Gail clapped her hands like a little girl getting an award and skipped up to the stage to fling her arms around Lloyd’s neck. He responded by laying a hot kiss on her. Gail kicked up her foot and Alex immediately noticed the scuff mark on the back of the heel of her shoe. Oh boy, this wasn’t going to end well.
Alex felt a little dizzy as she watched Lloyd and Gail leave the stage. She was exhausted and overwhelmed. Two more to go and then she could go home and collapse.
Tessa wouldn’t be a problem; she’d just have to watch the bids roll in. But Daniel? Well, hell, crap and damn. How was she going to sell her baby’s father to another woman?
* * *
Alex, after spending thirty excruciating minutes accepting congratulations on the success of the evening, slipped out of the festively decorated gardens and headed toward the TCC clubhouse.
She needed some time alone to get her racing heart under control, to reflect on this crazy day, to think, dammit!
Wrapping her arms around her waist, she stepped inside the clubhouse and headed for the small office James had allocated for auction-related business. After closing the door behind her, she flipped on a desk lamp and half sat, half leaned on the wide wooden desk.
Selling a date with Tessa had been a dream, as she’d barely been able to keep up with the flurry of bids for her gorgeous friend. Tessa had looked surprised at the attention she garnered and then relieved when Ryan topped all the other bids with a whopper offer. She’d caught Tessa’s pleading look and quickly closed the bidding, accepting Ryan’s overly generous bid with a quick snap of her gravel. Maybe there had been a man in the audience who could top Ryan’s bid, but Tessa had been a good sport and she deserved a date with Ryan. And maybe, finally, the two of them would figure out what the rest of the community already knew: that they should only date each other. Permanently.
Selling a date with Daniel hadn’t been as easy. Rachel, bless her, had offered to take over as auctioneer but that would’ve caused speculation they could ill afford. So she’d gritted her teeth, pasted on a bright smile and, after fifteen excruciating minutes, she sold Daniel to an oil baron’s daughter from Houston: a tall, cool brunette with a predatory look in her eyes.
She’d wish him luck—everyone knew Iona Duckworth had a thing for cowboys. And cowboys who also owned and operated one of the most iconic ranches in the state? Jackpot!
Alex dropped her head, finally able to devote her full attention to the problem at hand. She was pregnant.
With Daniel’s baby.
God.
Alex stared down at the exotic wooden floor. How did this happen? Why was life punishing her like this? She wasn’t ready to be someone’s mom, and couldn’t imagine being fully responsible for another life. Moreover, she knew nothing about babies—except how they were made, and apparently she didn’t know enough about that! How on earth was she going to raise a child, accept Mike’s amazing offer to be a partner in his new start-up and... God!
Through this child growing inside her, she was now connected to Daniel forever. Well, at least until their child became an adult, but that was long enough. Once she told Daniel about the baby, he’d be a permanent and constant part of her life, exactly what she’d been trying to avoid when she told him that they had to stop sleeping together. She didn’t want Daniel in her life—she couldn’t cope with all the emotions he pulled to the surface, all the memories, the resurgence of the hopes and dreams she’d had as a stupid-with-love teenager.
Being close to Daniel, even if it was just a physical thing, was dangerous enough. But this child, their baby, would require them to find a way to interact, emotionally. Emotional interaction led to attachments and she didn’t do attachment.
Though, apparently and according to the three pregnancy tests she’d done earlier, she had no choice but to become attached. That was what happened with moms and babies, wasn’t it?
Oh God, she was going to be a mommy.
Alex heard the door to the office open and then she felt Daniel’s arms around her. Her bones liquefied, and she fell into him, utterly exhausted and emotionally winded. She didn’t think she could take much more tonight.