Free The Cowboy's Claim by Carla Cassidy

now?”
    “I haven’t seen or spoken to them since the night they threw me out. But, I’m fine and I’ve learned not to depend on anyone but myself. So, what do you want, Nick?”
    Her heart, which had already begun to beat too fast, stepped up in rhythm, aching in her chest as she stared at the man she had once believed she knew better than anyone else. She realized now she hadn’t known him at all, and after two years she definitely didn’t know the man who sat across from her.
    “I want joint custody.” His gaze met hers boldly, shining with determination.
    For a moment the wind was knocked out of her. She’d thought he’d probably want some sort of informal visitation while he was in town, but she’d never expected for him to ask for this.
    “Why?” she asked flatly.
    The frown in his forehead deepened. “Why? Because he’s my son. Because I want to be a part of his life.”
    “For how long?
    “What do you mean for how long? For the rest of my life,” he replied with a touch of irritation.
    “Or as long as something bad doesn’t happen and you decide to run again. Or until it all gets too complicated and you can’t handle it anymore.” She shook her head. “I’ll be glad to work with you on some kind of visitation schedule, but joint custody is out of the question.”
    The muscles in his jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. “I can do this with you or without you, Courtney. Don’t fight me on this.”
    It was her nightmare come true. She didn’t want to officially invite Nick into her son’s life, but she also knew he could accomplish what he wanted. He could tie her up in a court battle, a battle she couldn’t afford to wage. He could force a paternity suit and make a case for joint custody. She raised a shaky hand to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, searching for a way out of this untenable situation.
    “Nick, this has all hit me like a ton of bricks,” she said truthfully. Almost as bad as him wanting custody was the fact that on some physical level he still affected her.
    He wore the same woodsy cologne he’d worn when they had been lovers, and it still created an unexpected warmth inside her as she remembered being held in his arms. “Can we just take everything slow for a couple of weeks and see how it goes?” she asked.
    He hesitated a moment and then slowly nodded. “You know, I could babysit him when you’re working at the café.”
    “You wouldn’t even know how to change a diaper,” she exclaimed.
    He grinned, the slow lazy smile that had once melted her heart. “At least I know what end to diaper. I’m sure I could figure out the rest of it when duty called.”
    She shook her head and looked at Garrett, who was now pouring sand over his own head. “I don’t want to disrupt his schedule all of a sudden. Sophie Martinez has been watching him while I work since he was born. Like I said, we need to take this slow not just for my sake, but for his sake, as well.”
    Nick got up and walked over to Garrett, and for a moment Courtney feared he intended to snatch the boy away and run to his truck. Instead he leaned down and gently swept the sand from Garrett’s short, dark, curly hair and handed him the little blue shovel.
    Garrett gave him a smile that would melt anyone’s heart. Courtney wished at that moment Garrett was throwing a temper fit, or filling his diaper with a particularly nasty poo, doing something...anything that might make Nick rethink his plans.
    “We’ll do it your way for now and take things slow for a couple of weeks,” Nick finally said as he returned to the picnic table. “But, I’d like for you to arrange so that I can spend a little time with him each day. He needs to get to know me, and I want to get to know him.”
    “I’m sure I can arrange that,” she replied, thinking of how complicated everything was going to be from now on.
    “How about we start with all of us having dinner together tonight,” he said.
    “I already have