Cowboy Baby Daddy (A Secret Baby Romance Compilation)

by Claire Adams

  “Then, what do I do?”

  “Make it right, honey. Make it right.”

  “How?”

  Mama smiled softly. “Oh, I think you know.”

  Chapter 36

  Alex

  It was a long Wednesday. I had started work on a new fence. It wasn’t something I’d be able to finish in a day or two, but we’d need the bigger fence for our expansion plan. Carl was also working on some repairs to the stable.

  That was another thing we’d need to expand. Carl kept saying that we could save money by building a lot of things ourselves. He was right. I hadn’t worked construction my entire life without learning how to put up a building or two, and a stable was a lot simpler than some huge-ass mall.

  The thing was, it wasn’t the work that made the day long. If anything, I loved how working with my hands could clear my mind and push all the stress away. There wasn’t enough of that during the day, though. If anything, I needed more work.

  The problem was my mind and how it kept going back to Aspyn’s angry face. Money had never been something I cared all that much about. For most of my life, I’d just tried to get through the day. Even after the settlement money came in, if anything, I’d been a bit embarrassed, and I was glad when Carl stopped asking about it.

  I chuckled as I measured the distance for a new fence post. The only thing that had stuck in the back of my mind over the years was that I might need some money in the future to help support any kids I might have. Even though I never thought I’d have one in quite the way I did, there was that lingering concern. About the last thing I wanted to be was a deadbeat dad.

  Now, I had a kid and tons of money, but my kid’s mom didn’t want the money. How fucking ironic was that?

  I realized I’d been lucky as well. My nightmares hadn’t returned, but I knew without Aspyn’s love, it wouldn’t be long until they came back.

  After finishing my measurement, I muttered, grabbed my post holer, and jabbed it into the ground.

  The whole situation was bullshit, but I had no idea how I could begin to fix it. I’d thought everything was going great, and then I’d been sucker-punched for being too successful.

  I pulled the handles apart on the holer with a grunt, spreading the hard dirt. Snickering, I grabbed my last remaining wooden pole and stuck it into the newly made hole. I grabbed my mallet and hammered in the fence post.

  A soft wind blew past my cheek, and I turned around. The sun was already dipping below the horizon, so there wasn’t much point in picking up a new batch of fence posts. I’d gotten a great start at least.

  I wiped my brow, gathered my tools, and headed over to my truck. The great thing about building something was you had a nice, real thing in front of you that you could point to as evidence of your work. I could never understand how office people got through the day. I’d last about two days before losing it.

  Still, building the fence was some tedious ass work, and I wondered if it’d be so bad if we hired someone. I could afford it. Investing in a ranch that I was now a co-owner of wouldn’t be weird or stupid.

  Carl and I had discussed some of this, but he was worried about me spending too much of my money on things we could do ourselves. I wasn’t sure if it was his manly pride talking or if he had the right idea.

  After all, he’d come from the family of ranchers, and even if he were distracted a little by Perri, he still knew what he was doing. It’s not like I’d run any sort of business before.

  Maybe I was already thinking too much like a rich man. Was that what Aspyn was so afraid of? That I wouldn’t be able to understand someone like her? That I’d forget my roots?

  I tossed my tools into the bed of my pickup, still lost in thought about Aspyn.

  I’d tried calling her several times on Tuesday, but she never answered. So I tried calling her at work, but when I called town hall, Perri admitted she’d not shown up to work, claiming to be sick.

  It was obvious from Perri’s tone that she didn’t buy that. I didn’t have to be some master psychologist to figure out that Aspyn was going out of her way to hide from me, so I hadn’t bothered to try and call her again either on her phone or at work since Tuesday.

  With a grunt, I opened the door and slid into the truck. I began to suspect I’d never understand women, even if I lived to be a 100.

  Just as my hand moved toward the key, my phone rang. It was Carl.

  “Yeah?” I answered.

  “Everything go okay out there, bro?”

  “I got the whole batch of fence posts in. Good start. Once you finish on that stable, we can really get going on this thing.”

  “That’s great. I should be finished tomorrow.” He cleared his throat but didn’t say anything else.

  “You got something else you need to tell me?”

  “Perri gave me a call just now.”

  “And?”

  Carl grunted like he was constipated. “She told me Aspyn showed up for work today.”

  “So she came out of hiding? I wonder why Perri didn’t call me.”

  “I don’t think she wants to get in the middle of you and Aspyn,” he said, the unease in his voice damn obvious.

  “That’s fine, Carl. She doesn’t need to. This isn’t for you or her to worry about. I’ll fix this shit.”

  “I’m sorry, bro. I wish it didn’t have to be so hard.”

  I barked out a laugh. “You’re the man who took 13 years to propose. I don’t know if I want your pity, you slow son of a bitch.”

  Carl responded with a hearty laugh of his own. “Damn, bro. You’re right. Joe’s the only one of us who did this shit right and quick.”

  “That’s because he got with someone from outside Livingston. These Livingston women are too damn stubborn. Like God’s trying to teach us a lesson.”

  “I hear that.”

  I turned the key, and my truck’s engine roared to life. “I’m gonna head home and take a shower. Tomorrow, I’m just gonna go straight to work on the fence.”

  “That’s fine. The new ranch hand is handling the feeding and whatnot fine enough.”

  “Glad to hear.”

  “Talk to you tomorrow, bro. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight.” I hung up.

  A few minutes of driving brought me to my house.

  When I stepped inside, the silence chilled me. It wasn’t what I wanted at all: a big, empty house with no love and no warmth. I’d bought it for a family.

  I slammed the door behind me. The chill gave way to fire in my veins. My pulse roared in my ears.

  “Fuck,” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  I turned and slammed my fist into the hard wood of the front door. My knuckles throbbed, but I welcomed the pain, welcomed the distraction.

  Yeah, I knew I’d screwed up after my accident, but since coming back to town, I’d thought I’d done everything right. Made all the right moves.

  I punched the door again, another spike of pain shooting through my arm.

  Would Aspyn get over her problem? It was hard to be sure anymore. I stood by the door, my breathing ragged, my hand throbbing from the blows.

  No matter what, I wouldn’t let her take my daughter from me. I wasn’t going to be a dick about it, but there was no way I’d let my daughter grow up without spending time with her.

  I’d involve lawyers if I needed. Lord knew I had enough money for a few suited sharks.

  A dark snicker escaped my lips, and I headed upstairs to hit the master bathroom. I needed to wash the dust and grime of the day off me.

  Lawyers couldn’t get me Aspyn back. The question remained if I should even fight for her.

  I’d convinced myself I’d been a coward before, but now I didn’t know.

  Pride was part of being a man too. She couldn’t treat me like a little bitch because I’d saved some money. I did what a good man was supposed to do.

  I resisted the urge to punch a nearby wall. I didn’t care about the pain, but I didn’t want to put a hole through a
damn wall I’d just painted.

  The hard part was that I loved her. My heart ached at the idea we wouldn’t be together. Hell, I’d been close to asking her to marry me, but she’d pushed me away over a little thing like money.

  No. I’d done my part. A man without pride is no man at all. If she couldn’t respect that, then I didn’t know if we had a future together, even if I did love her.

  I threw open my bedroom door and tromped into the shower.

  Maybe it’d been a mistake to fall in love.

  * * *

  Fresh out of the shower, I slipped some pajama bottoms on and toweled my body off before throwing on a T-shirt.

  The doorbell rang. I groaned and headed downstairs.

  I thought that stupid Carl probably came over to cheer me up. I didn’t want to see him right then. Sometimes a man just needed to be alone to blow off some steam.

  I hurried to the door and threw it open.

  It was the second time that week that Aspyn had surprised me. She stood on the other side of the door, a bottle in her hand.

  My gaze dipped, and I laughed despite the darkness that had been swallowing me minutes earlier.

  “Boone’s Farm? Really?” I said.

  Aspyn smirked. “I know it doesn’t probably meet your standards of quality, Mr. Money Bags, but, as someone once told me, it’ll get us plenty drunk.”

  I eyed her for a moment. Her little joke was a reminder of why she’d been avoiding me. Still, my heart leaped at the smile on her face.

  She averted her eyes and held up the bottle. “Look, I was wrong, okay? I know it. Not just wrong but stupid. I also know that. I never knew that money would bother me like that until the stark reality of it was staring me down.”

  “And now?”

  “And now I realize it’s pretty damn stupid to be mad because the man I like and my little girl’s daddy has money.”

  I frowned and looked around, suddenly realizing Kadie’s absence. “Where is she?”

  “Mama’s watching her. I didn’t think Kadie needed to see her mother groveling and drinking Boone’s Farm.”

  I shrugged. “She might have found it funny.”

  “Oh, shut up, you, before I hit you with this bottle.”

  I nodded inside. “So, you don’t have a problem now? You don’t think I’m trying to buy you or Kadie?”

  I wasn’t trying to be a petty bastard. I honestly wanted to make sure we were in the clear.

  “No, I think I got jealous and scared, and I hurt a good man who was just trying to prove to me he could provide.”

  I took that in for a moment before nodding. “Let’s go get drunk, then.”

  Chapter 37

  Aspyn

  We sat at Alex’s dining room table, each taking swigs from the bottle in turn. The table was damn fancy. Oak, I thought. I didn’t even want to ask how much it cost. It’d take me a while to get used to dating a rich man, even if he was a rich rancher in Livingston.

  Neither of us said much of anything the first few minutes. I wouldn’t say the silence was all that comfortable, but Alex wasn’t frowning or anything, so I hoped that was a good sign.

  Maybe because it’d been a few days, or maybe because of the cheap-ass wine I had in me, I noticed just how nicely his T-shirt clung to his muscles and how his pajama bottoms hung a little too low, giving me a little peek of hair. My center warmed at the thought of Alex inside me.

  I almost licked my lips. Then I wanted to slap myself. I was suddenly all horny because of a little booze, but I’d all but ripped Alex’s heart out. I wasn’t sure if we could ever go back to what we had. And all because of my insecurities.

  “You got to understand,” Alex said after taking another swig of the Boone’s, pulling me out of my thoughts. “After leaving town, I never had a real home. I was in the Army getting shipped all over for four years, and then I was in Texas.”

  “But you had your apartment.”

  He shook his head. “Tiny place. I never wanted to lay down real roots. No place felt like home after my dad died.” He handed me the bottle.

  I downed some of the drink and handed the bottle back to him. My head was already a little fuzzy. “I can understand that.”

  “Can you? You never left.”

  “I know how I’d feel if Mama died.”

  Alex nodded. “Yeah, I bet you would.” He blew out a breath. “Then I came back here, and I wanted roots. I wanted an actual home. I wanted a house, and this place was practically begging to be bought.” He gulped down a lot of the Boone’s and placed the bottle on the table.

  “I’m really sorry, Alex,” I said quietly. “About all of it.”

  His gaze locked with mine, but I couldn’t tell what he was feeling. Those intense gray eyes peered into me as if trying to peel away all the layers protecting my soul.

  I began to wonder if I’d ruined any chance we had.

  I sighed. “I don’t know if I can ever really mak—”

  Alex leaned over and silenced me with a kiss. His eager tongue parted my lips and invaded my mouth. I kissed him back, almost laughing at the taste of Boone’s in our mouths.

  He pulled away from me with a grin. “I forgive you for being stupid.”

  I snort-laughed.

  “I also figure if I stay with a stubborn-ass woman like you, it’ll be a long time before I get you to admit you were wrong like that again.”

  I pointed to the bottle on the table. “I can still hit you with that, you know.”

  My body rose, and it took my brain a few seconds to realize I was now in Alex’s arms.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  Alex grinned down at me. “I wanted to test out the big bed I bought.”

  “Okay, I could help with that. Just, you know, as a test.”

  His strong arms holding me, Alex all but bounded up the stairs and kicked open the door to the master bedroom. A huge bed dominated the room, a soft-looking dark blue comforter on top of it.

  I giggled as he dropped me on the bed. Then, I gasped as he peeled his T-shirt off and tossed it to the floor, revealing those sculpted pecs and abs that I’d loved so much. I bit my lip as he dropped his pajama bottoms.

  He wasn’t fully hard yet, but his cock still stood at attention.

  Alex stalked over to me and grinned down at me. “Take those clothes off, or I’ll rip them off.”

  I laughed and then went to work on my shoes, pants, and panties. My shirt and bra came off faster than I thought possible.

  His cock twitched as he stood in front of me. I rolled onto my knees and moved to the edge of the bed, warmth already pooling in my center.

  Without a word, Alex stepped forward and positioned his now rigid cock in front of my mouth.

  I opened up, and he shoved his cock into my mouth. I gagged for a second, and he pulled out and then shoved back in. I moved my head in time with his thrusts, relaxing my throat, and he grabbed my hair to help guide me.

  I did my best to slide my tongue along his cock as he fucked my mouth. He grunted with each thrust. After a minute of this, he pulled out. The salty taste of his precum lingered in my mouth.

  Alex rolled me onto my stomach. I raised my ass, waiting for him to slam into my pussy from behind. Instead, he hopped onto the bed feetfirst, then spread my legs and positioned himself under my pussy.

  “Suck me,” he commanded.

  I shifted to the side and ran my tongue along his shaft. I gasped as a jolt of pleasure shot through me. Alex had gripped my hips with his hand and pulled me down so his tongue could flick across my folds and clit.

  I bobbed up and down on his cock, savoring it, licking it, tasting it, as his tongue darted in and out of my folds and slid across my clit. The position almost tricked my brain into thinking sucking on him was working on me directly. The heat grew in my center quickly, and I moaned around his dick.

  Alex’s hips began to match my movements, driving his cock deeper into my throat. I sucked so hard that more than a few loud pops
mixed with my own moans. His tongue continued teasing and pushing into me. My pussy was soaked now, and I wondered if I was dripping on him.

  He yanked me down and buried his face completely in my drenched pussy, sucking with his mouth and probing and exploring with his tongue. It was now hard for me to move my head too far back, so instead of taking him in all the way, I worked on caressing the outside of his hard manhood with my tongue.

  Blast after blast of pleasure spread from my center, my muscles inside twitching and eager. I just finished running my tongue from the tip to base of his cock when an orgasm blasted through me. I cried out, shuddering, the pleasure ricocheting through me. My muscles contracted and sought a cock that wasn’t there.

  A sudden coolness challenged the warmth of my center, and Alex’s stiff dick was no longer near my mouth. My brain finally caught up, and I realized he’d he rolled away and was now standing at the edge of the bed, the sheen of sweat on his body highlighting the tattoos on his muscles and arms.

  He yanked open his nightstand and pulled out a condom. He ripped the wrapper open and pulled the latex over his throbbing cock. I lay there, transfixed by the sight, my center aching for him to be inside me.

  I yelped as he scooped me up again. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist and wrapped my arms around his neck as he walked to me a wall and rested my back against it.

  Alex grunted and shoved into me. I cried out, his entry shooting through me like lightning.

  Still standing and holding me with my back to the wall, Alex pulled out and shoved back in. I’d never been fucked like this before.

  The connection between us and the passion and hunger in Alex’s eyes almost overwhelmed me. I closed my eyes, eager for another climax.

  He hammered into me without any buildup. Each thrust pulled a loud moan from me. I held on, tightening my legs and arms even more. That only made him push into me harder.