Page 67 of A Baby for the Texas Cowboy
“I didn’t love him. I was blinded by him. He was my parents’ choice, and I didn’t know any better.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“What?”
“That day in the street when I grabbed you, you flinched. You looked like you were going to fight.”
He looked so worried, and his hand stroked her cheek. She turned her face into his palm and kissed it. She didn’t want to talk about John while in bed with Anders. And she didn’t want to think of the life she’d left behind. And she should probably tell him her parents were both very much alive—not that she had any intention of contacting them or letting them back in her life with Anders.
It was the first time she’d thought of them as a couple.
“He didn’thitme,” she qualified.
“That’s not an answer,” he burst out.
“It’s the one you’re getting,” she said. She framed his face with his palms. “It was a long time ago. We wanted different things. One night I realized that and broke it off.”
Total simplification, but it would have to do.
“I’m different now. Older. Wiser. I need now to know that no matter what happens, I have control over my destiny. I don’t want to be trapped.”
“Do you feel like I’m trying to trap you?”
She didn’t answer at first. She had felt that, but even over this short time of knowing about the baby, Anders hadn’t done anything but be supportive in the way that he thought best. He’d tried to do what he thought right. He was ethical. Moral. Code of the cowboy and of the strong, Texas man that was not seen so much in modern times.
“I need to know that I have choices.”
“Tinsley, you are the strongest woman I’ve ever met. You have intellect, creativity, drive, confidence. I would never want to take that away from you.”
She was silent, thinking about his words.
“I know I came on strong after I learned about the baby.” Regret crossed his features, but determination was stamped there too. “But I’ve got to be honest about who I am. I am not a man who walks away from a responsibility.”
“That’s just it. I don’t want to be your responsibility.”
“You are. So is the baby. That doesn’t mean I think you are helpless or don’t want to be with you as a man and woman, as a family. It just means that if you need something, you can count on me.”
“But I—”
He smoothed the frown from her face. “What was your reaction when I showed up here hurt?”
“What?” She blinked at the non sequitur.
“You asked how I was. You offered ibuprofen, you ran downstairs to bring up bags of ice for an ice bath, you offered me the bed. I didn’t need those things, but I appreciated them. You were helping me, showing me I can count on you, and I will need to sometimes. I will get banged up again.”
Her heart squeezed in alarm.
“That doesn’t mean you think I’m helpless or dependent.”
Tinsley threaded her fingers through his hair. “You think I’m being too hardcore about my independence?”
The smile that lit his face and eyes spread warmth through her.
“I love it when you’re hardcore,” he said, straddling her—his palms on either side of her head and his legs caging hers in. “Just expect a little hardcore back.”
Chapter Sixteen
“I’m totally inlove,” Cruz said, lying back on the ground next to Catalina on a western-style blanket Tinsley had purchased from a local boutique today. She’d used the winery account, and though the store owner had been thrilled to make such a large purchase, she’d also probably thought Tinsley a little too ambitious.
