Family came first. But by moving to Houston, striking out on her own, she was deliberately putting time and space between not only the baby and Daniel, but the baby and its grandparents, uncle and her friends. Was she making life harder for herself in her effort to protect herself?
Daniel broke the kiss, took her hand and they continued walking alongside each other until the path narrowed and she was forced to fall into step behind him. She didn’t have to move to Houston; it wasn’t a condition of the partnership.
Alex bit her lip and stared at the back of Daniel’s head, her eyes tracing his broad shoulders, muscles rippling under the red T-shirt he wore. She’d traced those muscles with her tongue...
Wrenching her eyes off Daniel, she pulled her thoughts back. The point was, she had options. Or, deep breath now, she could also move in with Daniel and give this—whatever this was—a shot. They could be a couple, raise their child together, day in and day out. Alex sucked in her breath and placed her hand on her sternum as she waited for the wave of unease to pass through her. When it didn’t, she tipped her head, surprised. Huh. So moving in with Daniel didn’t scare her as much as it did a week ago.
Her heart skipped a beat. They didn’t need to get married but they could make this work. They had fantastic sex, enjoyed each other’s company, had the same priorities...
Of course she knew the risks involved. Back in Royal, they would have to deal with real life, two careers, a baby on the way, their grandparents and...stuff. The mundane and the boring and the tedious. And there was always the chance that Daniel would one day decide that this wasn’t the life for him and, well, leave.
Could she cope with that? Would she be able to watch him walk away without her world falling apart? Yeah, it would hurt when—if—he left, but he might not.
Could she do this? Dare she take a chance on Daniel, on the life he was offering?
Alex could feel her heart racing, and a fine sheen of perspiration covered her forehead. Feeling her courage well up inside her, she started to speak, but no words came out.
How was she supposed to tell him she’d come to a decision without saying the words?
“Here we are.”
Alex pulled her attention from her thoughts and looked around, her mouth falling open at the tall waterfall plunging into a pool below their feet. Flat boulders dotted the natural swimming hole, providing a perfectly flat surface to stretch out on, to soak up the sun’s rays after a chilly dip in the pool.
“Awesome.” Daniel walked down the path to the first boulder, dropped his backpack to the rock and kicked off his trainers. Whipping off his shirt, he dropped it at his feet and then shimmied out of his shorts. What was it with this man and his need to swim naked? Not that she was complaining but...
Daniel sent her a wicked smile. “Secluded. No one else here. No one to see me and you’ve—”
“Seen it all before,” Alex said, completing his sentence.
“Strip and join me,” Daniel suggested, waggling his eyebrows. Yeah, she could live with Daniel looking at her like he’d been waiting his whole life to make love to her in a pool at the bottom of a pretty waterfall. Heat and warmth rushed to that special place between her legs and her nipples pebbled with expectation.
Alex felt beautiful, desired and wanton. Daniel stood in front of her, utterly unselfconscious, the sun touching his tanned skin. The wind ruffled his jet-black curls, and as her eyes traveled over his impressive physique, his erection jerked as he hardened before her eyes.
Having such a masculine, focused man want her made Alex feel intensely feminine, immensely powerful. She was life, she carried life, a goddess of the glen.
Alex quickly stripped down and stood in front of her man, sighing when the sun’s warm rays caressed her bare back and buttocks. She pushed her breasts into his chest before dragging her nipples across his skin, her hand lifting to encircle him, her thumb brushing the tip of his cock. Daniel groaned and pushed into her hand.
“Make love to me, Dan. Here, in the sun, on this rock. On our secluded island.”
Daniel nodded and she had a moment’s warning when his eyes glinted and his mouth twitched. Strong arms wrapped around her and then she was flying off the rock, hitting the freezing cold water with a heavy splash.