Tied Up, Tied Down (Rough Riders #4)(6)

“Eliza Belle.”


“No. What’s her last name?”


“Ellison.”


“Like hell. That’s the first thing that’s gonna change.”


“Kade—”


“Give me a second to think.”


The more Kade paced and muttered to himself, the more nervous Skylar became.

Suddenly he stopped and was right in her face. “Fine. We have a baby. You can change her name the same time you change yours. We’ll get married.”


“What!”


“Married. As in you and me are gettin’ hitched as soon as possible.” He looked down into Eliza’s face and the hard line of his mouth softened. “She needs a mother and a father and luckily she’s got both.”


“That doesn’t mean we’re getting married, McKay.”


“Why not?” Kade lifted those blue eyes, eyes identical to their daughter’s. His dark gaze seemed to pierce a hole in her resolve.

“Because you cannot barge in here and make demands. It may work riding roughshod over cattle and horses but it won’t fly with me. We don’t even know each other.”


“The hell we don’t.”


“Think about it. We had what? A dozen dates? We haven’t seen each other in a year?

We are basically strangers.”


“Strangers? We created a child together. That makes us one helluva lot more than strangers.”


“I disagree.”


“I don’t give a rat’s behind whether you agree or not. This little gal,” he pointed a thick finger at Eliza’s dark head, “ain’t gonna be a stranger to me any longer.” That fiery blue gaze snagged hers again. “Maybe you’re right. You don’t know me. So let me tell you something. I ain’t walkin’ away from her. Ever. I take care of what’s mine. Period.”


“What is that supposed to mean?”


“You don’t wanna get married? Fine. We’ll get to know each other better first, since that’s what’s got you all fired up, thinkin’ that we’re strangers.” He paused. “In fact, that’ll work out better anyway.”


“What will?”


“I’ll just move in with you. We’ll see how that goes first.”


Warning bells clanged in her head. “Oh no. Absolutely not.”


Silence.

Kade sighed. “Look. Be reasonable. This ain’t about you and me, what we were, or weren’t, or what we will be in the future. This is about her. I know it ain’t easy bein’ a single parent. I watched my cousin Cord struggle with it. You’ve been doin’ all this pregnancy and baby stuff on your own and for that I’m truly sorry, Sky. I can’t change the past. But I am here now. I will be a hands-on father, not to help you out, but because I wanna be in my daughter’s life all the time, not just as a weekend daddy.

“So, for now, it’d be best if we didn’t pass her back and forth between us, until I get to know Eliza where you and she are both comfortable. And that is in your house, under your watchful eye so I don’t do something stupid or wrong.” He smiled shyly. “To be real honest? I don’t know nothin’ about girls. Especially baby girls.”


When Kade looked at her like that, she remembered how she’d ended up pregnant in the first place. The man oozed an earnest sexuality that still packed a wallop. Evidently time away from his intense eyes and devilish grin hadn’t made her immune to his considerable charms because she found herself agreeing. “Okay.”


Eliza squirmed and emitted a disgruntled cry.

Rather than retreat from her squawking, Kade tenderly touched Eliza’s plump cheek.

“Hey there, beautiful girl. What’s got you fussin’? You hungry?”


Skylar melted a tiny bit at his immediate acceptance and interest in his daughter.


“She’s always hungry when she wakes up.”


“I imagine.” He kept stroking Eliza’s face, staring at her with an expression resembling awe.

“You wanna hold her?”


“Like you wouldn’t believe.”


“You have held a baby before, right?”


“Not for a long time. And never mine.”


Sky shifted sideways and gently placed Eliza in his arms.

Kade stiffened.

“Relax.”


“Am I doin’ this right?” His panicked gaze sought hers. “Or am I squeezin’ her too tight?”


“You’re doing fine, Daddy. Just make sure you support her head.” Sky fussed with Eliza’s blanket and murmured,” She likes to be snuggled close to your body.”


“Like this?”


“Uh-huh.” She studied his rapt face, bowled over by the raw emotion he didn’t bother to hide. “Be warned. She is squirmy.”


“She don’t weigh much, does she?”


“You won’t be saying that when you’ve been walking the floor with her all night because she won’t stop crying. Those fifteen pounds feel like a hundred.”