Daniel released a couple of f-bombs and followed those with a string of creative curses. When he was done, he stopped pacing, stood in front of her and curled his big hands around her bare upper arms. The heat of his hands burned into her skin as lust burned through her. Her desire for him surprised her; she’d thought that the news of her pregnancy would’ve killed any thoughts of sex.
But no. She wanted him as much as ever.
“What do you want to do, Alex?”
She lifted one shoulder. “What can I do? It’s here.”
“You’re not considering an—getting rid of it?” Daniel asked, obviously worried.
“You wouldn’t want that?”
He shook his head and she noticed his bleak eyes, the desperation. “This sucks. It’s not what either of us wanted, but...it’s a consequence of the choice we made. We have to deal.”
We. Not you. On hearing that one small word, Alex relaxed a fraction. She wasn’t in this alone...not entirely.
Daniel rested his forehead against hers, released another swear word and sighed. “I’m sorry, Alex. Jesus, this wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Alex heard the buzz of her phone and looked down at the desk. She frowned at the message that popped up on her screen. It was an SOS from James Harris, of all people. The auction was done and some of the guests had already drifted away. What on earth could’ve happened that warranted three SOS texts and a terse “We have a major situation”?
She also noticed two missed calls from James and four from Rachel.
“I need to go.”
“Uh, no. We need to discuss this, Alex!”
“Something has happened—”
“Damn right something’s happened. You’re pregnant with my child. I want to discuss this, find a way forward.”
Yep, alpha male. Alex remembered her grandmother’s words, heard Sarah’s voice in her head. Start as you mean to go on, honey. And don’t take any horse crap.
Alex pulled away from his strong grip. “The baby will still be here tomorrow, Daniel, and the next day. We have time.” She could see that her answer irritated him, but she didn’t much care. Daniel liked having all his ducks in a row, knowing where they were going and how to get there. He’d once confided in her—a moment that was both random and rare—that living with his mom was like standing in a bucket on a raging river, not sure when or how he’d be tossed into the rapids or over the waterfall. He liked planning his own route, being in control of his destination.
She understood that, and they would sit down and have a decent conversation, but right now the bachelor auction had hit a snag and she was needed.
Daniel threw up his hands. “I cannot believe you are walking out on me. You’ve just told me that we are having a baby, Alex!”
Alex drilled her index finger into his chest. “I am having a baby, Clayton, not we. Do not think that you can stomp into my life with your size thirteens and take over. That’s not going to happen.” She huffed out a breath. “When I am ready to deal with you, with the situation, I will give you a call.”
Daniel’s eyes widened at her strong statement. Good. The sooner he realized she wasn’t a pushover, the better off they’d both be. This is what happens when you spend your time together making love and not talking, Alex realized. Assumptions were made.
And babies, too.
She picked up her cell phone, walked toward the door and slipped into the hallway. Pushing away thoughts of that big gorgeous, confused man she’d left behind inside, she walked down the hallway to James’s office.
Another fire to extinguish. Hopefully this would be the smallest, as well as the last, of the evening.
Four
In the parking lot of the TCC, Daniel glanced at his watch and grimaced. It was after 1:00 a.m., and he was exhausted. Tired and worried and, yeah, completely freaked out.
He was going to be a dad. Holy crap. He’d never had a father, or even a proper male role model, and as a result he knew next to nothing about being a good father. He was going to be responsible for a tiny human life...a terrifying prospect for someone who didn’t have the smallest idea about what to do or how to be a dad. Fatherhood, a state he’d thought he’d only consider far into the future, was a nebulous concept, something as inexplicable as black holes or the binary code.