“Mornin’, beautiful.”
Her insides melted. Lord. It should be illegal to look that good at the crack of dawn.
“Mornin’, handsome.”
His grin widened. “Handsome? Why, Miz Ellison, I do believe that’s the first time you’ve ever called me that.”
“Yeah? Well, you are handsome, McKay, but don’t get a swelled head.”
“Too late, dependin’ on which head you’re talkin’ about.”
“Ha ha.” She hopped up and lifted Eliza from her crib. Once again Skylar experienced that melting sensation, seeing her sweet baby’s face. “Ooh, aren’t you all charming smiles like your daddy this morning?” She kissed the top of Eliza’s head and hugged her close.
“Bring her here.”
“She’s probably hungry.”
“We both know she’d be squawlin’ if she was.” Kade rolled to his side and patted the mattress. “Hey, baby girl. Come see Daddy.”
Eliza turned her head and grinned at him.
“She’s shameless.” Sky crawled on the bed and set Eliza on her back between them.
“What can I say? She loves me.”
So do I.
Her body, her mind, even her blood went absolutely still. Kade didn’t notice. He was smooching Eliza’s cheeks, blowing raspberries on her neck, and letting her pull his hair.
Oh God. It was true. She loved Kade McKay.
Her skeptical side demanded, since when?
Maybe from the start when he’d fainted upon seeing Eliza. Or when he’d insisted on moving in. Or when he’d proven his love for their daughter had no boundaries. Or when he demanded Sky’s complete sexual surrender to him and never abused her trust. Or when he showed with actions, not just words that he understood her, accepted her, and still liked her. Or because he was an eternal optimist, he kept asking her to marry him, even when she kept saying no.
Dammit. Except Kade hadn’t asked her again last night. After making love to her in the rain. After he initiated her not only into the dark pleasure of anal sex, but showing the side of himself that was closer to an animal than to a man. Revealing a harsher, darker side she suspected he tried very hard to hide. Yet, he’d shared it with her.
“Sky? Ah. A little help here?”
Eliza had two fistfuls of Kade’s hair, her arms were flailing, her feet randomly kicking him in the chin and neck. Sky peeled Eliza’s fingers open and the baby made a protesting squeal. “I know you like to pull Daddy’s hair, but he shouldn’t let you, because we don’t want you to get a bad reputation at daycare, do we?” She gave Kade an arch look. When he smiled smugly, she refocused on Eliza. “Speaking of…shall we get a start on our day, snooks? Since I have to be in early?”
“And here I was hopin’ you could crawl back in bed for a bit.”
She lifted her eyes to his. “Are you serious?”
“Always serious when it comes to gettin’ you nekkid and between the sheets.”
“No way.” When he opened his mouth to institute the naked rule, Sky held up her hand. “I’ll take a rain check.”
“We already did it in the rain once, but I’m up for another round.”
Such a satisfied male smirk. She smirked back. “You know what I meant.”
“Are you sore this mornin’, sweetheart?”
“A little. But it was worth it. Man, was it ever worth it.”
His blue eyes became heavy-lidded with pure lust. “I’ll say. One of the hottest nights of my life. Here I was hopin’ you’d play hooky and we could laze in bed. All. Damn.
Day.”
She blushed. “Aren’t you going to the ranch?”
Kade squinted at the rain beating on the window. “I told Dad and Kane I wouldn’t be over if it was rainin’. Not that I’m complainin’ because we need the moisture in a bad way. No point standin’ around doin’ nothin’ there when I could be here. You want me to hang at home with the hair-puller?”
“No. Actually, today is my turn in daycare. Even though I’m woefully behind on office work, it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t pull my weight.”
“How many munchkins?”
“Eight including Eliza.”
“Hell, I ain’t doin’ nothin’. How about if I do your stint in daycare so you can get caught up.”
“You’re joking.”
“No, I’m not.” His gaze narrowed on her. “Why? You think I can’t do it?”
Crap. “It can get kind of crazy.”
“Crazier than takin’ care of a couple dozen newborn calves in the snow and havin’ them and their mommas all bawlin’ at the same time?”
“No. Different.”
“You don’t think I can do it, do you?”
Lie lie lie. “It was sweet of you to offer, Kade—”
“Sweet, my ass.” He bounced off the bed. “I’m doin’ it. I’m gonna be the best damn daycare worker you’ve ever seen. And I’m so gonna make you eat your words at quittin’ time, boss lady.”
“Right.”
“Wanna bet?
She snorted. “That’s a sucker bet.”
“Then why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?” Kade leaned forward.
“If I win, you do something for me. If you win, I do something for you.”
“Fine. What do you want if you win?”
His wolfish grin appeared. “I want you to blow me in my truck while we’re drivin’ down the road.”
Skylar blinked at him. “Oh. My. God. You didn’t just come up with that off the cuff, did you? How long have you been planning something kinky like that, Kade McKay?”
“With you? Since the day we met. The fantasy has just gotten more specific since I know how damn good you are with that sexy mouth of yours.” Kade wrapped a section of Sky’s hair around his finger. “What about you? What do you want if you win?”
For you to ask me to marry you again.
Dammit. She could not, would not, sound that damn needy. Sky considered him for a second before she smiled. “I want to tie you to the bed.”
“And?”
“And what is unclear about that?”
“Be specific, ’cause if it’s tie me down and leave me there without playin’ any naughty sex games, well, darlin’, that ain’t happenin’.”
“There’ll be sex games, cowboy, don’t you worry about that.”