Page 10 of Darla's Christmas Knight
And he was glad for her.
Darla deserved to be happy; to build that family she spoke of years ago. And Sullivan Lawson was a good man. A man who’d cherish the beauty he held in his arms. He’d look after her, protect her. Love her. Marry her. Fill her belly with babies. Grow old with her.
Pain seared through him.
“Fuck,” Bobby swore, swung away, and marched with purpose to the tent the sheriff’s department had set up.
Reuniting Mia with her beloved Buttonswaswithin his power.
Fixing his past mistakes … a totally different story.
*
Several days later …
Bobby hefted another bale of hay and rested it on his shoulder, viewing the remaining pile with disgust. It was grunt work, something he could relegate to others, but his stable hands werein town helping with cleanup after the tornado. He had sent them there, preferring the isolation of the ranch. That way he wouldn’t bump into Darla again, because, fucking bollocks, since their interaction, she had been front and center of his mind during every daylight moment. And at night …
Well, nights were worse.
Alone in his bed, a bed she hadsleptin, he dreamed of her, waking with his dick in hand, hard, throbbing, desperate for her.
So, he needed the extra work, the exertion, so when he stumbled home, fell into bed exhausted, he’d (maybe) not dream—
“I crossed paths with Darla today,” a woman said.
At the sound of her name, Bobby’s heart somersaulted in his chest.
He tossed the hay and moved closer to the open barn doors. Staying within the deep shadows, his concealed position afforded him a clear view of the unfolding action outside.
Princess Marielle stood toe-to-toe with Sullivan, yelling at him. “Was I a handy diversion? A quick fuck before you bumped hips with Darla long enough to give her the baby—”
Baby?
It was a punch to his solar plexus.
Darla was … pregnant?
The rest of the princess’s tirade faded as he fought to stay calm, to breathe while bouncing around those three words in his mind.
Darla was pregnant.
HisDarla was pregnant.
She’s not yours, you arse.
The idea of Darla pregnant with another man’s child made his gut churn.
Heneeded to be the man planting his seed in her.
Huh?There was her name again, and Bobby turned hisattention back to the argument.
“I’ve cleared the air with her,” Sullivan said. The man uttered a few more angry words to the princess before swinging up on his horse and storming away at a fast clip.
Bobby wanted to slug Sullivan for dismissing Darla —and her baby— so easily.
You don’tclear the airafter knocking up a woman.
That washiswoman Sullivan was flicking off like a pesky fly.
