Read Online The Nanny (The Fabulous Dalton Boys Book 1) by Kirsten Osbourne - Free Book Online

actions.  My brothers' actions.  I'm my own man.  I'm not one of a matched set.  I'm Barrett."
    Ashley reached up and cupped his cheek with her hand, loving how smooth his skin was.  He must have just shaven.  "I know you're not.  I've never compared you to your brothers.  Well, not after that first day, anyway."
    "I know."  He shook his head.  "Well, I went to this little truck stop on the highway, knowing the waitresses there were all known for being of lesser morals.  I figured if everyone was going to assume I was like that, then for once, I would be."  He shrugged.  "A waitress came to my table and flirted her heart out.  Her name was MaryBeth.  She knew I was one of the Dalton brothers, and really, she didn't care which.  She slipped me a note right after I paid, saying it was time for her to get off, and she'd love to meet me at my truck."
    Ashley could see where the story was going, and she really didn't want to hear it.  "It's okay.  You don't have to tell me."
    "No, I need to tell you."  He rubbed the back of his neck.  "She got into my truck, and we drove to her place.  She usually walked to work.  It was close.  We went in, stripped, had sex, and I left.  It was that simple.  We didn't say anything to each other after. I just—left.  It's going to sound stupid, but the whole experience made me feel so empty.  Sure, it felt good at the time, but—it wasn't right.  I have no idea how my brothers can have a string of women like that.
    "So, about a month later, she showed up at the ranch and threw herself at Cage.  She had no idea who any of us were.   She told him she was pregnant, and she wanted him to marry her.  He didn't know her, so he yelled out my name.  I went to her, and she did the same thing to me.  I told her I'd pay child support, but I wouldn't marry her."
    Ashley nodded, not liking the story, but understanding his need to purge it.  "And?"
    "She got mad.  Threatened to have an abortion, but I think she knew her money train would be over if she did that.  I used a condom that night.  I've never in my life had sex without a condom, and she definitely wasn't an exception.  I didn't see her again until she was about eight months pregnant.  She showed up at the ranch and told me that I needed to marry her, to give the baby a name.  I told her she was welcome to give the kid a name as long as it wasn't one of the stupid names my family likes that rhymes with Dalton.  I have a Walton Dalton and an Alton Dalton in my family tree.  Both of them have been used at least three times.  I hate that."  He shook his head.  "Anyway, I didn't see her again until two days before you came, and that day I just saw her tail lights as she was leaving my driveway.  Baby Dalton was in a plastic laundry basket on my doorstep, with a note, and his birth certificate announcing he'd been named Dalton Dalton Dalton.  Seriously, Texas has the death penalty, and she should get it just for that child's name."
    Ashley shook her head.  "Well, I guess that explains why you wouldn't marry the baby's mother."
    "If it doesn't, you don't know me well at all." 
    She shrugged.  "That still doesn't mean that I should be the one to be his mother.  I mean, he's a sweet baby, but he's not mine.  If you wanted to give him to me to raise, I would take him in a heartbeat, but I don't know that I want to tie myself to a man who only wants me for sex to get him."
    "You really think I only want you for sex?"  He looked at her with shock.  "If I only wanted sex, I could pick any number of women.  I want you.  I want the way you love my son.  I want the woman who makes me laugh, and makes me feel like the sexiest man alive."
    "Sex on a stick," she mumbled.
    "Sex on a sti—" He choked on the last word, unable to finish it as his laughter filled the car.  "See?  That's what I want.  I want you, Ashley.  No one else.  I promise, if it had been Brooklyn who'd come to me as a nanny, that proposal