LITMIR.BIZ

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and that’s no basis to wed. We’re having a baby, but a sham marriage won’t do anything to make our child’s life better. The few times we’ve been together, we’ve gotten along, but they’re very few and not enough to tell how we’d do in the long haul. A pleasant time over dinner means nothing. We’re not getting our lives entangled so you can run things. You’re accustomed to control, but that isn’t the way this is going to go,” she declared, determined to resist him, although a nagging inner voice urged her to accept his offer.

      “I don’t think you’re taking into consideration what would be best for our baby.”

      She drew a deep breath as she gazed at him. “My baby needs loving parents. I want the man I marry to be my best friend, as well as my lover.”

      “I qualify on half of that.”

      “The least important half,” she said. “Ryan, as I said, you’re a take-charge person and I don’t want that. I’m having this baby. I don’t want to marry you out of desperation. An unhappy marriage won’t be any plus for a baby.”

      “What makes you think it’ll be unhappy?”

      “I don’t know that it will. But I also don’t know that it’ll be a solid marriage.”

      He placed his hands on her shoulders again. “You think about what I can do for our baby. I can give it my name, so it will be a Warner and entitled to Warner money. There’ll be more than ample funds for education and travel and nannies. There’ll be a father on the scene. You can’t just dismiss all that without giving it due thought and consideration.”

      “I certainly can. At this time, I know I don’t want to marry you. In months to come my feelings might change, depending on how our relationship progresses, but marry right now? No way. Give us time, Ryan. Let’s just sit, and you tell me about your day, besides what involved the baby and me,” she said emphatically.

      He stared at her as if she was asking the impossible, but finally he crossed the room to the sofa. Ashley sat on the opposite end, curling her legs beneath her and smiling at him. He sipped his cold beer while she drank ice water, then replaced her glass on the table.

      “I want to hear about your day. How long have you been having morning sickness?” he asked.

      “Almost from the start,” she answered, aware of how intently he watched her. She wasn’t half as calm as she hoped she looked. To argue with him about doing things for their child had been hard, but she knew she didn’t want to move fast and make lifelong decisions on impulse.

      “What did the doctor say about it?”

      “It should end soon. Actually, he thought it would be over by now.”

      “And who is the doctor you’re seeing?”

      She told him, and suspected he was making a mental note to check the man out. “So what did you do today, Ryan?”

      “That weekend was awesome, Ashley,” he said instead of answering, his words slowing and his tone deepening as he talked. “I can’t forget it.”

      She gazed at him, tingling over what he’d just told her. “It was a great weekend, I’ll grant you that,” she whispered.

      “We can have more like it,” he reminded her, and she nodded.

      “But not yet, Ryan. I’m not ready yet,” she repeated, looking at his handsome features as if memorizing them. “So what about business today? Did it go out the window completely?”

      Setting his beer on the table, he scooted closer to her, to touch her shoulder lightly. “As a matter of fact, it did. That’s all right. I’ll catch up tomorrow. On Thursday, I may have to fly to Chicago, but I’ll be here Saturday.” He trailed his fingers across her cheek. “So when are you telling your family?”

      She looked away, hating the question. “I dread dealing with my family,” she confessed. “I think my dad will be hurt.”

      “If we wed, you won’t hurt him. Think about how much easier it would be to inform them.”

      For just a moment she did consider his offer again, and she was tempted. What a burden that would lift, to announce her marriage to Ryan and then tell her family about the baby. She looked at him and shook her head. “That’s the best argument you’ve presented, but I still say no. I want full command of my life.”

      “I don’t think I’m the only control freak here. You’re just as take-charge as I am, and you have a job where you’re the authority all the time.”

      She nodded. “I hadn’t ever thought about it, but I suppose you’re right. I’m the oldest child in my family, just as you are in yours, and I think it makes a difference. I had to care for my brother a lot of the time.”

      “I just browbeat mine into doing what I wanted, if they didn’t go along in the first place.”

      She laughed, easing the tension, and they talked about growing up. Yet she had a feeling he was mulling over what he was going to do next. Finally, there was a moment of silence when he leaned away to look at her. He ran his finger along her knee, and she wondered what he was thinking.

      “Ashley, I think you and the baby would both be better off if you’d marry me,” he said, abruptly changing topics again.

      “I don’t happen to agree,” she retorted, wondering how many times they would argue over their future. She looked at his well-shaped hands, which too often brought memories about him.

      “You’ve said you fear my take-charge ways, but you’re just as strong in that department, and I have no doubt you can hold your own with me. I think marriage is definitely in your best interest.”

      “That’s not for you to decide, and we’re not getting anywhere arguing about it,” she said, impatient with his high-handed determination to get his way.

      “No, we’re not, so I intend to do something, since I feel marriage is best for all concerned.”

      Her heart pumped faster while she wondered what he planned, terrified he was going to tell her that he would try to take the baby from her. “Don’t do something you’ll regret later,” she warned.

      “I won’t,” he stated, with so much confidence she braced herself for what was coming. “You marry me, and I’ll pay off your family’s mortgage, the debts your father has and take care of his insurance. You can’t turn down my offer and hurt your family.”

      Four

      Filled with disbelief, she came to her feet. “Ryan Warner, you’ll force me into marriage when you know I don’t want to marry you. That’s despicable!” she exclaimed, glaring at him in fury. Her fists clenched and white-hot anger shot through her.

      “Calm down,” he ordered quietly, but with a firmness in his voice and a commanding look in his eye that made her take a deep breath and sit down again. “I’m doing exactly that,” he assured her. “You have to accept my offer for your family’s sake.”

      Knowing he was right, she stared at Ryan while the implications of his offer both dazzled and angered her.

      “I can afford to pay off the mortgage on the farm completely, as well as repair all the damage from the flood. Frankly, your father might want to buy a new place where he won’t have to worry about floods, which I’m willing to finance. I can hire some hands to help him, and I can afford to pay for your brother’s college education if he wants to go.”

      “This is blackmail of sorts!” she snapped, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

      “I can also see to it that your father has health-insurance coverage. I’ve got good lawyers who can look into the matter,” Ryan continued, speaking as calmly as if he were discussing the weather.

      “My family and I don’t want charity!” she said tightly.

      “It

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