Page 10 of Stud Ranch

“Jesus!” He rushed to her.

She dropped her hand from her stomach, straightening with a laugh. “You should see your face, Shaw.”

He barely contained a growl. This wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen a woman go into labor. The night his daughter came into the world was the best and worst of his life. The best because of how perfect she was. The worst because he knew he couldn’t remain in her life and keep her mother happy.

He still asked himself daily if he’d made the right choice in leaving Sloane to raise their daughter.

Marigold.

Fuck. Where was Marigold while Sloane was in Alaska, writhing on Dylan’s cock?

Most likely with her grandparents. They were more than capable of caring for the child, but it still didn’t sit well with him. Nothing about this situation was right, goddammit.

“Where’s Maggie?” His abrupt question made the smile slide off Avril’s face. As if he didn’t feel shitty enough, now he’d made a pregnant woman unhappy.

Avril pointed to the conference room. “She’s in with a couple of vendors who are looking to buy some of our beef. Piers and Ash are with them.”

Piers and Ash had recently left the lineup of Boot Knockers serving women and shifted to ranch operations exclusively. They were remodeling a small cabin just over the mountain ridge for use as their personal home they would share with the woman they loved.

Shaw stomped over to the desk Maggie used and grabbed her computer mouse.

Avril rushed to his side. “Hey, you can’t just break into her computer and look at…at…files!”

“Who’s gonna stop me?” He searched the hard drive for client files. When he couldn’t find them easily, he typed a name into the search bar. Sloane Simpson.

Her name came up immediately. He clicked open the file.

A rough gasp escaped Avril. She set her hand on her baby bulge again.

“You can’t get me with that act again, Avril.” He skimmed the application Sloane had submitted.

Date of last relationship: Two years ago.

He rocked back on his heels. His mind swirled.

She hadn’t been with anyone since him.

Avril gripped his arm hard, bringing his attention from the screen to her pink face. “Shaw! I…I think I really am in labor!”

He stared down at her, assessing the situation. Then water flooded over her feet.

“Son of a bitch! You are in labor.” What should he do?

He was a father. Just a bad one.

He spun Maggie’s desk chair toward Avril. “Sit down. Breathe. I’ll get Maggie. She’ll know what to do.”

He stormed into the conference room so fast that the door banged off the wall. Six people looked up at him, shock on their faces.

“Avril’s in labor.”

“What!” Maggie leaped up and pushed by him.

Figuring they had this under control and didn’t need him, he strode out of the office. The urge to circle back to the field was a strong pull, but he couldn’t bear to see his ex with another man, even if Shaw himself had been with that same man.

Sloane’s application still burned in his mind like the imprint of the sun after staring at it too long.

She hadn’t been in a relationship since him. Now he knew why Sloane had come to The Boot Knockers Ranch.

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