Chapter 8
Tate
I’ve never been a man who fantasizes about getting a woman pregnant. Hell, the one time I did, it completely shattered and reshaped my world as I knew it. But after that date with Lucy yesterday, suddenly all I can think about is putting a baby in her.
The way her belly would look with my child inside it. The idea of her being the mother to my future kids. To my current kid.
And then the primality of it. Being inside her, finishing inside her, making her mine.
Jesus Christ.
I pull my cowboy hat off my head, running my fingers through my hair, getting it out of my face, before slapping the hat back on. I really need a haircut.
And to stop having inappropriate thoughts about my child’s nanny.
Although I suppose it’s too late for that.
But regardless of what our relationship has turned into and whether it’s right or wrong, it’s way too soon to be fantasizing about getting her pregnant. What the hell is wrong with me?
My truck rattles down the dirt road, Levi’s house coming into view over the hill. It’s the newest building on the Thatcher Ranch property—about seven years old. Dad and Levi had built it shortly after Levi’s marriage. It was meant to house a whole family, but now it only houses Levi.
It only takes a few minutes before I’m parked right outside. I hop out of the truck and saunter up to the house, not even bothering to knock before throwing open the door.
“Levi!” I call, stomping my feet on the mat before heading inside. He’s expecting me—we had plans for a long meeting to take up the majority of this afternoon.
“In the office!” I hear him call.
While Levi may not have filled the house with children as originally intended—and frequently commented upon by Mom—he’s made good use of the many extra bedrooms. One’s a home gym, one’s a movie room, and one’s his home office. The office is arguably the only addition he really needs.
I round the corner into his office—a gorgeous, light room with large windows displaying mountains off in the distance.
Levi glances over his shoulder, his hands still typing away on his computer. “Hey,” he says. “Lemme just finish this email.”
I nod, taking a seat on the couch against the far wall.
Levi takes a few moments, sends off his email, and then turns to me. He slaps his hands down on his thighs. “Okay.” His dark eyes brighten. “Thatcher Ranch expansion.” He grins.
I shoot a grin right back at him.
We’d been planning on expanding the ranch for the last year or so. It had been Dad’s idea, actually, and when he’d passed last winter, it had put everything on hold. But now, I think we all feel ready to enact a plan.
We’ve got more than enough acreage for more cattle, it’s only a matter of building the barns, buying more equipment, and making sure we have buyers and increased transportation.
That’s what this meeting today with Levi is about.
Planning out the logistics. More cattle means nothing if no one has the means to get the meat.
Once we have a rough plan for that, we’ll have a detailed meeting with Jack to go over financial implications.
“Can you believe it?” I say with a nod, taking off my hat and tossing it to the other side of the couch. I shake my head. “God, if only Dad could see it.”
“I know,” Levi agrees, his tone growing a bit sadder. “He’d be proud.”
I nod absentmindedly.
“Mom says you and Fern’s nanny are … close,” Levi comments suddenly.
My gaze darts to him, my eyes narrowed. “I thought this was a business meeting.”
Levi throws up his hands, chuckling. “It is. Doesn’t mean I can’t bug you about your dating life, though.”
“Says the man who’s been painfully single for, oh, let me count … five years,” I shoot back.
Levi waves off my comment with a snort. “Oh, I’m a lost cause. Even Mom thinks so. Thirty-six, a failed marriage under my belt, alone in this big house. Please.”
I roll my eyes. “And since when do you and Mom talk about me?”
Levi pulls a face. “All the time. You and Fern are her babies.”
“Reese is the youngest!” I protest.
“But you live with her.”
I shake my head.
“Stop avoiding the question. Tell me about the nanny.”
“Her name’s Lucy,” I snap.
“Ooooh, touchy,” Levi comments.
I shoot him a glare.
He cocks his head. “Come on. Tell me. Mom says you two went on a date.”
I purse my lips, staring past him at the mountain out the window. Obviously Mom knew about my date with Lucy. She was watching Fern. I wouldn’t have told her otherwise. But I didn’t exactly expect her to spread the information around. If Levi knows, then Jack and Willow do too.
God. This feels like it’s getting out of hand.
“What’s that expression for?” Levi cuts through my thoughts.
It’s only then that I realize I’ve been knitting my brows together. I shake my head. “It’s just … I worry it’s …” I sigh. “Inappropriate.”
Levi chuckles. “Since when has that ever stopped you?”
I shoot him a look.
“Okay, okay. Sorry. But what, did you throw yourself at her or something? She’s obviously into you as well, right?”
“Of course,” I say.
“It’s consensual, it’s fine,” Levi says.
“She’s Fern’s nanny. What if things go south?” Saying it out loud suddenly makes it all so real. Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t have started this. But what I feel for Lucy is … real. Big. Scary.
Levi is silent for a moment. “Yeah. I mean, those fears are valid.”
It doesn’t make me feel better.
“But let me ask you this: Does it feel like a fling, or do you actually like her?”
“It’s not a fling,” I say, mainly because I can’t bring myself to say my real feelings out loud. That Lucy Adler might just be the one to finally turn my life around.
Levi smirks. “Well then, your intentions are good. That’s all that matters.”
I’m silent for a moment, and then I ask, “You think?”
Levi shrugs. “Yeah. But what do I know?”
I chuckle, leaning forward and ready to shift the conversation. “Okay, enough about my love life. Unless you’d like to share equally about yours.” I raise an eyebrow at him.
Levi laughs. “You know me—my ‘love life’ days are over. And good riddance.”
“Well then, time to put all that extra energy into making Thatcher Ranch the premiere cattle ranch in the west,” I state.