Page 90 of Her Boss, Her Rancher: Sunrise On The Ranch

Blake felt as if he’d had the breath knocked from him. Dazed, he stared at her. “I’m going to be a dad,” he said. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

“Yes, you are. We have a long time to sort things out and decide what we’ll do, so all you need to do right now is get used to the idea. It’s a big, unexpected shock,” she said, sitting quietly and letting him think.

“I used a condom every time,” he said, more to himself than to her. He had gotten Sierra pregnant. They would be tied together for the next eighteen years. They would never view life the same way, but he was certain she wouldn’t want to marry him any more than he wanted to marry her.

But how else would he be the kind of father his own never was?

He raked his fingers through his hair and stood, going to the kitchen and getting a beer, more to move around than to have something to drink. He walked to a window to gaze outside. The daylight was growing dim and night was creeping in, changing the landscape.

He knew he would never forget this moment. He was going to be a father. The idea shook him. He had dimly thought that someday he would marry, someday he would have a family, but it was in the distant future, a fuzzy prospect that had held no reality for him until now.

He was going to have a baby. When he glanced at her, Sierra sat looking at her fingernails, remaining quiet while he absorbed the news.

He was thankful for that. Thankful she wasn’t in tears or yelling at him or asking him what they would do. He focused more on her and wondered what she thought. She had already known about this. She looked calm, poised, and she had obviously adjusted to the idea. He thought of her big family and knew she would have their support. Blake realized if he walked away now, her family would be there for her.

Not that he intended to walk away or abandon her. He thought about his father. He would never be a father like the one he’d had. He wouldn’t abandon or reject his own child, not ever. There was one way to put himself in his child’s life forever—marry Sierra. That seemed to be the only solution to being a real dad to his child.

Blake’s gaze shifted back to Sierra who looked up, giving him a level stare.

He crossed the room to face her. “You caught me by surprise.”

“I knew I would. There was no way to avoid that.”

“You’re very calm about this,” he said, looking into wide blue eyes, and he realized she had passed the point of shock and was thinking calmly about the situation.

“It won’t help to get hysterical,” she said.

“Damn straight on that. I’m thankful you’re not.”

“We’ll have to make decisions and work things out, but we don’t have to do anything right now except adjust to the idea. I think we should take a little time before we start trying to figure out what we’ll do.”

“It all looks simple to me.”

“Blake,” she interrupted, shaking her head. “Don’t propose.”

“I don’t see why not,” he said, startled that she wouldn’t even discuss marriage. “You know your family will want us to marry.”

“None of them will if they know I don’t want to. You and I are opposites. I don’t like your work, and you don’t like mine.”

“That’s nine to five, and we can get around that,” he said, surprised she let their jobs be the reason for rejecting what would be best for their child. “Our jobs will have little to do with life at home,” he said.

“For us and our chosen fields, it has everything to do with life at home. I may want to foster kids or find homes for more dogs. We’ll work something out, I’m sure, because we’re both willing, but it isn’t going to be marriage.”

Shocked, because she seemed so firm in her refusal, he stared at her. “I want to be part of my child’s life,” he said, trying to hang on to his temper.

“You will be. I promise. I want you to be. But that doesn’t mean we have to be married.”

“Damn, Sierra.” Once the idea had presented itself, it hadn’t occurred to him that she would reject his proposal, at least not under the circumstances. She sat calmly facing him, her long legs crossed at the ankles and her hands in her lap. She looked composed and determined. He suspected he was going to find out how strong-willed she could be.

“You don’t want to marry. You made that clear,” she added.

“My life has changed since I said that. I was single and not expecting to become a father. I want to know my baby, to be with him or her every day I’m not away for work. There is no way I’m going to be the father that mine was and abandon my child. I can promise you that,” he said, determined that he would not let her stop him from being the father his child needed. “I want to take care of both of you. The easiest way to do that is if we marry. If we try, we can make marriage work.”

“This is a knee-jerk reaction, Blake. We don’t have to decide today, this week or this month, so let’s consider the possibilities. I know you want to be a dad to your child, and I want that. I want to be a mom to our child. We don’t have to marry to be parents, or even to be good parents.”

“You’re not being sensible,” he said, his gaze running over her.

“I’m not being sensible?” she snapped, her eyes narrowing. “I’m the one being the most sensible. We’re opposites, Blake. Marriage won’t work. We’re not in love.”