Pregnant with the Rancher's Baby: Reclaimed by the Rancher

She backed away from him. “I told you I won’t keep you from seeing the baby. The lawyers will—”

“Yeah, I got that,” he interrupted. He took a deep breath. “Look, I realize that I’m not exactly your favorite person right now and I can’t say I blame you. But there are things I want to discuss with you and a whole hell of a lot more that we need to decide.”

She stared at him for a moment before she spoke again. “I’m sure this came as a shock. Believe me, I wasn’t expecting it either. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. We can let the lawyers take care of sorting all of this out.”

“Darlin’, I don’t see how this can be anything but complicated,” he said, noticing for the first time how tired she looked. A sudden idea began to take shape as he stared into her pretty violet eyes. “You’re exhausted. Why don’t we table this for the time being?”

“Don’t worry about me,” she said, shrugging. “I’ll be fine as soon as I go home and get some sleep.”

“I don’t like the idea of you driving all the way back to Waco as tired as you are,” he said. “It isn’t safe.”

“I’ll be okay.” She frowned. “Besides, my welfare isn’t any of your concern.”

“Yes, it is,” he insisted. “Do you have to work tonight?”

She shook her head. “I have the weekend off. Why?”

“My family is having a Halloween party here tomorrow night and I’d really like for you to join us. I’ve got five guest bedrooms upstairs and you can have your pick of any of them.” He used his index finger to brush a strand of blond hair that had escaped her ponytail from her smooth cheek as an excuse to touch her. His finger tingled from the contact and he was heartened by the slight widening of her pretty eyes, indicating that she felt it, too. “It will also give us time to talk and make a few decisions after you’ve had time to rest.”

He’d wisely avoided mentioning that she could share the master suite with him. He might not be the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but he wasn’t fool enough to think she would be receptive to picking up their relationship where they left it almost five months ago.

She tried to hide a yawn behind her small, delicate hand. “I told you the law—”

“I know. But don’t you think it would save a lot of time and be easier for all concerned if we had everything worked out in advance?” he asked.

“Nate, I’m really too tired to discuss this right now,” she said, yawning. “All I want is to get home and go to bed.”

“At least take a nap before you start back to Waco,” he stalled. If he could get her to stay for a while, it would give him time to come to grips with the unbelievable fact that he was going to be a daddy. At the moment he was completely numb. But he needed to pull it together so he could think. He had to come up with a better argument for her staying, at least for the party. Now that he knew she was carrying his baby, it was even more important that they work things out. And damned quick.

“Maybe just a short power nap would help,” she conceded.

Without hesitation, he put his arm around her shoulders to guide her out into the foyer and up the stairs. He wasn’t going to give her time to change her mind.

When he walked her down the upstairs hall, Nate opened the door to the bedroom across from his. “Will this room be all right?”

“I’m leaving as soon as I wake up,” she warned.

“Just get some sleep now,” he said, leading her over to the bed. Pulling back the colorful quilt, he waited until she kicked off her tennis shoes and got into bed before he bent down to kiss her forehead. “If you need anything, I’ll be in my office.”

She had already fallen asleep.

Standing beside the bed, he stared down at the only woman he hadn’t been able to stay away from. Jessie was smart, funny and as sweet as she was pretty. So why hadn’t he been able to commit to her?

Nate knew his foster brother Lane Donaldson would probably have a field day using his master’s degree in psychology to analyze Nate’s motives. But Nate didn’t want to delve too deeply into his reasons for avoiding commitments. It all tied into his past and it wasn’t something he could change, nor was he eager to think about that dark time in his life.

The only thing he could do now was what his foster father Hank Calvert would expect of any of the boys he finished raising. Hank had preached to them over and over that when a man makes the decision to sleep with a woman, he’d better be ready to accept his responsibilities if he made her pregnant. And that was just what Nate intended to do.