Page 18 of Three Times the Country Lovin'

“Then I’ll need to get all my stuff from Uncle Daryl’s place.”

The task seemed daunting, especially since I’d only in the last few days felt as if Darci and I had finally settled in.

“Scotty’s truck bed is bigger than mine. You can get more of your stuff hauled at one time if he helps out.”

“That’s useful. Saves me from having to rent something. I might need to buy a few boxes.”

“Walmart has everything you need.”

A leading question considering he stood entirely too close to me, especially since I might soon be a tenant in his house.

Still, I couldn’t resist. “Everything?”

He smirked, and a spike of heat raged through me.

“Well, everything you need for the move with Darci.”

“What about everything else?”

I couldn’t resist. We were into this now.

“That depends on what you mean by everything else.”

He still wasn’t touching me. Like he wanted to wait until I gave him the go ahead or a sign that I wanted more than a simple trip to Walmart to buy a crib… which I most certainly did.

And just when we were about to latch onto each other, Scotty’s voice boomed through the house. “Where are you guys?”

Colt tilted his head and said, “We’ll finish this later.”

“What?” I asked, playing dumb. “The trip to Walmart?”

He took two steps back. “Yeah, Walmart.” Then he yelled to Scotty, “Up here.”

Most of the bedrooms in Colt’s house were on the second floor.

“I thought I’d stop by to offer up my truck,” Scotty said, as he walked into the room. “That’s if you’re moving in with this ornery cowboy.”

“You read my mind, Scotty,” Colt said, grinning. “At least part of it.”

“I am,” I told Scotty. “…moving in with Colt. Darci even gets her own room, and the price was right.”

I gazed back at Colt, grinning as wide as he was, knowing we’d both been thinking the same dirty thoughts. Maybe it was a good thing Scotty showed up when he did, or he would have caught us going at it like bunnies.

The thought gave me a full-body flush.

“You’re charging her? Well, ain’t you the gentleman.” Scotty looked as if he wanted to verbally tear into him, but he had it all wrong.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was my decision to pay him. I want to do this on my own.” And as soon as I said the words, I knew I was finally getting a handle on this adulting thing. It’s one thing to decide to bring your baby into the world, but it’s an even bigger hurdle to then care for and pay for that baby on your own.

That was huge, and I’d taken the first step.

“Might be even better if Mickey pays your rent,” Scotty said, trying to stick a pin in my pride balloon.

I grinned and calmly said, “As long as I’m physically able to care for myself and Darci, I don’t want anything from Mickey. The only reason I told him about his child is because Colt is right. Mickey deserves to know. Other than that, whether or not he wants to participate in her life, either financially or simply by being a good dad, those are his decisions. Now that he knows, I’m sure we’ll work it out… unless, of course, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with her. I’ll be disappointed if that happens, and Darci will grow up resenting him, but hey, that’s his decision. And speaking of Darci, she needs a few things if we’re going to move in here, so yes, Scotty, I’ll take you up on your generous offer. Can we go now?”

“Sure,” he said, after a moment.

I could tell he wasn’t prepared for my outburst of reason. He looked a bit stunned, if not completely speechless, which for Scotty was huge. The young man I knew could outtalk anyone I knew. This older version might not fit into my memory of him.

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