The Cowboy Earns a Bride (Cowboys of Chance Creek Book 8) by Cora Seton Read Free Book Online

she turned to Luke. “Can you believe that? I thought I was going to faint when I found Autumn bearing down already. Thank God everything went okay. Luke? What’s wrong?” The cowboy had the strangest look on his face.
    “I want one,” he said. “I want one, and I want it with you.”
    “I want a baby with you, Mia. I want to marry you.” Luke knew this wasn’t the right moment for a proposal but here he was, jumping the gun, proposing anyway. He didn’t know what else to do. He’d tried to convince Mia to date him. He’d done everything he could to let her know how he felt. He’d wanted to make love to her for months. She’d been living right under his nose, tempting him with every sway of her hips as she moved about the house straightening up, every bounce of her breasts when she dashed up and down the stairs getting ready for a day’s work. But he wanted more than that, too. He wanted his ring on her finger, his name on her debit card and his baby in her arms. He wanted it all—everything that Ethan had with Autumn, that Ned was about to have with Fila. He wanted it all and he wanted it right now.
    “Mia? Did you hear me? I want to marry you.”
    She had gone as pale as the paint on the wall behind her. Her eyes were huge in her face and he wanted to kiss away the fear in them. What was she afraid of? Him?
    “Say yes.” He took her hand in his. Tugged her closer. “Damn it, say yes, Mia.”
    “I…” She couldn’t seem to answer.
    “Stop thinking. Just say yes.” He bent down to kiss her, but she gasped and pulled back.
    “I’m sorry.” Tears sparkled in her eyes. “I’m sorry! I tried to tell you!”
    “Tell me what?” He refused to let her go. His arms tightened around her waist until they formed a cage she couldn’t break out of. Strength had its advantages. This time she wouldn’t get away. “What do you have to tell me?”
    “I’m pregnant already.”

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Chapter Four
    M ia hunched miserably in the corner of the front seat, as far away from the furious man at the wheel as she could get. She’d never seen anyone as angry as Luke was now. She wished he would scream at her, rage at her, even throw things at her—anything but the grim silence that filled the cab like a living thing.
    When they reached the Double-Bar-K, she dashed from the truck nearly before it stopped moving. She ran up the steps, barreled inside Luke’s parents’ house and almost knocked Hannah over.
    “What’s wrong?” Hannah raced up the stairs after her to the bedroom that had been allocated for the bridesmaids on the second floor. As Mia slammed the door shut behind them and threw herself on the bed, Hannah rushed to her side. “Was it Autumn? The birth? Did something go wrong after all?”
    Mia shook her head, her tears making it impossible to speak. “She’s… fine. The baby is… beautiful.”
    “Then what’s wrong? Are you in shock?”
    “It’s…Luke. He knows.” Mia’s sobs stormed out again. Hannah sat down hard on the bed beside her, understanding perfectly. She was the only one besides Fila who knew about Mia’s pregnancy. She’d urged Mia to tell Luke long ago.
    “And he isn’t happy.” It wasn’t a question.
    Mia only cried harder. “He hates me. He couldn’t even speak to me. I knew this would happen.”
    To her credit, Hannah didn’t say she told her so. She only sighed and patted her on the back. “I’m sorry. I think you and Luke would make a great couple. Maybe you still will. Give him time—the news has to have come as a huge shock. Don’t you think?”
    Mia nodded, knowing Hannah was trying to help. But it was easy for Hannah. She was so beautiful with her white-blond hair and competent ways. Everyone admired her for going back to school to become a veterinarian, and her new husband, Jake, was head over heels in love with her—enough to change the whole course of his life and go back to school, too. If only Luke loved her like that.
    But why should he when she was