.” She leaned in, pressing numerous kisses to his forehead. “If you slept all night, I bet you’re hungry.”

Emma turned to Gage’s cupboards and scrounged for a bowl, hiding a megawatt smile. It had worked! Her plan to abandon Gage and Hudson had panned out.

Gage hadn’t answered all of the questions she’d lobbed at him while on his front step, but he wasn’t a haggard mess. He’d managed a shower. That had to be a good sign.

Emma had hoped and prayed Hudson would sleep well. She’d also anticipated some fussiness or possibly a meltdown—from him or Gage. But the scenario she’d walked into this morning was way better than she’d imagined.

Maybe convincing Gage to keep the baby would be easier than she’d thought.

* * *

“He didn’t exactly sleep all night.”

Emma cracked an egg and emptied it into the glass bowl, placing the shell on a paper towel. “Oh, he didn’t? That’s a bummer. So what happened? Did he cry?”

“He woke up at about five.”

Her hand froze midcrack on the second egg, clear liquid sliding down the outside of the glass bowl. She finished dumping in what was left, then wiped up the spill with a paper towel. After foraging a piece of shell out of the eggs, she tossed the paper towel and shell into the trash.

“I heard a noise around then.”

Emma’s head whipped in his direction, panic dancing in her silver-blue eyes. “You did? What was it? Ouch.” Her fingers dug into the side of her neck as she faced the counter again.

“A vehicle, and I don’t think it would have been one of the guys. Too early. Do you have a knot?”

“Yeah, but it’s not a big deal. So...you didn’t see who it was?”

“No. When I moved, Hudson roused. I fed him a bottle and he went back to sleep. That’s when I laid him in his bed.”

“Oh, what a relief.”

That was a strange response. Unless... It couldn’t have been Emma he’d heard this morning, could it? But why would she be here at that hour?

Gage switched Hudson to his left arm. “Let me.” He took over massaging the knot for her. The faint hint of something sweet—like vanilla or cinnamon—teased his senses. His stomach rumbled, thankfully quietly, in response. To the idea of food or Emma herself?

The first, of course. Emma was too young for him and too...pristine. Like a dish someone would put on a high shelf and then never use. He was world-weary and disheartened regarding relationships—like an old, dirty slop bucket used for feeding pigs. The two items didn’t belong in the same vicinity. Emma deserved a fresh relationship with a man who hadn’t been through what he had. Who wasn’t jaded. And who wanted kids.

Strange that his mind had even traveled in that direction regarding her. He’d known her for a couple of years and it never had before.

“You don’t need to do that.” Emma motioned to his kneading, while at the same time relaxing her neck in the other direction to allow him access. “But it feels really good.” Since Emma faced the counter, she couldn’t see his amused grin. He liked how the truth rolled from her tongue, often, it seemed, without her permission.

Except at this moment, when she was acting a bit elusive.

“Thanks for the massage.” Emma returned to the eggs, cracking and adding two more. “Well, I’m glad it wasn’t worse, that Hudson wasn’t up every hour or two.”

Dread rolled through him. “Babies do that?”

“They can when they’re little. Probably not at this age, but with all he’s been through...not impossible. Especially with the new surroundings.”

“So how’d you sleep last night?”

“Great.” The word reeked of fake perkiness. “Where’s your frying pan?”

He pointed with the toe of his leather slipper to the lower cupboard. She found a small one, then sprayed it with oil and set it on the burner.

Hudson squirmed in his arms, and Gage put him on the floor. He crawled across the kitchen to the dining table and began inspecting a chair. He put a hand on the bottom rung and attempted to pull up, then wobbled and dropped back to the ground. Confusion and worry puckered his little brow as he made his way back to them. Poor kid. Everything was new and different for him.