Rescue Me (Colorado Blues) (11 page)

Rory
shared a glance with his elder brother and knew what he was thinking. They both
had a soft spot for an underdog and what Gina had gone through was tough.
Together they would make sure she was eased through this case with the minimum
of fuss and exposure. Rory knew Chance still had his contacts in Denver from
lawyers like Layla to the media. He could stir up a hornet’s nest if he chose
to divert the attention away from Gina.

“Now
that’s when you answered the advert Rory put in the paper?”

“Not
you too. What is wrong with you guys?” Tyson could hold his tongue no longer.
He glared at Gina, his mouth going into a tight line.

“Let
me remind you of something, cowboy.” Layla pointed a shiny red nail in his
direction. “If you want to remain in this room, in this family conversation, I
would strongly suggest you zip your lip unless you have something nice to say.
Preferably about me, but we can discuss that later. Right now you aren’t being
helpful in the slightest.” She flicked her hair back. “Behave or you can go
outside.” Layla raised her eyebrow at him and when he looked down at the table,
she blew him a kiss making sure he heard the sound effects.

“Right,
before I was so rudely interrupted. You answered an ad for a wife. Rather a
risky thing to do, I would have thought. Is that correct, Gina?”

“Yes.”

“All
of these things are helping me garner a picture of what your life has been like
since you met Aden. If we can prove he was the one who let you down and led you
into poverty, we can turn the tables on the claim. I’m not doing this because I
enjoy pulling wings off of butterflies.” She smiled and Rory understood why
Chance liked her so much. She was sharp as a tack and seemed incredibly
determined even if Gina was finding it a hard interview.

“You
placed the ad when, Rory?”

He
gave her the date and stared down his younger brother.

“Care
to share with me why you did what you did? Just for my own information at this
stage.”

“I
didn’t feel like going through the whole dating scene again. My wife died three
years ago and I was after more of a companion than anything. I liked the sound
of Gina when we spoke on the phone and the photo she sent made it clear that
she was nice looking. It was all I wanted.” He gripped Gina’s hand, giving it
an extra squeeze. “Fisher was a bonus.”

Layla
looked up, her mouth a small round. “So you didn’t know about him?”

“No.”

She
wrote more notes, her hand moving frantically over the page. Silence surrounded
the table while she worked. When she looked up she glanced at Gina again. “So,
I’m assuming you didn’t tell Rory about the child then. Tell me why?”

Gina
gave her fiancée a quick glance before speaking. “I was desperate by this
stage. I had very little money left and my shifts were going to be cut even
more. I was actually looking in the paper for another job when I spied the ad.
I was prepared to do almost anything to put a roof over my baby’s head and food
in his stomach. I’m not proud of that fact, I’d do it again if I had to.”

“Did
you stop to think of what you wanted for yourself out of life?”

“No.”

Layla
smiled, a gesture that reminded Gina of a cat taking an extra slurp of cream
from the bowl. “You two seem rather cozy to me.”

“We
fell in love.” He glanced at Chance who gave him a small nod. “It worked for
Chance and Callie so I took the risk it would work for us too.”

Layla
looked at them with her mouth wide open, words escaping her for the moment. She
glanced between the brothers and cast a quick glance at Tyson who was frowning.
She closed her mouth and cleared her throat, seemingly swallowing with
difficulty. “Right.” Still shocked, she picked up her pen and clicked it a
couple of times seeming to gather her wits.

Rory
came to the rescue. “Stranger things have happened.”

“Sure
they do. Look, the courts are going to find it rather convenient that you two
suddenly fell in love. Sounds a bit saccharine if you see what I mean. And
being an officer of the law yourself, I’m sure you don’t believe in
coincidences.”

“Tough.
We have and we’ll be married when our house is renovated.”

Layla
put her pen down and clasped her fingers together in front of her face. “If you
want my opinion and Chance is paying very handsomely for it, get married now.
Prove this isn’t just a convenient way to try and cheat the courts.”

“That’s
not fair. Rory wanted to get married in our own place when we were ready.” Gina
glanced around the table. “They can’t do this to us, it’s not fair.”

***

“Do you want to
lose your son?”

“That’s
a little bit below the belt, don’t you think?” Rory glanced at the woman who a
moment ago had his full support.

“No,
not if it gets us what we want.” She leaned forward on her elbows. “We have to
show the court two things. One, the Bellinghams are wrong in as much as it
wasn’t you leading their son astray, it was him that put you in the position
you are in now and two, this is a committed loving relationship that would be
the best place for your son to grow up. You have Rory’s family here—his
brothers and sister-in-law.”

Layla
looked at Chance. “Is your father still alive?”

He
scowled and crossed his arms.

“I’ll
take that as a yes then. Do you mean to tell me that after all these years, you
haven’t made peace with that man?”

“This
isn’t about me, Layla. Let’s keep it that way.” Everyone in the room watched
the play between the two of them.

“Actually
it is. You pay me for my opinion and now you’re getting it. I helped you set up
bank accounts to keep that family afloat and made sure they had what they
needed. Now they need you to step up one more time. Make up with your father,
Chance. At least enough that he will have some contact with Fisher. It’s
important to show a united loving family. From what I can find out about the
Bellinghams, Fisher would be brought up by nannies and spend his years in
boarding school, just as his father did. We need to go one better.”

Gina
held her breath, waiting expectantly to hear what he said. Chance glanced at
her and Callie dug him in the ribs with her elbow. “Stop being such a hard ass.
Hell, Chance, if my mother died and left Dad alone with us kids, I wouldn’t
blame him for hitting the bottle. Might be hard but I’d still love him and
understand why he did it.”

“You
weren’t here.” He glared down at her and she ignored him.

“Seems
to me you’ve been precious long enough. Make up with him and then maybe your
own kids will be able to have a grandfather around. Heaven knows it’s not going
to happen from my side of the family.” She looked down at her hands, her
shoulders drooping.

He
placed an arm around her and looked back at Gina before sliding his gaze to the
lawyer. “Hard hitter.”

She
smiled and let go a whoop, fist pumping the air. “Knew you’d see things my
way.”

Gina
sagged in her chair. It was all getting too much for her. The tears rolled down
her cheeks and there was nothing she could do to stop them.

“Hey,
come here, honey. I’ve got you.” Rory pushed his chair out and pulled her onto
his knee where he crooned to her softly as she let it all out. She sobbed for
the father she lost, the father Fisher had never known, and the agony she would
go through if they lost this case. When her tears eased, Rory wiped her cheeks
with a tissue. Gina glanced around the table. Everyone was watching her.

“I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to lose it like that.”

Callie
jumped up and hurried over to her. “Aw, babe, it’s okay. We’d all do the same,
believe me. Let me get you a cup of coffee while we finish this off. Layla said
she won’t be much longer.”

Gina
tried to stand up but Rory held her tight on his lap. “Stay here.”

She
wiped her eyes again and looked at the lawyer who was smiling in her direction.

“Right,
the plan is this. I’ll go back to the city tomorrow and do some more leg work
on this case. I’ll schedule a meeting with the other side’s lawyers. Before I
do that, I want proof you two are married. I’ll also need a copy of the advert
you placed so we can prove you were already on this path before the papers were
served on Gina.” She gave them a smile before proceeding. “The way I see it at
this point is this: if we can show your son would be better off here on the
ranch growing up verses being an institutionalized setting with staff instead
of having loving family around, we stand a good chance of this never going to
court. I doubt they’ll want their darling son’s memory plastered all over the
press and television. Especially when the public finds out how far he went to
distance himself from his parents. Far better for them to announce that they’ve
managed to track down their grandchild and will give him and his mother their
support.”

“We
can do that. I’ll make sure of it, right, babe?” Rory kissed her cheek.

“If
it’s the only way, and you’re sure, I’m fine with it.” She sniffed and looked
into his eyes. “I love you, you know that, don’t you?”

“Back
at you, beautiful. You make me a very happy man. Hungry but happy.”

“Dinner
is already in the oven. I wasn’t sure tonight was going to turn out so I made a
huge beef and chili casserole earlier. I only need to make a pot of rice and
it’s good to go.”

“That
sounds wonderful.” Layla put her notebook in her briefcase and stood up,
stretching. “I’ve had nothing since a snack on the plane here. Can’t say that
was anything to get excited about either.”

“How
about a glass of wine instead of coffee, ladies? I think we’ve covered more
than I expected tonight anyway and it sounds better than coffee after that
session.” Chance stood up and looked around.

“Uh,
Chance, can I have a word?” Gina bit her lip and Rory watched as she formulated
the words in her head. He’d become fairly adept at reading her face in the last
couple of weeks and she was gearing up to thank his brother.

“Sure.”

“I
know from Rory that you don’t hold much regard for your father because of what
happened when you were young so I just wanted to say thanks. For offering to
try at least to put on a happy family front so I don’t lose my son.”

“How
can I refuse to help the little guy? We all love both of you already so it’s a
given I’ll do my share to help.” He walked over to her and took both of her
hands in his. “Not saying we’ll ever be the best of buddies, I’ll give it my
best shot, okay?”

Gina
nodded, the tears filling her eyes again. “Can’t ask for more than that.”

Rory
passed her a glass of wine before she could break down into another full blown
teary episode.

“Looks
like we have a wedding to plan.” Callie tipped her glass into Gina’s. “How much
time do you think we have, Layla, to get this done and dusted?”

“Is
that an Australian term? I think I like it.” She took the glass as Rory handed
it to her. “Hmm, let me see. Tomorrow I can do some research, get my guy onto
snooping a little bit more. Anything we can find out about the family will
help. Then I need to put a proposal together and contact their lawyers. Give me
a week, ten days max. Think you can manage that?”

“We’ll
do it. I can go into town tomorrow and see Father Thomas. See if he’ll marry
us.”

“If
he says no, tell him you’ll get Elvis to do it in Vegas.” Chance slipped his
hand around Callie’s waist and rested his head on her shoulder whispering in
her ear.

“You
didn’t?” Layla glanced at them, a look of horror on her face.

A
roar of laughter came from the pair of them and she shut her mouth, lips
pressed together.

“Seriously,
how is that even legal?” Tyson spoke for the first time since he was put in his
place.

“I’ll
do it. Just lead me in the right direction.” Rory held his hands up. “If the
good Father says no, I’ll book flights.”

“I
suppose so long as you have the correct paperwork it doesn’t really matter who
marries you.” Layla shrugged her shoulders. “Never would have thought you’d do
that though, Chance. Thought you would have gone down the flash route somehow.
Big flashy wedding with all the whistles and bells.”

“Not
my style and you know that from all the times you helped me get away from them.
A girl from the bush answering an ad in the horse and cattle magazine for a
wife is hardly going to ask for the public spotlight of a huge wedding like
that, now is she?”

Callie
grinned wildly as Layla looked between her and Chance. Seemed the lawyer had cottoned
onto the fact that Rory’s marriage wasn’t the first one to be organized by way
of an advert.

***

When
she crawled between the sheets later that night, exhaustion pulled at Gina. Her
eyes ached from all the tears she’s shed earlier and her head throbbed with a
tension that wouldn’t go away. Rory stripped off, climbed into bed, and reached
for her, sliding his hand down her back and pulling her into his body.

“I
can hear that brain of yours ticking away from here.” He kissed the top of her
nose. “I’m not going to change my mind. I love you and I don’t care if we get
married here in town, at the ranch, or in Vegas. So long as I marry you and
gain a son in the process, I’m all for it.”

“How
did I get so lucky?” She sighed and snuggled into his chest, her lips on his
warm skin.

“We
both got lucky. Now we have to make sure we do everything we can to stay
together. Layla seems to know what she’s talking about and Chance thinks the
world of her, so I figure we do as she suggests.”

“Yeah,
I don’t suppose there’s any choice.”

“You’re
thinking it’s a hardship to marry me?” He sounded wounded but she could hear
the smile in his voice.

“Terrible
hardship. At least you let me take it out on your body to make up for it.”

“Prove
it then.” Rory hooked a leg over hers and snaked a hand down to cradle her
butt.

“You
lay back then, Sheriff, and let me do just that.” Gina pushed him onto his back
and straddled his waist. She lifted her arms and pulled the sleep shirt over
her head, before throwing it to the floor. His gaze fell to her breasts and she
cupped them in her hands. “These wouldn’t be favorites of yours would they?”

His
cock harden and pressed into the clefts of her butt. With her thumb and finger,
Gina tweaked her nipples, pulling them taught as Rory’s gaze smoldered. Her
breath hitched as a wash of pleasure rolled over her body. She lifted her butt
up and hovered over his cock, watching the emotions on his face.

He
gasped when she slid down his body and lay on his legs, her face over his
groin. Her hot breath quickened as she gripped his penis in her hand, running
her thumb over the slit in the top. His own musky scent reached her nostrils as
she lowered her head, mouth open to take him in.

Gina
smiled to herself as her lips locked around him. His body jerked and his hands
gripped the sheets either side of him. She raked her teeth over the sensitive
edge skin on the head of his cock, while her other hand cupped his balls. She
drew him in and then ran her tongue up the seam before drawing him in again.

His
balls tightened in her hands and Gina put more force into her lips, pulling
against him. Just as she thought he was going to explode in her mouth, she was
lifted up and placed down on his lap. Rory slid into her in one swift move,
making her gasp and grip his shoulders as he pumped into her.

Together
they found the rhythm that brought them both to an explosive orgasm. Gina slid
off of him and crawled into the shelter of his arms, falling asleep feeling
protected and very loved.