The Cowboy's Baby(11)

What would Esme be like between the sheets, he wondered? Would the young woman have been at all open to him planting his seed the old fashioned way – rutting himself between her lean, muscular thighs until she cried his name in pleasure?

“Danny!” He jumped, torn from his fantasies by the sharp sound of Alyssa’s voice behind him. Turning to face her, he fixed his face into a neutral expression.

“What is it, honey?”

She was obviously pissed about something. Her eyes blazed dark fire and her hands were glued to her hips as she glared at him, her gaze scalding. “You made an appointment to go see that surrogate puta without me.”

Definitely pissed. She only broke out the Spanish when she was profoundly angry.

“Darlin’,” He tried to keep his voice level. “The doctors said she’s conceived. That means she’ll have to have her first check up and see the nutritionist. At least one of us needs to be there so we can be kept abreast of what’s going on.”

“Why the hell aren’t I the one going?”

What a loaded question. Because she’d declared she didn’t want to go anywhere near Esme unless he was with her? Because it was obvious she despised the woman, for reasons completely her own? Because she probably wouldn’t give two horse shits what went on during the appointment, and would only concentrate on ridiculing the woman who was supposed to be carrying her baby?

Daniel chose the simplest answer, attempting to keep calm. “Honey, that’s the day you told me you were going to brunch with your girlfriends. The brunch you can’t miss.” Her exact words. She had brunch with her girlfriends every Wednesday – always on his dime. “The appointment is at eleven am, so I thought I’d save you the trouble and go.”

It was as kind as he could make the dilemma sound, and he was actually quite proud of himself for working so well with it.

Alyssa, however, didn’t agree.

“You just want to be alone with her.” The woman’s eyes immediately shone with angry, remorseful tears. “You think I didn’t see the way you looked at her in the clinic. You like her. She’s supposed to be our goddamn surrogate and you just want to fuck her.”

Daniel immediately reddened, standing from his chair to tower over Alyssa as he set his beer down. “Honey, calm down. You know that’s not it at all.” Already he was tensed in anticipation of a fight. While it was true that he had thought of Esme in a sexual manner, that didn’t mean he would act on his impulses. He was more than man enough to control himself. In the entire time he’d been with Alyssa, he hadn’t so much as been alone with another woman.

And he wouldn’t be alone with Esme. “Alyssa, there will be doctors and nurses and orderlies. The medical center is full of people.”

“And you’ll be in a room alone with that whore.” As he took a step forward, she took one back, eying him angrily. For some reason, her calling Esme out of her name made Daniel bristle slightly. It wasn’t as if he had overt feelings for the girl, but she was donating her body so that he and Alyssa could have the baby they wanted. At the very least, she deserved to be addressed properly.

“Please don’t call her that, Alyssa.”

The dark-eyed woman exploded. “What, a whore? That’s what she fucking is, Daniel? What kind of woman donates her body – her temple – in her prime, so that it can blow up like a fucking beach ball and be ruined forever? She’s doing this for strangers, Danny. Absolute strangers. She probably gets off on it!”

“That’s enough, Alyssa.” The words escaped Daniel in a bark as he tried to quell the rage swelling in his breast. He had just listened to the woman he loved describe one of the most powerful processes on earth in terms of her own vanity. She belittled the creation of their child and the woman who carried it. “Just let it go. I’m going to the appointment and you’re going to brunch. End of story.”

For a moment, Alyssa just stared at him as if he’d grown a second head. Certainly, it was rare that he put his foot down with her. He understood that she was difficult and needed a bit of leeway – but this, this he could not abide. They were talking about their baby – his prodigy. Of all the things he’d given up for her – let her have, let her ruin – this wouldn’t be one of them.

“Fuck you, Danny.” Alyssa’s words came low and swift. “Fuck you, and fuck her. If you want her, I’m more than happy to leave you to it. I don’t have to put up with this shit.” She turned on her heel to stomp back into the house, leaving a nonplussed Daniel in her wake. Cursing lowly, he sank back down into his chair.