“Lex. God, honey, what the hell is going on with you?” Daniel demanded, lifting her up and pulling her into his body.
Should she tell him now or later? What was the point of delaying? This news wouldn’t be any easier to hear tomorrow or a month from now.
Daniel held her head with one hand and for a moment she felt safe, not so very alone. If she told him now, he’d push her away from him and she’d lose this closeness, this support. Should she tell him? How could she not?
“Lex, you’re scaring me,” Daniel said with concern in his voice. “You’re as white as a sheet and you’re trembling. I’m starting to freak out here.”
He was freaking out? And he hadn’t even heard the life-altering news yet.
Alex wound her arms around his waist and rested her forehead on his chest. Once she told him, she’d have to build another wall between them, reinforce her barriers. It would be so easy to allow Daniel to take control—he was a take-charge and do-what-I-say type of guy. He was an alpha male, supremely comfortable with making quick decisions, plotting a course and following it.
And she was so tired, feeling so utterly overwhelmed that it was tempting to let him take control, to follow his lead. But at some point, she’d start to rebel and argue. Or worse, she might—although, given her contrary nature, this wasn’t likely—start to like him taking charge. No, she was the captain of her own ship.
Even if her ship was currently a leaky rowboat with a broken oar.
Alex gathered her courage and stepped out of Daniel’s arms. Pushing her hair off her face, she met those deep, dark worried eyes.
“Dan, I have something to tell you. You’re not going to like it.”
He lifted one eyebrow. “What can be worse than having to spend any time with the cowboy-obsessed Iona Duckworth?”
Oh, she could easily top that. “I have a date for you that’s going to last the rest of your life.”
Surprise and shock skittered across Daniel’s face. Then panic set in. He lifted up his hands and took a step back. “Lex, it was just an affair. We haven’t spent enough time together to make those sorts of pronouncements. You don’t know me anymore.”
If her heart wasn’t threatening to jump out of her chest, she might’ve laughed at his erroneous assumption. “I’m not talking about you and me, Daniel!”
Relief replaced panic and Alex ignored the flare of disappointment. He’d once spent hours with her, painting their future, but now the thought was abhorrent. Yes, they’d grown up, they were adults now, and she’d packed up dreams of her and Daniel a long time ago.
It shouldn’t hurt but it did. Far too much.
This, this, was why she had to keep her emotional distance, why she had to spend as little time with Daniel as possible. With him, foolish thoughts, remembered dreams and unwelcome emotions crept in and threatened her unattached heart. She’d planned on walking away from him and Royal—leaving all these pesky emotions behind. But if she left now, she’d be taking a part of Daniel with her...
“Seriously, I’m about to shake your news out of you,” Daniel muttered.
“I’m pregnant, Daniel.”
His guttural bark was short on amusement and long on disbelief. “That’s not funny, Alex.”
“I know. It really isn’t. And I really am pregnant.”
Alex walked around her desk, pulled her bag out from the bottom drawer and shoved her hand inside. She pulled out the three pregnancy tests and threw them across the desk. Daniel picked up each one in turn, saw the positive indications and Alex watched a muscle jump in his tight jaw. His sensual mouth was now a slash in his face and his olive skin turned pasty. The news was finally starting to sink in...
“It’s mine?”
What the hell? How dare he ask that? She dramatically slapped her hand against her forehead. “Oh, wait, no! It could be one of the many other men I was sleeping with at the same time I was sneaking around with you!”
Daniel shoved his hand through his hair, pushing an errant curl off his forehead. He sent her a sour look. “Still as sarcastic as ever.”
“It’s my default response to stupid comments,” Alex shot back. She walked out from behind her desk, sat on the corner and crossed her legs. “I’m newly pregnant, just a few weeks.”