brides for brothers 02 - cowboy daddy (18 page)

If only he wanted to have a part in her life, too.

“Can I at least call you, talk to you occasionally? I can’t just walk away from you.”

Janie almost gasped as she envisioned Pete’s reaction to a call from Bryan, his chief competition. “I don’t think that would be a good idea, Bryan. You need to get on with your life.”

“But I love you!”

They were the words she wanted to hear from Pete. Not from Bryan. “I’m sorry, Bryan, but any relationship we had is over. I’m married.”

His hand reached out to cover hers as it lay on the table. Why couldn’t the man understand what she was telling him? She tugged at his hold on her, but he didn’t let go.

“Bryan—” she began, but an icy voice interrupted her.

“Take your hand off my wife.”

She didn’t need to turn around to know that Pete had arrived on the scene and that he was angry.

“Pete, I’ll take care of this.”

“You’re my wife. I’ll take care of it.” Pete reached over’her shoulder and grasped Bryan’s wrist. “Turn her loose.”

“You’re acting like a caveman,” Bryan protested even as he did as Pete asked. “In Chicago, we’re a little more civilized.”

“I’m sure. And if you want to live a long and fruitful life, I’d suggest you hightail it right back to Chicago. Hitting on another man’s wife out here will get you a broken nose.”

“Pete!” Janie protested. The last thing she wanted was a scene in front of half the town two days after her marriage.

“Listen here, cowboy, you’re not going to tell me what to do!” Bryan unwisely responded.

“The hell I won’t!” Pete said. He punctuated his words with a blow to the man’s nose.

Bryan crumpled to the floor, and everyone stared at Janie and Pete.

Chapter Thirteen

Brett, Megan and B.J. rushed to the table, arriving about the same time Bryan hit the floor.

“Pete! What are you doing?” Brett demanded, grabbing his brother by the arm.

“Protecting my wife,” Pete growled.

Janie closed her eyes briefly and then glared at her husband. “I wasn’t in any danger.”

B.J. helped Bryan to his feet. She felt his nose even as she offered him a napkin to staunch the flow of blood. “I don’t think anything is broken, Mr. Manning. But I’m sure Pete will be glad to pay the doctor bill if you want to go see Dr. Jacoby.”

Brett quickly seconded B.J.’s offer, but Pete didn’t. Janie could still see anger in his eyes as he looked at Bryan. She tugged on her husband’s arm. “Pete, let’s get out of here.”

Without a word, he took her hand and led her outside. Once they were apart from the others, he turned on her. “What were you doing with that man?” The anger dripped from his voice.

“Trying to avoid causing a scene,” she replied in kind. “Wasted effort, as it turns out, since you decided to play Tarzan.”

“You
wanted
to talk to him?”

“No, Pete, I don’t ever want to talk to him again. He was being insistent, which I didn’t like, but I didn’t think I was in any danger.”

Pete looked away, staring across the almost empty street. He removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair. “Probably you weren’t,” he said on an exhaled breath. He kept looking away as he continued, “But if I’m Tarzan, you are
my
Janie, and I won’t have that man hanging around you.”

Janie didn’t know what to make of this man. He both infuriated her and turned her on—all at the same time. Then something occurred to her. “What are you doing in town?”

The guilty look on his face confirmed her suspicions. But he hurriedly said, “Jake wanted me to pick up a part for the snowplow.”

“You were here to check on me, weren’t you?” she demanded. “Do you think I can’t be trusted out of your sight? Do you intend to follow me all over creation?”

“Now, honey—”

“Did I need a note from you to have lunch in town?” She was shouting at him now, unmindful of the people in the parking lot. “Are you afraid I’ll spend all your money? Damn it, Pete! I don’t even know if you have money. You won’t let me do anything. You just want to keep me wrapped in cotton and sitting in a corner somewhere!” She feared she might’ve gone too far, but it felt good to release some of her frustration.

“Janie, are you all right?” Megan asked behind her, putting a hand on her arm.

Janie turned to see Brett, Megan and B.J. watching her, and she promptly burst into tears.

P
ETE SWEPT
J
ANIE
up into his arms and carried her to his pickup. B.J. followed and opened the door to the cab, then closed it behind Janie.

“Pete, emotional swings are normal with pregnancy. Humor her, okay?”

“Don’t you think I should take her to Doc?” he asked, surprised.

“Nope. Everything’s fine. She probably got a little tired today. Let her take a nap, and pretend this crying jag never happened.”

“But it’s so unlike Janie.”

“It’s unlike a nonpregnant Janie. Things are different now.”

You could say that again.

Megan and Brett joined them.

“Are you taking Janie home?” Brett asked.

“Yeah. She needs a nap.”

“But she wanted her car from her parents’ house,” Megan explained.

“So she can run around and get exhausted again?” Pete demanded.

“So she won’t feel trapped,” Megan said quietly. “Pregnancy is new to Janie at the moment, Pete. Letting her have her car won’t hurt anything.”

“And it’s not as if you have a choice,” B.J. argued. “She’s an adult. Adults get to make their own decisions.”

He stared at Janie, sitting in the cab of his truck, wiping the tears from her eyes. She looked at him and then hurriedly turned away.
She hates me.
The thought struck him with such force, he almost reeled back. What was he going to do? Hate was definitely not the emotion he wanted from her.

“Fine. We’ll go by her parents and let her pick up her car. But I’m getting her a cellular phone so she can call if she gets in trouble.”

“Good idea. You take her on back home, and I’ll arrange for the cellular phone,” Brett said. “That is, I will if you can spare the time, Megan, ’cause I don’t have my truck here with me.”

“Of course I can. Why are you both in town, anyway? I thought you were shorthanded at the ranch.”

Pete’s cheeks turned red, but he confessed, “Jake thought up an excuse ’cause I was worried about Janie. I knew she wouldn’t want me to check on her, but—but I was imagining all kinds of disasters.”

“You mean like someone punching another person out and causing a scene?” B.J. teased.

Pete reluctantly grinned. “Something like that.”

After telling them all goodbye, he circled the truck and got in. Janie stared straight ahead.

“Honey, I’ll run you by your folks’ so you can pick up your car. I didn’t think about you needing it.”

She turned to stare at him, surprise on her face.

Finally he’d done something right, thanks to Megan and B.J. Maybe he’d take his marriage problems to those two instead of his brothers. Women seemed to understand other women better than any man did.

J
ANIE TOOK A LONG NAP
, something she never used to do. But she’d learned that everything had changed since she’d become pregnant. And married.

When she came down to dinner, Pete was waiting for her, a wary look on his face. She couldn’t blame him. Her crying had been almost as awkward and bizarre as his scene with Bryan.

But she didn’t want to talk about the afternoon’s events. It brought her emotions too close to the surface. She had to keep her distance from the sexy man she’d married.

Which was hard to do when he took the seat next to her, his broad shoulders touching hers every time he passed a dish to her. It simply wasn’t fair, she decided. Why did he have to be so attractive?

After dinner, she insisted on helping Red clean up. It would give her some distance from Pete. But when Megan volunteered, too, Pete assured her he would help Janie in a voice that brooked no argument.

“You really don’t have to,” she protested anyway. So much for distance!

“You let him be, Janie. He needs to do his share. After all, he didn’t work this afternoon,” Red added, chuckling. “Unless you call rounding up one little stray hard work.”

“I hadn’t strayed, Red. I was with Megan and B.J.”

“And was it Megan and B.J. this old grizzly bear punched out?” Red was more amused by his own humor than his audience was.

“That’s enough, Red,” Pete warned sternly. “This afternoon is best forgotten.”

“Good idea,” Brett agreed, “but it won’t happen around town very soon. Everyone was talking about it.”

Janie groaned. She’d never want to venture into town again.

“I think it’s sweet that he’s so jealous just because another man wanted to talk to you,” Megan said.

“I’d be just as jealous, Meggie,” Chad assured her with a growl.

“Good.” Megan patted his cheek, and he leaned over to kiss her temple.

Janie turned away with a stack of dishes. Megan was right. She should appreciate Pete’s…interest. But she would’ve traded that possessiveness in a minute for just one caress given with love.

Pete arrived at the sink beside her. “Sure you’re up to this? I can handle the dishes if you’re too tired.”

“No, thank you. I had a long nap today.”

Polite. They were being exceptionally polite around each other tonight, as if they were strangers.

“Okay. I’ll wash and you dry.”

He handed her a dish towel, and Janie took a step back. When she got too close to him, she had to fight a ridiculous urge to throw herself at him.

Distracted, she began running water in the sink.

“I’ll wash,” Pete repeated. “There’s no point in you getting dishpan hands.” Without warning, he put his hands on her waist and shifted her over.

The warmth of his touch was wonderful but all too brief. She really was going to have to get her hormones under control.

They completed the dishes with only occasional words exchanged, all surface, all polite.

Pete invited her to come watch a special on television afterward, but she refused. She couldn’t take more close contact with him without losing control completely.

Going upstairs, she ran some hot water in the tub and added bath bubbles. After the difficult day she’d had, she needed some soothing.

She would’ve preferred Pete’s hands to do that job, but she couldn’t ask him. He was treating her like a stranger, someone he didn’t know. Not like his lover.

Of course, she wasn’t.

But she wanted to be again.

By the time the water had cooled, she was sleepy. Changing into her pajamas, she slipped under the covers, ready to go to sleep.

A knock on the bathroom door did away with all that relaxation. “Yes?”

“It’s Pete. May I come in?”

“Of course.” She pulled the covers to her chin.

“You’re really going to sleep?”

“Why, yes.”

“Oh. I bought you something today while I was in town.”

“I know. Megan told me. The cellular phone. I appreciate it, Pete, but I don’t think I need it tonight.”

“No. I mean, yes, I bought you the phone, but I bought you something else, too.”

Curiosity filled her. “What?”

“I noticed you were reading Dick Francis. When we were in the bookstore today, I saw his latest in hardback and I bought it for you.” He pulled his hand from behind his back and held out the book to her.

Janie’s eyes filled. Drat the tears! She never cried, but right now she was so moved by his kindness. “Thank you, Pete. I’ll enjoy reading it. That was very thoughtful of you.”

He brought the book over to her. “I’ll leave it here by your bed. I didn’t realize I’d need it, but I guess it’s kind of an apology for, you know, hitting Bryan.”

“It’s all right. He probably deserved it.”

Pete seemed surprised by her words, but she’d long forgiven his actions this afternoon.

“Thanks. Then—then I guess I’ll say good-night.”

He bent down and kissed her brow. Janie, expecting a real kiss, like this morning’s, found herself empty and unfulfilled as he left her room, closing the door behind him.

Now he was really being too polite.

But she couldn’t blame him. The fault was her own. He was only complying with her request. His promise to renegotiate their agreement after the babies were born had made her believe he still wanted her. Now she wasn’t so sure.

Had her refusal to let their marriage be a real one killed even his desire for her?

He was such a special man. His thoughtfulness proved that. And no matter how staunchly she tried to deny it, she loved him. In fact, she always had.

What was she going to do now? Seduce him? Tell him she’d changed her mind? Send out an invitation to her bed? Move back into his bed?

She fell asleep debating her alternatives.

T
HE REST OF THE FAMILY
sat in the television room, watching a special. During advertisements, Megan told Chad about the baby cribs she and Janie had found that morning.

“They’re the only matched pair in town, so it was nice that Janie liked them. I hope she and Pete buy them before one is sold.”

Jake, sitting nearby, leaned forward. “Did you see them?”

“Oh, yes, we studied them for half an hour. Janie fell in love with them, and I did, too. She said when—I mean, if—Chad and I have a baby, we’d be able to use them, too.”

Jake grinned. “That’s right. Start a family tradition with special baby cribs. Where are they?”

“McAnally’s. We looked at sheets and bumper pads, but the ones Janie liked have to be ordered.”

“Did she place an order?” Jake asked.

“Well, no, she wanted to wait until Pete had a chance to look at them,” Megan explained.

“Would you have time to go into town tomorrow afternoon with me? I’d like to buy that stuff as a surprise for them,” Jake said. Looking at his two younger brothers and Red, he added, “A surprise. Got that, guys?”

With big grins, the others nodded their compliance.

T
HE NEXT MORNING
, after breakfast, Janie called her mother. During their conversation, Janie realized what she needed to do. She would return to her parents’ each morning and do half a day’s work on her father’s computer, keeping his paperwork up-to-date.