There was nothing Daniel hated more than the fear of the unknown.
Thanks to his erratic and unsettling childhood, he found security in planning his life, breaking down his future into five-, ten-, fifteen-, twenty-year goals. But to be honest, those plans were all ranch and business related, he hadn’t spent a lot of time planning his personal life.
Or any at all.
Leaning back against Alex’s sports car, he linked his hands behind his neck and stared up at the vast Texas sky. All his energy—every drop of sweat and blood—went into making The Silver C Ranch the best it could be. He knew and loved every inch of his land and he knew that the ranch was his place, his corner on earth. People came and went, but his grandmother and The Silver C kept him stable as a child and anchored as an adult.
According to Alex’s earth-tilting news, the first of the next generation of Claytons was baking inside of her, and what did that mean? For Rose and for the future of The Silver C? And what did it, should it, mean to him?
Having children wasn’t something he’d thought much about, and when he did, it was only in terms of who would inherit the ranch sometime in the very distant future. Honestly, at this point in his life, he didn’t want to be a dad and he had no interest in being tied down—he was perfectly content with brief affairs and one-night stands, keeping emotionally distant. But Alex... Dammit. Well, she’d recently managed to narrow that distance, to pull him closer. She tempted him to unbend a little and to open up a fraction, probably because he subconsciously wanted a way to recapture some of the magic and joy of that heady summer so long ago.
It had been the happiest three months of his life, so why wouldn’t he want to experience it again? But she’d been right to call it off, to make them move on. What he hadn’t expected was that they’d be left with a lifetime memento of their fling.
They’d made a child. God. He was utterly determined to be a better parent, and the exact opposite of his mother—and to be a stable, responsible and hands-on dad.
His child would know that he loved him, or her, that he would be a constant and consistent part of his child’s life. That was nonnegotiable. His child would know his, or her, father’s love. His love...
He wanted to be there for the big and small things, and that meant having his baby’s mother in his life. But Alex... Being with Alex made him feel alive, uncontrolled, impulsive. The way she made him feel terrified him. But he’d just have to deal, find a way to keep her at arm’s length, because he planned on being a vital part of his child’s upbringing. He wanted to change diapers, do the midnight feedings, pace the floors while he tried to put his child to sleep. He’d do whatever was needed, but in order to be a part of his child’s life, he had to be in that life. That meant marriage—God!—or at the very least, him and Alex living together.
Where could they live? Since Alex lived in the main house at the Lone Wolf Ranch, his house was the most reasonable option. Or they could build a new place, something that suited them both. And they’d have to tell their grandparents—that was going to be a barrel of laughs...
First things first, Clayton. Talk to Alex, offer to marry her, secure his child’s future. As for the way Alex made him feel, well, he’d simply have to get over that. He would not allow her to cause him to lose control or focus. They could marry and within that union they’d be friends, even lovers, but he’d always keep himself emotionally detached. It was safer that way.
Daniel heard footsteps and lifted his head to see Alex walking toward her car and him. Cold air caught in his throat as the rest of his body heated, then sizzled. Man, she looked amazing, so damn sexy. When she noticed him leaning against her car, she released a long sigh. She was past exhausted, he realized, and a wave of protectiveness swept over him. He was right to feel protective over her, he rationalized, because she was the mother of his child. By protecting her, he protected his son. Or daughter.
When Alex reached him, he lifted his hand and ran his knuckles over her pale cheek. “You look done in, honey,” he said, his voice gruff.
“It’s been a hell of a night,” Alex replied, surprising him by resting her butt on the side of her car. She’d pulled a jacket over that sexy dress, but her shapely thigh slid out from under the high slit in the skirt. He wanted to pull the slippery material up and find out for sure whether she was wearing panties or not.