A Texas-Sized Secret
Maureen Child
A pregnancy shock…and only her best friend can help… From USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child!Style maven and TV personality Naomi Price has made her share of mistakes with men—and she has her secret pregnancy to prove it! But when it comes to her best friend—rich rancher and inventor Toby McKittrick—her taste is impeccable. With the town blackmailer threatening to divulge Naomi's pregnancy secret, Toby steps in and pretends to be the dad. Now, that's what best friends are for! But will their relationship ruse turn into the real deal before the scandal blows up as big as the Lone Star State?
A pregnancy shock...and only her best friend can help... From USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child!
Style maven and TV personality Naomi Price has made her share of mistakes with men—and she has her secret pregnancy to prove it! But when it comes to her best friend—rich rancher and inventor Toby McKittrick—her taste is impeccable. With the town blackmailer threatening to divulge Naomi’s pregnancy secret, Toby steps in and pretends to be the dad. Now, that’s what best friends are for! But will their relationship ruse turn into the real deal before the scandal blows up as big as the Lone Star State?
“Engaged.”
Her mother said the word again, as if savoring it, and smiled. “Oh, Naomi, you’re marrying Toby McKittrick. It’s just wonderful.”
Naomi had never been on the receiving end of that smile before, so it threw her a little. Then she realized exactly what her mother had said. She wasn’t thrilled about the baby, but about her daughter marrying Toby. Handsome. Stable. Wealthy Toby McKittrick. That was the kind of announcement her mother could get behind.
And that realization only made Naomi furious. At Toby. She hadn’t expected her parents to be supportive, but having Toby ride to the rescue felt, after that first burst of relief, more than a little annoying. She’d only wanted him here for moral support. Not to sweep in and lie to save her. The whole purpose of coming here to tell her parents the truth was to get it over with. “Toby—”
He looked down at her, gave her a smile, then surprised her into being quiet with a quick, hard kiss that left her lips buzzing. Shock rattled her. He’d never kissed her before, and though it wasn’t a lover’s kiss, it wasn’t exactly a brotherly kiss, either.
* * *
A Texas-Sized Secret is part of the series Texas Cattleman’s Club: Blackmail—No secret—or heart— is safe in Royal, Texas…
A Texas-Sized Secret
Maureen Child
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
MAUREEN CHILD writes for the Mills & Boon Desire line and can’t imagine a better job. A seven-time finalist for a prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA
Award, Maureen is an author of more than one hundred romance novels. Her books regularly appear on bestseller lists and have won several awards, including a Prism Award, a National Readers’ Choice Award, a Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence and a Golden Quill Award. She is a native Californian but has recently moved to the mountains of Utah.
To the readers, because you are the reason we have stories to tell.
Contents
Cover (#u5945b140-ad20-5892-80e2-8c3e608251c5)
Back Cover Text (#uebde2db8-e6f0-54a8-805f-ce289cdb6947)
Introduction (#u7af542a0-8a4a-58f0-a885-0a6dc888052c)
Title Page (#ua199cfcf-6826-5daf-9982-d36459ee3e9b)
About the Author (#u2cb0e5f6-b53f-5636-9ec8-7bc7729c883b)
Dedication (#u7a681cba-2445-5b8a-baae-a86ffae3102b)
One (#u9470b142-2ec6-5355-8d3f-a734c4f41314)
Two (#uf736dc96-1ef1-5c99-91a7-0e023e294c32)
Three (#ucb2ddf3c-540f-5f02-8ff9-73525f829f71)
Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
One (#u8cabe050-bdf9-559e-9e79-783225adaab4)
“What did I ever do to this Maverick?” Naomi Price kicked at the dirt, then gave a heavy sigh. “Why’s he after me?”
Toby McKittrick glanced from the horse he was saddling to the woman standing on the other side of the corral fence. Even furious and a little scared, Naomi made quite the picture.
She was nine inches shorter than his own six feet two inches, but she had a lot of interest packed into her five-foot-five frame. Her long, copper-brown hair draped over her shoulders like fire, and her chocolate-colored eyes snapped with intelligence and, at the moment, worry. She wore white summer slacks and a loose, pale green shirt with some white lacy thing over it. The boots she wore were ankle-high, pale cream and fit only for walking down clean city sidewalks. Here on the ranch, they’d be ruined in a day or two. But Naomi was a city girl, so no worries.
“This Maverick,” he said, “he—or she, for all we know,” Toby pointed out, “is after everybody, it seems. Guess it was just your turn.”
“Maverick” had been creating turmoil in Royal, Texas, for the last few months. Exposing private bombshells, taunting people with their innermost worries and fears, whoever it was not only knew the people of Royal, but didn’t give a good damn about them.
Somehow this person—whoever—uncovered people’s darkest secrets and then published them. Toby had no idea what the mysterious Maverick was getting out of all this—okay, some people had paid Maverick to keep his mouth shut—but Toby had the feeling the whole point was simply to try to destroy people’s reputations. If that was it, he was batting a thousand.
“Great,” Naomi muttered. “Just great.”
“What exactly did he say to get you running out here first thing in the morning?” Toby gave her a long look. Usually, Naomi wasn’t up and moving until the crack of noon. She didn’t go anywhere unless she was completely turned out from the top of her head to the toes of her stylish shoes.
She sighed, then reached into her shoulder bag for her cell phone. “Look at it for yourself,” she said, handing it over.
Toby gave the horse a pat, took the phone and keyed it up.
“It’s ready to go,” she said, “just push Play.”
Frowning, Toby tipped the brim of his hat back and tapped the phone screen. Instantly, he saw what had Naomi as jumpy as a spider on a hot plate.
For the last year or so, Naomi had been the star, writer and producer of a small-town cable fashion show. She was making a name for herself, doing what she did best—advising women on how to look good. Naomi was proud of what she’d accomplished, and she had a right to be. She’d built herself an audience and she worked hard every day to put out the best show possible.
He scowled at the screen as the video played. Maverick had turned what she did into a parody. He’d found an actress who resembled Naomi to star in it, and the woman was cooing and sighing over a rack of dresses like she was having an orgasm on camera. Then she stepped out from behind that rack and Toby knew instantly what had really set Naomi off.
The actress looked about two years pregnant. She waddled across the stage, both hands supporting a belly so huge there might have been a baby elephant tucked inside.
“Oh, man...”
“Wait for it,” Naomi ground out. “There’s more.”
A deep frown etched on his face, Toby watched and listened as the actress began talking with a slow, overblown Texas accent.
“And for summer,” she said, simpering at the camera, “maternity wear just got more exciting! Our big ol’ bellies won’t keep us from looking stylish, ladies.” She flipped long reddish-brown hair behind her shoulder, then rubbed both hands over that comically distended belly before slipping behind that rack of dresses again, still talking. “Remember, accessorizing is key. Drape a pretty belt around that baby belly. Draw attention to it. Be proud. Show the world what a fashionable pregnant woman should look like.”
Toby’s own temper was starting to spike for Naomi’s sake.
She stepped out from behind the dress rack again to model an oversize tent dress with a gigantic black belt enveloping that belly. “Tell the world, Naomi,” the woman said, smiling into the camera. “Do it fast, or Maverick will do it for you.”
Gritting his teeth, Toby turned the phone off and handed it back to her. “Okay, I see what’s got you all churned up.”
She tucked her phone back into her purse and then reached out to grab the top rail of the corral fence. Her hands tightened on the weather-beaten wood until her knuckles went white.
“It’s not just that he’s threatening to tell everyone I’m pregnant, Toby,” she said, her voice tight but low enough that he had to lean in to hear her. “It’s that he’s making fun of me. He’s turning my show into a joke. He’s laughing at me.”
Toby laid his hand over one of hers and squeezed. “Doesn’t matter what he thinks of you, Naomi. You know that.”
“Of course I know,” she said, giving him a grim smile that was brave, if not honest. “But I watched that video and wondered if I really sound like that. All know-it-all and prissy. Am I prissy?”
One corner of Toby’s mouth quirked up. “I wouldn’t say so, but you’ve had your moments...”
She looked at him for a long minute, then let her head fall back and a groan escape her throat. “You’re talking about the mean girls thing, aren’t you?”
He shrugged and went back to tightening the cinch on his horse’s saddle. Naomi had been his best friend for years. But that didn’t make him blind to her faults, either. Of course, nobody was perfect. Toby knew Naomi better than anyone else, and he knew that she had spent a lifetime hiding a tender heart beneath a self-protective layer of cool disdain.
“You, Simone and Cecelia have a reputation you more than earned. You’ve gotta admit that.”
“Wish I didn’t have to,” she muttered and dropped her chin on top of her hands.
Shaking his head, Toby let her be, knowing her thoughts were racing. So were his own. Naomi and he had been best friends for years now. They’d grown up knowing each other in a vague, from-the-same-small-town kind of way. But in college, they’d connected when he was a senior and she a freshman. He knew her in a way not many people did, so Toby also knew that Naomi was shaken right down to her expensive, useless boots.
“Things are different now,” Naomi insisted a moment later. She straightened up, and Toby was glad to see a fierce gleam in her eyes. “People change, you know.”
“All the time,” he said, nodding.
“Cecelia and Deacon are together now—she’s pregnant, too,” Naomi pointed out unnecessarily. “And Simone and Hutch have worked things out and she’s pregnant with triplets, for heaven’s sake.” She threw up both hands and let them fall to her sides. “It’s a population explosion with the three of us. We’re not the mean girls anymore. We’re...” She sighed. “I don’t know what we are anymore.”
“I do,” Toby said, watching her with a smile. “You’re Naomi Price—the woman who wears useless boots that cost more than my saddle...”
She laughed, as he’d meant her to.
Staring directly into her eyes, he continued. “You’re also the woman who started her own television show and worked her behind off to make it a success.”
“Thank you, Toby.” She smiled at him, and he felt a sharp tug inside in response.
“Okay,” she said, nodding to herself as she pushed away from the fence, giving that top rail one last slap. “You’re right. I’m strong. I’m ready. I can do this.”
“Yes, you can.” Finished saddling his horse, Toby stroked the flat of his hand along the animal’s sleek neck.
“I don’t know how to tell them,” she said, all the air leaving her body in a rush. “The whole strong, independent feminist thing just goes right out the window when I know I have to face down my parents and tell them I’m pregnant.”
Toby turned, braced his forearms on the top rail of the fence and tugged the brim of his dark brown hat down low over his eyes. “You should have already told them.”
“This is so not the time for cool logic,” she snapped. Pacing back and forth along the fence line, she crossed her arms over her middle like she was hugging herself. “What happened to Mr. Supportive?”
“I’m being supportive,” he argued. “I’m just not patting your head, because you don’t need it.”
She muttered something he didn’t quite catch and kept pacing. If she’d stop walking so damn fast, he’d give her a hug himself. But the minute he considered it, Toby pushed the thought aside. Hell, he’d been burying his attraction for Naomi for years. He was a damn expert. She’d come to his ranch looking for a friend, so that was what he’d be for her. Which meant telling her what she didn’t want to hear.
“Naomi,” he said, “you knew you couldn’t keep this a secret forever.”
She stopped directly opposite him, with the fence separating them. A soft summer wind lifted the ends of her hair, and she squinted a bit into the sunlight, those beautiful brown eyes of hers narrowing. “I know, but...”
“But nothing,” he said, yanking his hat off to stab his fingers through his hair. “Somebody else took the reins from you. You don’t have a choice now in when to tell your folks. Time’s up.”
“How did Maverick even find out?” She took a breath and exhaled on a heavy sigh. “You’re the only one—or so I thought—besides me who knows about the baby.”
That sounded like an accusation. His gaze snapped to hers. “I didn’t tell anyone.”
“I know that.” She waved that away with such casualness he relaxed again. Toby was a man of his word. Always. The one thing he always remembered his father saying was, “Without his honor, a man’s got nothing.” That had always stuck with him, to the point that Toby never made a promise unless he was sure he could keep it.
“You know, you’re the only man in my life who’s never let me down, Toby,” she said softly. “The one person I can always count on.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything, because knowing Naomi, she had more to say.
“I tried to contact Gio again.”
And there it was. Irritation spiked inside him, and Toby didn’t bother to hide it. Gio Fabiani, a one-night stand who had left Naomi pregnant and wasn’t worth the dust on her fancy boots. But Naomi being Naomi, for the last couple of months she’d been trying to track the man down to tell him about the baby. Even if she did finally find him, though, Toby was sure that Gio wouldn’t give a flying damn.
“You’ve got to let that go,” he ground out. “Just because the man fathered your child doesn’t mean he’s good enough to be its father.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts,” he said, interrupting her. “Damn it, Naomi, you told me yourself that sleeping with that sleaze was a mistake. You really want to make another one by bringing him back into your life?”
“Shouldn’t he know that he has a child?”
“If he hadn’t blown in and out of your life so fast, he would know,” Toby said, though in truth he was damned grateful that Gio hadn’t been more than a blip on Naomi’s radar. She deserved better. “I did some checking of my own when you first told me about this.”
“You checked? Into Gio?”
“Who else?” He calmed himself by stroking his palm up and down the length of his horse’s neck. “The man’s a worthless user. He goes through women like we go through feed for the horses.”
She flushed, and he knew she didn’t like hearing it, but true was true.
His voice low and soft, Toby added, “He’s never going to stand with you, Naomi.”
She took a breath and huffed it out again. “I know that, too. And I don’t want him to, anyway.” Shaking her head, she started pacing again. “One night of bad judgment doesn’t make for a relationship. But I should tell him about the baby before this Maverick person sends that video out into the world and it goes viral.” She stopped opposite him again and laid one hand against her belly. “Viral. People everywhere will see that awful video. People will be laughing at me. Feeling sorry for me. Or, worse, cheering, because like you said, I haven’t always been the nicest human being on the planet. Oh, God, my stomach’s churning and it has nothing to do with the baby.”
“You’ll survive this,” he said.
“Why should I have to survive? Who is this Maverick? Why has nobody found him yet?”
“I don’t know—to all those questions.”
Shooting another speculative look at his friend, Toby wondered exactly what she was thinking. With Naomi it was never easy to guess. She’d long since learned to school her features into a blank mask that could convince her disinterested parents that all was well. But usually with him, she was more forthcoming. Still, things were different now. She was more shaken than he’d ever seen her. It wasn’t just the pregnancy—it was how her life seemed to be spinning out of her control.
And Naomi liked control.
“The video he sent me was just...” Her sentence trailed off as she shook her head. “If he puts that out on the internet like he threatened, everyone in town’s going to know my secret in a few hours.”
Toby sighed, braced both forearms on the top rung of the corral fence and waited until her gaze met his to say, “Honey, they were all going to know within another month or two anyway. It’s not like you could hide it much longer.”
He was repeating himself and he knew it, but sometimes it took a hammer to pound the truth into Naomi’s mind when she didn’t want to admit to something. That hard head of hers was one of the things he liked most about her. Which made him a damn fool, probably. But there was something about the look she got in her eye when she was set on something that twisted his guts into knots. Knots he couldn’t do a damn thing about, since she was his best friend. But he did wonder from time to time if Naomi’s insides ever twisted over him.
Naomi stopped pacing, spun around to look at him and blurted, “You’re right.”
That surprised Toby enough that his eyebrows lifted high on his forehead. She saw it and laughed, and blast if the sound didn’t light fires inside him. Fires he deliberately ignored. Hell, of course his body responded as it did. She was a beautiful woman with a laugh that sounded like warm nights and silk sheets. A man would have to be dead six months to not be affected by Naomi.
“I’m not so stubborn—or delusional—I can’t see the truth when it takes a bite out of me,” she said. Leaning her arms on the fence rail alongside his, she said, “That’s really why I came out to see you this morning. I know what I have to do, and I wanted to ask you to come with me to tell my parents.”
He frowned a little, because he didn’t much care for Naomi’s folks. They were always so prissy, so sure of their own righteousness they put him off. Their house was like a damn museum, quiet, still, where a dust speck wouldn’t have the nerve to show up. Always made him feel like a clumsy cowboy.
But he knew how they made Naomi feel, too. She’d never quite measured up to parents who probably shouldn’t have had a child to begin with. From everything Naomi had told him and from what he’d seen firsthand, they’d been showing her for years in word and deed just how disappointing she was to them. The announcement she had to make today wasn’t going to help the situation any.
She was watching him, waiting for an answer, and Toby saw a flicker of unease in her eyes. He didn’t like it. “Sure,” he said, “I’ll come along.”
“Thanks, Toby,” she said, reaching over to lay one hand on his forearm. “I knew you’d do this for me. You really are my best friend.”
A best friend probably shouldn’t experience a jolt of lust with just a touch of her hand on his arm. So he’d just keep that to himself.
* * *
Naomi was nervous. But then, she’d been nervous since opening the email with the subject line Your Secret Is Out. She’d known the moment she saw the blasted thing in her inbox that Maverick had finally turned his talons toward her. For the last few months, she’d watched as people she knew and cared about had had their lives turned upside down by this malicious phantom. And somehow she’d managed to keep hoping he wouldn’t turn on her. Now that he had, though, she was forced to tell her parents the truth and live through what she always thought of as the “disappointment stare.” Again.
Her entire life, Naomi had known that she was continually letting her parents down. Oh, no one had actually said anything—that would have been distasteful. But parents had other ways of letting their children know they didn’t measure up, and the Prices were masters at silent disapproval.
No matter what Naomi had done in her life, her mother and father stood back and looked at her as if they didn’t have a clue where she’d come from. Today was going to be no different.
Thank God Toby was coming with her to face them. She glanced at his stoic profile as he drove his Ford 150 down the road toward her family’s mini mansion. He was the only one who knew her secret. The only one she’d trusted enough to go to when she realized two months ago that she was pregnant. And didn’t that say something? She hadn’t even told Cecelia Morgan and Simone Parker, and the three of them had been close for years.
But when she was in trouble, she always had turned to Toby. Even though telling him she was pregnant because of her own stupid decision to spend one night with the fast-talking, too-handsome-for-his-own-good Gio made her feel like an even bigger idiot.
Naomi still couldn’t believe that one night of bad judgment and too much champagne had brought her to this. Toby was right, though. Even without Maverick shoving his nose into her business, she wouldn’t have been able to hide her pregnancy for much longer. Loose tops and a strategically held handbag weren’t going to disguise reality forever.
She shuddered a little in her seat. Naomi hated being pushed around by some nameless bully.
“You okay?” Toby asked, shooting her a quick look before turning his gaze back on the road in front of him.
“Not really,” she admitted. “What the hell am I going to say to them?”
“The truth, Naomi,” he said, reaching out to cover her hand with his. “Just tell them you’re pregnant.”
She held on to his hand and felt the warm, solid strength of him. “And when they ask who the father is?”
His mouth worked as if he wanted to say plenty but wasn’t letting the words out. She appreciated the effort. He couldn’t say anything about Gio that she hadn’t been feeling anyway.
When she told Toby about the baby, he’d instantly proven to be a much better man than the one she’d slept with. Toby offered to help any way he could, which was just one of the things she loved most about him. He didn’t judge. He was just there. Like the mountains. Or the ancient oaks surrounding his ranch house. He was sturdy. And dependable. And everything she’d never known in her life until him. Now she needed him more than ever.
The Prices lived in Pine Valley, an exclusive, gated golf course community where the mansions sat on huge lots behind tidy lawns where weeds didn’t dare appear and “doing lunch” was considered a career. At least, that was how Naomi had always seen it. Growing up there hadn’t been easy, again because her parents never seemed to know what to do with her. Maybe if she’d had a sibling to help her through, it might have been different. But alone, Naomi had always felt...unworthy, somehow.
Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when Toby stopped at the gate. When he lowered the window to speak to the guard, a wave of early-summer heat invaded the truck cab.
“Who’re you here to see?” the older man holding a clipboard asked.
Naomi knew that voice, so she leaned forward and smiled. “Hello, Stan. We’re just coming in to see my parents.”
“Naomi, it’s good to see you.” The man smiled, hit a button on the inside of his guard hut, and the high, wide gate instantly began to roll clear. “Your folks are at home. Bet they’ll be happy to see you.”
He waved them through, and she sat back. “Happy to see me? I don’t think so.”
Toby, still holding her hand, gave it a hard squeeze. She held on tightly, even when he would have released her. Because right now she needed his support—his friendship—more than ever.
The streets were beautiful, with big homes, most of them tucked behind shrubbery-lined fences. Even in a gated community, some of the very wealthy seemed to want their own personal security as well. Of course, not everyone’s home was hidden away behind a wall of trees, hedges or stone. The palatial homes were all different, all custom designed and built. And the closer Toby’s truck drew to the Price mansion, the more Naomi felt the swarms of butterflies soaring and diving in the pit of her stomach.
God, she couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt at ease with her parents. It had always seemed as though she was putting on a production, playing the part of the perfect daughter. Only she never quite measured up. She wished things were different, but if wishes came true, she wouldn’t be here in the first place, would she?
The driveway to her parents’ house was long and curved, the better to display the banks of flowers tended with loving care by a squad of gardeners. The sweep of lawn was green and neatly trimmed, and trees were kept trained into balls on branches that looked as though they were trying to remember how to be real trees. The house itself was showy but tasteful, as her parents would accept nothing less—it was a blend of Cape Cod and Victorian. Pale gray with white trim and black shutters, it stood as graceful as a dancer in the center of the massive lot. The front door was white without a speck of dust to mar its surface. The windows gleamed in the sunlight and displayed curtains within, all drawn to exactly the same point.
It was like looking at a picture in an architectural magazine. Something staged, where no one really lived. And of course, she told herself silently, no one did. Instead of living, her parents existed on a stage where everyone knew their lines and no one ever strayed from the script. Well, except for Naomi.
Naomi herself had been the one time anything unexpected had happened in her parents’ lives. She was, she knew, an “accident.” A late-in-life baby who had caused them nothing but embarrassment at first, followed by years of disappointment. Her mother had been horrified to find herself pregnant at the age of forty-five and had endured the unwelcome pregnancy because to do otherwise would have been unthinkable for her. They raised her with care if not actual love and expected her not to make any further ripples in their life.
But Naomi had always caused ripples. Sometimes waves.
And today was going to be a tsunami.
“You’re getting quiet,” Toby said with a flicker of a smile. “Never a good sign.”
She had to smile back. “Too much to think about.”
She stared at the closed front door and dreaded having to knock on it. Of course she would knock. And be announced by Matilda, the housekeeper who’d worked for her parents for twenty years. People didn’t simply walk into her parents’ house.
And her mind was going off on tangents because she didn’t want to think about her real reason for being here.
“You’ve already made the hard decision,” Toby pointed out. “You decided to keep the baby.”
She had. Not that she cared at all about the baby’s father, Naomi thought. But the baby was real to her. A person. Her child. How could she end the pregnancy? “I couldn’t do anything else.”
He reached out and took her hand for a quick squeeze. “I know. And I’ll help however I can.”
“I know you will,” she said, holding on to his hand as she would a lifeline.
“You know,” he said slowly, his deep voice rumbling through the truck cab, “there’s no reason for you to be so worked up. You might want to consider that you’re nearly thirty—”
“Hey!” She frowned at him. “I’m twenty-nine.”
“My mistake,” he said, mouth quirking, eyes shining. “But the point is, you’ve been on your own since college, Naomi. You don’t have to explain your life to your parents.”
“Easy for you to say,” she countered. “Your mom and sister are your own personal cheering squad.”
“True,” he said, nodding. “But, Naomi, sooner or later, you’ve got to take a stand and, instead of apologizing to your folks, just tell them what’s what.”
It sounded perfectly reasonable. And she knew he was right. But it didn’t make the thought of actually doing it any easier to take. She dropped one hand to the slight mound of her belly and gave the child within a comforting pat. If there was ever a time to stand up to her parents, it was now. She was going to be a mother herself, for God’s sake.
“You’re right.” She gave his hand another squeeze, then let go to release her seat belt. “I’m going to tell them about the baby and that the father isn’t in the picture and I’ll be a single mother and—” She stopped. “Oh, God.”
He chuckled. “For a second there, you were raring to go.”
“I still am,” she insisted, in spite of, or maybe because of, the flurries of butterflies in her stomach. “Let’s just go get it over with, okay?”
“And after, we’ll hit the diner for lunch.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she said.
Two (#u8cabe050-bdf9-559e-9e79-783225adaab4)
Naomi took a deep breath in what she knew was a futile attempt to relax a little. There would be no relaxation until this meeting with her parents was over.
Toby came around the front of the truck, opened her door and waited for her to step down before asking, “You ready?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” Naomi shook her head, tugged at the hem of her cool green shirt as if she could somehow further disguise the still-tiny bump of her baby, then smoothed nervous hands along her hips. “Do I look all right?”
He tipped his head to one side, studied her, then smiled. “You look like you always do. Beautiful.”
She laughed a little. Toby was really good for her self-esteem. Or, she thought, he would be, if she had any. God, what a pitiful thought. Of course she had self-esteem. It was just a bit like a roller-coaster ride. Sometimes up, sometimes down. Naomi’d be very happy if she could somehow reach a middle ground and stay there. But it was a constant battle between the two distinctly different voices in her head.
One telling her she was smart and talented and capable while the other whispered doubts. Amazing how much easier that dark voice was to believe.
And she was stalling.
“You’re stalling,” Toby said as if reading her mind. Her gaze snapped to his.
“Think you know me that well, do you?”
“Yeah,” he said, a slow smile curving his mouth. “I do.”
Okay, yes, he really did. Probably the only person she knew who could make that claim and mean it. Even her closest girlfriends, Cecelia and Simone, only knew about her what she wanted them to know. Naomi was really skilled at hiding her thoughts, at being who people expected or wanted her to be. But she never had to do that around Toby.
Taking her hand in his, he started for the front door. “Come on, Naomi. We’ll talk to your folks, get this out in the open, then go have lunch so I can get a burger and you can nibble on a lettuce leaf.”
She rolled her eyes behind his back, because damn it, he really did know her. All women watched their diets, didn’t they? Especially pregnant women? At that thought, memories of that vile video Maverick had sent her rushed into her mind again. She saw the actress waddling, staggering across a mock-up of Naomi’s own television set, and she shivered. She refused to waddle.
Naomi swallowed a groan and took the steps to the wide front porch beside Toby. He was still holding her hand, and she was grateful. A part of her brain shrieked at her that it was ridiculous for a grown woman to be so nervous about facing her parents. But that single voice was being systematically drowned out by a choir of other voices, reminding her that nothing good had ever come from having a chat with Franklin and Vanessa Price.
“You ready?”
She looked up into his eyes, shaded by his ever-present Stetson, and gathered the tattered threads of her courage. She had to be ready, because there was no other choice. “Yes.”
“That’d be more believable if you weren’t chewing on your bottom lip.”
“Blast,” she muttered and instinctively rubbed her lips together to smooth out her lipstick. “Fine. Now I’m ready.”
“Damn right you are.” He grinned, and her nerves settled. Really, Naomi wasn’t sure what she’d ever done to deserve a best friend like Toby, but she was so thankful to have him.
Before she could talk herself out of it or worry on it any longer, she reached out and rapped her knuckles on the wide front door. Several seconds ticked past before it swung open to reveal Matilda, the Price family housekeeper and cook.
Tall, thin and dressed completely in black, Matilda wore her gunmetal-gray hair short and close to her head. Her complexion was pale and carved with wrinkles earned over a lifetime. She looked severe, humorless, although nothing could have been further from the truth. Matilda smiled in welcome.
“Miss Naomi,” she said, stepping back to open the door wider. “You and Mr. Toby come in. I’ll just tell your parents you’re here. They’re in the front parlor.”
Of course they were, Naomi thought. She knew the Price family schedule and was aware that it never deviated. Late-morning tea began at eleven and ended precisely at eleven forty-five. After which her mother would drive into town to one of her charities and her father would go to the golf course or, on Tuesdays, the Texas Cattleman’s Club to visit with his friends.
Waiting in the blessedly cool entry hall, Toby took his hat off, then bent to whisper, “Always makes me twitch when she calls me Mr. Toby.”
“I know,” Naomi said. “But propriety must be maintained at all times.” Appearances, she knew, were very important to her parents. It had always mattered more how things looked than how things actually were.
She glanced around the home she’d grown up in. The interior hadn’t changed much over the years. Vanessa Price didn’t care for change, and once she had things the way she wanted them, they stayed.
Cool, gray-veined white marble tile stretched from the entry all through the house. Paintings, in soothing pastel colors, hung in white frames on ecru walls, their muted hues the only splash of brightness in the decorating scheme. A Waterford crystal vase on the entry table held a huge bouquet of exotic flowers, all in varying shades of white, and the silence in the house was museum quality.
Idly, Naomi remembered being a child in this house and how she’d struggled to find her place. She never really did, which was why, she supposed, she still felt uncomfortable just being here.
Toby squeezed her hand as Matilda stepped into the hall and motioned for them to come ahead. Apparently, Naomi told herself, the king and queen were receiving today. The minute that thought entered her mind, she felt a quick stab of guilt. Her parents weren’t evil people. They didn’t deserve the mental barbs from their only child and wouldn’t understand them if they knew how she really felt.
But at the same time, Naomi couldn’t help wishing things were different. She wished, not for the first time, that she was able to just open the front door and sail in without being announced. She wished that her parents would be happy to see her. That she and her mom could curl up on the couch and talk about anything and everything. That her dad would sweep her up into a bear hug and call her “princess.” That she wouldn’t feel so tightly strung at the very thought of entering the formal parlor to face them.
But if wishes were real, she’d be sitting on a beach sipping a margarita right now.
Her parents were seated in matching Victorian chairs, with a tea table directly in front of them. The rest of the room was just as fussily decorated, looking like a curator’s display of Louis XIV furniture. Nothing in the house invited people to settle in or, God forbid, put their feet on a table.
The windows allowed a wide swath of sunlight to spear into the room, illuminating the beige-and eggshell-colored furniture, the gold leaf edging the desk on the far wall, the white shades on crystal lamps and the complete lack of welcome in her parents’ eyes. It was eleven thirty. They still had fifteen minutes of teatime left, and Naomi had just ruined it.
She was about to ruin a lot more.
“Hello, Mom, Dad.” She smiled, steeled herself and released Toby’s hand to cross the room. She bent down to kiss the cheek her mother offered, and then when her father stood up to greet Toby, she kissed her dad’s cheek, too.
“Hello, dear,” Vanessa Price said. “This is a surprise. Toby, it’s nice to see you. Would you like to join us for tea? I can have Matilda brew fresh.”
“No, ma’am, thank you,” Toby said after shaking Franklin’s hand and stepping back to range himself at Naomi’s side.
Franklin Price was a handsome man in his seventies. He wore a perfectly tailored suit and his silver hair was swept back from a high, wide forehead. His blue eyes were sharp but curious as they landed on his daughter. Vanessa was petite, and though in her seventies, she presented, as always, a perfect picture. Her startlingly white hair was trimmed into a modern but flattering cut, and her figure was trim, since she had spent most of her life dieting to ensure it. Her jewel-bright blue summer dress looked casually elegant and at the same time served to make Naomi feel like a hag.
“Is there something wrong, dear?” Vanessa set her Limoges china teacup down onto the table and then folded her hands neatly in her lap.
There was her opening, Naomi thought, and braced herself to jump right in.
“Actually, yes, there is,” she admitted, and glanced at her father to see his concerned frown. “You’ve both heard about this Maverick who’s been contacting people in Royal for the last several months?”
“Distasteful,” Vanessa said primly with a mild shake of her head.
“I’ll agree with your mother. Whoever it is needs to be apprehended and charged,” her father said. “Prying into people’s private lives is despicable.”
“He’s caused a lot of trouble,” Toby said and took Naomi’s hand to give it a squeeze.
Her mother caught the gesture, and her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Maverick contacted me this morning,” Naomi blurted out before she could lose her dwindling nerve entirely.
“You?” Vanessa lifted one hand to the base of her throat, her fingers sliding through a string of pearls. “Whatever could he do to you?”
Still frowning, Franklin Price looked from Naomi to Toby and back again. “What is it, girl?”
Oh, here it comes, she told herself. And once the words were said, everything would change forever. There was no choice. Toby was right—she couldn’t keep hiding her baby bump with loose clothing. There would come a time when the truth just wouldn’t remain hidden.
“I’m pregnant,” she said flatly, “and Maverick is about to send a video out onto the internet telling everyone.”
“Pregnant?” Vanessa slumped back against her chair, and now her hand tightened at the base of her throat as if she were trying to massage air into her lungs.
“Who’s the father?” Franklin’s demand was quiet but no less fierce.
“Oh, Naomi,” her mother said on a defeated sigh. “How could you let this happen?”
“Who did this to you?” her father asked again.
As if she’d been held down against her will, Naomi thought on an internal groan. Oh, she couldn’t tell them about Gio. About how stupid she’d been. How careless. How could she say that the baby’s father was an Italian gigolo with whom she’d spent a single night? But what else could she say?
They were waiting expectantly, her mother just a little horrified, her father leaning more toward cold anger. She’d proven a disappointment. Again. And it was only going to get worse.
“I’m the father,” Toby said when she opened her mouth to speak.
“What?” she whispered, horrified.
Toby gave her a quick smile, then fixed his gaze on her father. “That’s why I came here with Naomi today. We wanted to tell you together that we’re having a baby and we’re going to be married.”
Naomi could only stare at him in stunned silence. She hadn’t expected him to do this. And she didn’t know what to do about it now. A ribbon of relief shot whiplike through her, and even as it did, Naomi knew she couldn’t let him do this. As much as she appreciated the chivalry, this was her mess and she’d find a way to—
“We wanted to tell you before anyone else,” Toby went on smoothly. “Naomi’s going to be living with me at my ranch.”
“Toby—”
He didn’t even glance at her. “No point in her staying at her condo in town, so she’s moving to Paradise Ranch in a few days.”
“But—” She tried to speak again. To correct him. To argue. To say something, but her mother spoke up, effectively keeping Naomi quiet.
“Living together isn’t something I would usually approve,” she said primly, “but as you’re engaged, I think propriety has been taken care of.”
Propriety. Naomi had often thought her mother would have been happier living in the Regency period. Where manners were all and society followed strict rules.
“Engaged.” Her mother said the word again, as if savoring it. “Oh, Naomi, you’re marrying Toby McKittrick. It’s just wonderful.”
Vanessa rose quickly, moved to stand beside her husband and then actually beamed her pleasure.
Naomi had never been on the receiving end of that smile before, so it threw her a little. Then she realized exactly what her mother had said. She wasn’t thrilled about the baby, but about her daughter marrying Toby. Handsome. Stable. Wealthy Toby McKittrick. That was the kind of announcement Vanessa Price could get behind.
And that realization only made Naomi furious. At Toby. She hadn’t expected her parents to be supportive, but having Toby ride to the rescue felt, after that first burst of relief, more than a little annoying. She’d only wanted him here for moral support. Not to sweep in and lie to save her. The whole purpose of coming here to tell her parents the truth was to get it over with.
Now not only had the moment of truth been postponed, but Toby had added to the mess with a lie she’d eventually have to answer for.
“Toby—”
He looked down at her, gave her a smile, then surprised her into being quiet with a quick, hard kiss that left her lips buzzing. Shock rattled her. He’d never kissed her before, and though it hadn’t been a lover’s kiss, it wasn’t exactly a brotherly kiss, either.
When he was sure she was shocked speechless, he turned to face her parents. “Naomi’s a little upset. She wanted to be the one to tell you about us getting married, but I just couldn’t help myself. And we’re heading over to her place today to start packing for the move, so we wanted to see you first.”
“Understandable,” Franklin said with an approving nod at Toby, followed by a worried glance at Naomi. “I’ll say, you worried me there for a moment with news of a pregnancy. But since you’re marrying, I’m sure it’s fine.”
Great. All it had taken to win her parents’ approval was the right marriage. God. Maybe they were in the Regency period.
“I don’t see your ring,” Vanessa pointed out with a deliberate look at Naomi’s left hand.
Naomi sighed, then lifted her gaze to Toby as if to demand, this was your idea—fix it.
Then he did. His way.
“We’re going right into town to see about that. And if I can’t find what I want there,” Toby announced, “we’ll drive into Houston.” He dropped one arm around Naomi’s shoulders and pulled her up close to him. “But we wanted you to know our news before you heard about Maverick’s video.”
“No one pays attention to people of that sort,” Vanessa said with assuredness.
Naomi wondered how she could say it, since the whole town of Royal had been talking about nothing else but Maverick for months. But Vanessa didn’t care to see what she considered ugliness, and it was amazingly easy for her to close her eyes to anything that might disrupt her orderly world.
“Now, Naomi, don’t you worry over this Maverick person,” her mother said firmly. “You and Toby have done nothing wrong. Perhaps you haven’t done things in the proper order—”
Meaning, Naomi thought, courtship, engagement, marriage and then a baby. Still, her mother was willing to overlook all that for the happy news that her daughter would finally be settled, with a more than socially acceptable husband. Which meant that when she had to tell them that she absolutely was not going to marry Toby, the fallout would be epic.
“We should be going now. We need to get Naomi all moved in and settled at the ranch. Sorry for interrupting your tea,” Toby was saying, and Naomi told herself to snap out of her thoughts.
He was going to hurry her out of the house before she could tell her parents the truth. And she was going to let him. Sure, she’d have to confess eventually, but right this minute? Naomi just wanted to be far, far away.
“Nonsense,” Franklin said. “You’re always welcome here, Toby. Especially now.”
Naomi muffled a sigh. All it had taken was the promise of a “good” marriage to fling the Price family doors wide-open. She could only imagine how fast they would slam shut once they knew the truth.
“I appreciate that, Mr. Price.”
“Franklin, boy. You call me Franklin.”
“Yes, sir, I will,” Toby promised, but didn’t. “Now if you’ll excuse us, I think we’ll just go get Naomi’s things and find that ring we talked about before Naomi changes her mind and leaves me heartbroken.”
Vanessa’s eyes widened. “Oh, she wouldn’t!”
Toby winked at Naomi, completely ignoring how tense she’d gone beside him. To her parents, this suddenly imagined marriage was very real. She knew Toby thought he’d made things better, but in reality, he’d only made the whole situation more...complicated.
“You two enjoy yourselves, and, Naomi, we’ll talk about a lovely wedding real soon,” her mother called after her. “We’ll want to have the ceremony before you start...showing.”
“Oh, God,” Naomi whispered.
Toby squeezed her hand and hurried her out of the house. Once outside, he bundled her into his truck before she could say anything, so it wasn’t until he was in the truck himself, firing the engine, that Naomi was able to demand, “What were you thinking?”
He blew out a breath, squinted into the sun and steered the truck away from the front door and back down the flower-lined drive. “I was thinking that I didn’t like the way your folks were looking at you.”
His profile was stern, his mouth tight and a muscle in his jaw flexing, telling her he was grinding his teeth together. Naomi sighed a little. She hadn’t thought he’d take her parents’ reaction so personally on her behalf, though in retrospect, she should have. He’d always been the kind of man to stand up for someone being bullied. He took the side of the underdog because that was just who Toby was. But she didn’t want to be one of his mercy rescues.
“I appreciate the misguided chivalry,” she said, striving for patience. “But it just makes everything harder, Toby. Now I’m going to have to tell them that I’m not moving in with you, our engagement is off and make up some reason for it—which my mother will never accept—and then I’ll still be a single mother and they’ll be even more disappointed in me than ever.”
“They don’t have to be.” He shot her one fast look. “We move you out to Paradise today. We get married. Just like I said.”
Naomi just stared at him. Since he was driving, he didn’t take his eyes off the road again, so she couldn’t see if he was joking or not. But he had to be joking. “You’re not serious.”
“Dead serious.”
“Toby,” she argued, “that’s nuts. I mean, it was a sweet thing to do—”
“Screw sweet,” he snapped with a shake of his head. “I wasn’t doing it to be sweet and, okay, fine, I didn’t really think about it before saying it, but once the words were out, they made sense.”
“In a crazy, upside-down world, maybe. Here? Not so much.”
“Think about it, Naomi.”
She lifted one hand to rub her forehead, hoping to ease the throbbing headache centered there. “Haven’t been able to do much else since you blurted out all that.”
“Then think about this. There’s no point in you raising a baby on your own when I’m standing right here.”
“It’s not your baby,” she pointed out.
“It could be,” he countered just as quickly. “I’d be a good father. A good husband.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Then what is?”
She lifted both hands and tugged hard on her own hair. Nope, she wasn’t dreaming any of this, which meant she had to get through to him. What he’d just said had touched her. Deeply. To know that he was willing to throw himself on a metaphorical grenade for her meant more than she could say. But that didn’t mean she would actually allow him to claim another man’s child as his own. It wouldn’t be fair to him.
“There are many, many points to be made, but the main one is, I’m not your responsibility,” she said, keeping her voice calm and firm.
“Never said you were,” he said. “You are my friend, though.”
“Best friend,” she corrected, still looking at his profile. “Absolutely.”
“Then accept that as your friend I want to help you.”
“Toby, I can’t let you do that.”
“You’re not letting me, I’m just doing it.” He stopped at a four-way intersection and, when it was clear, drove on toward Royal. “It makes sense, Naomi. For all of us, the baby included. You really want to be all alone in that snazzy condo in Royal? Or would you rather be with me out at the ranch? If we’re living together, that baby has two parents to look out for it. And, big plus, you can stop tying yourself into knots over your folks.”
“So you’re trying to save me.” Just as she’d suspected. “This is all some grand gesture for my sake.”
“And my own,” he said, then muttered something under his breath and pulled the truck over to the side of the road. He parked, turned off the engine, then shifted in his seat to face her.
His eyes, the clear, cool aqua of a tropical sea, fixed on her, and Naomi read steely determination in that stare. She’d seen him this way before. Whenever he had an idea for one of his inventions, he got that I will not be stopped look on his face, in his eyes. If someone told him no about something, he took it as a personal challenge. Once Toby decided on a course of action, it was nearly impossible to get him to change his mind. This time, she told herself, it had to be different.
“I’m not a saint, and I’m not trying to rescue you.”
“Could have fooled me,” she murmured.
He sighed heavily, turned his gaze out on the road stretched out in front of them for a long second or two, then looked back at her. “Hell, Naomi, we’re best friends. We’re both single, and we can raise the baby together. Helping each other. This could work, if you’ll let it.”
A part of her, she was ashamed to admit, wanted to say yes and accept the offer he shouldn’t be making. But he was her friend, so she couldn’t take advantage of him like that. “I don’t need a husband, Toby. I can raise my child on my own.”
Now he sent her a cool, hard stare. “You forget, my mother was a single mom after my dad died. I watched how hard it was for her to be mother and father to me and my sister. To work and take care of the house. To run around after me and Scarlett with no one to help out. You really think I want to sit by and watch you go through the same damn thing?”
She bit her lip. She had forgotten about Toby’s family. His mother, Joyce, was a smart, capable, lovely woman who had worked hard to raise her kids on her own. Now Toby was not just a successful rancher, but a wealthy inventor, and his younger sister, Scarlett, was a veterinarian. “Your mother did a great job with both of you.”
His features evened out, and he gave her a smile. “And we thank you. But my point is, you don’t have to do it the hard way like my mom did. Mom didn’t have anyone to help her. You have me.”
“I know,” she said, taking a breath to calm the anger bubbling inside. “I really do know. But you don’t have to marry me, Toby.”
“Who said anything about have to?” he asked. “I want to. We’re good together, Naomi. There’s plenty of room at the ranch. You can take over one of the bedrooms for an office. It’s not far from the studio where you film your show...”
True. All true. There was a small studio at the edge of Royal where her cable TV show, Fashion Sense, was recorded once a week. And to be honest, being at the ranch would get her away from most of the gossiping tongues in town, and once Maverick’s video hit, she’d be grateful for that.
“It’s a great idea, Naomi. Hell, even your parents liked it.”
She choked out a laugh. “Of course they did. Toby McKittrick—inventor, rancher, wealthy. I’m surprised my mother didn’t squeal.”
He gave her a half smile and a slow shake of his head. “You’re being too hard on her. On both of them.”
“I know that, too,” she said with a sigh. She smoothed her fingertips over her knees. “They’re not evil people. They’re not even really mean. They just live in a very narrow world and it’s never had room for me.”
He reached out and took her hand, stilling nervous fingers. “There’s room for you with me.”
“Toby...” Naomi didn’t know what to think. Or feel. He was right in that they were good together. They were already friends, and maybe a marriage of convenience would be good for both of them. But was it fair to him? “If we’re married, you can’t find someone for real.”
“Not interested,” he said firmly with a shake of his head. “Been there already, and it didn’t end well.”
Naomi sighed again. She couldn’t blame him for feeling burned in the love department. She could, however, blame the woman who’d hurt him enough that Toby had built a wall around his heart that was so tall and thick it had taken Naomi months to reach past it.
“Fine. You’re not looking for love. Neither am I,” she added in a mutter. “But that doesn’t mean...”
“Think about it.”
“But no one will believe it.”
“Your parents did.”
She waved that aside. “That’s because they don’t know me. My friends—”
“Are so wrapped up in their own happily-ever-afters they won’t question it.”
“Your family—”
He scowled thoughtfully, but a moment later, his expression cleared. Those amazing eyes fixed on her, he said, “Okay, I’ll tell my family the truth. Don’t want to lie to them anyway. Does that work for you?”
“They won’t like it,” she said, and silently added, they’ll blame me.
“Mom and Scarlett both like you already, so what’s the problem?”
“I don’t know if I want to be married,” she said simply. “You’re my best friend, Toby. It’ll be...weird.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Doesn’t have to be. Think of it as a marriage of convenience. We’re together because of the baby. No sex. Just friends who live together.”
No sex. Well, it wasn’t as if she was a wildly sexual person anyway. In fact, until that single night with Gio, she hadn’t been with anyone in more than a year. And since Gio, she’d avoided all men except for Toby. So going without sex wouldn’t be that terrible, would it? Oh, God.
“I’m not saying we become monks,” Toby pointed out as though he could read her thoughts. “If one of us meets someone, we’ll work that out then. In the meantime, we’re together.”
* * *
Toby watched her and wondered what the hell she was arguing about. Anyone could see this was a good idea. Though he could admit that he hadn’t come up with it until that moment when Vanessa Price gave her daughter the cool look of disappointment at news of the baby. Damned if he could just stand there while Naomi tried to explain about the baby’s father and how he was a worthless player. So, before he’d really considered it, he’d blurted out the lie. And it had felt...right.
Why not get married to his best friend? Whether she knew it or not, she was going to need help with the baby. And as long as they kept things between them platonic, everything would work out fine. Yeah, he was attracted to her. What man wouldn’t be? But he wasn’t going to act on that attraction, so a marriage of convenience was the best solution here.
“Well?” he asked, gaze fixed on hers. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re crazy,” she said on a half laugh.
“That’s been said before,” he reminded her. “People have been talking about crazy Toby and his weird inventions for years.”
Nervously, she pushed her hair back from her face, and the early-afternoon sunlight caught a few threads of copper, making them gleam. “If we do this, we’ll both be crazy.”
“Worse things to be, Naomi.”
She smiled. “Are you sure about this?”
He tipped his head to one side and gave her a look. “When have you ever known me to say something without meaning every damn word?”
“Never,” she said, nodding. “It’s one of the things I like best about you. I always know what you’re thinking, because you don’t play games.”
“Games are for kids, Naomi. Neither one of us is a kid.”
“No, we’re not.” She met his gaze squarely and took a deep breath. “I’m a city girl. What’ll I do on a ranch?”
“Whatever needs doing,” he said.
She laughed shortly. “We really must be crazy. Okay. I’ll marry you and not have sex with you.”
He grinned and winked. “Now, how many people can say that?” Turning in his seat, he fired up the truck, put it in gear and steered out onto the road again, headed for town. “We’ll go get lunch, and then we’ll go ring shopping.”
“No.”
“No?” He glanced at her, surprised.
“No ring,” she said, shaking her head. “We don’t need an engagement ring, Toby, and I don’t want you buying one for me when it wouldn’t really mean what it should. You know?”
He understood and couldn’t say he disagreed. Their marriage would be a joining of friends, not some celebration of love, after all. “What’s your mama going to say?”
Smiling sadly, Naomi said, “Even if we’d gotten one, she’d have found something wrong with it anyway.”
They slipped into silence. Toby took her hand for the rest of the drive but left her to her thoughts.
Three (#u8cabe050-bdf9-559e-9e79-783225adaab4)
Toby opened the door to the Royal Diner, steered Naomi inside and stopped. Every person in the place turned to look at them, and he knew. Maverick had done as promised. That stupid video was on the internet, and it seemed clear that it was the hot topic in Royal.
The welcoming scents of coffee, French fries and burgers greeted them. Classic rock played on the old-fashioned jukebox in the corner, and noise from the kitchen drifted out of the pass-through, but other than that, the silence was telling.
“Let’s go,” Naomi said, and tugged at his hand.
“Not a chance,” Toby countered. Then, bending his head down to hers, he whispered, “Do you really want them to think you’re scared?”
He knew it was just the right note to take when she squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and stood there like a queen before peasants. Toby hid a smile, because in just a second or two the woman he knew so well had reemerged, squashing the part of her that wanted to run and hide.
A couple of seconds ticked past and then the diner customers returned to their meals, though most of them looked to be having hushed conversations. It didn’t take a genius to guess what they were talking about.
He gave Naomi’s hand a squeeze, then took off his hat and smiled at Amanda Battle as she hurried over. Married to Sheriff Nathan Battle, who was doing everything he could to find out who this Maverick person was, Amanda owned the diner, along with her sister, Pam.
“Well, hi, you two,” she said with a deliberately bright smile. “Booth or table?”
“Booth if you’ve got it,” Toby said quickly, knowing Naomi wouldn’t want to be seated in the middle of the room. Hell, he still half expected her to make a break for the door.
“Right. Down there along the window’s good.” Amanda gave Naomi a pat on the shoulder and said, “I’ll get you some water and menus.”
They walked past groups of friends and neighbors, nodding as they went, and Toby felt Naomi stiffening alongside him. She was maintaining, but it was costing her. She wasn’t happy, and he couldn’t blame her. Hell, he hated this whole mess for her.
The familiarity of the diner did nothing to ease the tension in Naomi’s shoulders. The Royal Diner hadn’t changed much over the years. Oh, it had all been updated, but Amanda and Pam had kept the basics the same, just freshening it all up. The floor was still black-and-white squares, the booths and counter stools were still bright red vinyl, and chrome was the accent of choice. The white walls held pictures of Royal through the years, and it was still the place to go if you wanted the best burger anywhere.
Once they were seated, Amanda came back quickly, set water glasses in front of them and handed out menus. Smiling down at them, she said, “I guess congratulations are in order.”
“Oh, God,” Naomi murmured, and her shoulders slumped, as if all the air had been let out of her body. “You’ve seen the video.”
Amanda gave her a friendly pat and said, “I’m not talking about the video, honey. Don’t worry about that. That nosy bastard has been poking into too many lives, so everyone here knows they could be next. Looks like this Maverick is moving around pretty quick, so he’ll be onto someone new before you know it and you’ll be old news.”
Toby could have kissed her. “She’s right.”
Naomi looked at him, and he read resignation and worry in her eyes. “Doesn’t help much, though. The whole town knows I’m pregnant now.”
“Naomi, most of us guessed anyway,” Amanda said. At Naomi’s stunned expression, Amanda added, “You’ve never worn loose shirts and long cover-ups in your life.”
Toby grinned. “She’s got a point.”
Naomi blew out a breath and gave him a rueful smile. “So much for my brilliant disguises.”
“Oh—” Amanda waved one hand “—it probably fooled the men.” She gave Toby an amused glance. “You guys don’t really notice much. But women know a baby bump when they see one being hidden.”
Naomi nodded. “Right.”
“But I wasn’t congratulating you on the baby anyway,” Amanda continued. “Though sure, best wishes. I was talking about your engagement to Toby here.”
Now it was his turn to be stunned. “How did you find out about that already?”
“Remember where we live, honey,” Amanda said with a shake of her head that sent her dark blond ponytail swinging behind her. “Naomi’s mother called one of her friends, who called somebody else, who called Pam’s sister-in-law, who called Pam, who told me.”
Naomi just blinked at her. Toby felt the same way. He had always known that gossip flew in Royal as fast as the tornadoes that occasionally swept across Texas. But this had to be a record.
“We just left my parents’ house twenty minutes ago,” Naomi complained.
“What’s your point?” Amanda asked, grinning.
Helplessly shaking her head, Naomi said, “I guess I don’t have one.”
“There you go,” Amanda said. “And so you know, most everybody’s talking more about the engagement than that video. I mean, really.” She laughed a little. “Maverick thought he was being funny, I guess, but him mocking you like that? Didn’t make sense. People in Royal know Naomi Price has got style. So making that woman look so big and sloppy just didn’t have the smack he probably thought it would.”
Toby saw how those words hit Naomi, and once again, he could have kissed Amanda for saying just the right thing. She was right, of course. Naomi, even with her pregnancy showing, would be just as stylish as ever. That video was meant to hurt her, humiliate her, but he knew Naomi well enough to know that after the initial embarrassment passed, she’d rise above it and come out the winner.
“But you two engaged,” Amanda said with a wink. “Now, that’s news worth chewing on.”
“I hate being gossiped about,” Naomi muttered.
“In a small town,” Amanda pointed out, “we all take our turn at the top of the rumor mill eventually.”
“Doesn’t make it any easier,” she said.
“Suppose not, but at least people are pleased for you,” Amanda said.
“Well, it’s good the news is out.” Toby spoke up, getting both women’s attention. “And to celebrate our engagement, I’ll have the cowboy burger with fries and some sweet tea.”
“Got it. Naomi?”
“Small salad, please,” she said. “Dressing on the side. And unsweetened tea.”
“That’s no way to feed a baby,” Amanda muttered, but nodded. “And not even close to a celebration, but okay. Be out in a few minutes.”
When she was gone, Toby took a drink of water, set the glass down and said, “She’s right. That baby needs more than dry lettuce.”
“Don’t start,” she warned, and turned her gaze on the street beyond the window. “I’m not going to end up waddling through the last of this pregnancy, Toby.”
Irritation spiked, but he swallowed it back. Naomi had been on a damn diet the whole time he’d known her. In fact, he could count on the fingers of one hand how many times he’d seen her actually enjoy eating. She was so determined to stave off any reminders of the chubby little girl she’d once been, she counted every calorie as if it meant her life.
But it wasn’t just her now. That baby was going to need protein. And once she was living with him on the ranch, he’d make sure she ate more than a damn rabbit did. But that battle was for later. Not today.
“Fine.”
“I can’t believe people already know about the engagement,” Naomi said, looking back at him. Reaching out, she grabbed her paper napkin and began tearing at the edges with nervous fingers.
“At least they’re talking about us, not the video,” Toby pointed out and took another sip of water. His gaze was fixed on hers, and he didn’t like that haunted look that still colored her eyes.
Scowling, she muttered, “I don’t want them talking about me at all.”
Toby laughed, and laughed even harder when she glared at him.
“What’s so funny?” she demanded.
Scrubbing one hand across his face, he did his best to wipe away the amusement still tickling him. Keeping his voice low, he said, “You, honey. You love being talked about. Always have.”
When she would have argued, he shook his head and leaned across the table toward her. “You were homecoming queen and a cheerleader—at college you were the president of your sorority. Now? You still love it. Why else would you have your own TV show? You like being the center of attention, Naomi, and why shouldn’t you?”
“I didn’t do all that just to be talked about,” she argued.
“I know that,” he said and slid one hand across the table to cover hers. “You did all of it because you liked it. Because you wanted to.” And because it was the attention you never got at home and that fed something in you that’s still hungry today.
“I did. And I like doing my show, knowing people watch and talk about it.” She leaned toward him, too, even as she pulled her hand from beneath his. “But there’s a difference, Toby, between people talking about my work and talking about my life.”
“Not by much, there isn’t,” he said and leaned back, laying one arm along the top of the booth bench. “Naomi, we live in a tiny town in Texas. People talk. Always have. Always will. What matters is how you deal with it.”
“I’m dealing,” she grumbled, and he wanted to smile again but was half-worried she might kick him under the table if he did.
“No, you’re not.” He tipped his head to one side and gave her a look that said be honest. “You’re nearly five months along with that baby, and you just now told your folks.”
“That’s different.” Her fingers tore at the napkin again until she had quite the pile of confetti going.
“And when we walked in here and people turned to look, you would have walked right back out if I hadn’t gotten in your way.”
She frowned at him, and the flash in her eyes told him he was lucky she hadn’t kicked him. “I don’t like it when you’re a know-it-all.”
“Sure you do.” She lifted one eyebrow again, and he had to admire it. Never had been able to do it himself. “Look, either you can let this Maverick win, by curling up and hiding out...or you can hold your head up like the tough woman I know you are and not let some mystery creep dictate how your life goes.”
“Using logic isn’t fair.”
“Yeah, I know.”
She sat back in the booth and continued to fiddle with the paper napkin in front of her. It was nearly gone now, and he told himself to remember to ask Amanda for more.
“Toby, I don’t want to let Maverick win. To run my decisions. But isn’t that what I’m doing by agreeing to marry you?”
“No.” He straightened up now, leaned toward her and met her gaze dead-on. “If you were doing what he wanted, you’d be locked in a closet crying somewhere. Do you think that bastard wants you to be with me and happy? Do you think he wants you turning the whole town on its ear so they don’t even think about his stupid video?”
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