Weekend Surrender (The Surrender Trilogy, #1)(27)
Her eyes lit up, and she nodded, “That would be great!”
They headed across the yard to the main horse barn where most of their pregnant mares were housed. He reached out and took her hand as they walked, lacing their fingers together when she didn’t resist.
“I’m glad you came with us this weekend, Rachel,” he said softly, and she turned surprised eyes up to him. A warmth filled the chocolate pools as she smiled back.
“Me too. I haven’t had this much fun in years.”
“You could stay longer, you know. You don’t have to leave tomorrow.” His breath caught in his chest at her silence, and he felt her pull away from him. Emotionally she was bruised, maybe scarred, and he wasn’t sure how to overcome her fears just yet. Choosing to let the subject drop, he started to talk as they walked through the barn. “This is Freckles here, and she is having her first foal, and next to her is Magic. Doc is pretty sure she is having twins this time. The gray one there is Ghost Dancer, she’s new to the ranch, and she isn’t pregnant, but she’s awfully skittish. She’s a rescue horse, so we have a ways to go before she’s comfortable here. We’re taking our time getting to know each other right now.”
“A rescue horse?” Rachel moved very slowly to the door of the stall where Ghost Dancer was moving restlessly.
“Yeah, I don’t know the whole story but the way I understand it, she was found nearly starved to death and badly injured from whipping sores that hadn’t been treated and hadn’t healed. A few more days, maybe a week, and she would have died. Sawyer can probably give you more details. He was the one that went and got her when the agency called. I couldn’t leave that weekend.”
She watched him closely, and he reached out to brush her dark hair away from her cheek. “So you’re telling me that Mr. Parker Brooks, badass cowboy, has a soft spot for abused and injured animals?”
He shrugged in response, and she giggled, stepping closer to him.
“Well, Mr. Brooks, just so you know, I find that to be a very sexy quality in a man.”
That got his attention. His cock throbbed behind his zipper, coming to life in a painfully obvious way, and he groaned when she pressed a little kiss to the bottom of his jaw. “You’re playing with fire, sunshine.”
“Yeah, so maybe I’ll get a little burned. It is awfully hot in here.” She reached for his zipper and he stopped her with his lightning fast reflexes. “Hey! What’s the problem?”
“Rachel, there are things about me you don’t understand yet.”
“Really? So fill me in. Tell me something that would surprise me.” Her chin tilted up defiantly and she stepped back crossing her arms over her chest. The stance was pure brat, and he wanted to bend her over his knee and spank her ass red for challenging him, but that would be too much too fast. If he wanted to keep her, he needed to proceed with caution.
“I want kids.”
She stared at him in shock as her jaw fell open. “What?”
“You said, ‘tell me something that would surprise me,’ so I did. I want kids. I love kids, and I’m hoping when I settle down to have a half a dozen of them.” His gut tightened waiting for her reaction. He had left off the part about wanting kids with her, but being the first time he had ever admitted his desire for children out loud, he figured he could be forgiven for the omission.
“Wow. Okay, yeah, you surprised me. I think you’d make a great dad. All four of you guys will make good dads someday.” She turned and faced the horse in the stall in front of her, attempting to put distance between them again.
When he stayed in place and waited silently, she fidgeted, and moved on to the next stall. “Who is this?”
“Cashmere. She is actually Hudson’s horse, but he wanted to try breeding her. This is her first foal too.”
The silence grew and he could almost hear her brain spinning. She was deep in thought as she stared at the solid black mare in the stall.
“My dad bailed on my mom when I was young. He fell in love with his secretary, and they had an affair. In a matter of moments one Sunday evening over dinner, my life went from perfectly happy to a complete wreck. They moved to Seattle to be close to her family when the divorce was final, and she got pregnant. He has a whole new family there, and has completely forgotten about the daughter he left in Texas.”
Parker’s heart broke for her, but he remained quiet, afraid if he spoke up now she would stop talking. Cashmere moved closer to Rachel so she could stroke her hand over her face, and Parker tried not to fall to his knees. Rachel was everything to him at this point. Years of watching and wanting her had taken their toll on his life. Sure, he had been with other women, but none of them meant as much to him as this little spitfire did after only twenty-four hours in his home. Several minutes passed before she spoke again.
“You know, Mitch had a lot to say about my dysfunctional family, but then again compared to his perfect life, mine seemed pretty fu-cked up.”
“Don’t curse.” The words slipped out of his mouth instinctively and he saw her stiffen at his demand. Damn it. He couldn’t change his nature. This was who he was, and if she couldn’t tolerate it, he should know it sooner rather than later.
“I’m sorry. Talking about Mitch just brings out the worst in me.” Her words eased an odd pressure that had been building in his chest, and he finally moved to her side reaching out to wrap his arms around her waist and draw her back against his chest.