Grayson. Delores Fossen

this baby more than her own life, and it was slipping away as the seconds ticked off.

      “You can find someone else?” Grayson asked.

      “I hope.” But that was being overly optimistic. She’d lost a lot of time by driving out to Silver Creek, but then she’d had no choice. She very well couldn’t have explained this with a phone call. Plus, she had prayed that she would be able to convince him once they were face-to-face.

      She’d obviously been wrong.

      Eve felt the raw blush on her cheeks and got to her feet. “I need to hurry back into San Antonio.”

      Grayson stood, as well. “Maybe you can use a sperm bank or fertility clinic?”

      “No.” She tried to blink back the tears, but failed at that, too. “Not enough time. The doctor said it takes days, even weeks to go through the screening and get an appointment. Plus, many of the clinics are closed because Christmas is only three days away.”

      He acknowledged that with a shrug. “A friend then?”

      The drive had given her time to consider that, as well. It was sad but true that she was seriously lacking male companionship. Heck, she hadn’t had a real date in nearly a year, and her last boyfriend was married now. As for male friends and coworkers, none had fit the bill as well as Grayson Ryland.

      She shook her head and hurried to the kitchen where she crammed the photos back into her bag. The pictures were yet another kettle of fish, but they would have to wait. Eve wasn’t ready to give up her baby mission just yet, even if she’d failed with Grayson.

      She put on her red wool coat and hoisted both her purse and equipment bag onto her shoulder. Moving as fast as she could, she shut off the heater, unplugged it and turned back around to face Grayson. Even after his refusal, she couldn’t help feeling that jolt of attraction when she looked at him.

      Drop-dead gorgeous was right.

      And for several brief moments Eve considered tossing the little bit of pride she had left. She could just throw herself at him and try to seduce him.

      But she rethought that.

      Grayson would resist. He had already shown her that he had a mountain of willpower and discipline to go along with those looks.

      “What will you do?” he asked.

      Because she felt the tears start to burn in her eyes, Eve dodged his gaze and grabbed her keys. “Maybe I can hire a friend of a friend.”

      She could make some calls the second she was back in her car, but she had no idea where to start.

      “Hire someone?” Grayson questioned. He stepped outside the cottage with her.

      Eve nodded. She closed and locked the door before she headed for her car. It wasn’t below freezing, but the icy wind sliced right through her.

      “You’d hire someone?” Grayson repeated when she didn’t answer. He caught on to her arm and whirled her around to face him. “Eve, listen to yourself. Yes, I know you’re desperate, and this baby must be important to you or you wouldn’t have come here, but you can’t just hire someone to sleep with you.”

      “To provide semen so I can be inseminated,” she corrected, maneuvering herself out of his grip. She couldn’t look at him and didn’t want him to look at her. Eve hurried across the yard. “I have no intentions of sleeping with anyone to get pregnant. I was serious about not having a biological father in the picture. I’ll make some calls, find a donor, pay him for his sperm, and, if necessary, I’ll do the insemination at home.”

      Grayson made a sound of relief, or something. Probably because he’d thought she was indeed crazy enough to jump into bed with the first guy she ran across on the drive home. Eve’s biological clock was screaming for her to do that, but she wanted a healthy baby and body.

      “I want to raise a baby on my own,” she continued. “And if I find someone, he’ll have to agree to giving up his paternal rights.”

      No need to rehash the emotional baggage that had brought her to that conclusion. Besides, Grayson knew about her absentee father and the abusive stepfather that she’d had as a kid. He didn’t know about the three failed relationships she’d had since leaving Silver Creek, and that included one episode of her being an honest-to-goodness runaway bride.

      It was just as well he didn’t know that.

      Best not to spell it out that she considered Grayson and only Grayson for a life partner. He was literally the only man she trusted, even if he had crushed her heart all those years ago. And now he’d managed to do it again.

      Frustrated with herself and her situation, Eve threw open the back door of her car so she could dump her bag and equipment onto the seat. She hesitated for just a moment because she knew Grayson was right behind her. If she turned around, she’d have to face him once more.

      “I’m sorry I bothered you,” Eve mumbled.

      She turned and, still dodging his gaze, she tried to sidestep around Grayson.

      He sidestepped, too, and blocked her path. She hadn’t thought it possible, but he looked more uncomfortable than she felt.

      “I can call the Silver Creek Hospital,” Grayson suggested. “Doc Hancock might be able to pull some strings and speed up things with a sperm bank. Or I could talk to my brothers. They might know—”

      “Don’t involve your brothers,” Eve interrupted.

      Anything but that. Just talking about this would be hard enough for Grayson, especially telling them that he had turned her down. Eve didn’t want to be the subject of conversation at the Ryland dinner table.

      “Best not to involve anyone from Silver Creek,” she added. “I’ll go to a hospital in San Antonio and, well, beg.” And she would. This pregnancy was going to happen, even if she didn’t have a clue how she would manage it.

      She stepped around him and hurried to the driver’s side of the car. Since she wasn’t looking at Grayson, that was probably the reason she saw the movement.

      In the cluster of trees about fifty yards from her car.

      “What?” Grayson asked when she froze.

      Eve looked around the trees, trying to figure out what had caught her attention.

      There.

      She saw the man.

      Dressed in a dark shirt and pants, he had a black baseball cap sitting low on his head so that it obstructed his face. He quickly ducked out of sight, but from just that quick glimpse, Eve recognized him.

      “That’s the same man I saw earlier, by the creek,” she told Grayson.

      Grayson drew his gun from the shoulder holster beneath his jacket. The metal whispered against the leather, and he moved in front of her. “Any idea who he is?”

      “No.” But she knew that he was hiding, and that couldn’t be good.

      Did this have anything to do with the hang-up calls she’d been getting? Or could it be her imagination working overtime? Everything suddenly seemed to be going against her.

      “I’m Sheriff Grayson Ryland,” Grayson called out. “Identify yourself.”

      Eve stood there and held her breath, waiting. But the man said nothing.

      “You think it’s a local kid playing a prank?” she whispered, praying that was all there was to this.

      Grayson fastened his attention to those trees. “No. A local kid would have answered me.”

      True. Grayson commanded, and got, respect in Silver Creek. And that caused her heart to pound against her chest. After all, there was a killer on the loose. Eve almost hoped this was connected to the hang-up calls. Better that than having a killer just yards away.

      Grayson lifted