The Cowboy's Saving Grace, an erotic western novella (Taming the Cowboy) (9 page)

"Can Noah skip preschool tomorrow and we can go to the zoo or something? The three of us. You can show me what I need to be aware of."

For a moment, he thought she'd protest.

But then she nodded. "All right. You can pick us up at ten. The zoo doesn't open until then in the winter."

"I can't come home with you?"

She shook her head. "I don’t think that’s a good idea."

"Why not?"

She looked around at the customers who were paying attention, and he got it. He took the beer she set in front of him and sat back on the barstool.

He realized something as he watched her work, going back and forth behind the bar. They'd done everything backwards, had sex, had a kid, had sex, figured out the parenting. Time to set things in the right order.

***

He arrived at her apartment a little before ten, breakfast in hand. Grace answered the door, hair still wet from her shower, wearing his T-shirt from the other day. He should get it back from her, but didn't feel right wearing it anymore. He wasn't advertising a need to get laid, not by anyone but her.

She cast a look at the bag of doughnuts in his hand. "We already ate. I can whip you up some eggs and bacon. There might be some leftover biscuits in the kitchen."

"I'm good, and these'll keep. Where's my man?"

Noah barreled out of the kitchen then, and plowed right into Liam's legs, knocking him off balance.

"McDonald!"

Liam met Grace's curious look. "That's the only kid song I know, so we sing it." He lifted Noah and looked into his son's green eyes. "Think we can work on calling me Daddy?"

Grace made a sound that Liam didn't take time to decipher.

Noah's grin widened. "Daddy!"

Jesus. Something pricked the backs of Liam's eyes. What the hell? He hugged the kid tighter and looked at Grace, who'd turned away, bending over to tuck shit in her purse.

"Am I going to have to get a bag or something to cart his stuff around?"

She shook her head. "He's potty trained and doesn't take a bottle anymore, but I like to take juice and snacks and water, and something to keep him entertained. Plus there's the stroller and car seat, which I'll need to get out of my car."

Liam nodded solemnly, thinking of his kitchen in the RV, stocked with beer, water and chips. He was going to need to resupply if he was going to be a good daddy.  "Gotcha. Ready to go, then?"

"Let me change my shirt."

"I like that one on you."

"You're going to need it back."

He touched her arm, drawing her gaze. "No. I'm not."

She rolled her eyes, like she didn't believe him, and walked into her bedroom. He shifted, just a bit, so he could watch her change, the play of her muscles as she tugged on a long-sleeved shirt. Baggy, he noted when she turned back to him and picked up her jean jacket. He'd try not to read anything into her choice of wardrobe. Instead, he bounced Noah on his arm. "Let's go to the zoo."

***

Grace wanted to find fault with Liam as he drove, as he parked, as he figured out the stroller, as he paid the fee for the zoo, but he was good-natured about it all. She tried to step back, to let him make choices when Noah made demands, tried to see how he would handle it, but she couldn't.

"You know, I can make some mistakes," he told her as he wheeled the stroller past the bear enclosure. "I'm sure you did, when you were figuring it out."

She wanted to take offense at that, but couldn't dismiss the exploding baby bottle on the stove or the diapers she hadn't fastened well enough, so that it fell off leaving a trail of poo all through the apartment. The second-hand walker that had lost a wheel, sending Noah tumbling into the corner of the coffee table. The time she'd forgotten to raise the side of the crib and had awakened to the refrigerator door wide open and all its contents—well, all its contents within Noah's reach—on the floor. She’d gone right out and bought safety latches after that, because it could have been so much worse.

"So where's your family?" he asked when they passed an older couple, obviously enjoying their day with their preschool-aged grandkids.

"They haven't had anything to do with me since I was sixteen."

"That's a long time. I guess they don't know about Noah, either?"

"They may. I talk to my sister now and again."

"I don't think you ever told me why you had a falling-out."

The zoo probably wasn't the time to have this conversation, especially in front of Noah. "I come from a very religious family.” She paused, realizing she didn’t know if he came from a religious family or not. She didn’t even know that much about him. Still, she continued what she’d started. She was good at that. “I was kind of rebellious. The more they told me 'no,' the more I wanted to do. So I turned every 'don't' into a 'do.' 'Don't drink' meant I started drinking when I was fourteen. 'Don't smoke,' same thing, though that was ironic because I stole my father's cigarettes. 'Don't sleep around,' well, I waited another year for that one. I don't know if they were oblivious, or if it merely took me running off to Las Vegas with one of my dad's co-workers when I was sixteen for them to figure it out. Once I was here, they didn't want me back. And after that weekend, neither did the co-worker. Turned out he was married with little kids." She hadn't told the story in so long, it almost seemed like it belonged to someone else. Still, her own stupidity stung. What would have become of her if she’d followed the rules, stayed at home?

She wouldn’t have Noah, then, so she couldn’t think like that.

"So you were stranded here."

Why was she telling him this, letting him know what a dummy she’d been? Because, well, if anyone would understand, it would be him. "Pretty much. I lied about my age and got a job with Claire that kept me off the street. I think she knew I was underage so she didn't put me on stage until I was eighteen."

"Even that was damn young."

"It made me feel powerful, when I danced. Here were all these men, who were bigger, stronger than me, and I could reduce them to a puddle of drool just by wiggling my ass."

Now she did shut up, aware of the little kids nearby. Liam reached over and took her hand. Her first instinct was to pull away. The last thing she wanted was his sympathy. But he didn’t seem to be offering anything more than understanding, though she wouldn’t look at his face. And God, had he ever just held her hand? Just walked with her, not dragging her to the bedroom? It felt...nice. Good. She felt her guard slip, just a little.

It slipped further at lunch, when she let Liam arrange Noah’s food for him.

“Have you always been this patient?”

“Have to be when you work with horses. I figure kids aren’t much different.” He angled his head to meet her gaze. “But no, I’m not always patient. Working on it, though.”

What did he mean by that?

He drove them back to the apartment not long after lunch, and Noah zonked out in his car seat. Liam put the stroller back in her trunk, then carried boy and car seat up to the apartment.

“When’s your next night off?” He leaned against the wall and watched her take her son out of the car seat and tuck him into bed.

She looked over at him. “Want me to come see you ride again?”

“Want to take you dancing.”

She straightened so quickly, she bumped the bed and Noah made a sound of protest. “What?”

“We never did that before, went dancing. I’m pretty good, I bet you’re pretty good. I think we’d have fun.”

“Like, a date?”

He chuckled. “Is that such an odd concept?”

“Liam, we’ve been sleeping together for a week, the last time you were here, we slept together every night. We’ve had a kid but we’ve never been on a date.”

He stepped closer, close enough that she felt the heat coming off his body, wanted to lean into it. “Time to remedy that, I think.”

Teresa sat on the edge of Noah’s bed and whistled low when Grace stepped out of the bedroom, swirling her long white cowgirl skirt. “I thought you didn’t want to do this.”

That’s what Grace had told Teresa, but the truth was, she wanted to do this more than anything.

The idea of going on a date, just being Grace and Liam, not Noah's parents, not the stripper and the rodeo cowboy, held more appeal than she wanted to admit. She was glad Liam had the idea.

"You're going to knock his socks off," Teresa said, then nudged Noah. "Tell Mommy how beautiful she looks."

Noah gave her his father's smile. "You look beautiful, Mommy."

She swept him up in her arms just as the knock came at the door. She crossed to open it, Noah with his arms still around her neck.

Liam stood there, a bright bouquet of flowers in his hand. "Hey. Wow, you look beautiful." He leaned in to kiss her cheek, almost shy.

Bemused, she took the flowers and set Noah on his feet. She went into the kitchen to put the flowers in water.

"See, Noah, that's how you tell a woman she's beautiful," Teresa prompted.

"Where we going, Daddy? See the horses?" Noah asked, stretching his hands toward Liam.

"Hey, big man." Liam hefted him with a little more effort than usual. "Just me and your mommy tonight. I'm taking her dancing. You don't like dancing, do you?"

Noah wriggled and Liam let him down, again, gingerly.

"I can dance. See?" He ran around in a circle, wiggling his butt side to side.

"Oh, if those are your daddy's dance moves, it's going to be a short evening," Grace laughed, feeling relaxed for the first time all day.

Liam laughed and took her hand, sweeping her into his arms. "Oh, I'll show you my moves. Noah, sing something."

Noah sang "Old MacDonald" at the top of his lungs, and Liam didn't hesitate, breaking into a two-step, his hand on her hip guiding her to follow, his steps graceful and sure.

"Okay, I'm relieved," she said with a laugh when he released her.

"We should be going," Liam said.

Grace leaned down and kissed Noah's head, and Liam did the same.

"Be good for Teresa," Liam said as Grace grabbed her shoulder bag. Once they were outside and the door closed behind them, he said, "Well, that was weird."

"What? Why?"

"Leaving him behind. I mean, most of the time I've been here, I've been trying to get to know him better." He captured her hand. "Now it's your turn, but I'm feeling a little guilty."

She laughed. "Welcome to parenthood, where you feel guilty ninety percent of your life, and the rest of the time you're sleeping."

He brought her hand to his lips. "You do look amazing tonight, though I have to admit, I was hoping for the secretary look."

She frowned, even as the brush of his lips sent shivers down her spine. "The secretary look?"

"What you wore to the lawyer. Seriously hot."

She rolled her eyes. So that was what that look in his eyes had meant. "Seriously meant to be serious, not hot."

"Maybe it was just you, then." He winked at her and unlocked his truck remotely, then handed her in.

She noticed he moved slowly again when he put the key in the ignition. "Did you get hurt today?"

"Wrenched my shoulder when I got tossed. Doc said the tendons are swollen, but I should be good to ride tomorrow. It's during the day. Can you come?"

She nodded. "We'll be there." She didn't want to think about him being hurt, about him not being able to ride. If he was disqualified tomorrow, he'd be leaving. She wasn't ready for him to leave yet, not when her emotions were still so up-in-the-air.

He took her to a cowboy dancehall not far from the arena. The place was packed. She wondered how many were from the rodeo crowd and how many were just wanna-be cowboys. She felt a frisson of pride that she was with the real deal as he took her hand and led her into the building.

He stopped at the bar first, which was five deep all the way around. Grace felt sorry for the five bartenders being run ragged behind the counter.

Liam leaned over, his lips close to her ear so she could hear him above the music and din of conversation. "For the record, if you decide to go into 'customer service' elsewhere, please not here."

"Why not?"

"I want to be the only cowboy you make crazy anymore."

She rolled her eyes.

He let go of her hand to slip deeper into the crowd and returned with two bottles of beer. "Still your brand?"

"I haven't had one in forever, but sure." She plucked it from her hand and took a long pull. Oh, it was so good, and she felt herself relax a little more.

He took her elbow and guided her around the edge of the dance floor, spotting a table in the back, against the wall. "Okay?"

She nodded and he led the way, pressing through the crowd.

"I wonder if it's always this busy, or just because the rodeo is in town?" She had to raise her voice over the noise.

He lifted a shoulder and drank from his bottle before setting it on the table and holding his hand to her.

The song wasn’t familiar, but that wasn't a problem in Liam's arms. He held her against him, just close enough to be maddening, far enough that he could maneuver her. She loved the feel of his strong hand on her hip, his other hand wrapped around hers. She loved the glisten of his skin at the opening of his shirt, right at eye level, making her want to lean in and taste him. She loved the feel of the muscles of his back beneath her hand.

She loved him. If only she could let go of her fears enough to let herself admit it. If only she could trust that he wouldn't lose interest and leave. If only she could trust that they had a future together.

The next song was slower, quieter, and he brought her against him, enough that his legs brushed her skirt, tangled briefly in it, making him grin. He tucked his hand against the small of her back and spun her around and around, making the fabric of her skirt flare.

Her head fell back on a laugh and she clung to his shoulders. He pulled her in a little closer to avoid another couple and she straightened, smiling into his eyes. He released her hip to touch her face, and for a moment, she thought he'd kiss her. Instead he brushed his thumb over her lower lip, then dropped his hand back to its spot on her waist. They were close enough that her breasts brushed his chest, and her nipples hardened. She could see by the flare of his nostrils that he was aware, and he eased back a little. His actions confused her, since, well, most of the time he'd been back, he'd been eager to take her to bed.