SUSAN MEIER - Snowbound Baby

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?”