Married for His Heir

by Sara Orwig

  Her thoughts swirled and she looked at Hattie in the crook of his arm, which looked so natural.

  Nick sat with her on his lap and Hattie immediately climbed down. Holding to his knee, she reached for a small table and then moved to plop down on the floor in front of a brass box filled with magazines. Hattie pulled one out to toss it behind her and Talia hurried toward her.

  “Let her play with the magazines unless she’ll get paper cuts,” Nick said. “She’s not going to hurt anything in that box. Those magazines will be recycled whenever Tina and her cleaning crew get to them.”

  “Cleaning crew, a limo, two mansions... Nick, I don’t have that kind of life.” Under normal circumstances she didn’t think it would ever work out between her and someone like Nick. But this was a marriage of convenience. “But I can’t get beyond the realization that now I get to keep Hattie and I’ll become her mother. I can hardly sit still. I feel like dancing around the room. I feel as if I could dance all night and shout for joy.”

  He smiled. “I’m glad. I think this will be good for both of us. It lifts a ton of worries off my shoulders.”

  She sat down beside him. “The biggest thing is that we don’t know each other at all.”

  “We’ll get to know each other and you can adjust to the other stuff. Riding in a limo is not that different from riding in a car,” he added and she shook her head. He sat back, placing one booted foot on his knee. He looked handsome, sexy, strong, and she realized she could easily fall in love with him, but he would never love her in return. They already had lightning streaking between them if they barely touched. How could she marry him, be around him constantly and keep from falling in love? She didn’t think he ever would because all he had talked about since she met him was how much he missed his wife and baby. Was she willing to risk falling in love with him to get to be Hattie’s mother? That was her fantasy, and now it was coming true. Yes, falling in love with Nick was worth the risk.

  “Why don’t you tell me about yourself,” he suggested.

  “I’ve had a very ordinary life in many ways. I don’t have much family. I’m an only child and my mother died of breast cancer when I was a freshman in college. My father died suddenly from a heart attack when I was fifteen. He had insurance and he’d had a good job in the insurance business, so I was financially okay. I invested most of my inheritance and have done pretty well with it. I went to college on part of it, and I had scholarships for the rest of it.” She stopped and stared at him. “I can’t believe we’re doing this, Nick.”

  “Go ahead. Tell me more about yourself.”

  She stared at him a moment, shrugged and continued, “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. I love art and I like teaching. My senior year in college I married. His parents had money and provided generously for us. We were seniors, had money and neither of us worked. When we graduated, he still didn’t want me to work. He looked for a job, but it was a half-hearted hunt while he played golf and hung out at the country club.”

  “Who was he?”

  “Quinton Smith from Houston.”

  Nick shook his head. “Not any family I know.”

  “Quinton is one of the reasons I hired a PI to check on you. Quinton was wealthy and he let it make a mess of his life, to my way of thinking. You’re wealthy and I wanted to know you weren’t anything like him. I also wanted to know some other things about you before I turned Hattie over to you.”

  “I don’t mind the PI. I don’t blame you. Go on about your life.”

  “Quinton couldn’t find a job he liked and I never knew if he really got offers or not. After my first miscarriage I discovered that he didn’t want children while I did. Also, I thought he should get a job. His mother provided abundantly for us and he didn’t really see any reason to work if he didn’t have to. By that time we were having arguments over his unemployment, and then I got pregnant again. When I miscarried the second time, I wanted a divorce and he did, too. The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong. They said the stress was getting to me. Even so, I don’t expect to ever have any children of my own. Does that matter to you?”

  “No. You and I won’t have a regular marriage. After I lost Artie I didn’t expect to have any more children. Now I do have another child. That’s enough. Under the circumstances, I don’t want another child now. Can you accept that?”

  “Of course. With my track record for miscarriages, I don’t think I could give you any if you wanted more children. And I agree that children should come into a home filled with love. By the way, while I was in college with all the bills paid, I got my master’s degree, so I’m qualified to teach in some colleges.”

  “You won’t be teaching, Talia. I want you home with Hattie.”

  “Oh, Nick, that’s my dream. I never, ever expected it to happen.”

  They were silent a moment and she returned to what she had been saying to him. “I only knew my husband two months before we married,” she said, watching Hattie toss magazines behind her as she steadily removed them from the box. “I rushed into that marriage.” She looked up at Nick. “I’m rushing into this marriage of convenience, too.”

  “This is different. We’re not in love and we don’t know each other. This is for convenience to get what we both want,” he said. “Talia, if it doesn’t work out and we get a divorce, you’ll be Hattie’s mother and we’ll legally work it out to share her. As soon as we’re married, you can start the adoption process so she will legally be your daughter. Is there anything else about your life, your past, I should know?”

  Smiling at him, she shook her head. “No. I’ve led a quiet, uneventful life. You’ve heard all the highlights. I’ve told you about being friends with Madeline.” Her gaze fluttered over him. And then it hit her. The handsome rancher facing her was going to marry her. Her heartbeat raced and she couldn’t stop smiling. She would be a stay-at-home mother to Hattie, and she would be married to one of the most handsome, appealing men she had ever met. A man who had proposed for his baby’s sake. That almost made her fall in love with him right then and there.

  “Not that I need to know now, but I’m curious,” she said when she gathered her thoughts. “Where will she go to school?”

  He smiled and her heart fluttered again. How was she going to guard her heart against a smile like that? Against a body like his? She took a deep breath and released it slowly.

  “You can move back to Dallas if you want her in school here. Otherwise, there is a country school she can attend if she lives on the ranch. My brothers and I went there. It’s a good school. But that’s in the future. Looking at the present, we’ll need to childproof some rooms, keep her out of others until she understands the rules.”

  “The first thing I’d like to see you do is put a fence around that swimming pool.”

  “I’ll get on it tomorrow. Also, tomorrow we can get an alarm that will go off if anyone falls into the pool.”

  Her gaze swept the large, casual family room with a game table on one side of the room, floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors along the side opening to the patio and affording a view of his sparkling aqua pool with a waterfall and a fountain. The contemporary room held glass-and-steel tables and furniture in muted shades of brown to white. The room was two-story, with stairs on either side winding to the second level, where three walls of glass provided panoramic views. It was a stunning room, but the others on the ground floor that she had glimpsed through open doors had been equally impressive. Some had high-beamed ceilings with marble columns. Others had French eighteenth-century-style furniture with elegant antique satin and silk finishes. Oil paintings in gilded frames were on many walls. As she looked around, she realized that when she became Mrs. Nick Duncan, she would live in this mansion with Hattie. She couldn’t imagine that would be possible. Even more impossible to imagine, she would live here with Nick.

  “Talia?”

  She realized she was lost in
thoughts about his proposal and him. “Sorry, Nick. This is all so fantastic. I keep getting carried away by the wonder of becoming Hattie’s mother. What were we discussing? Oh, I remember. Childproofing the house. You’ll need gates for the stairs, of course, and some things will have to be put away. This contemporary furniture looks durable and has no sharp corners... I’m assuming it’s all unbreakable glass?”

  He nodded. “See, you can deal with all that because you know what needs to be done. I haven’t taken care of a toddler. Artie was a tiny baby.”

  “It doesn’t take long to learn how to childproof a room.”

  “There’s something else I have to do. I need to set up trusts for you and for Hattie.”

  “Nick, I have savings. As I said, my dad was in insurance and he had a big policy on Mom and on himself. I’ve got that money. I live a simple life and I’ve invested the insurance money. I don’t need anything from you.”

  He looked amused. “You are one in a million, Talia, in a lot of ways. But I’d like to set up trusts for you and Hattie in case something happens to me. If you don’t need or want yours, save it for Hattie.”

  “That’s sweet, Nick, and if you want to do that, go ahead. But you’ve already given me my biggest wish.”

  “Speaking of Hattie, for now I’d like you to stay on the ranch most of the time. I really would like for us to be a family to whatever extent we could work it out. That would be the best thing for Hattie.”

  He was sitting there facing her, calmly fulfilling all her dreams and fantasies. She couldn’t sit still any longer. “Ahh, Nick,” she cried, standing up and flinging her arms in the air. “I can’t sit still. It’s the most fantastic thing possible. A stay-at-home mom on the ranch. You want us to be a family. It’s wonderful.”

  He let out a laugh as he came to his feet. “You love her so much, Talia, I think this will work and we’ll all be happy. A huge worry has lifted from me.”

  Overjoyed, Talia spun on her heels, but she must have slipped on one of the glossy magazines because the next thing she knew, Nick was steadying her, his hands on her waist. Instantly, she felt their heat singeing her through her clothes. She looked down at them, then up at him.

  She expected him to pull his hands back, but he didn’t. He just stood there, looking at her. For a moment, she had to admit she wished he’d never stop touching her. Then she realized the danger zone she was stepping into.

  “I—I guess I should take Hattie home now and think about all we’ve talked about.”

  Was it her imagination, or did Nick actually look disappointed? He lowered his hands and stepped aside. “Okay.” But before she could move, he reached out and grabbed her hand. “Talia, I think this is the best solution for all three of us.”

  That, she believed with all her heart. But as she looked into his green eyes, so like Hattie’s only far more unfathomable, there was another part of her that acknowledged the danger in their plan. And it all started with the sexy man standing in front of her.

  “I can’t imagine marrying for convenience with love not any part of the equation, but I’ll try my best to make it work.” Had she really uttered those words, or had she merely thought them in her mind?

  “It might not be easy, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy.”

  “What about having sex?” she asked, feeling heat flood her cheeks the minute the question was out.

  His hand left hers and traveled up her arm in a slow, tantalizing path. His eyes blazed the trail till he looked up at her again and something flickered in their depths. Her heart pounded.

  “Well, there’s one way to find out,” he said and slipped his arm around her waist, drawing her against him.

  Her hands flew to his muscled arms as she looked into his eyes, and her heart thudded when she saw his intention. What she saw in his expression was personal, hot and demanding. That sizzling reaction they’d had each time there had been the barest physical contact sparked between them while awareness and desire ignited. Her lips tingled and her gaze shifted to his mouth and then she looked into his eyes again. When she did, she received a look that sent a tremor from her head to her toes. He intended to kiss her and she wanted him to.

  His arms tightened around her, drawing her flush against his hard, muscled body, a masculine body that caused wild desire to shoot through her. Holding her tightly in his strong arms, he leaned closer and closer, until she yearned for his kiss. When his lips finally met hers, she was consumed by his dazzling kiss. A kiss like none she had ever experienced before. His kiss made her tremble as she wrapped her arms around him and opened her mouth to him, pouring herself, all her joy and excitement and enthusiasm, into her response.

  A primal need enveloped her, and she wanted more of him, more than a kiss, no matter how passionate. His mouth stirred an irresistible, sizzling longing within her that she knew only hours in his bed would satisfy. She didn’t know if her reaction was because of his fantastic marriage proposal or because he was the sexiest man she had ever met or if it was the fiery, spontaneous reaction they had to each other.

  Now she was dazzled, tingling and wanting him. From mouth to thighs, her body was pressed against his. She felt his big Western belt buckle against her, but it was his lips and tongue that drew her attention. Touching, stroking in a demanding, passionate kiss that made her shake with need. With an effort, she broke away slightly, staring at him in shock. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and continue kissing him, while at the same time, she was stunned by her response to him. A fleeting thought made her wonder if she would ever see him the same way again.

  “I think that kiss just answered your question,” he said in a husky voice, looking intently at her. “I think we’ll do all right together,” he added. “And I’m sure sex will be part of the equation. I’m about to go up in flames,” he added in a husky voice as he ran his hand across his brow that was beaded with sweat. They both were gasping for breath.

  She barely heard him and it took a second to remember her question. What about having sex? Her pulse still raced and her mouth tingled; every inch down to her toes throbbed with desire. She had never been kissed like that and she stared at him, fighting the temptation to take the one step that would close the space between them and put her back into his arms.

  His eyes narrowed as they stared at each other. She realized how he looked at her and how she probably appeared to him. “That was sort of...dazzling. I better go now,” she whispered.

  “I know you don’t intend to, but I think you might bring me back to life,” he said, still looking intently at her. He placed his fingers on her chin, tilting her head as he gazed into her eyes. “One thing, Talia. I have to be truthful. I loved Regina and I don’t think I can ever love again. I miss her every day that goes by. Remember, this is a proposal for a marriage of convenience, not love.”

  “I understand that you still love your wife even though she’s gone and I can cope with that. I don’t expect us to fall in love.” She said those words, but her thoughts went in a different direction. She couldn’t stop thinking about his kiss. A kiss that made her want to step right back into his embrace, wrap her arms around him and kiss him again. If one kiss could do this to her, she thought, how would she be after a night of raging hot sex? Could she keep from falling in love with him?

  His voice broke through her thoughts. “What we just conjured up between us wasn’t love.”

  No, it was a raging inferno because of the sexiest kiss ever.

  “Oh, Nick,” she said, her heart pounding and her voice raspy, “it may not be smart to do, but I need to give you one more kiss of thanks for giving me my dream.” Stepping closer, she flung her arms around his neck, and standing on tiptoe, she kissed him, again pouring all her gratitude, excitement and happiness into another kiss.

  Instantly, his arms circled her waist and he pulled her up hard against his body as he leaned over her and kissed her in
return, his tongue moving over hers, stroking hers, setting her ablaze once more. She moaned with pleasure, felt his hard erection press against her. She finally broke away to gasp for breath.

  They stared in silence at each other as if they were just seeing each other for the first time.

  “I think I might be getting a bonus in this marriage on top of becoming Hattie’s mom,” she whispered.

  “We both are,” he said.

  With a little shake, she tried to get back to the moment and glanced down at Hattie to find the little girl happily tearing up the magazines.

  “Oh, my goodness,” Talia said, rushing to stop her.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Nick urged. “That’s all recycle stuff now. I’ve read everything there I’m going to read.”

  “She can’t tear up magazines. Next thing you know she’ll be tearing pages out of her books.” She knelt beside her on the floor and pried the pages out of her little hands.

  “Hattie, no, no, no,” Talia said, shaking her head, while speaking gently. “We don’t rip these up. Let’s look at the pictures. See? Here’s a little white dog,” she said, showing Hattie a magazine with a dog picture.

  Hattie pointed at it. “Doggy,” she said, stabbing the picture with a small finger. “Doggy.”

  “Let’s put the picture away in the box now.”

  Obediently, Hattie picked up the magazine and deposited it in the box.

  In minutes they had the area cleaned up. Talia sat on the floor beside Hattie and glanced at Nick to find him sitting close at hand and watching her.

  “We should get to know each other a little better as well as start making plans,” he said. “Come over for dinner tomorrow night and bring Hattie. I’ll get Kirby, my cook, to check with you about what Hattie can eat.”