Delores Fossen - Grayson

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.