Page 22 of The Rancher's Secret Son

He smiled. “We did all right tonight, didn’t we?”

She returned his grin briefly, but the worry didn’t leave her expression. “I suppose we did. The tough decisions are still ahead, though.”

He nodded and she tilted her head toward her door. “Nick, it’s late.” When he stepped back, she said, “I’m an early riser. You can go downstairs and the coffee will be brewed by six. Is that early enough because I can go down an hour sooner if you’d like?”

“Six is perfect. Thank you for tonight. You did all you could to make this easy for me.” Nick brushed a kiss on her forehead and looked into her eyes. Moments like this reminded him of what he’d missed, but he was doing better at putting the past behind him. “The more time I have with Cody, the sooner I’ll stop longing for what might have been. Tomorrow I’ll invite him to the ranch.”

She nodded. “Good night, Nick,” she said and stepped into her room.

He picked up his things and crossed the hall, shutting himself into his suite and letting out his breath. He couldn’t spend a lot of time around her. Each time with her he had to fight the temptation to kiss her. And it was getting more and more difficult.

“Dammit,” he whispered, finally giving vent to feelings that had threatened him during the evening. Claire had him tied in knots. He would take them to his ranch, which stirred memories of the week he had taken Claire to the family ranch when they had been so wildly in love. He thought about the hours they had made love there and he ached, wanting her and wondering how he was going to keep from being hurt worse than ever.

Nick raked his fingers through his hair. What did she feel? Right now, was she locked in as much turmoil over him as he was over her?

* * *

As worry filled her, Claire covered her face with her hands. Nick was appealing, sexy and he was being good to her. How was she going to avoid falling deeply in love again? And hurt even worse than before?

She was still attracted physically to Nick. Every touch had been sizzling; the light, impersonal kisses that were so meaningless to Nick had made her breathless. She didn’t want to respond to him, didn’t want to have her life tied in with his constantly. She couldn’t forget his political ambitions. Cody’s birth so close to Nick’s marriage would hurt him in politics, and he’d need to marry her to smooth things over for the political races he faced. He said politics didn’t matter, but she didn’t believe him. Whatever Nick felt, his father was going to push Nick to marry her.

Nick wanted her to take a week and go to Dallas, to his ranch. Could she cope with being under the same roof with Nick for a week? She stood in the middle of her room, staring into space, remembering being on the ranch with Nick and how in love they had been. Memories would be intense and make it even more difficult to resist him.

Finally she began to get ready for bed, barely thinking about what she was doing because her thoughts were on Nick and how to deal with him. She turned back her bed and returned to the sitting room to switch off the light. Before she did, she saw the glitter of the heart-shaped pendant on her dresser and she crossed the room to pick it up. It had cost Nick a lot, she thought as she looked at the sparkling diamonds catching the light. Turning off the light, she carried the necklace and placed it on her night table before she got into bed. Nick was too appealing in too many ways. She couldn’t see how she could avoid loving him...and that was the problem.

Six

Claire had coffee brewing when Nick walked through the kitchen door the next morning. In jeans, boots and a plaid, cotton shirt, he looked more approachable and still as handsome as ever. “You don’t wear jeans often.”

He crossed the kitchen to her. “I don’t recall seeing you in jeans a lot of times, either. I have to say, they look infinitely better on you.”

“I beg to differ, but thanks,” she said, smiling at him, glad to see him relaxed and more at ease than yesterday.

“I have tickets reserved for all of us at the aquarium. If you don’t think Cody would like that, I’ll cancel and we’ll do something else.”

“Cody will love it. I’ve meant to take him, but just haven’t done it. He’s sleeping late. I guess he was worn out last night.”

“So how did his mama sleep?” Nick asked, getting himself a cup of coffee and standing close.

“Fair. There’s no way to turn off worries,” she said quietly.

Setting down his coffee mug, he placed his hands on the counter on either side of her, hemming her in so he had her full attention. As her heartbeat accelerated, he leaned down to look directly into her eyes.

“Let’s get back to the cheerful morning. You and I can be friends. We were once. There’s no rush here. I can take my time getting to know Cody. I’m not pushing you and I have no deadlines where Cody is concerned. As much as we can, let’s put the past behind us,” he said, giving her a crooked smile.

“I’ll try.” Inside she was hurting more than ever, because he was so understanding, which only made him more appealing. She felt on track for a giant wreck to her heart. He stood too close, only inches away. She couldn’t keep from looking at his mouth, thinking about his kisses. She drew a deep breath and looked up to find him watching her with desire blatant in his expression.

“This is life altering and I’m trying to get accustomed to the change of having you in our lives,” she said, looking into his sexy, thickly lashed blue eyes, which had always captivated her. Why was she so susceptible to Nick? Her heart started racing the moment he stepped into the room and sped up again when he moved close.

“Okay, but keep in mind, I’m not pushing. We don’t have to rush to make changes.”

“Thank you for that concession.” She could barely get out the words, yet she didn’t want to ask him to move away and make more of an issue of her reaction to him.

He wrapped his arms around her lightly. “We’ll work something out we can both live with.”

She didn’t answer. It was easy to say they would work things out, but it was going to be difficult to actually do it. Nick had hurt her badly years ago and she couldn’t bear another big heartbreak. “I should get breakfast, Nick.”

She moved away to stir the oatmeal she’d put on the stove.

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