Alex giggled. “Oh my. This one says she’s a bit of a nymphomaniac. How on earth did they get your email address?”
“They printed the ranch’s website address. The public can email the ranch through the website. As they did.” He gestured to the screen and grimaced. “Repeatedly.”
Alex peered at the screen again. “Hey, this one is from a guy. The subject line mentions that the two of you have a mutual acquaintance.”
“Not interested.” Daniel leaned forward, highlighted all the offending emails and deleted them in one swift move. There was only one woman he wanted, and she was sitting next to him, driving him insane.
Daniel closed the lid of the laptop and stood up. Putting his hands on Alex’s hips, he gently lifted her off the desk. But after placing her on her feet, he didn’t—couldn’t—let her go. How could he? She smelled like expensive soap and sunscreen, and her upturned mouth looked soft and inviting. Too much temptation—he had to kiss her, taste her. It had been so damn long.
Daniel threaded his fingers through her soft, upswept hair and held the back of her head as he covered her lips with his, keeping his kiss gentle, exploratory. It would be so easy to fall into heat and passion, but he didn’t want to scare her. He just wanted to kiss her in the sunlight, skim her body with his fingers, be with her in this moment with only the blue sea and the hot sun as witnesses.
She tasted like coffee and spearmint and sexy woman, a combination that made his head swim. Daniel skimmed her rib cage, brushed his knuckles over her waist and laid his palm possessively over her stomach, his hand almost covering her from hip to hip. Pulling his head back, he looked down and emotion tightened his throat.
He pushed the words out. “Somewhere in there is my baby.”
Alex’s big smile was a kick to his heart. She lifted her hand and pushed back that annoying curl that always fell down his forehead. “I hope our baby has your beautiful eyes.”
“I hope he has yours,” Daniel whispered back. “You are so lovely, Lex.”
“You’re not too bad yourself, cowboy,” Alex murmured, her lips moving against his. Daniel sucked in his breath as her breasts pushed into his chest. Then Alex pulled away and Daniel felt her arms tightening around his neck as her nose burrowed into the side of his throat. He barely heard her words, but somehow they still lodged in his soul. “Having a baby is scary, Dan.”
“I know, sweetheart. But I’m here with you, for you.”
Alex pulled back and he noticed the brilliant sheen in her eyes. He cradled her face and tipped his head to the side. “Why the tears, Lex?”
“If you are going to leave me, Dan, do it now. Before it hurts too much.”
Leave her? His child? No chance. “I’m not going anywhere, Lex. I promise.”
Alex forced a laugh before stepping back to wipe her eyes with the heels of her hands. She sent him a smile that was part embarrassment, part fear. “Ignore me. That’s just hormones.”
He nodded to give her an out, to allow her to walk away with her pride intact, but he knew that outburst had nothing to do with pregnancy hormones and everything to do with her fear of him disappointing her. Again.
Didn’t she know that he would give her everything he was able to? His time, his support, his money, all his effort. Except his heart. He wouldn’t give her that roughed-up organ. He liked it right where it was, thank you very much.
* * *
Daniel was either a very competent fisherman or the lady fish simply flung themselves onto his spear, thrilled to be caught by such a luscious merman. Alex was convinced the latter was true because they’d been eating from the ocean a lot lately, including tonight’s dinner of a lobster salad. She could easily imagine the below-the-waves conversation:
Yes, Daniel, of course I will sacrifice myself for your eating pleasure.
No, take me.
He’s mine to die for.
“What are you smiling about?” Daniel asked.
“I’m imagining a lady lobster’s last words,” Alex confessed, sitting down in the chair he pulled out for her. She was a modern girl, living a modern life, but she never tired of being the recipient of his gentlemanly manners.