of that, she couldn’t resist poking at whatever image had settled in Ethan’s mind. “Maybe we’ll have the first girl kicker at UT.”
He smiled down at her. “Or a cowboy–slash–ballet dancer who wows them on the New York stage.”
She welcomed her child’s interests, whatever they might be, but hadn’t realized how relieved she was to hear his unspoken agreement. “You’d be okay with that?”
“My child can be whatever he or she wants to be. I’ll be proud.” His hand cradled her stomach as his gaze settled on hers, intense and unwavering. “Always.”
Lizzie nodded, not sure what to say. She’d thought to tease out any inherent bias and instead had her game turned on her in the most impactful of ways. While she had no doubt Ethan Colton would be an amazing father, to actually hear the pride that already filled his voice left her with the insane urge to start bawling right there in the middle of his ranch.
Unwilling to analyze those emotions too closely, she closed them up and vowed not to take them back out until she was alone. She already knew her attraction to Ethan hovered way too close to the surface. She did not need to add hormones and the urge to weep every five minutes to her list of emotional sins where Ethan Colton was concerned.
He removed his hand from her stomach, a gentle reluctance painting his features before he put a few additional steps between them. He shifted on the balls of his feet, his gaze drifting out over the paddock. The fierce conviction that had painted his features as he made promises for their child’s future faded as his gaze followed Dream’s easy progression around the practice ring.
Their quiet moments drifted off on the light afternoon breeze. The strong, gentle man who had been so present and in the moment with her had gone, leaving the hard, stoic face he showed the world standing in his place.
Lizzie wanted to bring that other Ethan back—wanted to pull him away from the cloud of memories that seemed to perpetually hang around him, no matter what the situation—but she kept her distance.
It wasn’t her place.
And while it nearly killed her to acknowledge that fact, carrying his child didn’t change anything. She and Ethan Colton didn’t have a relationship. For her own emotional protection, she’d do well to remember that a baby couldn’t banish the demons he carried inside.
“There are storm clouds in your eyes, Lizzie.”
The quiet observation pulled her from her own thoughts, and she stared up at him. The questions in her mind fought to come to light, but she held them back, offering up a small shrug instead.
“It’s nothing but a trick of the light.”
* * *
The woman stood in the distance and stared at Ethan Colton and Lizzie Conner. Damn stubborn fools. It didn’t take the high-powered binoculars in her hand to see the connection that snapped between them like Texas heat lightning.
What would it be like to be filled with an attraction that intense? The thought filled her with a shot of something so powerful her knees actually trembled from the force.
And now there would be a baby.
The first Colton grandchild.
Matthew would be beside himself when he found out. Despite his absolute inability to control the horrible urges that lived beneath his skin, he valued family above all else. It shaped him, like clay molded from the earth, and had driven his every action since childhood.
He even attributed his need to kill to his family.
The terrible jealousy Matthew had felt for Big J Colton had driven him down the darkest and most twisted path a human could travel. His need to kill—or maybe it was simply the excuse he’d settled on—had all been tied to the brother who’d never loved him or cared for him.
And it was a legacy that haunted them all.
Lizzie smoothed the purse on her lap, a motion that was going to wear a hole in the leather if she didn’t stop. She’d thought to spend the day in her room in an attempt to give Ethan space as he tried to come to grips with the impending change she’d thrust upon his life. So it was more than a little surprising to wake up to a home-cooked breakfast, a hot cup of herbal tea and the announcement they were going to investigate her house.
“We really don’t need to do this.”
They’d nearly traversed the length of Blackthorn County, and she could see the familiar landmarks that made up the last two miles to her home.
“That’s the fourth time you’ve said that.”
“Have not.”
“Yes, you have. First you asked me if I had better things to do today. Then you suggested I might want to turn around and stay home to keep an eye on Dream. And about ten miles back you told me your house was a mess and you’re embarrassed to bring anyone into it.”
Okay, maybe she’d exaggerated about the house, Lizzie thought as she pictured the cleaning she’d done before she left. But she hadn’t got to the kitchen floors and that was an embarrassment. “I don’t want to put you out.”
“I get that. What I don’t understand is why you don’t want me to see your place.”
“You have seen my place.”
Flashes of the night they’d shared sprang to the forefront of her thoughts, vivid memories full of passion and heat. She’d invited him home after the rodeo, and Ethan had followed behind in his truck. She’d spent the entire drive convinced he’d take the gentlemanly way out and tell her he couldn’t come in after thinking it over. Yet she’d worried for nothing when they’d practically fallen out of their cars, barely making it across her small front yard to the door, their hands full of each other.
“Why don’t you want me to see your place today?”
The question pulled her from the haze of memories, and Lizzie swallowed hard around her suddenly dry throat. “It’s not that I don’t want you to see my place. You’re always welcome in my home.”
She fought the traitorous voice that whispered through her mind, taunting her with the truth. She did want Ethan to see her place. Often.
Forever.
Shaking it off, Lizzie ignored the temptation to hope and instead acknowledged the inevitable: he wasn’t turning the car around. She forced optimism into her tone and pasted on a small, determined smile. “I’m just sorry I’ve dragged you into this.”
Ethan’s gaze remained fixed on the road ahead, but it was impossible to miss the hard flex of his jaw or the sparks that lit up his gaze. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Someone’s been intent on scaring you. Worse, they’ve taken advantage of a terribly vulnerable time in your life. I’m here to help.”
“I know. And I thank you more than I can ever say.”
His
