Tied Up, Tied Down (Rough Riders #4)(29)

The house was quiet. Skylar didn’t wait supper on him, although she’d left a plate in the refrigerator, which was so damn sweet it gave him a funny tickle in his chest. He ate the beef and mashed potatoes cold, barely tasting it. Damn lonely eating by himself. He’d gotten used to his family’s company in the last three weeks.

Kade showered. Checked on the baby and wandered downstairs. Skylar dozed on the couch. The baby monitor sat on the coffee table and the TV droned in the background.

For some reason, an odd sense of peace filled him at the domestic scene. He snagged the remote and settled on the floor, not wanting to disturb her rest.

An hour or so later Sky stirred behind him.

“Hey. How long have you been home?”


“Couple hours. Before you ask, she’s fine. She’s still sleepin’.”


“I’m that predictable, huh?”


“No, you just think about her first. You’re a good mama, Sky.”


“You wouldn’t say that if you’d seen me earlier today.”


Kade turned around. Sky’s face was blotchy. Her usually sparkling eyes were a red-rimmed and sad. “Why? What happened?”


“Eliza screamed. I mean she really screamed. Literally for hours. I didn’t know what to do.” Skylar explained in such detail Kade found himself wincing at her obvious anxiety. She finished with, “When I fed her right before I tucked her in bed, that sweet baby girl just looked at me with those big blue eyes, like she was…disappointed in me for being such a bad mom.” A small hiccupping sob punctuated her distress.

“Ah, sweetheart. C’mere.” He crawled next to her on the couch, bringing her into his arms. Skylar curled her body into his and cried softly. He let her, even when it broke his damn heart. After she’d calmed down, he brushed his lips across the crown of her head.

“Sorry you had a rough day. I expect Eliza Belle will give us both more than a few of


’em.”


She nodded against his chest.

As Kade ran his hands up and down her spine, he realized Skylar hadn’t granted him much opportunity to just hold her. To soothe her. She hadn’t shown her vulnerable side to him. Ever.

Now that she’d finally lowered her guard, his earlier demand of her total sexual submission made him feel like a f*cking heel. Maybe if he didn’t bring it up again, she’d forget about it, allowing him to gentle her like he’d do with a skittish horse. Oh, he still craved her succulent body nine-ways-’til-Sunday, no doubt about that, but he wanted her heart too.

And that took time.

Good thing Kade was a patient man.

He closed his eyes and breathed her in, matching his exhalations to hers and floating off to sleep.

Hours later a wailing cry startled them both. Skylar groaned.

“Stay put, I’ll get her.” Kade fed Eliza and rocked her back to sleep. He couldn’t drum up the energy to climb the stairs so he nestled her in the bassinet. Then he snuggled behind Skylar on the couch, covering them with a blanket. He waited for Sky to wake up and protest, but she just burrowed deeper into his body and sighed.

Skylar woke with a start.

“Easy.” The warm body next to hers shifted. The very hard, very warm male body.

“What…Kade?” She blinked at the sun peeping through the lace curtains. “Why are we in the living room?”


“Must’ve fallen asleep.”


“You’ve—we’ve been here together? All night?”


“Mostly, yeah. I ain’t surprised you don’t remember. You were pretty wrung out last night when I got home.”


No kidding. Sky remembered feeling alone and inept after returning from Sundance.

Crying herself to sleep on the couch, missing Kade like crazy, wondering why she kept pushing the man away when she wanted him around.

When she woken up and saw Kade, she’d been so relieved, she’d blurted out every sordid detail of her bad day with Eliza. In the face of her complete meltdown, Kade had been amazingly sweet, not judgmental. He’d made her feel safe. And competent. And cared for. Sort of…loved.

So how had she repaid his kindness? By blubbering all over the poor man and clinging to him all night so he couldn’t escape to his own bed.

Her cheeks heated and she tried to wiggle free.

“Hey now, what’s the rush?” His voice was gravelly with sleep. “I gotta admit I like wakin’ up with you in my arms, Sky. I’ve missed you the last couple of days.”


A pregnant pause hung between them, as if he was waiting for something from her.

The truth, probably.

After all this man has done for you, he deserves your honesty. Face it: you deserve to be honest with yourself.

She relaxed into him and simply said, “I missed you too.” She felt him smile against the top of her head.

“Good to know.”


They stayed embraced in easy silence for a good long time.

Kade’s hand lazily traced her spine. “So what time you comin’ to the rodeo today?”


“What rodeo?”


“The Devil’s Tower Rodeo outside of Sundance. You know, the one me’n Colt are team ropin’ in? Seems my whole family is gonna be there, and everyone is chompin’ at the bit to meet Eliza. It’s gotten to be some kinda crazy big deal with a family reunion.”