Page 67 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
“Want to hear some psychobabble about me?”
He did what he’d told himself he wasn’t going to do and stretched out on the bed again, wondering if this was the last time his naked body would mold to hers. Hayley draped an arm over him, and he draped a leg over her. If his dick had any say in the matter, they’d soon be a lot closer than they currently were, but it wasn’t time. It wouldn’t be time until after he heard Hayley’s side of the psychobabble.
“Sure.”
“You want to take a guess first?” she asked as she traced a finger over his lower lip. He couldn’t help but nip it, and she smiled.
He smiled back and stroked his hand over her hair, loving the silky feel of the deep-red strands. “Because of your mom, you’re afraid of relationships.” That was Hayley 101.
“And my dad never remarried, or even dated, so I figured he’d been too devastated to try and find another partner. That a single bad relationship had soured him on all. But... what if I’m wrong? What if he simply preferred the simplicity of being single? I know I enjoy it.”
Spence’s stomach knotted, but he held her gaze and nodded, indicating that she should continue.
“But while the simplicity is nice, it also gets a touch lonely. And I want a family, so I think the simplicity aspect is not a valid argument, because families do not lend themselves to simplicity.”
“I can speak from experience on that one,” Spence said.
Hayley pushed herself onto an elbow. “Relationships scare me, Spence. I’ve never seen a good one.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“But... I’m smart.”
He nodded.
“I can learn.”
A bubble of hope started to rise inside of him. “You are good at learning.”
“I overcame shyness.”
“You did.”
“So... I can learn to be a partner. To handle the ins and outs and day-to-days of being with someone without expecting things to end badly at any moment.”
“I know you can.”
“I could survive a bad breakup.” She spoke in a determined voice. “If such a thing happened, I could be a rock for my kid if there was one. Like my dad was for me.”
Spence pulled her against him, stroking her hair and her back, then smoothing a hand over the curve of her hip. “You are one of the rockiest rocks I’ve ever known. And if you’re talking about breaking up with me... don’t. I don’t see it happening.”
She laughed against his skin. “It would kill me to lose you,” she said. “I don’t even have you, and I’m afraid of losing you.”
He went still, then lowered his chin so that he could see her face.
“First, you have me.” Her lips parted, but she didn’t speak, so he went on. “Second, it’s stupid to not do something out of fear, right?” Spence brought a hand up to cup the back of Hayley’s head. “I would do anything for you, Hayley. You say it would kill you to lose me? It would kill me to hurt you. I love you. I want to walk through life with you. But I also want to give you the chance to figure out what you want.”
“You.”
Spence went still, wondering if he’d heard right. Could it be that simple? “Me.”
Hayley nodded. “I want you. And a family. I’m really nervous about the family part, because I don’t know how much time I have.”
“There’s more than one way to make a family,” he said in a low voice.
She smiled against his chest. “Maybe we’ll explore all of them.”
“I’m game for that.”
