Beauty and the Bull Rider (Hotel Rodeo #3)(18)

“How much time?” he asked.

“A few days at least. I have a lot to consider.”

“Fair enough,” he answered. He reached for his wet shirt with a grimace. “No point in putting this back on.”

“None at all,” she replied. “Not to mention it would spoil the view.” Unable to resist giving him a slow once-over, she flashed a flirtatious smile as she handed him his hat.

“That so?” His mouth stretched into a smile as he set the hat on his head. “That’s mighty gratifying to know, Miz McCall. If you keep up that kinda thinking, I’ll show you how much fun making babies together could be.”

“I don’t think so, Zac,” she shot back.

“We’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?” he tossed over his shoulder with a wink, making his exit with a half smile lingering on his lips.

Delaney watched with a warm flutter inside her chest as he climbed into his truck. She didn’t even try to deny her attraction anymore. She wondered what might have passed, had she not balked.

Zac continued to surprise her. He actually wanted kids? When she’d decided on artificial insemination she’d never given any thought as to how the father of her child might feel about it. If she and Zac did this, didn’t he have the right to know his child? And would it really be fair to bring a child into the world without a chance to know his or her father?

A sudden unbidden vision came to mind of the stolid Zac McDaniel holding a baby in each of his arms with a goofy grin pasted on his face. Her chest gave a painful squeeze.

Damn him for doing this to her.

She’d given up on love and romance and happily ever after. All she wanted was a baby to fill the empty space in her heart, but now he’d made her ache for more. She shook off that dangerous thought. No, Delaney. You have a plan. It’s solid and simple. All you have to do is stick to it.





CHAPTER FIVE


Zac spent the next few days trying not to think about Delaney—to no avail. What the hell was he signing on for anyway? She was talking artificial insemination for Christ’s sake! This whole thing was crazy. Ty had implied that she’d lost her mind, that her biological clock had pushed her over the edge. Was he about to jump off the cliff of insanity with her? Instead of hours rolling around with her in a big king bed, he’d have to submit to needles and jacking off into a Dixie cup? But Delaney wanted a baby and he wanted Delaney. If shooting a load into a test tube gave him another shot at her . . . He’d made the offer but had yet to hear her answer.

Maybe it was time for a new strategy. He plucked the phone from his pocket and dialed.

“Hello?” Delaney answered, sounding breathless. He wondered why.

“It’s Zac. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Not really,” she replied. “I’m just fixing some fence.”

“You aren’t pulling wire by yourself?” he asked.

“Uh. Yeah. Someone has to fix it.”

“Don’t you have hired help to do that kinda thing?” She certainly had the money to hire several hands. Why the hell had she chosen to do it all herself? “Pulling wire’s hard work to do all alone.”

“I can handle it. I’ve done it before.”

“Where are you? I’ll come help.”

“I’ve got it, Zac,” she insisted, sounding mildly irritated.

“Why is it so damned hard for you to accept help when someone offers it?” he asked. “Life is hard enough as it is, Delaney. Why choose to make it harder on yourself than it has to be?”

“It’s no big deal, Zac. Cows push posts over all the time. Who do you think’s been fixing it this all these years, the fence fairy?”

He had to stifle a chuckle. Delaney had already proven she was no shrinking violet, but it also seemed the former Miss Yellow Rose had grown a few thorns. The woman had more grit than anyone gave her credit for.

“Accepting help doesn’t mean you’re weak or incompetent, Delaney. We all need a hand from time to time.”

“I’m sorry, Zac. I’m not used to anyone offering.”

“Wait a minute,” he said, suddenly putting two and two together. “You share miles of common fence with the Circle B. Are you saying Tom never helped you?”

“Tom’s first loyalty was always to Ty. He’d never refuse to help me, of course, but he didn’t exactly go out of his way to make things easier on me either, so I never asked him.”

“You shouldn’t have had to ask,” Zac said. “Helping when someone needs it is just being neighborly.”

“Maybe, but most of my ‘neighbors’ around here want me to fail and go back to Houston.”

“Was Tom among them?” Zac asked.

“Maybe. I know for certain his foreman was one of them.”

“You mean ol’ Bart?”

“Yeah. Bart. That mean ol’ fart made no secret that he doesn’t like me. That’s why I tried never to ask for anything.”

“But Bart doesn’t like anybody, me included. He also doesn’t run the place anymore,” Zac said. “If you need something, I’m here for you.”

“Thanks for the gesture,” she said softly. “I appreciate it.”