Read Online Royal Holiday Baby by Leanne Banks - Free Book Online Page B

closing at the very thought.
    He stood and reached for her hand. “Stop panicking. We don’t do shotgun weddings around her anymore. Well, not often,” he amended with a rough chuckle. “I’m not going to force you to do anything. But don’t you think our baby deserves to know that we explored the option of marriage? Years from now, when our child asks why we’re not married, and he or she will. You can count on it. Don’t you want to know, in your heart of hearts that you have tried to give your child everything they could want? Including an on-site father?”
    Her heart still frozen in her chest, she bit her lip.
    â€œBreathe,” he said.
    She forced herself to do as he said. She shook her head and closed her eyes. “Since I found out I was pregnant, I always pictured myself as a single mother, handling this by myself,” she whispered.
    â€œPaint a different picture,” he said.
    She opened her eyes and looked into his.
    â€œOne with me in it,” he said. “Because whether we get married or not, you’re not doing this alone.”
    Â 
    The next morning, Zach rose early and drove his jeep out to a fence that needed to be repaired. He stripped down to his T-shirt and got down to work with the sun blazing down on him.
    The menial work usually soothed him, but today he couldn’t help thinking about Tina. He wondered if he had scared her away. He wondered if she would still be there when he arrived home today.
    Couldn’t worry about that, he told himself as he strung new wire to fix the fence. He hadn’t been deceptive, he’d beenreal. She would have to choose her course based on what he’d told her and her own thoughts.
    He couldn’t blame her hesitance. After all, she was a princess. He would never have bedded her if he’d known. That said, she’d bedded him knowing he was a rancher/businessman. What did that say about her?
    He liked that she wasn’t prejudiced. Despite his pride, he liked that she was determined to vet him. He wished she wasn’t so determined not to marry him. That struck at his pride. What did she find so offensive about him?
    He worked nonstop until lunch and finally glanced at his watch. Pulling a bottle of water from his backpack in the car, he noticed a car coming toward him. He squinted his eyes, trying to recognize the driver.
    At first, he thought it was Hildie as he identified her car. The car screeched to a stop in front of him and a brunette exited the vehicle with a basket. He immediately identified Tina.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” he asked as she walked toward him.
    â€œBringing lunch,” she said. “Hildie told me you’re awful about taking a break.”
    â€œHildie’s a tattletale,” Zach said with a scowl.
    â€œBut she tells the truth,” Tina said, looking around. “Is there any shade around here?”
    â€œThe car is the best bet,” he said. “Did you have the AC on during your drive?”
    Tina laughed. “In this heat? Of course.”
    â€œGood,” he said. “Part of surviving our Texas heat is relying on air-conditioning. Don’t try to tough it out.”
    She glanced at his sweat-stained T-shirt. “Looks like you toughed it out. Hope you want a sandwich.”
    â€œI’m in,” he said, surprised and pleased that she’d foundher way to him. He walked to the car and got inside. “How did you find me?”
    â€œHildie gave me directions and I have a GPS,” she said. “It’s an amazing tool. My sister sent me a box with some of my clothes, laptop and other stuff. I’d recently bought a GPS.”
    â€œI’m impressed,” he said. “I wouldn’t have thought a princess would have driven on dirt roads to deliver a sandwich.”
    She gave him a withering glance. “You clearly need to revise your ideas of what a princess does and doesn’t do.”
    He