and she’d be able to answer his simple question. “Hi.”
His mouth remained firm and unmoving.
She scuffed the soles of her shoes against the porch planks. What am I doing here? The silence echoed between them. Cole lifted his Stetson, ran his fingers through his thick brown hair and then lowered the brim. It shaded his eyes and thoughts from her, unnerving her even more.
She had to get a firm grip on herself and take charge. “I came about the ad.”
Cole’s silence weighed heavily on her. He crossed his arms over his chest, making his shoulders appear as wide as the Texas landscape.
She swallowed the last of her pride. “Have you sent it to the papers yet?”
“Nope.”
“Good. I mean, uh…” Her thoughts became scrambled beneath the heat of his gaze. “I have an idea that you might want to consider. That is, if you’re still interested.”
He gave a slow nod. “It’s warm today.” He ran his hand down his chest. Sweat clung to his skin, making it shimmer in the sunlight.
Her pulse skittered.
“I could probably hunt us up something cool to drink. Come on in.”
“Sure.” She clasped her purse at her waist, feeling as awkward as a girl about to ask a boy to a Sadie Hawkins dance. “That’d be nice.”
He walked up the steps in a slow, sauntering way that only a cowboy could manage. He pushed open the door and nodded for her to enter ahead of him. Doffing his hat, he hung it on a peg inside the door.
It took a moment for Elise’s eyes to adjust from the bright sunlight to the dimness inside the house. Then her mouth opened with surprise. The entryway was wide and spacious—nothing fancy, but homey in a country-fashioned way, with warm colors of wheat fields and sunlit green pastures.
“Make yourself at home. I’ll go throw on a shirt.” He gave her a sheepish expression that caused a new heat wave to roll through her. “I wasn’t expecting company. I was working down at the barn when I saw you drive up in…was that Chuck’s Ford?”
Unable to formulate an answer, much less speak, she nodded. Her boss had let her borrow his truck a couple of times when she’d had doctor appointments. And he’d let her borrow it again today. No questions asked.
“I’ll be right back.” He turned and then pointed. “The kitchen’s right through there.”
Trying to forget the sight of his muscled back and the width of his shoulders, Elise turned in the way he’d pointed. She walked through a wood-paneled living area, complete with a beige sofa and television console. She glimpsed a wall of photographs but resisted the temptation to study them closely and went on, into the kitchen.
It was a sunny, cozy nook, with white-painted cabinets, clean counters and colorful pictures that Cole’s daughter must have drawn stuck on the refrigerator. He’d described his home accurately—nothing elaborate, but tastefully decorated and downright homey. Her chest clenched with need and hope.
When she heard the sound of Cole’s approaching footsteps, his boots clomping against the hardwood floors, she greeted him with a smile and a cold glass of ice water. “Since you’ve been working, I thought you might be thirsty.”
“Thanks,” he said, offering her a restrained smile in return. He downed the water in a few greedy gulps. The muscles along his throat mesmerized her. She had to shake off his effect on her. She wasn’t interested in marrying Cole because of his obvious good looks. She simply wanted a home. Needed one. And if it came with a handsome husband, well, so much the better.
Together, they settled at the kitchen table. Cole straddled a chair and rested his elbows on the wooden table’s edge. Elise sat demurely across from him, crossing her ankles, folding her hands tightly in her lap.
After he downed a second glass of water, he scratched his brow thoughtfully. “Did you think of something else we should add?”
Panic arched through her. Oh, God! What if he doesn’t think I’m the right type to be a wife? Like Rusty. What if Cole doesn’t believe I’m good enough to be a mother to his daughter?
Her heart pounded with dread. But she ignored the doubts spinning through her head. She wasn’t going to sit back and wait as she’d done her whole life. She had to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and get on with her life, make a future for herself. Here was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.
“No, I think the copy for the ad was just right. In fact, it was so perfect, that I started thinking…” She swallowed the hard lump in her throat.
“About…?” His steady gaze made her stomach flutter.
“About…” Her voice squeaked. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “That I might…that maybe you’d consider…” Oh, God, she was bungling this for sure. “I’d like to volunteer—” she gritted her teeth and forced herself to say the words that were sticking in her throat “—to be your mail-order bride.”
Elise could hear the blood pumping through her veins, echoing in her ears. Her face burned. She wished she could sink right through the floor. She felt like she was seven years old again, standing before a couple who’d come to look her over—who’d given the slight shake of their heads that she didn’t measure up. She wasn’t good enough to be their daughter.
A sharp need sliced through her heart. She wanted to bolt right out of her chair and race for Chuck’s pickup before she suffered the same humiliation by Cole. But she planted her feet firmly on the floor. Not this time. This time it was too important. This time it wasn’t just her pride, it was her life on the line. She clenched her hands into fists and lifted her chin, defying him to laugh at her.
But he didn’t. Instead, Cole eased back in his chair, clasping his hands over his taut abdomen. His blue eyes narrowed to slits. “Why?”
“Why?” she repeated, uncertainty invading her once again. She shifted in her seat, recrossed her ankles, clutched her hands together, trying to stop the trembling inside her.
He tapped his thumbs together with a slow, deliberate beat, as if counting the seconds, making her heart race. “Why would you be interested in living here, way out in the country, mothering a child you don’t know? Marrying a man you don’t love?”
She found her voice and a new strength inside her that she hadn’t known existed before now. “It’s simple.” Or so she’d thought at one time. “I’m pregnant.”
Chapter Two
If a rabbit had hopped out of his Stetson, Cole wouldn’t have been more surprised. He blinked once, twice, letting Elise’s statement sink in. Then he slid his gaze over her slim figure as she sat at his kitchen table. He noticed her full breasts beneath the lightweight cotton top, her flat stomach and her narrow, almost boyish, hips beneath the full, flowing skirt.
She didn’t look pregnant. But then he wasn’t an expert on women. Especially pregnant ones. He certainly didn’t relish the idea of having another pregnant woman in his house. His ex-wife had been a nightmare to live with while she’d carried Haley. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—go
