Second Song Cowboy (Second Chance) (22 page)

He pushed away from the rail. “Maybe it’s time you put your priorities straight.”

“I do have my priorities straight. I’m here, aren’t I?” she snapped.

“Are you here? We’re married, April. You can’t even tell your mother the truth. Are you ashamed of us?” His eyes darkened.

“Shhh! Mother is in the house and can hear.” She tossed a glance over her shoulder.

He chuckled and shook his hea
d. “Then let’s lessen the risk of her hearing a damned thing.” With a dip of his hat, he turned and headed back to his truck.

“Dant
e? Come back.” Goosebumps knitted her flesh as a full-blown ache exploded across her forehead. He didn’t even look her way as he sped out of the drive, kicking up rocks in his wake.

Her cell rang from inside the house. She grabbed it before the third ring. “Hello?”

“I’m on my way to your hideaway. My flight leaves in an hour.” Kiefer’s sharp tone cracked the line.

“That’s not necessary—” A loud click was followed
by a busy signal. He’d hung up.

The last thing she needed was another angry male with high expectations. Would anyone see that she was trying very hard to do what’s right for everyone?

“April, are you okay?”

Hearing her mother’s voice, April shortened the distance between them. “No, I’m not.”

Anneta opened her arms wide in invitation. April sucked in a breath then exhaled as she stepped into her mother’s hug. “No worries, my dear. Everything will be okay. Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll help fix things.”

****

“This is bullshit! Two of the bastards were outside of Peyton’s studio taking photographs.” Dillon shot a hand up to rub his jaw as he paced the floor in the living room.

Dante hadn’t seen his brother this angry in a long time. Dillon wanted to protect his wife, and Dante understood completely.

Peyton, who’d been quiet up until this point, intervened. She moved in and laid a hand on her husband’s chest, stopping him. “Walking a worn spot into the floor won’t help matters. Sit with me, okay?” Dillon’s jaw immediately relaxed.

“You don’t need this. Not when you’re expecting.”

“What’s that?” Dante asked.

Peyton
gave Dillon an exasperated look before she said to Dante, “I didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag right now. At least not until your wedding was over. Everything’s just a bit off kilter right now.”

“Congratulations to you both. I mean that.” Dante gave Peyton a hug then shook Dillon’s hand.

“Did I miss something while I was out on asshole duty?” Deckland asked as he stepped into the room.

“I wanted to wait until I told you both, but Dillon and I are having a baby,” Peyton’s voice shook with emotion.

“Well, hells bells, brother.” Deckland dragged Dillon into a beefy bear hug and a loud pound on the back. He pushed him back, then said to Peyton. “Come here, girl.”

“Just don’t squeeze me that hard.” She laughed.

He gently hugged her shoulders and lifted her off her feet. “Damn, y’all, I’m going to be an uncle twice.” Deckland’s expression filled with excitement.

“I’m sorry that you had the problem at the studio, Pey,” Dante said as he felt a rush of guilt.

“Let’s not blow this out of proportion.” She looked at Dillon. “Sweetheart, I understand you feel like you must protect me, but all the photographer did was take a picture from across the street, not throw the camera at me. The concern is for Dante and April. She wants happiness and is well deserving of peace.”

“No one is at fault in this, except for the jerks looking for a story,” Deckland said.
"We’re a family and we’ll support each other. April wants this wedding and that’s what she’s going to get, right Dante?”

Dante had been in deep thought and barely heard his brother’s words. “What?”

“The wedding will go on as planned. You want your wife content and this is what she wants.”

“
Sure, Deck, of course,” Dante answered.

“Then the engagement party will continue tomorrow as planned and I’ll call in a few friends who can make sure no one gets on this property who isn’t invited. Peyton, do you have the list of
what we need to do?” Deckland pulled things together, as usual.

“Yes. I have
many things I need from each of you. Dante?”

He looked at Peyton. “Yes?”

“My orders for you are to take care of your wife and let us do all of the preparations. You make sure she and her mother are here on time. Okay?”

He nodded as his gut ached.

Dante felt his world tumbling down around his ears. Here on the ranch it was easy to forget that April was a popular country singer. She’d lost the designer labels and went back to
being the downhome girl who enjoyed simpler things in life. After their intense argument yesterday, he’d left the farm steaming mad. Not at her, not really. More at himself. He’d thought since she was pregnant she’d want to remain in town and be a mother—they’d be a family. Never would he have guessed that she’d want to go back to a lifestyle that had drained her dry.

How had things went south at the speed of a
racehorse?

He wondered if April worried about how he’d take care of
her.

Hell, he didn’t have
the rich bank account like her, or her family’s for that matter, but he wasn’t poor. Yet, when he compared his riches to April’s, his looked like the dingy boat next to the luxury ship.

He’d never needed a whole lot in life. He’d always been a simple man with little needs. Could April live this way? Fact was, he could never leave his home, the ranch and his brothers. April’s life back in Nashville had no place for a man like him.

Chapter Twenty-One

APRIL GLANCED AT her reflection in the full-length mirror as excitement dripped through her.

After Dante had called her
earlier asking her and her mother to come for dinner at Brooke Creek with the family, she’d anxiously searched all of her clothes and came up empty on what to wear. Everything was too small, except for a couple pairs of shorts and tank tops. She’d ordered a new wardrobe online, but nothing had arrived yet.

Thankfully,
her mother found a yellow, summery dress at the boutique in town that fit her blooming figure. April hadn’t left the farm since the media explosion.

Smoothing her hands down her new curves, she realized h
er body was changing and she wasn’t sure this was the pregnancy glow she’d heard all the fuss about. Her breasts were tender and swollen. Her face was broken out and she had the weirdest cravings—ice cream with hot sauce.

Her stomach
was growing fast, making everything seem real. She would be a mother.

Her heart fluttered. Each day brought more
awareness.

Now if she could manage her relationship with Dante
, things would be perfect.

She’d started
to get things in perspective. Before Kiefer left for Texas, he’d sent out a press release stating that April was back in Nashville, refreshed after a vacation and was neck deep in a new album. A hired model, closely resembling April, was used to thwart media. From what she’d heard, the tabloids believed the ruse. However, that didn’t disengage the media’s interest in Dante. She’d heard though that Deckland had scared a few people off his property and was on photographer patrol.

Shrugging off any negativity, she went downstairs.

Kiefer and her mother were waiting in the kitchen. “Is Dante here yet?” she asked.

“No, not yet, but you look gorgeous.”
Anneta beamed. April swept a glance over her mother’s designer top, long skirt to the black, bejeweled high heels. She didn’t have the heart to tell her mother that she was overdressed.

“Thank you. And Kiefer, are you sure you’re okay with accompanying us? It’s not really your cup of tea.”

Kiefer tugged at his neon blue tie. “I’ve told you that I’m not letting you out of my sight until this whole rumor mill comes to a dead stop. Someone has to be looking out for your career if you’re not willing to.” He rolled his eyes.

April smiled. She had a feeling through all of his talk
that he did care for her.

Hearing tires on gravel, her heart picked up speed as her palms
turned clammy. She hadn’t seen Dante since he’d stormed away angry. Tonight she would make everything right. Rolling her ring around her finger, she swallowed back her anxiety. She was married to the man and yet every time he pulled into the driveway she was that teenage girl again waiting for the boy of her dreams.

She heard the truck door slam and she wrung her hands together. He was coming. Soon he’d be near her and everything would be okay.

Boots on porch.

Several creaks of the old wood.

The loud squeak of the screen door opening.

She brought her chin up, their gazes met. Her chest tightened and she resisted the urge to run into his arms and melt.

Sexy and virile. That’s all she could think as she smoothed her gaze over his blue-striped button down and nice fitting jeans. She’d missed him.

“I’m starting to like Texas more and more,” Kiefer practically meowed the words.

Dante then slid his attention to the other man. “I’m Dante. And you are…?”

“I’m Kiefer, April’s manager.” He
held out a manicured hand. Shaking hands, Kiefer’s lips parted slightly. “My…what large, callused hands you have.”

Dante chuckled. “I guess they are.”

“We haven’t seen much of you lately.” Anneta patted her perfectly coiffed blonde hair.

“April has been enjoying her time with you. I’ll h
ave her all to myself during our honeymoon. And April and I have many years to come.” Honey oozed from the top of Aprils roots to the tips of her toes. She loved that man with her entire being. He was right, it was time she got her priorities straight. He took a step toward her and butterflies fluttered inside of her stomach. “You’re beautiful.” He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. Her knees quaked. “Are you ready, sweetheart?”

Ready wasn’t the word.
Hyped up on endorphins, every part of her body screamed for hot cowboy. Her nipples bunched against the material of her tight bra and her thong suddenly felt two sizes too small. The flesh at her inner thighs quivered and her juices flowed, moistening her panties. Could it be possible that she wanted him more each time she saw him?

“
Anneta and I will be riding in my Benz. We will run along and allow you two lovebirds a moment of privacy.” Kiefer ushered her mother out the door. April swore she heard her mother’s exasperated sigh, but now, all that mattered was her husband.

“I’m so sorry, Dante.” Her vision blurred. The roller coaster
started its decline.

“No apology necessary. I’m a tough-skinned man and can take a lot.”

She charged into him and he folded his arms tight around her. Laying her head against his chest, she listened to the strong beat of his heart. “I don’t want to be without you again,” she murmured into the material of his shirt.

“We’re together, sweetheart. We just have different addresses at the moment.” He buried his nose in her hair and she heard his deep inhale. “My God you smell so good.”

His zipper swelled against her stomach and she rubbed against the bulge. “We’re on the same page.” She brought her face upward and wriggled her brows.

“Damn, woman! I must insist that you stay the night with me. I miss holding you.” His raspy voice brought the hair up on her arms.

“I think that can be arranged.” He brought his mouth to hers and dug his fingers into her hair. By the time he brought his head up, she was breathless and filled with need. “Do we have to leave?”

He stepped back. “Yes, we do. I’d have a lot of angry folks if I didn’t come back with you.”

“Is that right?” Curiosity charged her. “What’s going on?”

He shrugged. “Just an engagement dinner for a lovely country singer.”

A smile pressed her lips. “An engagement dinner?”

“It’s only a private affair.”

“How long have you known about this?”

“For some time. Peyton did most of the work and I just sat back and fiddled my thumbs,” he admitted.

“I know this hasn’t been easy. Can you stick it out a little longer?” she asked.

“Hell, I waited fifteen years. What’s another few weeks?”

****

Dante watched Apr
il across the yard. She was standing with Peyton and Kiefer, her head bent back and laughter spilling from her pretty lips. Her hair was bouncing across her rosy cheeks and her eyes twinkled with joy. He’d never seen a lovelier woman.

This is the way he wanted to see her every day.

His gaze dropped to her stomach. Although the material of the dress was loose fitting, he could see the baby bump and it stole his breath. She carried
his
child. A part of them grew within her, their blood and bones entwined. What better gift could a man receive?