LITMIR.BIZ

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CHECKING ON MIRRY, Jessie paused at the bottom of the stairs and drew a calming breath. She wanted to change her clothes, but that was pointless since Cadde had already seen her looking like one of the hired hands.

      Why had he returned so soon? Could this unexpected visit mean he was accepting the offer? Or throwing it back in her face? Could this be the one thing Cadde Hardin wouldn’t do to gain control of Shilah—have a baby with her?

      It was an insane idea in the first place. Yet they were married and she wanted a child. This old house was so lonely. Next time she would rethink her father’s advice.

      She walked into the kitchen and got two glasses from the cabinet.

      “What are you doing?” Rosa asked.

      “Getting iced tea for Cadde and me.”

      “That’s my job.” Rosa took the glasses from her.

      “Rosa.”

      Rosa paid her no attention, as always. In a matter of seconds she had them filled with ice and tea. She reached for two napkins off the granite kitchen island and handed them to Jessie.

      Jessie kissed her cheek as she took them. “I love you.”

      “You need someone else to love,” Rosa told her. “And I don’t mean all those animals out there.” She thumbed over her shoulder.

      Jessie winked. “I’m working on it.”

      “Miss Jessie, what are you up to?”

      “I’ll tell you later.”

      She breezed out of the kitchen and braced herself for the scene with Cadde. Her courage intact, she walked into the sunroom and placed a glass of tea and a napkin in front of him.

      “Thank you,” he muttered, taking a swallow.

      Jessie sipped hers before taking the seat across from him.

      He pushed the document lying on the table toward her. “I signed it.”

      “Oh.” Relief rushed through her. She hadn’t expected him to concede so quickly.

      “But I made some changes.”

      “Oh.” His abrupt attitude was making her edgy.

      “Read it, sign on the dotted line and we have a deal.”

      She flipped through the document and stopped when she saw his bold handwriting. She reread the page, not quite believing her eyes. “You…you…want a real marriage?”

      “That’s what it says. When the deal is official, I’ll be moving into that big master bedroom.”

      Her eyes caught his. “I sleep alone. I always have.”

      “Not if you sign that document.”

      “Why can’t you sleep in your own room?” She didn’t want him to know her secret. She slept with the bathroom light on. All those fears from her childhood were still there. She was seven when her cousin, Crissy, had been kidnapped and killed, but she remembered it. They’d lived in Houston then and after the murder her father had slept on a cot in her room with a gun across his chest. That frightened her even more.

      “Because married couples sleep together.”

      “But we don’t have to.”

      He poked the document with a long finger, his brown eyes determined. “That’s the deal, Jessie.”

      She clenched her hands in her lap until they were numb and then she forced herself to continue reading his other demands. “You claim all your rights as a father, which are granted in our marriage vows.”

      “Yes.”

      “And you insist on my full support at future board meetings after the marriage is consummated.”

      “Yes.”

      She raised her head and looked into his steady, unwavering gaze. “You’re asking an awful lot.”

      “How bad do you want a baby?” he asked, and her insides quivered at the magnitude of her actions.

      He reached for his hat and stood. “You have twenty-four hours to think it over.” With an in-your-face nod, he strolled from the room.

      “Wait just a minute,” she called, infuriated that he was turning her tactics around on her.

      He paused at the door and faced her. “What?”

      “We need to talk.”

      “Jessie, we’ve talked this to death. Bottom line I refuse to walk away from a kid of mine. I will be there from day one. Sign it or not. It’s up to you. If you don’t, we’re getting an annulment because I’m not living in this sham of a marriage any longer.”

      “I see.” She should have known it wouldn’t be simple. Cadde was a skillful businessman and he had upped the stakes. She had to accept them or live the rest of her life alone. And if Cadde left she would truly be alone.

      She gulped a breath. What were her options—loneliness or a real sleep-in-her-bed-every-night marriage? She’d started this out of desperation and she had to have the courage to finish it.

      Her hand shook as she picked up the pen that was still lying there from the morning. She took another breath and wrote her name beneath Cadde’s. The action caused her to feel limp, weak and defeated somehow.

      Cadde strolled back into the room and placed both hands on the table. Leaning in close to her, he asked, “Wanna go upstairs?”

      She drew away. “I’m not a hooker, Cadde.”

      “That’s how you make a baby, Jessie.” His eyes sparkled with glee at his victory, and she wanted to smack him.

      “I want to get to know you better first.”

      He straightened. “Now there are rules?”

      “Yes,” she told him, taking the wind out of his sails. “We’re going out to dinner tonight.”

      “Tonight! I’ve been fooling with this insanity most of the day. I have work piled up. I don’t have time to go out.”

      She stood and picked up the document. “I’ll get this to my lawyer.” Her eyes locked with his. “Be here at eight or the deal is off.” After delivering that blow, she brushed past him. He didn’t grab her arm this time but she heard him curse. She smiled all the way up the stairs. At least she had the last word. Now she had to fulfill his demands.

      CADDE TRIED TO CONCENTRATE on the Louisiana leases. With Jessie’s approval, he planned to move on them quickly. First they had to consummate the marriage. He tapped his pen on the papers in front of him. That would be a big step. It would make their relationship real, but he had to wonder how a marriage could survive without love.

      He ran both hands over his face. How much did love matter? His parents had been in love until… Would he be like his father and cheat on Jessie? He didn’t know, but he hadn’t cheated on her in eighteen months and it had been a strain. He could have with Karen. Something held him back, though. It had to be that integrity thing Roscoe had talked about. He didn’t want to be like Chuck Hardin even if the marriage wasn’t real.

      Sleeping with Jessie could turn out to be rather pleasant. If only he could get those off-limits notices out of his head. Who knew she wanted to change their relationship? She showed no signs of doing so…until today.

      Fatherhood. He hadn’t thought much about it. He’d been too busy building a career. How was he going to balance his job and Jessie and a baby?

      A baby! He couldn’t quite wrap his mind around that just yet. But as Jessie had mentioned, he was almost forty. It was time to think about a family.

      With Jessie.

      Shaking his head, he brought his concentration back to the leases. After they consummated

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