The Expectant Executive

“Or her.”

“Right.” He dropped down to one knee and took her hands in his. “I’ve never done anything half-assed in my entire life and I’m not about to start now. I don’t want to be a part-time dad any more than you want to be a part-time mother.”

Her heart skipped several beats. “What are you saying, Travis?”

“I want us to get married, Fin,” he said seriously. “I want both of us to be full-time parents and raise this baby together.”

He’d talked about wanting their baby and his desire to be with the child, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about loving and wanting her. “I…don’t know what to say.”

He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers. “‘Yes’ would work for me, honey.”

She had to clear her suddenly dry throat before she could get her vocal cords to work. Being Travis’s wife was what she wanted more than anything, but not without his love.

Touching his cheek, she shook her head. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for me.”

Chapter 10

Travis felt like a damned fool. He’d laid his heart, as well as his pride, on the line and Fin had just the same as stomped all over them.

Releasing her hand, he took a deep breath and stood up. In all of his forty-nine years, he’d never dreamed that he could hurt so much and not have something physically wrong. Gathering what was left of his dignity, he squared his shoulders and met her gaze head-on.

“Well, I guess all there is left to do now is figure out who gets the baby on holidays and where he—”

“Or she.”

He nodded. “Or she will spend the summers.”

Suddenly needing to put distance between them, he turned toward the door. “Let me know whatever you think is fair and I’ll go along with it.”

“Hold it right there, cowboy.” Fin’s hand on his arm stopped him cold.

Her touch burned right through his shirt and the pain in his chest tightened unbearably. Glancing down at her soft palm on his arm, then back at her beautiful face, he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and try to convince her that they belonged together. But he’d never begged for anything in his life and, God help him, he’d never been tempted to do so—until now.

“You’ve had your say, now I’m going to have mine.” Her green eyes sparkled with determination and he loved her more in that moment than life itself.

“What do you want from me, Fin? I offered marriage and you turned me down.”

“That’s just it.” She rose to her feet, then pushing him down on the couch, she planted her fists on her slender hips as she glared down at him. “You didn’t ask me to marry you. You offered.”

Damn, but she was gorgeous when she pitched a hissy fit. But as her words sank in, he frowned. “It’s the same thing.”

“No, it’s not.” She started pacing. “There’s a big difference. Huge even.”

He noticed that Spud had walked in to see what all the commotion was about. But one quelling look from the incensed female giving Travis hell had the old geezer retreating back to the safety of the kitchen as fast as his seventy-plus years and arthritis would allow.

“Did it ever occur to you that I might want a marriage proposal that sounded more personal and less like a business merger?”

He frowned. “I didn’t mean for it to sound like—”

She held up her hand. “Save it. I’m not finished.” Looking every bit as commanding as he knew she had to be in the boardroom, she narrowed her pretty green eyes. “It’s all or nothing with me, cowboy. I want it all. Marriage, a cozy home and this baby. And maybe one or two more.”

The tightness in his chest eased a bit. “I can give you all of that.”

“Yes, you can.” Pausing, her voice softened. “But can you give me what I need most of all?”

The tears in her eyes caused a tight knot to form in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t bear to think he’d caused her to cry.

Rising to his feet, he walked over and took her in his arms. “What do you want, sweetheart? Name it and it’s yours.”

“I want you to want me, as well as the baby. I want to be your wife. I want to share your life here on the Silver Moon.” Her voice dropped to a broken whisper.

“I want…your love, Travis.”

If he could have managed it, he would have kicked his own tail end. He might have been proposing marriage, but he hadn’t bothered to tell Fin how much she’d come to mean to him, how he loved her and needed her more than he needed his next breath.

Holding her close, he lowered his mouth to hers and gave her a kiss filled with the promise of a lifetime of everything she wanted. “I’m sorry, honey. I told you I wasn’t good at this stuff.” Using his index finger to tip her chin up until their gazes met, he smiled. “I love you more than you’ll ever know. I have since the minute I first saw you.”