Other than his slack-jaw reaction, there was no sign of the storm that she must have stirred up inside him. Not that Eve had expected him to show any major signs of what he was feeling.
Grayson was Grayson.
Calm, reliable, levelheaded, responsible.
Hot.
In those well-worn Wranglers, black Stetson, black shirt and buckskin jacket, he looked like a model for some Western ad in a glossy magazine.
A comparison he would have hated if he had known what she was thinking.
Even though he had that scarred silver badge clipped to his rawhide rodeo belt, Grayson was first and foremost a cowboy and, along with his brothers, owner of one of the most successful ranches in central Texas. That success was due in large part to Grayson.
There was nothing glossy about him.
Eve forced herself away from that mental summary of Grayson’s attributes. His hot cowboy looks and ranching success weren’t relevant here. It had been the calm, reliable, levelheaded and responsible aspects of his personality that had caused her to want him to father her child.
Maybe it was her desperation, but Eve had hoped that Grayson would also be cooperative. That slack jaw gave her some doubts about that though.
“When I was at my doctor’s office this morning, I found out I’m ovulating,” she continued. That seemed way too personal to be sharing with anyone except maybe a spouse or best friend, but she didn’t have time for modesty here.
Time was literally ticking away.
“The fact that I’m ovulating is nothing short of a miracle,” she continued. “The doctor didn’t think it would happen, and it almost certainly won’t happen again.”
Grayson just kept staring.
She wished he would curse or yell, but no, not Grayson. Those silver-gray eyes drilled right into her, challenging her to give him an explanation that he could wrap his logical mind around.
There wouldn’t be anything logical about this. Well, not on his part anyway. To Eve, it was pure logic.
“I desperately want a child, and I’m begging you to help me,” she clarified in case the gist had gotten lost in all her babbling. “I don’t have time to find anyone else. I’ve got twenty-four hours, maybe less.”
Grayson dropped the stare, blew out a long breath and leaned back in the chair. He was probably glad that she had insisted on the being seated part.
He flexed his eyebrows. “How can you possibly ask me to do this?”
“You’re the first person I thought of,” she admitted.
Actually, he was the only person. Those Ryland genes were prime stuff, and all the Ryland males were able-bodied, smart as whips and drop-dead gorgeous with their midnight-black hair and crystal-gray eyes. Again, the looks were just icing.
Grayson wasn’t just her first choice for this. He was her only choice.
“Don’t say no,” Eve blurted out when she was certain Grayson was about to do exactly that.
Now, he cursed. This time it wasn’t under his breath. “No,” he stated simply, but it had not been simply said. There was a flash of emotion in all those swirls of gray in his eyes. “You already know I don’t want to be a father.”
It was an argument that Eve had anticipated, and she had a counterargument for it. “Yes, because you had to raise your younger brothers after your father walked out and your mother died.” Now, she cursed. She should have rehearsed this. Bringing up Grayson’s reckless father was not the way to earn points here even though it’d happened over twenty years ago when Grayson was barely eighteen. A lifetime wouldn’t be long enough to forget or forgive that kind of hurt, and it had shaped Grayson to the very core of who he was now.
Yes, he’d been a father figure to his five younger siblings. Head of the ranch and the family. And he’d sacrificed so much for both that by the time Eve had been looking to settle down and have a family with him, Grayson no longer had anything to give anyone.
Including her.
Still, she wanted him for this massive favor.
“I’m not asking you to be a father.” Eve tried and failed to keep the emotion out of her argument, but her voice broke. “I only need you to get me pregnant, Grayson. Nothing else. In fact, I would insist on nothing else.”
She hated to put him into a corner as she’d done all those years ago. That had been a massive mistake. But she did need an immediate answer.
Grayson shook his head again and eased to the edge of the chair so they were closer. And eye to eye.
“I can’t.” He held up his hand when she started to interrupt him. “I know the difference between fathering a child and being a father. I can’t say yes to either.”
Oh, mercy. He wasn’t even giving it any thought or consideration. He had doled out an automatic refusal. Eve had thought she had prepared herself for this, but she obviously hadn’t. That sent her desperation to a whole new level. Everything inside her started to race and spin as if she were on the verge of a panic attack.
She immediately tried to come up with other ways she could persuade him. First and foremost, she could try to use their past. Their connection. They’d been close once. Once, they’d been in love.
Well, she had been in love with him anyway.
Grayson never quite let himself take that leap of the heart, and he’d certainly never said the words.
She had hoped the close-to-love feelings that he had once had for her would be a trump card she could use here to convince him. Heck, she wasn’t too proud to beg.
But she shook her head.
Begging might work. Might. However, this was Grayson, and because in the past she had loved him, Eve owed him more than that. She reined in her feelings and tried to say something that made sense. Something that would make him see that she wasn’t crazy, just desperate.
“I’m sorry,” she somehow managed to say. Her breath suddenly felt too thick to push out of her lungs, and she understood that whole cliché about having a heavy heart. Hers weighed a ton right now. “When the doctor told me I was ovulating and that I probably had a day or two at most, I thought of you. I jumped right in my car and drove straight to Silver Creek.”
“I’m flattered. I think.” The corner of his mouth lifted a fraction.
Ah, there it was. The biggest weapon in the Grayson Ryland arsenal. That half smile. Even now, after his refusal, it made her feel all warm and golden inside.
Since he’d attempted some levity, Eve did, too, but she doubted the smile made it to her eyes. God, this hurt. She wanted this baby more than her own life, and it was slipping away as the seconds ticked off.
“You can find someone else?” Grayson asked.
“I hope.” But that was being overly optimistic. She’d lost a lot of time by driving out to Silver Creek, but then she’d had no choice. She very well couldn’t have explained this with a phone call. Plus, she had prayed that she would be able to convince him once they were face-to-face.
She’d obviously been wrong.
Eve felt the raw blush on her cheeks and got to her feet. “I need to hurry back into San Antonio.”
Grayson stood, as well. “Maybe you can use a sperm bank or fertility clinic?”
“No.” She tried to blink back the tears, but failed at that, too. “Not enough time. The doctor said it takes days, even weeks to go through the screening and get an appointment. Plus, many of the clinics are closed because Christmas is only three days away.”
He acknowledged that with a shrug. “A friend then?”
The drive had given her time to consider that, as well. It was sad but true that she was seriously lacking male companionship. Heck, she hadn’t had a real date in nearly a year, and her last boyfriend was married now. As for male friends and coworkers, none had fit the bill as well as Grayson Ryland.
She shook her head and hurried to the kitchen where she crammed the photos back into her bag. The pictures were yet another kettle of fish, but they would have to wait. Eve wasn’t ready to give up her baby mission just yet, even if she�
�d failed with Grayson.
She put on her red wool coat and hoisted both her purse and equipment bag onto her shoulder. Moving as fast as she could, she shut off the heater, unplugged it and turned back around to face Grayson. Even after his refusal, she couldn’t help feeling that jolt of attraction when she looked at him.
Drop-dead gorgeous was right.
And for several brief moments Eve considered tossing the little bit of pride she had left. She could just throw herself at him and try to seduce him.
But she rethought that.
Grayson would resist. He had already shown her that he had a mountain of willpower and discipline to go along with those looks.
“What will you do?” he asked.
Because she felt the tears start to burn in her eyes, Eve dodged his gaze and grabbed her keys. “Maybe I can hire a friend of a friend.”
She could make some calls the second she was back in her car, but she had no idea where to start.
“Hire someone?” Grayson questioned. He stepped outside the cottage with her.
Eve nodded. She closed and locked the door before she headed for her car. It wasn’t below freezing, but the icy wind sliced right through her.
“You’d hire someone?” Grayson repeated when she didn’t answer. He caught on to her arm and whirled her around to face him. “Eve, listen to yourself. Yes, I know you’re desperate, and this baby must be important to you or you wouldn’t have come here, but you can’t just hire someone to sleep with you.”
“To provide semen so I can be inseminated,” she corrected, maneuvering herself out of his grip. She couldn’t look at him and didn’t want him to look at her. Eve hurried across the yard. “I have no intentions of sleeping with anyone to get pregnant. I was serious about not having a biological father in the picture. I’ll make some calls, find a donor, pay him for his sperm, and, if necessary, I’ll do the insemination at home.”
Grayson made a sound of relief, or something. Probably because he’d thought she was indeed crazy enough to jump into bed with the first guy she ran across on the drive home. Eve’s biological clock was screaming for her to do that, but she wanted a healthy baby and body.
“I want to raise a baby on my own,” she continued. “And if I find someone, he’ll have to agree to giving up his paternal rights.”
No need to rehash the emotional baggage that had brought her to that conclusion. Besides, Grayson knew about her absentee father and the abusive stepfather that she’d had as a kid. He didn’t know about the three failed relationships she’d had since leaving Silver Creek, and that included one episode of her being an honest-to-goodness runaway bride.
It was just as well he didn’t know that.
Best not to spell it out that she considered Grayson and only Grayson for a life partner. He was literally the only man she trusted, even if he had crushed her heart all those years ago. And now he’d managed to do it again.
Frustrated with herself and her situation, Eve threw open the back door of her car so she could dump her bag and equipment onto the seat. She hesitated for just a moment because she knew Grayson was right behind her. If she turned around, she’d have to face him once more.
“I’m sorry I bothered you,” Eve mumbled.
She turned and, still dodging his gaze, she tried to sidestep around Grayson.
He sidestepped, too, and blocked her path. She hadn’t thought it possible, but he looked more uncomfortable than she felt.
“I can call the Silver Creek Hospital,” Grayson suggested. “Doc Hancock might be able to pull some strings and speed up things with a sperm bank. Or I could talk to my brothers. They might know—”
“Don’t involve your brothers,” Eve interrupted.
Anything but that. Just talking about this would be hard enough for Grayson, especially telling them that he had turned her down. Eve didn’t want to be the subject of conversation at the Ryland dinner table.
“Best not to involve anyone from Silver Creek,” she added. “I’ll go to a hospital in San Antonio and, well, beg.” And she would. This pregnancy was going to happen, even if she didn’t have a clue how she would manage it.
She stepped around him and hurried to the driver’s side of the car. Since she wasn’t looking at Grayson, that was probably the reason she saw the movement.
In the cluster of trees about fifty yards from her car.
“What?” Grayson asked when she froze.
Eve looked around the trees, trying to figure out what had caught her attention.
There.
She saw the man.
Dressed in a dark shirt and pants, he had a black baseball cap sitting low on his head so that it obstructed his face. He quickly ducked out of sight, but from just that quick glimpse, Eve recognized him.
“That’s the same man I saw earlier, by the creek,” she told Grayson.
Grayson drew his gun from the shoulder holster beneath his jacket. The metal whispered against the leather, and he moved in front of her. “Any idea who he is?”
“No.” But she knew that he was hiding, and that couldn’t be good.
Did this have anything to do with the hang-up calls she’d been getting? Or could it be her imagination working overtime? Everything suddenly seemed to be going against her.
“I’m Sheriff Grayson Ryland,” Grayson called out. “Identify yourself.”
Eve stood there and held her breath, waiting. But the man said nothing.
“You think it’s a local kid playing a prank?” she whispered, praying that was all there was to this.
Grayson fastened his attention to those trees. “No. A local kid would have answered me.”
True. Grayson commanded, and got, respect in Silver Creek. And that caused her heart to pound against her chest. After all, there was a killer on the loose. Eve almost hoped this was connected to the hang-up calls. Better that than having a killer just yards away.
Grayson lifted his gun, and he took aim. “Well?” he prompted, his voice loud enough that the person hiding wouldn’t have any trouble hearing him. “Come out so I can see who you are.”
Still nothing.
“Get in your car,” Grayson instructed from over his shoulder. “I’ll get a closer look.”
Eve wanted to latch onto him, to stop him from walking toward those trees, but this was his job. Plus, Grayson wouldn’t stop. Not for her. Not for anyone.
“Just be careful,” she whispered, her voice cracking a little. Eve eased open her car door and ducked down to get inside.
The sound stopped her.
It was a loud blast, and it shook the ground beneath them. Her stomach went to her knees, and her breath stalled in her throat. For a split second she thought someone had shot at them.
But this was much louder than a gunshot.
“Get down!” Grayson shouted.
He didn’t give her a chance to do that on her own. He hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her behind her car door and to the ground.
Eve glanced behind her, at the cottage, and she saw what had caused that nightmarish sound.
An explosion.
Her grandmother’s cottage was on fire.
Chapter Three
What the hell was going on?
That was Grayson’s first thought, quickly followed by the realization that if Eve and he had stayed inside the house just a few more minutes, they would have both been blown to bits.
Behind them, the cottage had orangey flames shooting from it, and there was debris plunging to the ground. Maybe a propane tank had exploded or something, but Grayson wasn’t sure it was an accident.
After all, there was a guy hiding in the trees.
Grayson figured it was too much to hope that the two things weren’t related.
Had this person somehow rigged the explosion? If so, that meant the man would have had to have gotten close enough to the cottage to tamper with the tank that was just outside the kitchen window, but Grayson hadn’t heard him. Of course, he’d been so involved wi
th Eve’s baby bombshell that he might not have noticed a tornado bearing down on them. He would berate himself for that later.
Now, he had to do something to protect Eve.
Grayson took cover in front of her and behind the car door, and he re-aimed his gun in the direction of the person he’d seen just moments before the explosion.
“Get out here!” he shouted to the person.
After hearing no response to his last demand, Grayson didn’t expect the guy to comply this time. And he didn’t.
No answer.
No sign of him.
Grayson kept watch behind them to make sure no one was coming at them from that direction. Other than the falling debris, the fire and black smoke smearing against the sky, there was nothing.
Except Eve, of course.
Her eyes were wide with fear, and he could feel her breath whipping against his back and neck. “We could have died,” she mumbled.
Yeah. They’d been damn lucky. A few minutes wasn’t much of a window between life and death, and her storming out had literally saved them.
Because she looked to be on the verge of panicking, Grayson wanted to reassure her that all would be fine, but he had no idea if that was true. The one thing he did know was that it wasn’t a good idea for them to be in the open like this. There could be a secondary explosion, and he needed to get Eve someplace safe so he could try to figure out what had just happened.
He glanced at his truck, but it was a good thirty feet away. Too far. He didn’t want Eve to be out in the open that long. There wasn’t just the worry of a second explo sion but of their tree-hiding friend and what he might try to do.
“Get inside your car,” he told Eve, “and slide into the passenger’s seat so I can drive.”
“Oh, God,” he heard her say.
And Grayson silently repeated it. He didn’t know just how bad this situation could get, and he didn’t want to find out with Eve in tow.
“Put the keys in the ignition,” Grayson added when he felt her scramble to get into the car. “And stay down. Get on the floor.” No Oh, God this time, but he heard her breath shiver as it rushed past her lips. He wasn’t exactly an old pro at facing potentially lethal situations, but he had the training and some experience during his time as sheriff. This had to be a first for Eve.
Grayson Page 2
