âDonât get dressed on my account.â
Kelsey looked up.
No clean shirt, no baby. Just one hundred percent, mouth-wateringâcowboy.
âCooper.â
He crossed the room in a heartbeat, swore softly under his breath before his mouth captured hers in a searing kiss.
Kelsey wound her hands around his neck, meeting his kiss head-on, pressing her curves to the hard planes of his chest. His hands brushed her sweat jacket from her shoulders. He broke free of her mouth, his lips moving along her jaw until he nipped at her ear.
âI wasnât going to do this,â he whispered hotly, âbut you said my name â¦â
Dear Reader,
As a fan of the many sagas of the Fortune family over the years, I was thrilled when, as a relatively new author, I was asked to be part of the LOST ⦠AND FOUND continuity. When I read the outline for my book, my first thought was âOh, a baby changes everythingâ and little Anthony certainly does that for Cooper Fortune.
Thereâs a saying that goes something like âBecoming a parent is a decision to forever have your heart go walking around outside your body.â Something this wandering cowboyâwho suddenly finds himself a fatherânever experienced before his son came into his life. Add a chance meeting with a pretty horse trainer and Cooperâs world is about to be changed in ways he never dreamed of.
It was such fun to be with Cooper and Kelsey as they found their way to each other and their happily ever after. I hope you enjoy their journey!
Happy reading!
Christyne
Thirteen steps.
The length of the babyâs room, from the crib near the bay window to the doorway at the opposite corner, could be covered in thirteen steps.
Cooper Fortune had been counting, repeatedly, for the last interminably long twenty minutes while the squirming five-month-old in his arms wailed loud enough to wake the dead.
Anthony, middle name still unknown, Fortune. His son. A child heâd only known existed for the last week and a half.
Probability of paternity = 99.99%.
Thatâs what the laboratory had told him when theyâd called with the results and in the blink of an eye, Cooper Fortuneâwandering cowboyâhad a child.
âLooks like you lost the parent lottery.â Cooper spoke above the babyâs cries as he paced the small room, cradling the flailing infant against his chest. âWelcome to the club, buddy. My folks were lousy, too.â
He had no memory of his father, and Cooperâs mother, Cindy Fortune, a former showgirl and wannabe socialite, easily held the number-one spot on the list of worst mothers in the history of the world.
âOf course, we still donât know what happened to your mama,â Cooper continued, noticing the decibel level of the babyâs cries, not to mention the wiggle factor, had lessened as soon as he started talking. âBut your Uncle Ross is on the case and Iâm sure heâll find her soon. I wish I knew why she left you and how the helâheck you ended up here in Red Rock.â
And why Lulu never bothered to tell him she was pregnant.
Heâd met Lulu Carlton at a local bar about a year and a half ago while working on a ranch in Rock Country, Minnesota. They dated for about six months, but when Cooperâs job ended, so had the relationship. Anthonyâs estimated birth date was around the middle of December, which meant the child was conceived just before Cooper hightailed it out of Minnesota early last year.
And didnât that make him feel like a loser?
As he stared down at the little bundle looking up at him with a curious gaze from familiar dark brown eyes, Cooper had no idea what to do next.
âThis isnât working out too well, huh, partner? We havenât exactly had much one-on-one time, until tonight. And usually youâre a bit quieter.â
Cooper watched the baby rub at his eyes with tiny fists. The crying lowered to a soft whimpering for a moment. Could the pacing and talking actually be working?
He slowly headed for the crib. Maybe he could get back downstairs before the end of the Red Sox/Rangers game heâd been watching in between reading a book that promised to tell him everything he needed to know about dealing with a baby. He leaned over the railing, making sure to support Anthonyâs head like heâd seen Kirsten do numerous times, but the moment the kid went horizontal, the screams returned.