Beau (Remington Ranch Book 4) (11 page)

Summer, on the other hand, smiled when she saw them coming and held her arms out to Ruby who let go of Beau’s hand and went running to her.

Carter raised an eyebrow as he joined them. “Hey. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“He came with us,” said Ruby.

Carter grinned. “I can see that.”

Ruby wrapped her arms around Summer’s neck as she lifted her up. “And where’s your mom?”

Ruby looked around and pointed to where Corinne was standing talking with Shane and a group of guys Beau assumed were ranch guests. “There. She has to talk to people because this is her new job, but it’s okay.” She turned and reached her arms out to Beau. “I can stay with my Beau.”

Beau felt a momentary panic. He was responsible for her? And she was reaching out for him to hold her? He took a deep breath and took hold of her. Summer smiled as she passed her over. Ruby wrapped her arms around his neck and took him totally by surprise by landing a kiss on his cheek. Carter and Summer both laughed at the look on his face.

“He
is
my Beau!” Ruby sounded hurt, as though their laughter was at her.

He wasn’t sure who was most surprised when he planted a kiss on her cheek and said, “That’s right, pumpkin.” Where in the hell had that come from? Carter and Summer both looked stunned. Ruby looked as though she might float away on a happy cloud and he himself was left wondering what the hell he was playing at. He needed to get out of here! “Are the folks here?” he asked Carter.

Carter nodded. “They’re around somewhere.”

“Thanks. I wanted to have a word with them. Catch you later.” He turned and walked away, smiling at the way Ruby was still clinging to his neck with a big silly grin on her face. He thought back to what Wanda had said about her. What would it cost him to show her some kindness? And just look at what happened when he did! He hugged her a little tighter as he walked. She could be sweet, there was no denying it.

He spotted his parents sitting under a big tree with a couple of the guests. He’d come looking for them without considering the implications of doing so while carrying Ruby around. He wondered if he should put her down before they saw him. The way she was still clinging to him, he didn’t have the heart to. It was too late anyway. His mom had seen him, she tapped his dad who turned to look. Whatever expression he might have expected to see on their faces, it wasn’t what he saw. They both smiled at him and then at each other, as if they knew something he didn’t.

“Hey, Beau. I didn’t expect to see you here,” said his dad.

He nodded.

“But we’re so glad you are,” added his mom. How did she understand him so well? How did she know that he’d just been wondering why that was the first thing people would say to him. Why not,
great to see you
? Probably because they didn’t understand how touchy he was. His mom obviously did though.

His dad grinned at him. “And in the company of such a beautiful young lady.”

“Yeah, this is Ruby.”

“We’ve met before, haven’t we sweetie?” said his mom.

Ruby smiled. “Yes. Hello.”

Beau started to put her down, but she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. She was going to act shy? Wow!

His dad laughed. “Want to tell us how this happened?”

Beau shrugged.

Ruby turned her head to peek out at them. “My mommy has to talk to work people, so my Beau is taking care of me.”

His dad raised an eyebrow and his mom grinned at him.

He shrugged. There was no way this was going to be an easy conversation. “We should probably go find her.”

“Okay, we’ll catch up with you later.” The look his mom gave him told him that she’d be asking all kinds of questions just as soon as she got a chance.

Shane came and tapped Corinne’s shoulder. “Can I borrow you for a minute?”

She made her excuses to the guests she’d been talking to and followed him away from them. “Is everything okay?”

“It sure is. I just figured you might need rescuing by now. This wasn’t supposed to be an all work evening and they’ve been hogging you for ages. I thought you might want to check in with Ruby…and Beau.”

“Oh, the poor guy. How’s he doing with her? Have you seen him?”

Shane laughed. “They’re doing just fine. In fact, judging from the reactions I’ve seen and heard, they are the golden couple of the party.

“Seriously?”

Shane nodded his head vigorously. “Seriously! I mean, c’mon, a tall dark handsome cowboy toting round a little blonde-haired, blue-eyed cutie pie. What’s not to love about that picture?”

“Toting?” Corinne wasn’t sure she understood. Well, she knew what it meant, but she couldn’t quite believe it.

Shane nodded again. “Apparently Summer had her, she reached out for
her Beau,
and he hasn’t put her down since.”

Corinne shook her head. He was probably hating every second of it. “I’d better go rescue him.”

Shane laughed. “That’s not why I came for you; I just thought you’d like to see.”

“Where are they?”

“Right over there.”

Corinne’s heart did an odd little flip in her chest when she saw them. Beau was indeed holding Ruby and she had her arms wrapped around his neck. He was chatting with a couple of guys she recognized, they worked at the ranch, though whether with the horses or the cattle she didn’t know. As she watched, Ruby yawned and rested her head on his shoulder. Beau smiled and smoothed her hair away from her face. One of the guys said something and they all laughed, though Beau looked a little embarrassed. She realized Shane was watching her.

“He’s a good guy, you know.”

She sighed.

“I don’t know what kind of first impression he’s made with you, but he really is a good guy when you take the time to get to know him.”

She turned to meet Shane’s gaze. “I don’t doubt it. It’s not me I’m worried about, it’s Ruby, and him.”

“He did seem a bit scared of her at first, but hey so was I. We’ve never had any experience with little kids before, you can’t hold that against us.”

“I don’t. It’s just that I don’t want him to try it out only to find that she drives him nuts, and I don’t want her getting attached to him only to end up getting rejected. She doesn’t need that.”

Shane nodded. “He might not be used to little kids, but I do know he wouldn’t intentionally hurt anyone.”

“I don’t think he would hurt her intentionally.” Corinne couldn’t bring herself to add what else she was thinking—but if he’s got his head up his ass, would he even realize if he did hurt her.

“Come on. Let’s go see them. This is so cute I may have to take pictures.”

Beau looked up as they reached him. He looked almost apologetic when he met Corinne’s gaze. “She says she’s tired.”

“Mommy!” Ruby lifted her head from Beau’s shoulder and gave her a sleepy little smile. She looked worn out.

“Hey, sweetie. Are you being good?”

She nodded. “Yes, and my Beau is taking care of me.” She lay her head back down and closed her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Beau. Let me take her.”

He shook his head. “She’s comfortable. We’re fine.”

“Don’t feel you have to stick around,” said Shane. “You’ve met everyone I wanted you to meet. Take her on home whenever you’re ready.”

Corinne would be more than happy to call it a night. She didn’t want to make Beau leave though.

“Can we go home now?” asked Ruby.

“Sure thing, pumpkin,” said Beau.

Corinne felt as though her mouth might have fallen open hearing him say that. She gave him a puzzled look.

He grinned back at her. “Hey, you’re the one who left us to our own devices, this is what we came up with. I’m her Beau, she’s my pumpkin. What can I say?”

Shane laughed. “I’m going to leave you guys to it.”

“Okay, goodnight, Shane.”

“See ya.” Corinne didn’t miss the look the brothers exchanged. She didn’t understand the dynamics of the Remington family yet, but she could see that they truly cared for each other.

When Shane had gone they started up the path back to the cabin.

“How did you get on?” asked Beau.

She nodded. “It was a good chance to meet the guests before I start on Monday, and to see the atmosphere of the place in action. I’m sorry I just left you with Ruby like that.”

“That’s okay, we had fun.”

“You did?”

He met her gaze. “We did. It gave us chance to spend a little time together.”

Wow. He seemed to mean it.

“She’s worn out now, though.”

Ruby smiled at Corinne. “I’m not too tired for ice cream.”

Corinne laughed. “We’ll see.” As she watched her daughter’s eyes close again she knew she wouldn’t be worried about ice cream by the time they got home.

~ ~ ~

Beau took a seat in the living room while Corinne put Ruby to bed. This was weird. He had to admit he’d had fun with the kid this evening. Wandering around chatting with friends and family, all the while carrying Ruby, had given him a different perspective on things. It certainly seemed to have made everyone look at him differently. They were so much friendlier. It was weird, but he liked it.

He’d chatted with Gina and Mason for a while. It made him smile that Ruby called him
Mr.
Mason, apparently that was because he was her teacher. When he’d first heard her call Mason that he’d thought she should call him Mr. Beau. That it was a respect thing and he deserved it, too. After tonight, when he’d become
her Beau
he couldn’t imagine her ever calling him Mr. at all. He wouldn’t want her to. He shook his head with a rueful smile, she was his pumpkin after all! Where the hell had that come from? He had no idea, but he knew she loved it, and that was all that mattered.

Corinne popped her head around the living room door. “She’s fast asleep, do you want a glass of wine?”

“Yes, please.”

She was back in a couple of minutes and handed him a glass. “Thanks again for tonight. You were wonderful with her.”

He smiled. “She made it easy, she was wonderful with me!”

“I’m glad, but don’t get carried away. She can be so sweet sometimes, but you weren’t calling her a monster without reason.”

Beau frowned. He’s hoped she’d forgotten that. “My only reason was that I didn’t understand. I didn’t know how to take her, or how to talk to her.”

Corinne smiled, “I know. All I’m saying is that tonight you saw the sweet, tired Ruby. She won’t always be like that. She’s still going to argue with you and boss you around.”

He nodded. “I get it, but now I think I understand her a bit better, I’m better prepared to deal with it.”

“Okay, sorry.”

He held up a hand. “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“There is. I’m sorry that so far everything we’ve talked about has revolved around Ruby.”

“It has to, doesn’t it?”

“Not always. I just need for us to be straight about it in the beginning.”

“And now that we are…” He put his glass down and went to sit beside her on the sofa. “How about we talk about you and me?” He took her glass from her hand and set it down on the coffee table. “Or better still how about we quit talking altogether?”

As he leaned toward her, her arms came up around his neck, pulling his head down to her. He loved the way she kissed him, she opened up to him, allowing him in, welcoming him. He closed his arms around her and held her to him, loving the feel of her warm soft breasts against his chest. She surprised him by lying back on the sofa, taking him with her so he was lying on top of her. He’d have to slow down in a minute. This was way too tempting, and he couldn’t go where temptation led him, not with Ruby asleep in the next room. He lifted his head and gave her a questioning look.

She shook her head. “We can’t.”

“No! I know. That’s not what I was asking. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

She sat back up. Dammit. Why hadn’t he just rolled with where they were going?

She ran her fingers through her hair looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I was getting a bit carried away.”

He smiled. “That’s what I thought. That’s why I wanted to make sure you were okay. I didn’t want to take advantage and go where we both know we shouldn’t.”

Her next words took his breath away. “But I want to.”

Damn! Temptation was a bitch! He eyed the door as though Ruby might come walking through it at any moment, and knowing his luck she probably would. “Well, don’t think I’m the kind of guy who’s going to say no.”

Corinne let out a big sigh that only turned him on more as he watched her breasts heave. He forced himself to look back up at her face.

“We both have to say no. If one of us crumbles we’ll take the other down with us.”

He nodded, it was true. “So how about we figure out what we can do?”

She gave him a puzzled look.

“I mean when we can get together and…” Hmm, maybe he should rephrase what he’d been about to say. “And not have to worry about her?”

Corinne nodded. “Let me work on it?”

He smiled. “Can I work on it, too?”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know yet, but I might be able to come up with something.”

She nodded. “We’ll work something out.”

He leaned back toward her, hoping that just because they were being responsible didn’t mean he couldn’t at least keep kissing her. She leaned in toward him, too, her pupils wide in the moment before her eyelids closed over them and her lips met his.

“Mommy!”

Beau recoiled as if he’d heard gunshot.

Corinne stifled a giggle. “Coming, sweetie.” She didn’t get chance to go check on her before the living room door opened.

Beau had to question whether he’d ever seen anything cuter than her standing there in her blue pajamas, looking bleary eyed and dragging a bear by one paw. “Are you okay, pumpkin?”

She smiled and nodded. “I didn’t get a goodnight kiss.” She came to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, a feeling he was pretty used to after this evening. Then she planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. “Goodnight, Beau.”

He hugged her to his chest for a moment and kissed the top of her head. “Goodnight, pumpkin.”

She smiled and took hold of Corinne’s hand as she led her back to bed. Once the living room door had closed behind them he heard her say. “You should kiss him too, Mommy.”

If only she knew.

Corinne was back in another few minutes. “Sorry.”

“I think we already did this. There’s no need.”

“Okay, thanks. Where were we?”

He raised an eyebrow. “About to get it on, on the sofa until I had an attack of conscience, if I remember rightly.”

She laughed. “You do. I was wishing you hadn’t, but I’m so grateful now!”

He nodded. His own desire dried up at the thought of Ruby walking in and finding them naked on the sofa together. That would no doubt traumatize the kid. Hell, it’d traumatize him!

“You know, we’ve established that we want to sleep with each other, we’ve both done an awful lot of thinking and talking about how your daughter and I might or might not get along, do you think we maybe jumped the gun somewhere down the line?”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I mean how about we go all the way back to the beginning and just talk. Get to know each other.”

She nodded.

“I was so bowled over by you the very first time I heard your voice, I…” he hesitated, but decided to say it anyway. “I didn’t give much thought to who you are as a person, I just knew I liked the way you sounded, and looked. Then when we met, I knew I liked the way you make me feel.” She smiled as he brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. “I may be going in reverse order of what’s really important, but now I want to know who you are.”

She smiled. “I guess I’m guilty of the same thing. From when I first saw you in the wine store, I saw a gorgeous guy.”

He grinned. “Keep talking. I like this.”

She pushed at his arm. “Like you need your ego feeding!”

“I do. My poor ego is starved, it never gets fed.”

“Bullshit!”

That made him laugh. “It’s true! Why don’t you believe me?”

“I don’t know you Remingtons very well yet, but even I can see that it’s a family trait, you’re all well-endowed in the ego department, except maybe Carter.”

“That’s not the only department,” he couldn’t resist saying.

She laughed. “All I can do is take your word on that for now.”

He nodded. “We’ll get there.” He wished they could get there right now, but it wouldn’t be right, and this was fun. They did need to get to know each other better.