Cowboy Daddy Read Free

sensed it—the attraction. From the moment he’d walked into this room. Whether it was scent or instinct or some great cosmic joke, he didn’t know. But he did know the meaning of that jolt. Ellen had been gone two years. In all that time, he’d never felt the surge of need, had never wanted to—
    He looked at Anne Baker. She sat in the corner of the soft leather sofa. The supple material surrounded her, the light peach color highlighted the pale red of her hair and made her skin appear translucent. Oh, she’d planned this right down to the slight gap in her navy suit jacket that allowed him to see the lacy edge of her blouse.
    “How much do I have to pay you to meet with Laurel?” he asked abruptly.
    She gaped at him. “What?” Fury straightened her spine and darkened her pale blue eyes. It shot out at him, heading straight for his heart.
    Unperturbed, Jake took a sip of his drink and rested one arm on the back of the sofa. He didn’t trust her. She’d disappeared from her daughter’s life once already. Why should anything be different now?
    “Mr. Masters, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I agreed to see you because I care about—”
    He stiffened, but she stumbled on without saying “my.”
    “—your daughter. I don’t see what money has to do with it.” The fury abated. Her full mouth trembled slightly. “I just want to see her and t-talk to her.”
    “You expect me to believe that?”
    “Why would I lie?”
    “You took money easy enough the last time.”
    She flushed. The bright color didn’t complement her freckles or her hair. “It was necessary. I needed it to pay the medical expenses. My mother couldn’t afford insurance.”
    A poor girl with a struggling single mother. He didn’t want to buy into the lie. The point was she had taken a large sum of money. He frowned, trying to remember the report he and Ellen had read so many years ago. Had Anne Baker had a father? He vaguely recalled the mention of the man running off. Ellen had said that was why she’d gotten pregnant in the first place. Jake had told his wife it was more likely that Anne Baker hadn’t bothered to say no some night in the back of a pickup.
    He leaned forward. “Just so we understand each other. I’ve checked with my attorney. You have no legal or financial rights to me or my child.”
    She reached for her glass of brandy. When she picked up the snifter, her hand shook so badly the liquid sloshed up the sides. She set it back down and looked at him. Pain straightened her mouth. “I know.”
    “And?”
    “And what, Mr. Masters? You’re the one who contacted me. You had to go through several people to get my name and number. I’d left the channels open because I wanted Laurel to be able to find me if she ever wanted to.” She smoothed her pleated navy skirt, then clasped her hands together to stop their shaking. “So far you’ve bullied me and accused me of wanting your money. Anything else you need to get off your chest before you tell me about the problems you’re having with Laurel and what I can do to help?”
    He would have walked out the door. He was in fact ready to leave, except she raised her head and her chin jutted forward defiantly Recognition clawed at his gut and with it, pain. Laurel stood up to him much the same way. She squared her shoulders and tilted up her head until her chin thrust out. With her hands planted on her hips, she would say, “Dad,” stretching the word out to two syllables.
    Until this past summer, he’d thought the gesture cute. But now, between the tears and stormy arguments, the door slamming, the threats, he didn’t know what to do anymore. Ellen could have guided him, but Ellen was gone. He’d come here because he had nowhere else to go. And because he would do anything for Laurel, no matter the cost to him.
    He rose to his feet and walked to the window. The view of the city stretched out before him. He ignored it. Turning to face the woman, he shifted