Page 45 of Parading the Cowboy Billionaire (Bluegrass Ranch 4)

Ginny smiled slowly, the moment absolutely perfect between them. Could she really ruin it tonight by telling him she couldn’t make him a father?

They breathed in and out together, neither of them in any hurry to go anywhere. Finally, Cayden said, “I’m starving, sweetheart. Should we go?”

“Yes.” Her stomach swooped as she stepped away from his warmth and his spirit. “They’re almost done with the demo,” she said. “Mother only texted that one day, so I’m counting this as a win.”

“That’s great,” he said, holding the door for her. “How long on the rebuild?”

“Three or four weeks,” she said. “There’s a bit of plumbing that has to be done, and then everything after that isn’t too bad.” She let him open her door and steady her as she got in the truck. He’d kept it running so the air conditioner was still blowing. The sun went down later and later each evening, and the closer summer got, the hotter the days became.

She watched him round the truck, and Ginny wondered how to start this conversation. She’d had plenty of serious discussions in her life, and this one shouldn’t be any different. Ginny felt like it was though. She felt like she’d climbed twenty flights of stairs and couldn’t get a decent breath.

The next time she opened her mouth, she was going to fling herself off the tall building she’d just climbed to the top of.

“You okay?” Cayden asked, and Ginny blinked, realizing he’d already turned around, gone down the lane, and set the truck on the highway.

She cleared her throat. “Yes.” She shook her head, though. “No.”

“Yes and no,” he repeated.

Ginny swallowed and bent to reach into her purse to get out the bottle of water she never left home without. “I have to tell you something.”

He glanced at her with one hand draped over the top of the wheel while the other rested on the console between them. “All right.”

She slicked her hands down her thighs, glad she’d worn this thick denim dress. It had a wide belt the color of children’s bubble gum that made her barrel-shaped torso look somewhat like an hourglass instead. She’d put on a bright white pair of running shoes to complete the fun, flirty look, and she wished she felt the same way inside.

“I’ve never told anyone this before.”

He reached out and turned down the radio.

Ginny didn’t have the right words. She sighed and looked out the window on her side of the truck. “Do you want children, Cayden?”

He took a few moments to answer with, “I think so, yes.”

Of course he did. He had no reason not to want children, and he came from a family of eight boys.

“Do you want children, Virginia?” he asked.

She nodded, her throat clogged with emotion. “Yes,” she said right through it, causing her voice to pitch up. “I do want children, Cay, but I can’t have them.” She swung her head toward him, feeling like her upper half was encased in quicksand.

Cayden continued to drive, but he looked only at her. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice catching on all the syllables. He opened his mouth to say something else, but he quickly closed it again.

He shifted in his seat and looked out the windshield.

Horror shot through Ginny when a tear splashed her cheek. Her hand flew up to her face to wipe it away, and she turned away from Cayden. If she could just take a breath in—nice and slow, she told herself—he wouldn’t know she’d started to cry over this.

The next thing she knew, a sob had wrenched its way out of her throat, the sound loud and completely out of place in the cab of the truck. She covered her face with both of her hands, her mind buzzing at her tocontrol this.

Ginny didn’t lose control. She didn’t.

The truck slowed and stopped, and she had no idea how long it took for Cayden to get out of the truck and come to her door. He was just there, and when he said, “My sweetheart, it’s okay to cry.”

She lowered her hands, both eyes filled with tears now. She met his gaze for only a moment, because she wasn’t strong enough to hold it for longer than that. Tears tracked down her face, and she flung her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his so he couldn’t see her.

His strong arms encircled her, and where Ginny was weak and flawed, Cayden was strong and perfect, and she needed him more than ever as she fell apart for the first time in many years.

13

Cayden didn’t know what to say to Ginny. His own emotions battled inside him, and he wondered how long he could stand on the side of the road while she cried.

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