Beneath the Stetson

Gil halted suddenly, shock rendering him immobile. Bailey Collins had just given his son the kind of advice Cade needed to hear. And she had done it lovingly and in a way he could understand at his young age. Gil was torn between gratitude for her interference and compassion for the personal pain she had revealed.

He backed up a step or two and approached the table again, this time more loudly. “You were right, Cade. I bet my lunch is cold. Sorry it took me so long. You ready for dessert?”

Bailey flushed from her throat to her hairline, her expression mortified. “How long have you been standing there?” she asked.

He kept his expression neutral. “I just walked across the room, Bailey. Why?”

“No reason,” she mumbled, taking a gulp from her water glass.

Gil noticed the exchange of glances between his son and Bailey, a conspiratorial look that was oddly unsettling. Gil was accustomed to being his son’s sounding board, his protector, his go-to guy. To see the boy so quickly accept and relate to Bailey made Gil worry. Perhaps he should keep the two of them apart.

When Bailey returned to Dallas, inevitably leaving a heartbroken Cade behind, Gil would have to pick up the pieces. On the other hand, would it be fair to deprive Cade of a relationship that provided him enjoyment in the meantime? Again, the frustration of being a single parent gave Gil heartburn. He was not the kind of man to unburden himself to anyone and everyone.

He had friends. Lots of them. But raising Cade couldn’t be left up to a committee vote. Gil had to decide what was best for his son.

Over ice cream and pound cake, Cade grilled his father. “Are you and Miss Bailey going to do this every day?”

Gil lifted an eyebrow, looking to Bailey to answer that one.

“A week...ten days. I’m working as fast as I can, but it’s slow going.”

Cade grinned widely. “I like the child care center. They have a computer station and about a jillion Lego blocks, and my friends miss me when I don’t come.”

Gil rubbed a smear of ice cream from his son’s chin. “Well, in that case, I’ll set up some meetings with the executive committee for the next few days and get some club business out of the way.”

When the meal was over they dropped off Cade and headed back to Gil’s office. Walking in, he noticed the faint, pleasing scent of Bailey’s perfume lingering in the air, something light and flowery. The scene that transpired in the dining room had affected him deeply. It was hard to mistrust a woman who treated his son with so much gentleness and compassion.

“Do you need any help?” he asked abruptly, wishing he had a reason to stay.

Bailey glanced at him, her gaze guarded. “No. But thanks.”

He leaned a hip against his desk. “What do you do for fun, Bailey Collins?”

“Fun?” The question appeared to confuse her.

“I’m assuming you’ve heard of the word.”

“I have fun,” she said, her tone defensive.

“When?”

Her mouth opened and closed. “I like to read.”

“So do I. In bed. At night. But what do you do in your leisure time?” He shouldn’t have mentioned the word bed. His libido rushed ahead in the conversation and visualized the two of them entwined on soft sheets.

Bailey shrugged. “I work long hours. But in the evenings I like to walk around my neighborhood. It’s a close-knit, established community with sidewalks and people who sit on front porches. I have several older friends I check on from time to time.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It is.”

“And is there a man in your life?” Well, he’d done it now. There was no way she could interpret his question as anything other than what it was. He was attracted to her. And he wanted to know if he’d be stepping on any toes were he to follow up on those feelings.

Bailey glanced at her watch. “I need to get back to work.”

“Does that mean, ‘Back off, Gil’?”

“What? No. Not at all. But I...”

He waited. Silently.

“You don’t even like me,” she said, her expression troubled.

“Correction. I tried not to like you. That first day in the police station when you were grilling me like a seasoned pro, I found you wildly appealing, despite my disgruntlement. And since I am a man who believes in laying all the cards on the table, I think you should know.”

“What changed?”

“Dogs and children are very good judges of character. My son adores you already.”

“But that makes you uncomfortable.”

The sadness lurking in her brown eyes shamed him. “It does. I don’t want him to get too attached to you.”

“Because I’ll be leaving soon.”

“Yes.”

“I suppose I can understand that.”

“It has nothing to do with you personally. But Cade has this unfortunate tendency to latch onto any woman who walks into my life, no matter how briefly.”

“Why haven’t you married again?”

He hadn’t expected the blunt question. It caught him off guard, and for a moment, grief, regret and disappointment flooded his stomach. He shoved the negative feelings away. “There aren’t too many women these days happy to be stuck out on a ranch in the middle of nowhere.”

“Oh, please,” Bailey said, giving him a reproving look. “You’re rich, handsome and successful. I’m sure some poor soul in Royal would apply for the job.”

Her mock scolding erased the momentary sting of allowing the past to intrude. “But not you?”

“I have a job.”

“One that could get you killed.” The realities of her position still disturbed him. Alex needed to get his memory back in a hurry. Before somebody else got hurt. Gil hadn’t meant to change the subject, even if he was genuinely worried about her. “May I be honest with you, Bailey?”

“Please do.”

“As angry as I was with you when we first met, I felt a definite something. In the weeks you’ve been here, I haven’t stopped thinking about that feeling and wondering if it was one-sided.”

She paled and wrapped her arms around her waist, clearly shocked by his candor. “It wasn’t one-sided,” she said quietly.