A delicious warmth spread throughout Jessieâs body when he deepened the kiss.
âI think weâd better ⦠stop this before I do something thatâs sure to ⦠get me into big trouble,â Nate said, sounding as short of breath as she felt. âRight now, I want you more than I want my next breath, and as bad as I hate to say this, it might be best for you to sleep across the hall tonight.â
The warmth inside her increased and her pulse raced. âIs that what you want me to do?â
âHell, no!â He laughed as he shook his head. âWhat Iâd like to do is to take you upstairs right now, remove every stitch of your clothes and spend the entire night making love to every inch of your delightful body.â
Her heart skipped a beat and she had to remind herself to breathe. âThen why donât you?â she asked before she could stop herself.
A deep groan rumbled up from his chest. âJessie, Iâm not in any shape right now to be a gentleman. If you donât mean what you just said, then it would be a real good idea to put some distance between us right about now.â
Reaching up, she cupped his lean cheeks with her hands. âI donât want to move away from you, Nate.â
* * *
Pregnant with the Rancherâs Baby is part of The Good, the Bad and the Texan seriesâRunning with these billionaires will be one wild ride!
One
Nate Rafferty couldnât help but smile as he looked around the big, open area in one of his newly constructed barns. From the minute heâd mentioned having a party to celebrate his buying and renovating the Twin Oaks Ranch, his brothersâ wives had decided it needed to be a theme party. Heâd been fine with that and told his sisters-in-law they were in charge of making it happen.
Heâd even left the decision up to the women on what the theme would be, and they had outdone themselves, turning what was going to be his hay barn into a kid-friendly haunted house and full-on Halloween party. The monsters, scarecrows and ghosts were cute rather than scary, and his niece and nephews were going to love all the pumpkins, happy jack-oâ-lanterns and garlands of colorful fall leaves that had been hung around the dance floor and bandstand.
Trying to decide if he wanted to go as the Lone Ranger or John Wayne, Nate walked out of the barn and started across the ranch yard toward the house. Heâd gone only a few feet when he stopped dead in his tracks. A petite blond-haired woman was just getting out of the gray compact SUV sheâd parked close to the garage.
How in the name of Sam Hill had she found him? And why?
Heâd purposely avoided mentioning anything about buying the Twin Oaks Ranch to Jessica Farrell. Heâd planned to wait until he finished renovating it, so he could surprise her and invite her to spend a weekend with him. Of course, the last time heâd seen her had been about four and a half months backâwhen she had still been speaking to him.
Not that heâd been all that worried about it. He had never had a problem charming his way back into her good graces and he had no reason to believe he couldnât do so again, even though sheâd been pretty determined that their on-again, off-again relationship was permanently off.
It had been that way between them for the past couple of years and whenever it seemed like things were getting a little too serious, he always found a reason to break things off between them. But the last time sheâd told him not to bother calling her again and to forget where she lived.
Of course, it wasnât the first time sheâd told him to lose her phone number. They went through something similar about every three or four months. Heâd give her time to simmer down, call and sweet-talk her into seeing him again. Then, after spending several weeks of being real cozy with her, he could feel himself start to get in a little deeper than he intended. Thatâs when heâd cut and run.
He knew it wasnât fair to Jessie. She was a wonderful woman and deserved better than the likes of him. But where she was concerned, he didnât seem to have a choice. He simply couldnât stay away from her.
But this was the first time sheâd sought