The Paternity Pact (Texas Cattleman's Club: Rags to Riches 3)

“I want you.” He took her hands in his and squeezed gently. “I have since we first met.”

Harley’s throat locked up. “Why are you telling me this now? Do you think that I will fall so madly in love with you that I won’t reconsider returning to Thailand? Or is this your way of keeping me happy until we settle our custody arrangements?”

Grant shook his head. “Have you ever thought of me as manipulative?”

“No.” She surveyed his expression while her heart pounded. “But a week ago you told me we had no future. Now you’re asking me to move in with you. Forgive me for thinking you’re desperate enough to keep Daniel around that you’re willing to do anything.”

“A week ago I was convinced that the only way I would be happy is if I had everything the way I wanted it.” Grant freed one of her hands so he could cup her cheek.

Harley latched on to his wrist for support as her knees wobbled. “A week ago, you wanted me to stay in Texas. Today, I told you I would.” She drew in an unsteady breath. “Isn’t that everything you want?”

“Not everything.” Grant dipped his head and grazed his lips over hers, before murmuring, “I need you.”

Harley’s heart softened beneath his fervent tone, but she was too afraid of being disappointed to give hope a chance. “Because I’m Daniel’s mother...”

“Because I love you.”

To her dismay, the words she’d longed to hear him utter awakened skepticism, not joy. “Grant...”

He set his fingertip against her lips, silencing her. “What can I do to convince you?”

Immediately, her mind latched on to the one crazy, outrageous thing she wanted more than anything else, knowing it was something he’d never in a million years do. But as she stared at the man she loved, the words trembling on her lips, Harley knew she could never bring herself to ask him to make such a sacrifice.

“You don’t have to do anything,” she heard herself saying and recognized that it was true. How could she expect him to trust his feelings for her if she didn’t have confidence in them?

“What if I go with you and Daniel to Thailand?”

Harley’s chest spasmed at his earnest expression and for a moment she couldn’t breathe. “You can’t.”

He shook his head. “I can. It’ll just take me a little time to make arrangements. Many of my clients are undergoing treatment and I can’t abandon them when they are on the verge of creating families of their own. But if I don’t take on any new patients, I should be able to go with you in a couple months.”

She laughed uneasily, surprised and unsure how to respond to such an incredible offer. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my entire life.”

Believing that he was indeed committed to following through, Harley immediately backpedaled. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t ask,” he pointed out with a wry smile. “I offered to go with you. I was serious when I said I needed you. And Daniel. Yes, you’re a package deal. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I want us to be a family. Whatever that involves. Wherever you are—whether it’s in Royal or in Thailand—I want to be with you. You have my heart. And where it goes, I go.”

It was everything she’d ever wanted to hear from him and so much more. Harley squeezed her eyes shut, her entire body buzzing with energy. This was the moment to embrace what he was offering her and spend the rest of her life as the happiest woman on earth. To take that leap of faith. To believe in him. In them.

“I love you,” she whispered, all fight rushing out of her. “And because I do, I can’t take you away from what you love.”

“What I love is you and Daniel and the family we make when we’re together. Everything else is mere distraction that keeps me from noticing how incredibly lonely I was before you came back into my life.”

The throb of profound emotion in his voice was the sweetest music Harley had ever heard. Grant’s entire life was driven by logic. For him to recognize and relish his love for her and acknowledge his longing for them to become a true family was all she’d ever wanted.

“I belong with you and Daniel,” he continued, his fingers tightening as he pledged his heart. “You’re my home. So you see, it doesn’t matter if it’s here or halfway around the world. I can be a doctor anywhere. What I can’t bear is being without you and Daniel.”

Harley could barely see his features dissolve into a breathtaking smile as tears filled her eyes. She blinked, trying to clear her vision and felt a hot trickle make its way down her cheek. Grant’s thumb whisked away the moisture as his lips met hers in a reverent kiss that left her senses soaring and the blood rushing fast and hot through her veins.

Surrendering to unbridled joy, Harley wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, leaving nothing to his imagination. She surrendered her whole heart and gloried as he gave her his heart in return. Passion simmered as the romantic embrace went on and on. His fingers tunneled into her hair and caressed her cheek, making her feel safe and adored.

Leaving all their misunderstandings behind, Harley promised she would no longer hide from him how she felt. Good or bad, she was determined that she would share her deepest thoughts with Grant. They might disagree. They might even fight. But she would trust him to listen.

“You and Daniel are my everything,” she confessed, beaming up at him. How was it possible that she’d gotten so lucky? The icy chill of loneliness she’d suffered these last five years vanished as happiness blazed inside her like the sun.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to understand how important you are to me. If I hadn’t been such an obstinate fool five years ago, we wouldn’t have lost so much time.”