Bachelor Father (14 page)

He tried to figure things out. The last he remembered he was outside. “How did I get into the cabin?”

“I dragged you.” She looked a mess, her hair soaked, mud streaking her face and the front of her shirt.

“Dragged me? With a sprained wrist? Katherine, you should never have tried to—”

“I was supposed to leave you out there?”

“Maybe not.” Even though she was wet and covered with mud, she was the sexiest-looking woman he’d ever seen. “I guess I passed out.”

“You went down like a felled tree.” She resumed pulling at his pants.

The movement hurt like hell, but he kept his tone light. She was only trying to help. “What are you doing?”

She glanced up. “You need to get these off.”

“Why?”

She frowned impatiently at him. “I don’t know much about first aid, but in every movie I’ve ever seen, when the hero gets hurt, the heroine undresses him and puts him to bed. Besides, you’re all muddy and you shouldn’t get into that bed in muddy clothes. And besides
that,
your ankle is swelling, and if I don’t get these jeans off soon, you’ll never get them off without cutting them. These look sort of new and I didn’t think you’d appreciate having them cut up.”

“I don’t have to get into bed.”

“Are you kidding? You just passed out. You should be in bed.” She gave another yank and the jeans came free. She took them to the door, opened it and tossed them outside before coming to stand over him. “I got your floor all muddy, too, but that can wait. Take off your shirt and I’ll help you into bed.”

He wished he could be pain-free enough to enjoy this. Then Amanda’s fussing became more demanding and he realized Katherine had postponed taking care of the baby to tend to him. “Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I can manage from here. I’ll bet you haven’t fed Amanda yet.”

“No, and I’m not going to until you’re in bed and we’ve done...well, whatever is necessary to that nasty-looking ankle. Take off your shirt. It’s all muddy from where I dragged you across the yard and up the steps. I’ll get a towel to get some of the dirt out of your hair.”

He finally decided the best way to restore some calm to the situation was to do as she asked. She seemed to have a program in mind, and it had to proceed in order, beginning with him climbing into bed.

He glanced over at the bassinet. “Sorry, Mandy. Guess you’ll have to get in line.” He unbuttoned his shirt and took it off as Katherine returned with a towel and knelt down behind him.

“You really need your hair washed.” With her left hand she began rubbing the towel briskly over his hair and scalp. “But we’ll have to take care of that later. This will get the worst of it.”

He thought of mentioning that she was working on the wrong end of him. While she was concentrating on getting the mud out of his hair, his ankle seemed to be swelling more every second. But the sensation of having her rub his head felt good, especially when she swayed close enough that her soft breasts jiggled against his shoulders. To hell with his ankle.

“There. That’s better.” She stood and walked around to peer down at him. “Now, do you think you can stand, or do you want me to help you?”

He was beginning to get in the swing of this. Certain things could make a guy forget he was in pain. “I might need some help.”

“Okay.” She crouched down beside him. “Put your arm around my shoulders. When I count to three, I’ll start lifting. Put your weight on me and on your good ankle.”

“I will.” He put his arm around her, and she slipped her arm around his waist. Nice. Her smooth cheek was only a breath away. He watched her clench her jaw in concentration and a wave of tenderness swept over him at her earnest attempt to render aid.

“Here we go,” she said. “On three. One, two,
three.
” She gripped his waist and heaved.

He could tell she wasn’t terribly familiar with helping people to their feet, and his bulk threatened to topple them both until he put some of his weight on his bum ankle. With a soft grunt of pain, he rebalanced himself and leaned fully on Katherine. The feel of her warm body almost made up for the sensation of someone cutting at his ankle with a chain saw.

“I’ll bet it hurts,” she murmured.

“Some.”

“Let’s get you over to the bed.”

He allowed her to guide him there, where she’d already folded back the sheets and propped up one pillow as a backrest. She turned him and eased him down to a sitting position. Before he took his arm from her shoulders, he fantasized pulling her down with him. He might really screw up his ankle with a stunt like that, but his ankle wasn’t much of a consideration. Amanda was, however. Her fussing had turned into an outraged wail. She needed Katherine to feed her.

“Let me lift your legs for you so you don’t strain that ankle any more than necessary,” she said.

“All right.” He couldn’t remember ever allowing someone to baby him like this. The few times he’d become injured he’d always handled the problem himself or made do with a quick trip to the emergency room. No one had ever fussed over Zeke Lonetree. And damn, but it felt nice.

She held both feet carefully as she maneuvered him fully onto the bed. “Okay, now what?”

He leaned back with a little sigh. Maybe relaxing on a comfy bed wasn’t such a bad idea. “I’m fine now. You can feed Amanda.”

“I know there’s something more we should do with your ankle. Or is it too late?”

He grinned at her. Propped in bed with his weight off his ankle made him feel a lot feistier. “Yeah, it’s too late. I think we’ll have to amputate.”

“Don’t even joke about a thing like that. What can I do for you?”

“Well, if we elevate it with a pillow, that will probably help with the swelling.”

“Makes sense. If you’ll hand me the other pillow, I’ll fix it up for you.”

Despite the pain when she lifted his ankle, he enjoyed her hands on him way too much. The brush of her bandaged wrist reminded him that she’d probably suffered some pain dragging him into the cabin, yet she’d done it. She obviously cared about him, which made the chemistry between them even sweeter. But he tried to seem unaffected by her touch. He didn’t want her to think she was arousing him and stop these gentle ministrations.

She stood back and surveyed him. “Done. What else?”

“I don’t suppose the freezer’s cold enough to keep anything frozen.”

“Nope. I checked that right after I dragged you in here.”

He smiled at her. “I thought you didn’t know anything about first aid?”

“Well, duh. That’s what you did for my wrist. I was pretty sure I should use some ice for your ankle if we had any. But we don’t.”

“Then I guess you’ve done all you can for now.”

She gazed at him doubtfully. “Aspirin? For the pain?”

He shook his head. “Go feed the baby.”

“Okay.” She glanced down at her mud-spattered shirt. “Mind if I borrow another shirt and change first?”

“Be my guest. Why not let me hold her until you get ready?”

“Oh, Zeke, she needs changing and she’s hungry and squirmy. I don’t think—”

“Let me give it a shot. My ankle’s not in great shape, but there’s nothing wrong with my arms. Maybe I can settle her down some.”

“Well, if you want to try, that would be very nice.” She hurried over to the bassinet, picked up Amanda and held the baby away from her muddy shirt as she brought her over. “Hey, Mandy, don’t cry. Daddy’s going to hold you for a while until I get cleaned up. Be a good girl.”

He discovered he liked the way Katherine said that—
Daddy’s going to hold you—
as if Amanda should feel honored. Actually he was the one who felt honored to be able to hold her, even fussing the way she was. He cradled her against his chest and started telling her about his pet raccoon Stinky. Sure enough, she stopped crying and acted as if she were hanging on every word.

While he told his story, he was aware of Katherine opening not one, but two dresser drawers.

“So you really do have a gun in there,” she said.

He interrupted his story to answer her. “Yeah. If I were a horse you could shoot me and put me out of my misery.”

She paused beside the bed, a red-and-black shirt in her hands. “Does it really hurt that bad?”

“No,” he lied. “I’m kidding.”

Her forehead creased in worry. “Could it be broken?”

“No. Just a sprain.” Except that he knew certain types of sprains could be as painful and take almost as long to heal as a broken bone. If he hadn’t started out with that kind, he’d probably created it by walking on it all the way back to the cabin. “Now go change your shirt before Mandy gets bored with my stories.”

“Be right back.”

After she went into the bathroom, Zeke returned his attention to Amanda. “Okay, where was I? Did I ever tell you about the time that Stinky got loose in the ranch house kitchen? No? Well, I thought the cook was going to fix raccoon stew after that little episode. But it wasn’t my fault. I’ll tell you a secret. It was Shane Daniels who almost got Stinky barbecued. You’d like Shane. He’s...”

Zeke paused as he wondered how his buddies from the ranch would react to the news about Amanda. One thing was for sure, they’d have kicked his butt if he’d refused to have anything to do with his daughter. Parenthood was pretty sacred to those guys, for obvious reasons. It was pretty sacred to Zeke, too, which was why he’d originally thought he’d rather be no parent at all than a half-assed one. But now that he’d agreed to stay in touch with Amanda, he’d just have to figure out how to be a decent father under crummy circumstances.

Amanda began to wiggle and whimper.

“I’m sorry, sunshine.” He brought his attention back to the baby in his arms. “I’ll bet you want me to finish the story. It was like this. Shane decided to play a joke on the cook. And that’s when all the ruckus started.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

K
ATHERINE
KEPT
THE
BATHROOM
door open a crack so she could hear Zeke’s tales of Stinky while she washed the mud off and changed into a clean shirt.

His raccoon stories charmed her tremendously. So that’s why he’d been so determined to make sure the raccoons survived. She wondered if he’d tell Amanda those stories again when she was old enough to understand them. And if Amanda would come back to New York demanding to have a raccoon for a pet.

Katherine tried to imagine what Zeke would look like by that time, closing in on forty, maybe with touches of gray in his raven-black hair. Instinctively she knew he’d only become more attractive as he grew older—his type always did. Some woman was bound to come along who fancied herself a pioneer lady ready to live in Zeke’s wilderness with him.

It would be heaven.
Katherine glanced guiltily in the bathroom mirror as the traitorous thought glowed like neon in her brain. She couldn’t allow herself to think such things. Naomi was offering her the top job at a prestigious magazine. Anyone who turned that down would be foolish, not to mention incredibly ungrateful. Besides, Naomi would be crushed, and Katherine could never do anything to hurt her generous and loving godmother.

She nudged off her muddy shoes and peeled off her socks. Sure enough, blisters. She left the socks off. While giving her hands one last wash after handling the socks, she wondered if a soak in the icy water would be almost the same as ice on Zeke’s ankle. Once Amanda was fed she’d see about that.

She ran a comb quickly through her damp hair and looked at her bandaged wrist. In order to get it somewhat clean she’d had to saturate it with water and it was soggy and uncomfortable, but she couldn’t worry about that now. She left the bathroom as Zeke was winding up a story about Stinky’s adventures with a ranch dog named Shep. After taking another dish towel from the cupboard to use as a diaper, she walked over to the bed, amazed at how quietly Amanda lay in Zeke’s arms.

He glanced up at her. “You look good in red.”

And you look good in bed,
she thought. “Thanks. I’ll take her now.”

“She’s a good baby, isn’t she?”

Using her left arm, Katherine lifted Amanda and carried her over to the table to change her. “I think so. I don’t have much basis of comparison except for the babies of employees at
Cachet.
” She unsnapped the sleeper. Good thing she’d washed the spare plus the soiled dish towels and dried them by the cooking fire before they left on the hike.

“I’ll bet the other babies cried more than she does.”

“It seems that way.” She’d used considerably less duct tape on this diaper, so it wasn’t such a struggle to take off. “Other mothers have told me that it’s just luck when you get an even-tempered baby. I think it might also be because I keep her on a regular schedule and make her feel as secure as possible.”

“Or maybe it’s because of me.” He sounded downright smug about it.

“You?” Katherine placed a restraining hand on Amanda and turned toward him. “What, you passed on some calm-and-peaceful genes?”

“In a way.”

Amanda had apparently run out of patience. She started to wail like a little banshee.

“Even Amanda disagrees about that.” Katherine taped up the diaper and snapped Amanda into her suit as quickly as possible, considering the soggy and unwieldy bandage on her wrist. Then she picked her up and started over toward the rocker as Amanda continued to cry.

“Would you pull the rocker over here and talk to me while you feed her?” Zeke asked above the hubbub.

Katherine paused for just a heartbeat. “Sure.” As she dragged the rocker closer to the bed, she wondered if he realized how revealing his request was. Her strong, silent mountain man was beginning to enjoy having company.

Because she didn’t want to buy trouble, she positioned the rocker so that she was on an angle from Zeke’s direct view. She knew the sight of her nursing Amanda aroused him, so she’d keep herself out of sight as much as possible.

Sitting down in the rocker, she worked at the buttons of her shirt. The wet bandage really was more clumsy than a dry one, and Amanda’s squirming and crying didn’t make things any easier.

“If you’ll come over here, I’ll unbutton that,” Zeke said.

Oh, no, you don’t.
If he unfastened those buttons, she’d become just as aroused as he was by the process. “Thanks, but I’ve got it now.” With a sigh of relief she gave her breast to Amanda and silence settled over the cabin.

“You can’t blame her,” Zeke said. “She started getting hungry back on the trail. She’s had to wait a long time.”

“I don’t blame her.” Katherine leaned her head against the back of the chair and rocked slowly while she listened to the rain. Nursing Amanda was one of the most satisfying experiences of her life, and it frustrated her almost as much as the baby when she couldn’t do it on schedule.

This recent crying jag was about as bad as it ever got. Amanda had suffered no bouts with colic or unexplained illnesses. When the two of them were free to do their thing, the baby was a joy to care for. The pregnancy had been difficult, but the doctors had assured Katherine she didn’t have to worry that she’d always have difficult pregnancies. The next one would probably be a breeze, they’d said.

Except there wouldn’t be a next one. If all her children could be this wonderful, Katherine was a little sorry she wouldn’t have any more. Although she hadn’t admitted the fact to Zeke, she didn’t want to have another man’s child any more than he wanted her to.

Then she remembered Zeke’s comment that if Amanda had a brother or sister, he wanted to be the one to father the baby. A thrill of awareness ran through her at the thought that Zeke would entertain such an idea. Of course it was crazy and she’d never follow through with it, but making a child with Zeke had been an outstanding experience.

She glanced over at him. He was watching her, a glow in his dark eyes that almost made her believe he could read her mind. Silence could be erotic, she realized, especially when it was filled with soft sucking sounds from the baby she and Zeke had created. She’d better start making some conversation, as Zeke had originally requested.

“So why do you think Amanda’s temperament is all your doing?” she asked.

“Simple. It’s her Sioux blood.”

“And Sioux babies are all even-tempered? Come on, Zeke.”

“I don’t mean Sioux babies in particular. Traditionally, Native American babies had to be quiet and well-behaved. During warfare between the tribes or against the white man, a crying baby could alert the enemy.”

She had no trouble picturing Zeke as a warrior—in some ways he seemed like a throwback to those days. “Yes, but that was a long time ago, and it was probably mostly conditioning after they were born, not some innate part of their makeup.”

Zeke grinned. “You’re probably right. But it sounded good, didn’t it?”

“Sure did. It’s good copy, as we say in my job. Naomi’s already suggested that Amanda would make an exotic runway model with her coloring.”

Zeke frowned. “A model? Don’t they have to starve themselves to stay skinny enough for the camera?”

“If she inherits my metabolism she won’t have to starve herself. And I think she’ll be beautiful enough to make it.”

Zeke still looked doubtful. “Sure, she’ll be beautiful enough, but what kind of a life is that?”

She loved his parental assumption that his daughter would be gorgeous. Even more she loved his concern for Amanda’s future. “Well, there can be a lot of pressure, but a lot of money, too. And if she has any interest in acting, that’s a logical step from modeling.”

“You mean be a movie star?”

Katherine gazed down at Amanda. “You never know.”

“So many movie stars seem to have messed-up lives.”

“But not all of them.” Katherine glanced at him. “If Amanda grows up with lots of self-esteem, she could handle herself in that world. But then I want her to grow up with lots of self-esteem no matter what she decides to do with her life.”

“Which is where I come in.”

Katherine nodded. “I think so. When I brought her out here I was confused about that. Naomi had convinced me I could raise Amanda without you.”

“You could.”

“Maybe. But I don’t want to.” She met his gaze. “And I hope you don’t want me to, either.”

He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes, as if making some sort of pledge. “No, I don’t. Not anymore.”

* * *

A
FTER
K
ATHERINE
FINISHED
feeding Amanda and was tucking her in for her nap, Zeke noticed how chilly the air in the cabin was. He’d been so engrossed in watching Katherine nurse the baby, he’d been oblivious to the temperature, but now that she’d buttoned her shirt, he could concentrate on something besides the temptation of her breasts.

He surveyed the small pieces of wood left on the hearth. Not enough for a decent fire. Throwing back the covers, he gritted his teeth and swung his legs to the floor.

Katherine glanced up from where she was crouched next to Amanda’s bassinet. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Zeke fought dizziness as he stood, balancing himself by holding on to the headboard of the bed. “We need wood.”

“Get back in bed.” She checked the sleeping baby once more and stood. “I’ll take care of the wood.”

“I feel dumb having you do all the work.” Using the mattress to steady himself, he started toward the dresser. “I’ll just put on some sweats and another shirt.”

“No, you won’t.” She stepped into his path, blocking his way.

“Katherine—”

“You should see yourself.” She crossed her arms and planted her feet more firmly. “It’s freezing in here and sweat’s popping out on your forehead. Now, I want you to give up this macho routine and go back to bed before you pass out again.”

He had to admit he didn’t feel so great whenever he put the slightest weight on his ankle.

“Get back to bed and stop being ridiculous.”

“Katherine, I—”

“If you don’t start moving, I’m going to kick you in your bum ankle, ranger man! My goodness, what an ego you have. Nobody can do anything but you. Now get going.”

He gazed down at her. She was so adorably belligerent it was hard for him not to smile. Figuring she wouldn’t appreciate that, he set his mouth into a tight line and nodded. Turning, he sat down on the mattress again.

“That’s better. Do you have a bucket around here?”

“Under the sink.”

She walked over to the sink, opened a bottom cupboard and took out the bucket. “As long as you’ve moved yourself, I want you to soak your foot and ankle in cold water while I’m busy getting the wood. And wrap a blanket around your shoulders so you don’t catch cold.” She tipped the bucket under the faucet and started filling it.

“Yes, ma’am.” While her back was to him, he allowed himself a grin. “At least you didn’t tell me to soak my head.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” It was a good-size bucket and she had to use both hands to lug it over to the bed. “But we’ll start with your foot.” She set the bucket down slowly, so the water wouldn’t slosh out. “Put it in there.”

“My foot isn’t going to fit all the way in. It’s too big.”

“Do the best you can to cover your ankle.”

He braced himself against the shock and dipped his toes in. Damn, the water was cold. But she’d come up with a good idea. The sooner the swelling went down on his ankle, the sooner he’d be able to take care of things around here. Muttering a few curses, he immersed his foot as far as possible.

“Well, now you’re shivering.”

He glanced up at her. “No j-joke.”

“That’s partly because you don’t have the blanket fixed right.” She reached around him with both arms, practically embracing him as she adjusted it. “You’d think somebody with Sioux blood would know how to wrap a blanket around himself.”

“Very funny.” Her close proximity and her tantalizing scent were really getting to him. He’d just about decided to grab her and kiss that smart mouth of hers when she stopped fiddling with the blanket and stepped back.

“Good. You’ve stopped shivering.”

He wanted to tell her that was because his foot and ankle were completely numb and he was getting an erection from all her fondling. He thought better of it. “You sure have been bossy recently,” he said.

“If you’d stop trying to be Superman I wouldn’t have to boss you around.” She surveyed him. “You need a sock on that other foot.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.” She walked over to the dresser and took out a pair of wool socks. She laid one on top of the dresser and came over to kneel in front of him.

“I can put on my own sock, Katherine.”

“Oh, be quiet. This is faster.” She rolled the sock over his foot and up his calf.

He loved every second of the experience. He’d never realized before how sensitive that area of his body could be.

“There.” She stood and put her hands on her hips. “Now I’ll get the wood. After that I’ll build us a fire and make you some hot coffee and me some cocoa. Then I’ll fix us something for lunch. How about that?”

“Sounds good, Superwoman.”

She lifted both eyebrows. “Hey, I’m not the one who passed out in the yard and then thinks he can do all his normal chores. I’m just taking care of business.”

“And your wrist needs to be rebandaged.”

She hesitated, looking at it. “Nope. First I’m getting the wood.”

“Then take my gloves. They’re in the pocket of my heavy jacket. In fact, you might want to put the jacket on, too.”

She walked over to where the jackets hung and took down his heaviest one. It dwarfed her. Then she pulled the leather gloves out of the side pocket as she headed for the door. “See you in a few minutes. With firewood.”

“Okay.” Zeke’s heart swelled as he watched her go out the door dressed awkwardly in his clothes. What a loving, bossy, vulnerable, sexy woman. He didn’t regret a single moment he’d spent with her, and he wouldn’t want anyone else to be the mother of his child. Thank God he’d pulled her out of the river that afternoon. He couldn’t imagine a world without Katherine in it. And as that last thought sank in, he caught his breath.