Love & Rodeo (17 page)

“
You’re so beautiful it hurts,” Levi said as he ran his hand from her cheek down her chest to her stomach and down her leg.

He kissed her tanned leg until she reached for him and pulled his lips to hers. He kissed her neck.

“
Please?” Kallie asked.

“
Tell me you want me.” Levi looked down at her and watched as she squirmed.

She looked up at him and it was nearly his undoing, but he needed to hear those words. He needed to know that it wasn’t all just a dream, and what they had, did happen.

“
I want you, Levi. I want you so bad it hurts.”

He watched as a tear escaped her eye and ran down to the mattress beneath her.

“
We can stop if you want,” he told her as he wiped away the tear.

She shook her head. “No. I want this. I want you. I want to remember you this way,” she told him.

The words took his breath away and he couldn’t stop himself from saying those words. The words he’d only ever said to her.

“
I love you, Kallie.”

She kissed him with an intensity he didn’t know she possessed, crushing his lips. She pushed him onto his back and climbed atop him, her lips never leaving his. He felt her hands on his length as she raised her hips to line him up with her opening. He opened his eyes and she was looking at him as she kissed him. She pulled back just as she started to slide down his length. Her warmth surrounded him on all sides and he gasped as she moaned. She shuddered as she took in all of him. Raising her hips again, she sat back down on him, drawing a moan from deep inside his chest. She raised her hips once more, this time increasing her speed. He watched as she completely gave herself over to the action of pleasuring him. He watched as she rode him with an unbridled passion he was sure he’d never know again. Her head angled back as she rocked her body with his. Needing to feel his lips against her skin, he sat up cradling her against him as he laid kisses on her face, down her jaw to her neck, and then collarbone, while she continued her assault on him. She kissed him and her hair fell around them, shutting them out from the rest of the world. He felt an ache in his chest when he opened his eyes to glance at her. She was staring back at him, studying his face as if she was committing it to her memory. She rocked bringing him to the brink. Together they came, clinging to one another for dear life.

They lay in one another’s arms as Levi stroked her hair.

“
I know you have your reasons, but, Kallie, I would’ve made you happy.”

“
I know, Levi.”

He held her through the night as she cried. He held her as she tried to explain to him that her sister needed her and she was the only family that Nora had left. She wouldn’t leave her alone. He held her as she cried and cursed the loss of her parents, and he held her when she told him she hated herself for everything. In the end, he couldn’t argue with her. He couldn’t be mad at her. He loved her and he was convinced that she loved him too. It didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt, and it didn’t mean that he felt like there was a gaping hole in his chest where she’d ripped out his heart. He held her until her breathing steadied and she eventually fell asleep.

* * * *

The following morning, he woke early. He got dressed and left his favorite T-shirt on the foot of the bed knowing she liked sleeping in it. He watched her for a few minutes as she lay tangled in the sheets and her hair splayed across her pillow. She looked like an angel in the morning light and it took all the strength he could muster to get up and walk from the small bedroom, to walk away from sweet perfection. He walked quietly out the door and to the main hall to collect his earnings, including the brand new truck. He took the key and climbed in. He sat there for a minute reliving the previous night before he shoved them away and sped out of the parking lot—away from Las Vegas and away from her.

* * * *

Kallie woke with a start. She reached for Levi, but he wasn’t there and neither were his bags. With her stomach in knots, she dressed and loaded Blaze. There was no sense in looking for him. He was gone.

Chapter Eighteen

One Month Later

“
Are you sure you want to do this?” Luke stood studying the open field in front of them before he turned to look at the large house behind her.

“
It’s a steal, and with our earnings, we have more than enough money to do this.”

“
What about the adoption?”

“
It’s still happening. The lawyer said it will take about three months before a judge even reviews the case.”

“
You want to buy this place and get it up and running in three months?”

She smiled at him. “It’s a great deal. Why not?”

“
The house is run down,” Luke pointed out.

“
Nothing that a few coats of paint and some furnishings won’t fix.” She hugged Luke’s arm. “Come on! You know you want to!”

He looked down at her and smiled. “What the hell?”

She jumped and hugged him. It was the first bit of excitement she’d felt in weeks. It had been thirty-two days since she’d won the NBRA World Championship and the days had been dark and terrible. When she got home she tried to pretend her heart wasn’t completely shattered, but it was.

Within days of arriving home, she filed to adopt Nora as promised. After her parents died, Kallie wouldn’t allow herself to fall into the deep depression that threatened to overtake her, but this time she did.

A wave of depression crashed into her, and for a week she hardly left her room, and eating had been out of the question. Her phone rang quite a bit, but she couldn’t bring herself to answer it. Grams tried, but nothing worked. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, but when Luke showed up with understanding in his eyes, she clung to him as a new round of tears fell down her face. She cried for everything she lost, and for everything she had given up.

“
How did you know?”

“
Travis, he called me.”

“
I love him so much, Luke.”

He hugged her closer. “I know.”

“
I couldn’t stand by and watch as he gave everything up to help me raise my little sister.”

“
I know.”

Later, Grams would call Luke a “godsend” and she had set up a room for him. He had been the only person who could get through to her, and the only person she wanted besides Levi.

* * * *

Two Weeks Later

“
Kallie? Are you okay?” Luke called from the front entryway of the farmhouse they purchased together.

“
I’m fine!” Kallie called from the toilet bowl.

She heard his boots hitting the floor as he walked through the old farmhouse toward the hall bathroom where she had been cleaning. He entered the doorway and looked down at her.

“
Are you sick?” he asked.

“
I wish,” she said as she started crying.

He sat down on the floor beside her and pulled her into his arms. “Are you sure?”

He knew.

“
I’m two weeks late. I’m pretty sure.”

He pushed her hair from her face and kissed her forehead. “Oh, Kallie.” Luke hugged her tight as she cried.

They sat there for a few minutes until she heard the front door open and her sister’s footsteps running through the house. They stopped at the door to the bathroom.

“
Kallie? Luke? Is she okay?”

“
Yeah. Nora, just give us a few minutes okay? Why don’t you go make sure there is plenty of water for the workers outside. I’ll be along shortly.”

Nora did as she was told, while Luke helped Kallie up off of the floor.

“
What would I do without you? You’re a good friend, Luke.”

They started for her small bedroom at the top of the stairs, the master downstairs was for Grams.

“
Are you going to call, Levi?”

She shot a look at him. “Why?”

“
Kallie? You’re pregnant with his baby. If it were mine, I’d want to know.”

“
I don’t know, Luke. I haven’t really thought about this.”

“
Well, it’s happening, Kallie. You better think about it, and you’d better call Levi.”

“
The fall circuit just began.”

“
You think he cares about that?”

“
He has to think about his future right now, Luke. He deserves that world title.”

“
Kallie, whether you want to admit it or not, you and this baby are his future now.”

“
Yeah? How do you think you’ll fit into all of this then?”

“
I’ll still be your business partner, Kallie,” Luke said, holding her arm.

Kallie sighed. “You don’t have to help me. I threw up. I’m not handicapped,” she snapped.

“
I know.” He huffed, letting her go as they turned the corner into the bedroom. “Clearly, I’ve pissed you off.” He took his hat off before looking at her. “Kallie, I think you should get an appointment with a doctor. Make sure everything is okay. The last couple of weeks haven’t been easy on your body.”

He turned to walk away and she caught his arm. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be mean to you.”

If anything she was so very thankful for him and the ranch, pulling her from the depression she found herself in. The last thing she wanted was to be mean to him. She’d given up so much for Levi and it was for nothing. This baby would take it all from him. She would take it all from him.

“
I know, Kallie. Just call your doctor, okay?”

He hugged her and kissed her forehead before he retreated down the stairs and out the front door.

Kallie knew it was wrong to string him along. She knew he wasn’t completely over her, but in all fairness, she had told him she didn’t want any kind of relationship when he agreed to go into business with her. He assured her that they were just friends, and they were, but every now and again she could see the pain it caused him, and that hurt more than she cared to admit.

Everything was finally coming together. They’d bought the property, the repairs to the house were underway, and the barn package was almost together. The guest shacks would be in by the end of the month. Their dream of starting a rodeo clinic and ranch was coming true. They were doing well—until now. She put her hand on her stomach and swore she was already showing a little.

Kallie sat down on her bed and thought about her and Luke’s plan to turn the property into a rodeo clinic. People would come for two weeks at a time to learn how to barrel race and bull ride. Luke’s parents offered a mix of bulls and promised Kallie a few barrel horses to get them started. A baby could ruin all of it for them, not to mention Levi’s plans. She remembered what Joan told her in the kitchen the one morning about being careful, and they were until their last time together. Tangled in one another, they’d forgotten to use protection and now she was pregnant. She was twenty-two and pregnant.

The last six weeks had been filled with nothing, but tears for her. She promised herself that once she and Luke signed the papers on the ranch, she’d be over it, but the hormones coursing through her body hadn’t allowed it. She thought about what Levi would say, or how he would react to the news, and then started to cry all over again. This would ruin his life and everything he was working toward. She would ruin his life. She sighed.

“
Time to put your big girl panties on,” Kallie told herself as she pulled out her phone.

She found the number to her gynecologist and hit send. After a few rings there was an answer. Kallie filled the office in on all the details and they gave her an appointment for the following week. When she hung up with them, she wrote it down on her calendar before going downstairs to continue cleaning. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but until she decided, she had a ranch to get together.

* * * *

The following week, Kallie went to her appointment with Luke by her side.

“
Are you nervous?” Luke asked her as he flipped through a pregnancy magazine.

Kallie looked around the room. There were several women in the office. One woman in the corner had a little girl with her that looked to be around three. She was screaming and crying at her mom. Kallie cringed and then moved to the next woman. She looked big and pregnant and about to pop. She was absolutely miserable. The next lady was crying profusely, making Kallie want to cry as well.

“
A little.”

He put his arm around her. “You’re going to be fine.”

She looked up at him and he smiled at her.

“
Kallie Davis.” The nurse called her name.