High Country Baby

High Country Baby
Joanna Sims

All Taylor Brand wanted was a baby of her own.But at nearly forty and recently divorced, embarking on a "solo" trek on the Continental Divide Trail, her time was tight and her options, slim. Maybe the curt cowboy who’d been charged with watching out for her was her best shot. After all, Clint McAllister was shadowing her on a high-country horseback trip for the money. Would he be up for being hired for something else?Classy ladies like Taylor didn’t normally give a rough rodeo-rider like him a second glance…much less ask him to father a baby. And while Clint didn’t need an excuse to take Taylor to bed, he did wonder if this plan was perhaps the wisest. Who knew what would happen once he got to taste the forbidden?

“Would you want to do this the natural way?”

The look on his face when he asked that question was comical. Taylor started to laugh, even though Clint didn’t join her. They both had something the other needed, so it truly could be a win-win if they played their hands correctly.

“I’d prefer …” She couldn’t believe she was about to say this. “Natural.”

She was tired of shots and doctors and scheduling and waiting rooms. She just wanted a man to knock her up the old-fashioned way. Was that too much to ask for?

“Would you have any … objection to that?”

“No.” Clint’s response was direct. “I wanted to take you to bed the first time I saw you.”

High Country Baby

Joanna Sims

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

JOANNA SIMS lives in Florida with her wonderful husband, Cory, and their three fabulous felines, Sebastian, Chester (aka Tubby) and Ranger. By day, Joanna works as a speech-language pathologist and a clinical educator for a large university. But her nights and weekends are reserved for writing contemporary romance for Mills & Boon. Joanna loves to hear from Mills & Boon readers and invites you to stop by her website for a visit, www.joannasimsromance.com (http://www.joannasimsromance.com).

Dedicated to my mentor and dear friend

Libby I love you.

Contents

Cover (#uebd19029-ba3f-5436-8c40-6b0a83656089)

Introduction (#u0058e038-9345-58a2-a92c-32f52fb5cb26)

Title Page (#u7736e340-6dfe-5c49-a825-33f9ac523091)

About the Author (#ub84bfc23-062f-5da6-bedf-f38dbbc9f935)

Dedication (#u9d61d857-36b7-5da0-afda-21062a701449)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One (#uff5f92dc-64fc-52ad-a492-86330cc4040c)

Clint McAllister heard the familiar click of a bullet being chambered. He’d slept just like a baby once he’d polished off a fifth of tequila, and he’d awakened with a well-deserved hangover. Groggy, irritated, with a massive headache, he’d stumbled over to the edge of the wooded area just beyond his campsite to relieve himself. The last thing he’d expected was to get caught with his pants unzipped, barefoot and without his revolver. Damn rotten luck.

“Put your hands up and turn around nice and slow.” Taylor Brand stood confident in the “ready” stance she had learned during concealed-weapon training. Like everything in her life, she had worked hard to be first in her class.

“Just calm down...” The cowboy lifted his left hand up but moved his right hand down to his zipper.

“Keep your hands where I can see them!” Taylor ordered, her voice clear, firm and calm. “Turn around...do it now!”

The stranger quickly lifted his right hand back up. “Look...unless you want a show, I’ve gotta zip it up before I face you. All right?”

“Do it quick.” Taylor told him. “Then turn around.”

The man tucked himself in and zipped up quickly, per the lady’s orders. His belt buckle still undone, his button-down shirt still completely unbuttoned, the cowboy raised his hands above his head and turned around slowly.

“Why are you following me?” Taylor demanded with her revolver aimed at the man’s chest.

“Boss’s orders.” The man told her, keeping his eye on the flat black barrel of her gun. “Your uncle told me to follow you, make sure you’re safe, and that’s what I’m doin’.”

Taylor stared hard at the unkempt cowboy with her hands steady on the gun. She was only one full day into her trek up to the Continental Divide. It was true that she had forgotten a lot about being in the wilderness over the years, but she had traveled all over the world for business and she had developed a heightened sense of awareness.

Once she was certain she was being followed, she had waited until the first light of morning, made a wide circle back and was able to sneak up on the cowboy much more easily than she had anticipated. The empty liquor bottle she had spotted near the cowboy’s gear most likely explained how simple it had been to ambush him—he was a drinker.