“But attraction is very much subjective,” he pointed out.
“I didn’t say I was attracted to you,” she denied hotly. “I was merely commenting that I could understand why my sister was attracted to you.”
“Sure. We’ll go with that,” he said, as he dropped the duffel bag on the floor beside the rocking chair. But the playful wink that followed his words told a different story.
She looked away to unzip the bag, then frowned as she rifled through the contents. “Everything is ice-cold.”
“The bag was in your car, overnight, in the middle of winter,” he pointed out reasonably.
“And, as I discovered yesterday, winter in Montana is a lot different than winter in Texas,” she acknowledged, as she pulled out a onesie, a pair of socks and a two-piece outfit. “Can you put these in the clothes dryer for a few minutes?”
He took the items from her hand. “They’re not wet.”
“No, but they’re cold,” she said again. “And a quick tumble in the dryer will warm them up to a more comfortable temperature for Cody.”
He shrugged but headed out to do her bidding. Or maybe he was grateful for any excuse to leave her with the baby that he didn’t believe was his.
Maybe he was right to be skeptical.
Maybe Leighton had been mistaken.
And maybe, after having spent a couple of days with Cody, he understood now how much time and attention a baby needed and would willingly accede to her request to take her nephew back to Dallas.
When Wilder returned with the warm garments, Beth quickly dressed the baby in a red top that had an appliqué reindeer head with Christmas lights looped around its antlers and a pair of dark brown corduroy pants.
“Very festive,” Wilder noted.
“He has a lot of holiday outfits,” she confided. “Every time I was out shopping, I seemed to find another one that I just couldn’t resist.”
“And all those Christmas gifts in the back seat of your car—more things you couldn’t resist?” he guessed.
“He’s my only nephew,” she said, by way of explanation. “And it’s his first Christmas.”
“Do you want me to bring the presents inside?”
She shook her head. “Thanks, but I’d rather celebrate with Cody at home. And since I’m rested now, thanks to you and your kind hospitality, we can be on our way.”
Now it was Wilder who shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“You can’t want us to stay here,” she said.
“Nothing has been about what I want since Leighton left her baby on my doorstep,” he acknowledged.
“And considering what an inconvenience that’s obviously been for you, why would you object to us leaving?” she asked coolly.
“Because I still don’t know why your sister brought her baby to Rust Creek Falls instead of leaving him in Dallas with you,” he said.
“No one but Leighton knows what she was thinking,” Beth said.
“Maybe you don’t know, but you can probably guess,” he suggested.
Beth didn’t respond to that. Because yes, she probably could guess. But she had no intention of sharing her suppositions with this man who might or might not be Cody’s father and who, in any event, had no right to pry into the painful details of her often difficult relationship with her sister.
A relationship that she’d been certain was turning a corner—before recent events proved otherwise.
“And until you can answer that question to my satisfaction, the baby isn’t going anywhere,” Wilder said.
An assertion that, of course, put her back up.
“Who put you—a cowboy who clearly doesn’t have the first clue about parenting and might not even be Cody’s biological father—in charge?” she demanded.
“Your sister,” he answered. “When she left her kid with me.”
“My sister obviously wasn’t thinking clearly,” Beth said.
“I don’t disagree, but that doesn’t change the fact that she brought the baby here.”
She hated that he was right. Even more, she hated that Leighton hadn’t trusted her enough to talk to her about her plans. Instead, she’d snuck away, leaving only a cryptic note that did nothing to alleviate Beth’s worries. And thinking about it now only made her head hurt. She lifted a hand and pressed her fingertips to her temple, as if that might assuage the ache.
“You’re probably hungry,” Wilder said, his tone more conciliatory than confrontational now.
She frowned. “What?”
“I’m guessing that your head hurts because you haven’t eaten,” he clarified.
“How do you...oh.” She dropped her hand away.
“When did you last have a meal?”
“I grabbed a burger last night when I fueled up my car outside of Bozeman.” But she’d only managed to choke down a few bites of the tasteless patty before she’d wrapped it up again and tossed it back into the bag.
“Well, according to the schedule I was given, it’s time for the baby to have a bottle, so let’s get you something to eat, too,” he suggested.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” she said, reaching for the duffel bag. “I just want to change my clothes first.”
“Did you want me to warm yours in the dryer, too?”
Though she didn’t relish the idea of wriggling into cold undergarments, it was preferable to handing her bra and panties to a stranger. Especially a sexy stranger who had undoubtedly removed sexier undergarments from her sister’s body.
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine,” she told him.
“Okay, I’ll get started fixing the bottle.”
She didn’t ask him to take Cody and he didn’t offer. She did wonder if his reticence was a result of not knowing what to do to take care of a baby or not wanting to acknowledge that Cody might be his.
And she had no intention of pushing him outside of his comfort zone. As far as she was concerned, the sooner he realized that he couldn’t handle taking care of an infant, the sooner she could be on her way back to Dallas with her nephew.
When she was changed, she retraced her steps—as best she could recall—from the night before. But it had been dark then, and she’d been focused on Wilder’s form moving ahead of her, unable to see much of anything else. In the light of day, she could appreciate the
