Read Rodeo Daddy: Book 3 in the Stubborn Texas Siblings Trilogy for Free Online

stilled in the
doorway and stared at the cowboy standing there looking
better than any man had any right to appear.
    His eyes went to Alexis and he swallowed hard as emotion
filled him. She had shyly tucked her face into Dana’s hair,
hiding from view and Jeff felt an overwhelming desire to
take her in his arms and cuddle her… to reassure her that he
wasn’t someone to be afraid of. Then he looked at the
beautiful woman holding his daughter and his libido kicked
into gear.
    “Can we…?” he asked, his voice breaking before he
nodded towards the front door. He needed a moment or two
alone with Dana without her sister watching and listening
in on their every word.
    Alexis started to squirm and Dana set her down on the
floor. The little girl toddled over towards Jeff and held her
tiny arms up in the air, asking to be picked up. He grinned
at her and swept her up against his chest, wrapping his arms
around her tiny body.
    Dana felt like her jaw was going to hit the floor. Alexis did
not normally take to strangers. She was shy as an overall
general rule and went out of her way to cling to her
whenever she saw someone she didn’t know. When they’d
first arrived at Mandy’s house, Alexis had clung to Dana
like superglue every time her sister came anywhere near the
child. Her wanting to be put down just to go to someone
she’d never seen before in her life was not only shocking, it
was flat out unheard of.
    Feeling confused, Dana followed Jeff out the front door,
closing it firmly behind herself so her sister couldn’t hear
whatever was about to be said. As it was, she knew she
would have no choice now but to explain Jeff’s presence…
Once Mandy found out that the bull riding champion was
Alexis’s father, Dana had no doubt that there would be a
rather loud argument that they would have to get through. It
wasn’t something she was looking forward to in the least,
but right at that moment, she had more than enough on her
plate as it was. Jeff was a wildcard and now that he knew
that he had a daughter, Dana didn’t know what to expect
from him.
    He’d startled her the night before by insisting on sticking
around. She’d pictured the moment he found out about
Alexis at least a thousand times over the last couple of
years… Every time, she’d imagined him running away as
fast as he could … perhaps trying to throw money at her to
make himself feel better before disappearing, never to be
seen again. She honestly hadn’t seen his insistence on being
part of their daughter’s life coming.
    Jeff sat down on the porch swing and held Alexis close to
his chest, enjoying the feel of her downy soft hair brushing
against his neck. He watched as Dana sat down beside him,
staring at their daughter in shock.
    “What?” he asked, searching her eyes for some clue of
what had her so obviously baffled. “You thought I’d be
horrible to my own child?”
    “No,” she answered in a shaky voice full of confusion.
“Just a little stunned. Alexis doesn’t normally want
anything to do with new people.”
    “Perhaps she can sense that I’m not supposed to BE new
people,” he said bitterly. “Had you bothered to tell me
about her, I wouldn’t be a stranger to my own daughter,” he
said, rubbing his big hand over her back and holding the
back of her head as she snuggled into him as if she might
be about to fall asleep.
    “Give me a break, Jeff,” Dana said, sighing heavily. “I
can’t even count how many times you made a point to tell
me that we weren’t supposed to get serious… or to remind
me that there were never going to be any strings to hold us
together. Between my feelings for you and the fact that I
found myself pregnant with your child, I knew I had to
make a clean break. Family life wasn’t what you wanted…
not with me or with any other woman. You like your
buckle bunny lovers too much… a new bed buddy at every
stop. I want better than that for my daughter. The rodeo is
your life, and I have come to