Colton's Surprise Heir. Addison Fox

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СКАЧАТЬ didn’t expect such easy acceptance. Not about this.”

      A small voice kept beating against his skull that bringing a child into the world was a bad idea, but it was increasingly outshouted by the image of a tiny infant, snuggled warm and safe in her arms. His child.

      Their child.

      The panic he’d have expected at the news swarmed through his bloodstream but never seemed to land anywhere. Never seemed to settle.

      Ethan wanted to be angry—hell, he expected that reaction—but no matter how he turned the raw play of emotions threatening to swamp him, he couldn’t quite manage to hang on to a single one.

      Except need.

      A sort of bone-deep desperation that simply cut a man off at the knees.

      A strange reality settled over them, charging the quiet air with sparks of electricity.

      Chemistry.

      They’d had it, even as children. His sister needn’t have bothered with her admonishments to be nice and friendly. He’d always had a soft spot for Lizzie Conner. And long after the visits to see Josie at her foster home had stopped, he’d had fond memories of the endless, carefree days they’d played hide-and-seek and tag and dodgeball.

      He hadn’t had many carefree days in his life, and he cherished the memories.

      “I’ll figure out the acceptance part later. Right now, let’s focus on what’s happening. You’re having a baby. My baby.”

      The fierce possession that fired his blood was even more surprising than the visions of a tiny infant wrapped in her arms.

      He was going to be a father.

      And despite the piss-poor example he’d been given, he would do everything in his power to do right by his child.

      Lizzie’s gaze lifted to meet his once more, and something he couldn’t quite define lit up those verdant green depths. It was too soft to be anger, yet too mild to be anything near acceptance. “This is my child, and there is nothing I won’t do to protect him. Or her.”

      “Likewise.”

      “Good.” She laid her hands over her belly, and he wondered if she even realized the gesture of protection for what it was. The tightness in his gut ever since he saw the bump beneath her sweatshirt loosened another few degrees, and he latched on to something a bit easier to handle.

      “You really don’t know if it’s a boy or girl?”

      “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

      “But you’ve decorated?”

      “A few things. Just some of the basics, really. The rest will come.”

      The hands that had cradled her stomach settled in her lap, twisting over each other. That small show of nerves released another layer of tension, and he had to admit it had taken real courage for her to come to him this morning.

      “I don’t want to rehash old territory, but you made it clear to me you didn’t want children. What’s changed your mind?”

      Reality.

      That lone word screamed through his mind, but he remembered their conversation, too, that night at the rodeo. His harsh implacability, even when she’d dared to suggest he’d make a wonderful father.

      “I—” She hesitated before pressing on. “I understand your reasons, Ethan.”

      He’d made it a personal policy never to talk about his father. And then he’d run into Lizzie, both of them attending the rodeo on lone tickets. He’d gone on impulse, the desire to escape roiling emotions he had no interest in feeling pushing him toward an evening of mindless entertainment.

      And then he’d found her, standing at will call picking up a ticket she’d arranged earlier that afternoon.

      Polite conversation and a shared tub of popcorn had given way to an evening together. The local stock association had made a night of it, adding a lit tent for dancing after the rodeo out in the large field adjacent to the event center. They’d talked and danced, the conversation flowing as easy as the beer.

      Something had changed that night. Matthew Colton’s sins had always suffocated him, the emotional equivalent of a wool blanket in July, but that night he’d let some of it go. They’d talked, their shared history giving way to a sense of intimacy he rarely allowed himself.

      He had shared with her his attitude on marriage and fatherhood. While he wasn’t averse to marriage, he knew children would be a natural expectation of his wife, and he wasn’t willing to saddle anyone with the risk.

      His father’s blood beat in his veins.

      Matthew Colton was one of Texas’s most notorious serial killers, currently serving out several life terms for a shocking string of murders, the last of which was his wife. The state had tried repeatedly for the death penalty, but the old man had managed to dodge the proverbial noose. And now he was dying of cancer.

      Ethan had got the cancer news the same day as the rodeo. It was the only reason he’d been able to give himself as to why he’d been so honest with Lizzie. He was human, after all. And no matter how much he wanted to bottle up the endless sea of hatred he held for the old man, even the deepest waters sometimes washed up on shore.

      Lizzie knew him and his family. Their background. She was safe. And he’d shared more with her than he’d ever shared with anyone.

      He’d thought about calling her since then, more than once. Although they hadn’t shared personal information, he could have found her. Hell, he knew damn well it wouldn’t have taken more than a quick computer search to discover some way to get in contact. Or he could simply reverse that hour-long drive back to her home clear across the county.

      But he’d held back, torturing himself with the heated memories of the hours they’d shared together, convinced she deserved so much more than he could give her.

      Yet here he sat, six agonizing months later, in the crosshairs of a sobering truth. The very thing he’d spent his adult life running from had finally caught up with him.

      Ethan stared at her, her large eyes solemn as she held his gaze. With gentle fingers, he reached out and brushed a soft curl behind her ear.

      “My reasons don’t matter anymore. From this moment on, we discuss our child. We make decisions for our child. Together.”

      * * *

      There were those words again. Our child. As if Ethan Colton was an anxious, expectant father, excited to finally welcome his son or daughter into the world.

      Don’t get attached, Lizzie girl. It never ends well.

      Shaking off the reality of her life along with the warmth of his touch, she stood. She couldn’t allow herself to become dependent.

      Or to need him too much.

      “I haven’t told you everything yet.”

      That tough demeanor СКАЧАТЬ