Like that was important! Daniel mentally slapped himself as he moved to stand in front of her. They had a future to discuss, plans to make.
Alex held up a hand and he saw that her eyes were red-rimmed and that she now sported blue stripes under her eyes that her makeup could no longer conceal. “Not tonight, Daniel. I can’t take anymore.”
He curbed his impulse to push and tipped his head to the side. “What was the great bachelor-auction emergency?”
“Ah, that. Well, that hundred-thousand-dollar bid Gail made for Lloyd was a fake bid—neither have that type of money. To distract a reporter from reporting on that juicy piece of gossip and totally ruining the success of the evening, we’ve offered the reporter complete access to Ryan and Tessa’s super romantic date. And to distract him further—” Alex’s eyes narrowed in the moonlight “—you are, according to Rose, giving an interview to the same reporter on what it feels like to auction yourself off and how it feels to be one of Texas’s most eligible bachelors.”
Daniel waited for Alex to laugh, to give him any indication that she was joking, but she just sent him a steady look with no hint of amusement. So, ah, this interview was going to happen whether he was on board or not.
Crap.
Daniel closed his eyes and gripped the bridge of his nose. “My damn interfering grandmother.”
“Tonight, I am grateful for her interference. The two stories will be a welcome distraction from the fake bid.”
“I swear, my grandmother only hears what she wants to! I’m going to kill her. I swear I am!”
“She’ll just come back and haunt you,” Alex said behind a yawn. “Look, Mr. Most Eligible, I am exhausted, as it’s been a hell of a day. I’m going home.”
But they hadn’t talked about the baby or come up with any concrete solutions. Daniel started to argue but then he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes, noticed that her hands were trembling. Stop being an ass and think about her for one sec, Clayton. She’s been on her feet for fourteen hours, she’s just found out she’s pregnant and, after hearing that news, she still managed to stand in front of a huge crowd and pull off a super successful event. Alex had grit and courage in spades—he had to give her that.
Making a quick decision, he took her bag off her shoulder and shoved his hand inside, looking for her car keys. Ignoring her protest, he wound his arm around her waist and lifted her up to walk her around the car, pulling open the passenger door.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded as he bundled her into the seat.
“Taking you home.”
“I can drive,” Alex protested.
Daniel crouched down between the car door and its frame and placed his hand on her slim thigh. “Lex, let me do this for you. You are played out and I don’t want you making the drive back to the Lone Wolf exhausted and emotional.”
Alex licked her lips and sighed. “I was going to go to the tree house, spend the night there. I need some space, to be alone.”
“I’ll take you anywhere you want to go, honey. I just want to make sure you get there in one piece,” Daniel said, keeping his tone noncombative.
“What about your car?”
Daniel shrugged. “It’ll be safe enough here.” He moved his thumb to stroke her bare thigh. “Let me take you home, Lex.”
Alex dropped her head back against the headrest and gave a quick nod. Daniel gathered the rest of her dress, put it inside the car and slammed her door shut. In the five minutes he took to adjust her seat to his longer legs, back out of her space and reach the TCC gates, she was sound asleep.
* * *
“No, I’m not going to marry you, and I’m not going to move in with you, either.”
With her battered cowboy boots propped onto the railing of Sarah’s tree house, Alex held Daniel’s hot stare and shook her head to emphasize her point. However, Daniel, dressed in faded, formfitting denims and a green-and-black flannel shirt worn over a black T-shirt, tried to scowl her into submission. But she’d been raised by Gus and had learned at an early age to stand her ground or get run over.
When he started to argue his point—again!—Alex rushed in, “Daniel, we are not living in the 1800s. My honor, your honor, is not at stake. Sure, Rose and my grandpa are probably going to blow a gasket, but they will just have to deal. I am not jumping into a marriage with you or into sharing a house just because I’m pregnant. That’s a terrible reason to be together!”