Free Living With Lies Trilogy (Books 1, 2, and 3 of The Dancing Moon Ranch Series) by Patricia Watters

noticeably displayed, as if framed by surrounding leather. "They're designed for easy access when nature calls," Jack said, catching the focus of her attention.
    "Actually, I was looking at your belt buckle," Grace said, while adjusting her gaze upward. "It has a bull on it."
    Jack smiled in a way that told her he was on to her, and said, "I got it at the National Finals Rodeo."
    "They you really are a bull rider," Grace said, remembering her thoughts when she'd first saw Jack at the fertility clinic. She'd only been speculating at the time.
    Jack looked at her oddly, and replied, "I used to be. This was my last ride. I decided to quit while I was ahead."
    "Then you did okay?" Grace asked.
    Jack shrugged. "Yeah, I did okay." He looked at Mei Ling, curled in the cat bed by the fire, purring contentedly while Ricky stroked her, and said, "What's Mei Ling doing in here?"
    "She got bored in the bedroom and decided to look over the place," Grace replied, realizing it was the first time Jack referred to Mei Ling by her name instead of the cat . She had no idea why it pleased her so, but it did.
    "She has to go back to the bedroom," Jack said. "That's why Flo rang the bell, and the last thing I need is her packing up and leaving."
    "Fine then. Pick her up and take her to the bedroom."
    "Right." When Jack crouched to pick up Mei Ling, Ricky shoved his hand away, and said, "My cat. You go."
    "Oh shit," Jack said. He stood, and with his hands on his hips, looked down at Ricky and Mei Ling as if he hadn't a clue what to do next.
    "Shit," Ricky repeated, looking up at Jack.
    "No. you're not supposed to say that." Jack clamped his jaws shut and looked at Grace, who shrugged, and said, "Mei Ling's happy with her bed by the fire, and if you put her sky room by the front window she won't roam around the place, at least not much. She has no fleas, and she uses her scratching posts, and she likes sitting on the mantle."
    Jack looked down at Ricky, who continued to pet Mei Ling, and said, "I'll talk to Flo."
    "Thank you," Grace replied. "You'll make a little boy very happy, as well as the mother of your son."
    That seemed to catch Jack's attention. "Then you're resigned to it?"
    "I have no choice," Grace said. "It's fairly obvious you're his father since the baby I'm carrying is the size of a young Titan." She smiled.
    Jack didn't smile back. "That's not what I meant. I'm talking about you allowing the petition I filed to go unchallenged so I'll get my paternity rights and joint custody."
    Grace looked at Jack, whose face was dead sober, and said, "If I give you joint custody you'll have him half the time and he'll be constantly moved back and forth between my place and yours. I'm not sure I can live with that."
    "You're not getting him all to yourself," Jack said. "That's not an option. I'll fight you to the bitter end to get the right to have my son half the time. He's going to learn to ride a horse and shoot a rifle and run this ranch so someday it will be half his."
    "That's what terrifies me about letting you have joint custody," Grace said. "You're already planning his life. What if he doesn't want to run this ranch? What if he wants to live in the city? Or be a businessman? You're so set in your ways, your ways being the only ways, he won't have any choice but to do what you lay out for him. You're not a man a boy would challenge, at least not until he's as big as you, and even then he'll more than likely avoid it. I want our son to grow up to be a decent, morally upstanding man, but to be able to choose his own goals in life. It's not just about him being Jack Hansen Junior."
    Jack stared at her, the look on his face grim. Then he swallowed hard, and said, "He'll never be Jack Hansen Junior, but I will have joint custody."
    Grace glared at Jack. "Yes, I suppose you will," she clipped, "because I don’t have the money or the fight in me to go up against you." She turned the wheelchair and motored into the bedroom, slamming the door.