Page 24 of A Baby for the Billionaire Cowboy

“It’s hardly everyone. City folks drop off animals in the country once in a while...” He trailed off, because Daisy was hugging him. They’d known each other for a couple of months, had worked in the same small office, lived across the hall and shared a bathroom. Still, they didn’t touch very often. This was the second time she’d hugged him in two days. He hoped it wasn’t becoming a habit. He wasn’t sure he could survive it.

He leaned into the hug, trying to take it for what it was, a friend offering comfort. She couldn’t know how it affected him to feel her warmth, her softness, her hair tickling his cheek. The scent of her wrapped around him: honey and orange blossoms, he knew from seeing her shampoo bottle. Her breasts pressed against his chest, because that’s what happened when you hugged someone, but he didn’t usually notice it with other women who hugged him, since they were pretty much all related or as good as.

He pulled away. She’d be mortified if she knew he was thinking about her breasts. He was her employer. She’d already been treated poorly by her previous employer. He wanted her to feel absolutely safe and comfortable in their office and at their ranch. She’d probably quit if she suspected how he really felt, if he told her he thought she was beautiful and kind and wonderful, and that he couldn’t stop thinking about kissing her, no matter how hard he tried.

Even if he promised to leave her alone, swore he would never expect or ask for any favors, even if he kept his hands to himself and his thoughts off his face, she might never be comfortable in his presence again. He wouldn’t do that to her. She needed a refuge and a friend, not some creep lusting after her when she was about to give birth.

He cast around for another topic of conversation. Anything. What came out of his mouth was, “So, that video yesterday.” He winced. Bringing up the gossip probably wasn’t the best way to remind either of them that he was Daisy’s boss and friend, and nothing more.

“Yeah.” She ducked her head and turned toward her desk. “We’ve had a lot of phone calls actually. Reporters wanting to know the deal.”

“What deal?”

She leaned one hip against the edge of her desk, her cheeks pink. “Who’s the girl you’re with, and are you the father of her baby?”

Xander’s mouth dropped open. Of course people would think that and not hesitate to say it. The article he’d seen hadn’t gone so far as claiming he was the baby’s father, but thinking back, it had definitely been implying something in its questions. But he’d been trying so hard not to think about her that way. Besides, surely everyone in Last Stand knew Daisy had only come to town in June. He figured the questions were about their relationshipnow, not whether they’d had a relationshipthen. Sometimes Xander forgot there was a world beyond Last Stand.

He cleared his throat. “Oh. You know about that. The gossip.”

Daisy put away the two mugs in the dish drain. “I thought you might want to issue a press release. Make it clear that you were escorting one of your employees to her doctor. You can tell them I’m an unwed mother who you were helping out of charity, if you think it will help.” The flush had spread down her neck to the creamy skin showing above her scooped top.

He dragged his gaze back up to her face. “I’m not going to say something like that.”

“Why not? It’s basically true.”

“It isn’t.”

“Come on.” She crossed her arms, which pushed her breasts up more. “Can you honestly say that when you first met me, you didn’t think your mother was hiring me as a favor to Rhonda, and I would be completely useless?”

He hesitated, trying to find words, trying to keep his gaze on her face and not let it drop to her cleavage.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I hope I’ve proved otherwise by now. But it’s still my fault the gossips have ammunition about you. Granted, I’m sure every last person in Last Stand knows all about me by this point, but the rest of the world probably doesn’t. Yet.”

He rubbed his forehead. “What do you mean it’s your fault? None of this is your fault. You wouldn’t have been exposed to that gossip or that woman taking the video if it weren’t for me. My family’s fame. I’m sorry. I wish...”

He didn’t know what he wished. He couldn’t wish away the money, and he wouldn’t wish away the time he spent with her, which wouldn’t have happened without the money to hire her. He didn’t even wish he hadn’t gone to the doctor’s office with her, because some of that had been great. He’d been able to imagine doing that kind of thing with a wife someday. Maybe he’d even let himself fantasize for a moment or two that he and Daisy were a couple, looking forward to their own baby.

He might wish he could make all her problems go away, but no amount of money could do that, even if she’d let him try.

She met his gaze and smiled. “Well, I’m sorry I put you in that position, and you’re sorry you put me in that position, so I guess we’re even.”

“Okay.” What next? He was tired, and nothing this day had gone as he’d expected. “You can ask Carly to issue a statement on behalf of the family. She’ll know how to word it. I wish we could leave you out of it, but I’m afraid at least one source already has your name.”

She made a face. “Oh. Well, it’s not like anybody’s heard of me before.” She glanced at his desk. “Do you have a lot of work today?”

“I have a call scheduled with the geologist who is coming out to do a survey.”

“Oh?” She grinned and latched onto the change of subject. “Are you hoping to find minerals on your land?”

“No. Wind. Well, obviously we have wind. It’s right there in the air.” He made a circling motion with his hand, feeling foolish. “We want to map the underground water so we can put in a couple of windmills to pump water and provide electricity for the ranch. That will make us more self-sufficient. With more of these big weather events every decade, it’s risky depending on the normal infrastructure. We’re also going to discuss the placement of additional wind turbines for energy generation. We can sell the electricity back to the grid.”

Daisy frowned. “I know some ranchers make money that way, but surely you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“It’s an investment in the future. Fossil fuels are getting harder to find and more expensive to extract, especially if we don’t want to depend on foreign supplies. Wind energy is a good fit for Texas. The problem is, wind turbines can kill bats and birds. You can mitigate that somewhat by proper placement and design. Avoid major migration routes. Turn the turbines off at night when bats are most active, which is also when wind speeds are lower.”

She probably wasn’t interested in all that. Just because he’d learned about something in-depth didn’t mean other people wanted to hear it. He gave an awkward shrug. “We can afford the best technology now, so if we position things properly, we can do more good than harm.”

She studied him. “That sounds like something you’re passionate about.”

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