Lone Star Reunion

“I—you—argh!” Alex, annoyed by his cocky smile and his self-assurance, threw up her hands. She did, however, watch that magnificent body dive into the pool.

* * *

After his swim, Daniel pulled on his wet clothes and padded barefoot into the house. Not seeing Alex in the living area, he picked up his bag and walked down the hall, opening doors as he went along. Study-cum-library, gym—nice—and a sauna. He entered the first bedroom he came to and threw his bag onto the massive double bed, taking a minute to appreciate the view. Like he suspected, the floor-to-ceiling windows were in fact another set of doors, and he immediately opened them, welcoming fresh air into the room. This room was super nice but he wouldn’t bother to unpack; he would end up sharing whatever bedroom Alex chose.

Which, if he knew her, would definitely be the master suite.

Daniel pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked for a signal, of which there was none. Cursing, he tossed it onto the bed and left the room to head for the study. If he was going to stay on this godforsaken island, he would have to send some emails, leaving instructions for his foreman, his PA and his business manager. And he would drop his grandmother another message, reminding her how out of line she was.

Daniel sat behind Matt’s desk, pulled out the first drawer, and yep, as he thought, inside the drawer rested a state-of-the-art laptop. If Matt had a laptop, then he’d have an internet connection, which was exactly what he needed. Daniel leaned back in his chair as he waited for the laptop to boot, thinking that he could, with a couple of keystrokes, have another plane on the runway in a couple of hours.

He could hire a private plane as easily as Gus had, and this farce could come to a quick end. Except that maybe he didn’t want it to...

Daniel stared out at the tranquil ocean. He was here, Alex was here and they were nowhere near Royal. They could escape their grandparents’ machinations, the Royal gossips, the crazy normal that was their day-to-day lives. They could both take this week to find a way forward, to have some heart-to-heart conversations, to plot a course.

He still wanted to marry Alex—that was the plan that still made the most sense to him. The Clayton-Slade feud had been buried with Gus and Rose’s marriage—something that Royal was still talking about—and after their nuptials, his and Alex’s nuptials would barely raise a brow or two. He wanted to raise his child in a conventional family, one with a father and mother close at hand. He’d spent the first twelve years of his life with an unstable mother, constantly wishing he had a father he could run to, live with, a bigger, stronger man he could look to for protection and comfort. He never ever wanted his child to think—not for a second—that he wasn’t there for him, that he was anything but a shout away. He wanted to teach his son to ride, shoot, fish. Hell, if he had a bunch of daughters, he’d teach them the same thing. He wanted them to have the run of the farm. And if his kids were Alex’s, then they’d have the Slade ranch as an additional playground. He wanted them outside, on horses and bikes, in the stables, swimming in the river or in the pond. He wanted his kids to have the early childhood he never had, with two involved, loving parents.

For the sake of their kids, he and Alex could make a marriage work. They were super compatible together sexually, and they could, if he took her suggestion to learn more about each other, become friends. Friends who had hot sex—wasn’t that a good marriage right there? Love? No. Love—having it, losing it, using it as a carrot or a club—just complicated the hell out of everything.

Marriage was a rational, sensible decision. He just had to convince Alex that this was the best option available to them both. Hell, even if she balked at getting married—and he had no doubt that she would—she could still move into his place. Gus and Rose wouldn’t be happy at their nontraditional living arrangements, but it was better than nothing.

Right, he had a plan. He liked having a plan; it made him feel in control.

* * *

Alex leaned back against a sun-warmed rock and watched the sky change. Blue morphed into a deep purple, and then an invisible brush painted the sky with streaks of pink and orange. This Caribbean sunset was possibly one of the prettiest she’d ever witnessed, and she couldn’t help but sigh her appreciation.