A Baby on the Ranch. Stella Bagwell

Lord, the man’s crazy about you. He’s not about to make things hard for you.”

      Katherine stared glumly at the tabletop. Having the Tarrant County tax assessor crazy about her was not what she really wanted. Richard Marek was a very nice guy and he’d been a wonderful boss to her, but she’d not once given him any indication that she was interested in him personally. Still, she knew that Althea was right. He did like Katherine, a lot. In fact, he’d asked her out on more than one occasion. A woman who was clearly pregnant with another man’s child! She’d declined each time of course, but his interest in her had clearly forced her to be much more guarded around her boss.

      “I’m not going to exploit the feelings he has for me, Althea. It wouldn’t be right. Especially when I have no interest in him.”

      Althea rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Katherine, you are so prim that sometimes I wonder how you ever got pregnant! And why aren’t you interested in Richard? He’s good-looking and nice. He has social prestige, not to mention the fact that he could give you financial security.”

      Frowning, Katherine looked up at her friend. “You make him sound like the perfect man.”

      “Well, he’s certainly at the top of the list of eligible bachelors around here. And you could have him if you wanted him. Your baby would have a daddy. A real daddy.”

      Maybe she was crazy, Katherine thought, for not liking Richard more, for not giving him the opportunity to have a lasting relationship with her. But he wasn’t the sort of man she wanted to live the rest of her life with.

      “I don’t want a perfect man, Althea. I don’t want money or social prestige or an impressive house. I just want a man to love me. Really love me.” A man like Lonnie Corteen, she thought. A big, tough man that made her feel like a woman by just looking at her, a man who would fight to the death to protect her and never ever desert her or their child.

      Althea laughed mockingly. “And you think Richard doesn’t? You won’t know until you give him the chance.”

      Glancing at her wristwatch, Katherine rose to her feet. “I gave Walt a chance and he let me down—big-time. I’m not ready to give anybody a chance again. I’m not sure I ever will be,” she muttered bitterly.

      Clicking her tongue with disapproval, Althea rose from her chair, also. “I’m sorry, honey. We shouldn’t have gotten off on that subject. You’ve got enough on your mind already.”

      Yeah, like who were her real parents? Amelia Tucker and Noah Rider? If that was true, then why had they deserted her? And why did the thought of seeing Lonnie Corteen again make her break out in a nervous sweat?

      Chapter Three

      That evening Katherine was naked when she heard the knock on the door. With her heart jumping into her throat, she tossed away the towel she’d been drying herself with and reached for a robe lying near the tub. The garment was not exactly what she’d choose for anyone to see her in, much less Lonnie Corteen. The sunny-yellow chenille had long ago faded to the color of dead grass, and in some spots there were clusters of pinholes where the chenille had fallen out. But since she’d just stepped out of the tub and he was already at the door, she didn’t have much choice.

      And it had to be him, she thought, as she hastily knotted the belt above the mound of her stomach. Other than Althea, she didn’t have visitors. Sometimes annoying sales people knocked on the door, but it was already after dark, and she didn’t think a salesman would be out in such cold weather at this time of the evening.

      The knock sounded again.

      Muttering under her breath, she wiped strands of wet hair from her face. “I’m coming,” she called out. “Just hold on!”

      Her hurried exertion to get to the door caused her breath to quicken and she was sure there were two scarlet circles to stain her cheeks, but the moment she opened the door and spotted Lonnie Corteen on the other side, she felt most of the color in her face drain away.

      Even though she’d expected it to be him, she’d still not been prepared for the sight of his tall, massive body filling the doorway or the rugged face smiling back at her.

      “Hello, Katherine.”

      She swallowed and unconsciously pushed at the tangled hair on her shoulders. “Hello,” she replied.

      He stepped forward and moved from the shadows. Katherine immediately spotted something nestled in the crook of his arm. A step closer to the light and her eyes zeroed in on a bouquet of pink roses wrapped in green cellophane paper.

      “Uh, what are those for?” she asked bluntly.

      A lazy grin spread over his face. “I was hoping a dozen roses would help you to forgive me.”

      Dumbfounded, she stared at him. She’d only known this man for a few hours! Walt had dated her for months and she’d never seen flowers from him. Or, for that matter, any man.

      “Forgive you? You didn’t do anything. You were simply a messenger.”

      “I upset you last night. Believe me, Katherine, that wasn’t my intention.”

      How could she turn him away from the door now? Not that it had been her intention to send him on his way. But she’d been telling herself all evening that if he showed up, her best recourse would be to send him away. But how could she shut the door on a face like his? Especially when he was holding the most beautiful roses she’d ever seen.

      A gust of freezing wind whipped around him and tugged at the lapels of her robe. Clutching the fabric against her throat, she said, “You’d better come in before we both freeze to death.”

      He quickly stepped inside and she got a faint whiff of aftershave and leather. The scents were as masculine as the man himself, and she realized with a guilty start that, compared to Lonnie Corteen, her baby’s father had been more boy than man.

      “I hope I’m not disturbing you,” he said as he walked to the center of the small room. “Were you getting ready to go out?”

      Her, go out? The question was almost laughable. She’d never been a go-out person. Even during her relationship with Walt, the two of them had rarely gone out for dinner or any sort of entertainment. She’d always been a loner and he’d been more than happy to go along with her choice of the quiet life. That is, until he’d learned about the baby. Then he’d not been happy about anything. Especially her.

      Carefully locking the door behind her, she turned to him. “No. I…I’m afraid I just got out of the bath. Would you, uh, excuse me while I go get dressed?”

      Lonnie was trying to be polite and not stare, but he couldn’t quite keep his eyes off her. She was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen in that old yellow robe that clung to her breasts and the baby she was carrying. Her long dark hair was wet and lay in curled ringlets upon her shoulders. A soft pink color washed her cheeks and lips, and her skin gleamed with tiny beads of moisture.

      “Sure. Take your time. I’ll just make myself comfortable.” He glanced down at the roses. “What about these? If you’ll tell me where to find a vase, I’ll put them in water for you.”

      He was sure he wasn’t the sort of man she would associate with flowers. His big hands were made for collaring criminals, or reining in a high-spirited horse, not clutching the fragile stem of a rose.

      She shot him an apologetic look. “I don’t have a vase. I did. But I accidentally broke it. I have a big Mason jar in the cabinet where I store the glasses. You might use that,” she suggested.

      “Fine. That’ll be dandy. You go on now and get dressed. I’ll take care of these.”

      Nodding, she turned on her bare feet and hurried out of the room. Lonnie went to the tiny kitchen and found the Mason jar. As he filled it with water and plopped in the roses, he figured he’d made a mistake at the grocery store where he’d picked these up. He should have gotten a poinsettia. Thanksgiving was only a couple of