by Joss Wood
“Since the wedding, I’ve been staying with Gus at the Lone Wolf,” Rose said, blushing.
They really had to work out where they were going to live on a permanent basis, Gus thought. Strangely, Rose seemed more at home in his house than she did in hers. He’d been on tenterhooks, waiting for Rose to suggest that he move into Ed’s house and still didn’t know how to respond—he didn’t think an “over my cold dead body” would go down well—but Rose had yet to make the request. That being said, they needed a house that was theirs, one neither of them had to share with the ghosts of the past.
“I should go to The Silver C, check up on the work.”
“Daniel’s foreman is a good man and no doubt Daniel is issuing his orders from Galloway Cove.” Gus stroked the inside of her wrist to reassure her. He tipped his head back in a subtle gesture to the stranger. “Do you want to see what he wants?”
Rose shrugged and then nodded. “I’m here. He’s here. Might as well.” Rose looked at Amanda and smiled. “Would you mind sending him our way, Amanda, honey?”
Amanda nodded and glided, graceful as ever, away. Gus turned in his seat as dark, flashing eyes snapped to them. Gus looked at him, instantly recognized those eyes—funny that Rose didn’t—and sighed. Oh hell, this could be either very good or very bad. The man slid off his chair at the counter and walked over to him.
The man stopped by their table and Gus could feel the tension rolling off him. He primed himself, ready to jump up and defend his woman. He might be old, but his reflexes were still sharp. Nobody would ever be allowed to hurt his Rosie again.
“Ms. Clayton—”
“That’s Mrs. Slade to you, son,” Gus growled.
“My apologies.” The man held out his hand to Rose, and Gus felt his temperature rise, when instead of shaking it like a good Texan would do, he lifted Rose’s knuckles to his lips. “My name is Hector Lamb and I believe I am—”
“Daniel’s father.” Rose snatched her hand out of his grip, leaned back and sliced and diced him with her laser-sharp eyes.
“Where the hell have you been and why are you only showing up now?”
* * *
At the top of the trail, Daniel stopped, turned and looked at her as if he were surprised to see her on his heels. “Are you sure you’re pregnant?” he demanded, hands on his hips, his eyes shaded by the brim of a well-worn ball cap.
“What makes you say that?” Alex removed her own cap and wiped her forearm across her forehead before resettling the cap on her head. They were deep into the mini jungle that covered most of the island, and it was humid as hell on a rainy day. She couldn’t wait to get to the swimming hole that was reputed to be at the end of this long trail.
“You aren’t experiencing morning sickness, you haven’t had any weird cravings, you haven’t been moody,” Daniel replied. “And you’re still as slim as you always were...”
Admittedly, it was taking some time for her to show, but there were signs. “The band of these shorts is tight and my boobs are definitely bigger.”
Daniel sent her a steady look but she caught the devilry in his eyes. He lifted his hands and placed them on her bikini-top-covered breasts. “I don’t believe you. I have to check.”
His thumbs immediately found her nipples and Alex tipped her head up to receive his kiss. Oh, she liked this Daniel, this relaxed, funny, thoughtful man. For the first time since she’d moved back to Royal, they were connected on both a mental and physical level, and yeah, they gelled.
Whenever they weren’t making love—which seemed to happen morning, noon and night—they talked and laughed. They had their differences, but their value systems were the same, their priorities were in sync. Respect and independence of action and thought were important to them and family always came first.
Family came first. But by moving to Houston, striking out on her own, she was deliberately putting time and space between not only the baby and Daniel, but the baby and its grandparents, uncle and her friends. Was she making life harder for herself in her effort to protect herself?
Daniel broke the kiss, took her hand and they continued walking alongside each other until the path narrowed and she was forced to fall into step behind him. She didn’t have to move to Houston; it wasn’t a condition of the partnership.
Alex bit her lip and stared at the back of Daniel’s head, her eyes tracing his broad shoulders, muscles rippling under the red T-shirt he wore. She’d traced those muscles with her tongue...
Wrenching her eyes off Daniel, she pulled her thoughts back. The point was, she had options. Or, deep breath now, she could also move in with Daniel and give this—whatever this was—a shot. They could be a couple, raise their child together, day in and day out. Alex sucked in her breath and placed her hand on her sternum as she waited for the wave of unease to pass through her. When it didn’t, she tipped her head, surprised. Huh. So moving in with Daniel didn’t scare her as much as it did a week ago.
Her heart skipped a beat. They didn’t need to get married but they could make this work. They had fantastic sex, enjoyed each other’s company, had the same priorities...
Of course she knew the risks involved. Back in Royal, they would have to deal with real life, two careers, a baby on the way, their grandparents and...stuff. The mundane and the boring and the tedious. And there was always the chance that Daniel would one day decide that this wasn’t the life for him and, well, leave.
Could she cope with that? Would she be able to watch him walk away without her world falling apart? Yeah, it would hurt when—if—he left, but he might not.
Could she do this? Dare she take a chance on Daniel, on the life he was offering?
Alex could feel her heart racing, and a fine sheen of perspiration covered her forehead. Feeling her courage well up inside her, she started to speak, but no words came out.
How was she supposed to tell him she’d come to a decision without saying the words?
“Here we are.”
Alex pulled her attention from her thoughts and looked around, her mouth falling open at the tall waterfall plunging into a pool below their feet. Flat boulders dotted the natural swimming hole, providing a perfectly flat surface to stretch out on, to soak up the sun’s rays after a chilly dip in the pool.
“Awesome.” Daniel walked down the path to the first boulder, dropped his backpack to the rock and kicked off his trainers. Whipping off his shirt, he dropped it at his feet and then shimmied out of his shorts. What was it with this man and his need to swim naked? Not that she was complaining but...
Daniel sent her a wicked smile. “Secluded. No one else here. No one to see me and you’ve—”
“Seen it all before,” Alex said, completing his sentence.
“Strip and join me,” Daniel suggested, waggling his eyebrows. Yeah, she could live with Daniel looking at her like he’d been waiting his whole life to make love to her in a pool at the bottom of a pretty waterfall. Heat and warmth rushed to that special place between her legs and her nipples pebbled with expectation.
Alex felt beautiful, desired and wanton. Daniel stood in front of her, utterly unselfconscious, the sun touching his tanned skin. The wind ruffled his jet-black curls, and as her eyes traveled over his impressive physique, his erection jerked as he hardened before her eyes.
Having such a masculine, focused man want her made Alex feel intensely feminine, immensely powerful. She was life, she carried life, a goddess of the glen.
Alex quickly stripped down and stood in front of her man, sighing when the sun’s warm rays caressed her bare back and buttocks. She pushed her breasts into his chest before dragging her nipples across his skin, her hand lifting to encircle him, her thumb brushing the tip of his cock. Daniel groaned and pushed into her hand.
“Make love to me, Dan. Here, in the sun, on this rock. On our secluded island.”
Daniel nodded and she had a mom
ent’s warning when his eyes glinted and his mouth twitched. Strong arms wrapped around her and then she was flying off the rock, hitting the freezing cold water with a heavy splash.
Alex spluttered, shivered and kicked her way to the surface to see Dan’s wicked smile and laughing eyes.
“You are such a child,” Alex told him, launching a wave of water into his face.
Daniel ducked, grabbed her and she instinctively wound her legs around his waist only to find out that cold water had absolutely no effect on his erection at all.
Well then. It seemed like a shame to waste it.
Nine
After making love, they swam some more until they realized it was past lunchtime and they were hungry. They dressed, Alex in her fuchsia bikini and Dan in his board shorts, and then they ate the sandwiches Alex had prepared earlier and polished off the apples they had also brought along.
Feeling relaxed, Daniel replaced the cap on his water bottle and, after rolling up his towel, lay on his back and tucked the towel beneath his head. Enjoying the sun, he opened one eye to look at Alex. “Come lie down with me.”
Alex curled into his side, her head tucked under his chin. The gentle breeze blew a strand of hair across his mouth. He picked up her hair and tucked it behind her ear.
“Best forced holiday ever,” Alex murmured, her fingers idly drawing patterns above his heart.
“Best holiday ever,” Daniel corrected her. “I love spending time with you, honey. I always did.”
Alex opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. She had something on her mind—he knew that she was toying with a decision. Did he dare to dream that she’d reconsidered her living arrangements, that their forced week away—yeah, yeah, thanks old-timers—had worked?
“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours, Lex?”
Alex took a while to answer. “That job I was offered... I could actually stay in Royal and still take the partnership.”
Daniel forced himself to stay still, but inside he was leaping to his feet, punching his fist in the air. “Are you thinking of doing that?” he asked carefully.
“Maybe. I sort of allowed you to believe that I had to move to Houston to take the partnership. I could stay in Royal and work remotely, traveling a couple of times a month.”
He wanted to sit up, to whoop with delight, but he knew he had to tread softly because Alex was like a skittish colt that needed careful handling. Which was okay—he could tiptoe with the best of them. As long as he got what he wanted in the end, he didn’t care how he got there. And he wanted Alex. In his arms, his bed.
And in his life.
“I’m scared of starting something, because I’m terrified I could lose it.”
Daniel turned her words over in his head, trying to make sense of her out-of-the-blue statement. Pulling his head back, he looked at her but her eyes remained closed. He ran his hand up her spine, keeping his touch light and comforting.
“Care to explain that, Lex?”
Alex sat up, crossed her legs and he pulled himself up, bending his knees and allowing his hand to dangle between them.
“I don’t like being left, Daniel. It’s happened too often, and I don’t think I can do it again.”
He thought he knew where she was going with this but asked her to explain anyway.
“As we discussed earlier, losing my parents when I was young was a sad time, but Gus and Sarah stepped in and I was okay. However, when I was twelve, I lost my best friend Gemma, too. I don’t know if you remember her—she was a redhead?”
He had a vague memory of seeing the two girls together, but he remembered the town’s grief at Gemma’s death more than he remembered the child herself.
“I was devastated. I thought my world ended.” Alex pushed her hair back over her shoulder. “I had friends at school but nobody I was close to. I didn’t want another friend who could die on me. So I kept my thoughts and feelings to myself and Sarah became my best friend. Then, in a meadow, I met and kissed you and I felt my heart opening up, expanding, and it became so full of you. That summer, you were my everything and I thought I was your world.”
Alex touched the tip of her tongue to her top lip and when she looked at him, Daniel noticed the tears in her eyes. “I know it sounds dramatic but losing you felt like losing Gemma again. But somehow it was worse because you weren’t only my best friend but my lover. All I wanted you to do was to choose me, to stick with me.”
He suddenly understood. “You were angry that your parents and Gemma and, later, Sarah left you. You felt abandoned.”
He got it.
“But I’m not allowed to be angry with them because they didn’t have a choice to stay or to go.”
“But I had a choice and I didn’t choose you.”
Alex nodded and scratched her head above her ear. “Being all grown-up, I thought I could handle having a fling with you. I thought I would sleep with you and keep it light and fluffy. And I was okay when I called it quits. I mean, I missed you but I knew that I could live without you. I think it helped that we didn’t make an emotional connection, that it was all about sex.”
They didn’t make that connection because they’d both been too damn scared to go there. They still were. “Anyway, as for our current predicament... It makes sense for us to be together, to live together, to raise our child together,” Alex quietly stated.
Thank the baby Jesus...
“But it also doesn’t.”
Crap.
Daniel looked at her and waited for her to continue, conscious of his heart thudding in his chest. Where was she going with this? “Carry on, Lex. Tell me what you are thinking.”
“I’m scared of moving in with you, falling for you and then having to deal with you leaving, whether that’s by death or a woman or whatever life might throw my way.”
She was worried that he might leave her for someone else? Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Not now, not ever. Alex pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “I’m scared, Dan. I’m scared to try this, terrified that it won’t work. I’m scared that you will become the center of my world again and when the day comes for you to make a choice, it won’t be me.”
She was a lot stronger than she gave herself credit for. They were both strong people; they’d both, in their different ways, survived so much. They could handle this.
He had to touch her, so he used the tip of his index finger to stroke the inside of her wrist. “I know you’re scared, sweetheart. But there’s something more frightening than fear and that’s regret.”
Alex released a heavy sigh and lifted her shoulders in a tired shrug. He could see that she was feeling overwhelmed and out of her depth. So was he but his childhood of rolling with the punches had taught him to not make decisions when he was emotional, that it was always beneficial to step back and look at a situation with some distance.
As much as he wanted to install Alex in his house as soon as he got back to Royal, he needed to give her time to find her way back to him. It was going to be hard, when his instinct was to take control, but if he wanted a family—this family—he had to take it slow.
“Can you see yourself staying in Royal? Is that something you can do?”
Alex stared at the pool below them and it took all of Dan’s patience to remain silent. Eventually she nodded her head. “Yeah, I think that’s a decision I am comfortable making.”
Thank God. Do not punch the air, Clayton. You are not a child. Daniel held himself still. You still have work to do but, God, that was a massive hurdle overcome. “Okay then. Good.”
He put his hands on her knees and waited for her troubled eyes to meet his. “Lex, you don’t need to make any more decisions today. Take some time, think it through.”
Alex bit her bottom lip. “What if I’d decided to move to Houston?”
He pushed his hand through his ha
ir and met her eyes. “I don’t know, Alex. It would’ve been more complicated, financially and logistically. But I like to think that we would’ve made it work.”
Daniel prayed that she wouldn’t pursue this line of questioning, that she wouldn’t ask whether he would’ve moved to Houston and left The Silver C. Maybe. Possibly. Yes. But admitting that was a step too far. He was opening the door to his heart a bit too wide. Alex needed time and so did he.
“Rose and Grandpa are going to pressure us to get married,” Alex said, directing her words to the pond and refusing to meet his eyes.
The last time he asked, she almost drew blood, her reply had been so cutting. “Do you want to get married?”
Alex shook her head. “I’m still coming to terms with my decision to stay in Royal. I can’t think much beyond that. But, Lord, the gossip!”
“You speak as if the Claytons and the Slades haven’t been gossiped about before,” Daniel said, his tone wry. “Let them talk, Alex. We’re working on our timeline, no one else’s. We only have to answer to each other, nobody else.”
Alex lifted her eyebrows. “Have you met our grandparents?”
He smiled at her quip but shook his head. “We don’t have to be in a rush to figure this out. Let’s take it step by step, day by day. Today you decided to stay in Royal—let that be enough for now.”
Alex looked down at her hands before her deep blue eyes met his. “Okay. But I have one request.”
Didn’t she realize that he’d give her anything he could. “What, sweetheart?”
“I don’t do well when there’s no communication, when I think I am drifting on the wind. I need to be able to talk to you and you to talk to me. I feel better when we talk, when we have these conversations. I might not have the answers, but I don’t feel so alone.”
Touched beyond measure, Daniel clasped her neck with his hand and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. He’d watched her as a child, kissed her as a girl but this woman next to him? She was phenomenal.