Free The Texas Billionaire's Baby by Karen Rose Smith

riding can teach children balance in a way not much else can. In fact, I’ve often thought about organizing a horsebackriding camp for developmentally challenged children.” She shrugged, a bit embarrassed by sharing that with him. “It’s just one of my dreams.”
    “Do you have a lot of them?”
    She laughed. “An assortment. I’ve considered volunteering in Appalachia, too. The children and families there need so much help. I’ve also considered writing a book for parents, and I would love to tour Alaska someday.”
    “You have a lot of dreams left.”
    “Don’t you?” She hated to think his dreams had died with his wife.
    “My dreams now are for Daniel. Will he want to become a world leader, an economist, a soccer player? Should I let him take piano lessons as well as try out for a football team? How soon should he learn Spanish, climb a tree, have a pet other than a horse? Small dreams and big ones.”
    “You still need your own dreams, too.”
    “No,” he said quickly. “Not anymore. Raising a child and running a business can keep a man busy for a lifetime.”
    She could hear what he wasn’t saying. That his dreams had gotten crushed and he wasn’t going to invest in them again.
    “Do you believe in fate?” she asked.
    “Fate or coincidence?” he asked with a sideways glance.
    “I think fate brought Daniel’s chart to my desk.”
    “Or coincidence.”
    “Maybe I was meant to work with Daniel so that I could make up for the hurt I caused you.”
    He brought his horse closer to hers so the animals’ noses were almost touching. He leaned forward andlooked into her eyes. His were shaded by the brim of his Stetson and she couldn’t see them clearly.
    But she definitely heard the vehemence in his voice. “The past can’t be fixed. You can just try to move it aside and go on. After you left, I got over it. Amy died, and I’m trying to get over that. Fate has nothing to do with Daniel’s chart landing on your desk. This really is a small world, Gina,” he returned. “You know Tessa. She’s Daniel’s pediatrician. We all link together, one way or another.”
    He made the coincidence sound so reasonable. But she felt she’d come back here, not only to be with her family, but to mend fences with Logan. Fate had made that a little easier.
    That was what she believed but she also knew she was the one who had to choose the next step. She wasn’t sure what that step was going to be.
    “Enough of the lake?” Logan asked.
    She could never get enough of the lake—or enough of him. But his the-past-can’t-be-fixed attitude proved that he didn’t forget or forgive easily.
    And she didn’t know how she was going to change that.

Chapter Five
    G ina glanced at the sky with its thousand tiny twinkles of light, the moon softly brilliant and illuminating their return path. This could be a romantic ride if only—
    If only what? As far as she could tell, Logan didn’t even want to be friends. Why would he? Telling him what had happened to her wouldn’t change the fact that he’d felt deserted by her.
    When they reached the paddock, Logan dismounted to unhitch the gate. In jeans, boots, snap-button shirt and a Stetson, he was every inch a Texan, every inch a strong, compelling, virile man. He had more confidence now than he’d had at twenty-two. He was quieter and more introspective, but then so was she.
    He walked and she rode until they reached the exterior doors to the barn. There she stopped Aquarius, intending to dismount.
    But distracted by memories of the past and the tension of the present, she caught her foot in the stirrup and almost landed on the ground.
    Logan was quick and caught her around the waist, holding her snugly until she pulled her boot free. She felt tossed back into a time when being in his arms like this had been right. Now she felt awkward and embarrassed, afraid to face him and see nothing in his expression. But she had to do it.
    The brim of his Stetson might have hidden