The Virgin's Baby_A Forced Marriage Romance

by Michelle Love

  “If we make a deal, you will have to be thoroughly examined by my physician before we go any further.” I eyed her and noticed how she squirmed.

  “We’re not that far yet, Ransom.” She picked up the glass of ice water and took a drink.

  “You sure you don’t want something stronger than that? Maybe a beer or something? They have everything you could ever want here.” She needed to relax if we were going to get anywhere.

  “I’ve never drunk anything with alcohol in it.” Her hand lingered on the glass after she’d placed it back on the table.

  I found that hard to believe. “You did say you go to Texas Tech, right?” It was like a rite of passage to go to at least one of the historic parties at that college.

  “I do.” Her eyes became dark as she looked up at me. “I know it sounds weird, but I’ve never drunk alcohol. Sue me.”

  It completely intrigued me that she had withstood the tremendous peer pressure that I knew went on at that college. “I think that’s cool. But I also think you should have a drink if you want one. How old are you?”

  “Twenty-three. But I don’t want one. I’m not about to get drunk and make a decision as big as this one under the influence of alcohol.” She put her hands in her lap as the appetizer was served.

  Ricardo placed a large white porcelain bowl filled with ice and oysters on the half-shell. “These were flown in this morning from Rockport. You can’t get much fresher than this unless you’re on the coast.” He placed a small bottle of Tabasco sauce on the table before turning his attention to Aspen. “If you want anything other than water to drink, please let me know.”

  She looked at the oysters as if they were something she’d never seen before. “Um. What does one usually drink when they eat this?”

  “Beer,” Ricardo replied. “Or white wine.”

  I had to chuckle. “Or a whiskey sour.” I held up my glass then took a drink.

  She didn’t look like she was happy with the idea of eating the delicacies. “So, one should be drunk to eat these things then. Makes perfect sense.”

  I could’ve told Ricardo to take them back and bring us something more her speed. But I thought I might try my hand at pushing her toward doing something she didn’t want to do. It sounded like fun to me. “I guess you’ll be the first to down them with water as a chaser. Thanks, Ricardo. We’re good here.”

  Her eyes followed him as he walked away. I picked up one of the shells the meaty muscle was nestled in. She watched me as I put a dash of Tabasco on top before lifting the shell to allow the oyster to slide into my mouth before going down my throat. Then I took a drink ending with an “Ah. Try one.”

  Her head shook. “Oh, I don’t.”

  I wasn’t going to let her get away without at least eating one. Sliding my chair over closer to her, I picked up another shell. “I’ll help you. It’s not bad at all. I promise. Come on now. Open up, and I’ll do all the work. You’ll see. It slides right down your throat.”

  Her eyes were as wide as they could go. Her lips trembled. “I don’t.”

  I put one finger to her plump lips. “You just haven’t yet. That doesn’t mean you don’t want to try it. Come on. Part those lips of yours and let me do this. It won’t hurt you a bit.”

  With her eyes glued to mine, she finally nodded then closed her eyes and opened her mouth, leaning her head back to make sure that thing slid down her throat.

  “Don’t chew it. Let it move on its own then swallow when it hits your throat.” My cock’s interest was piqued as I watched her throat bob as she gulped.

  Lifting the shell to make sure the oyster went right into her throat, I tipped it, and it slipped off and went right down the way I’d said it would. After swallowing it, she opened those pretty eyes. “Hey, I did it. You were right. It wasn’t bad at all. I didn’t taste a thing.”

  Handing her the glass of water, I said, “Here, let this wash it down, and I’ll give you another one. If you want.”

  “Let me try it,” she said as she took a sip.

  Sitting there, I couldn’t help but laugh as she ate three in a row. “See, you do like to try new things. So, how about a glass of white wine?”

  “Okay,” she agreed with a nod. “But you can’t take anything I say to heart. Like, if I tell you that I’ll do this thing for you, you can’t take that to mean that I actually will. You know?”

  “This is just a preliminary step, Aspen. Of course, I won’t hold you accountable for any words you say—only accountable for any legal forms you sign.” I ate an oyster myself before getting Ricardo to bring her a glass of their finest white wine.

  The girl was already doing things she’d never considered doing before. I was growing more and more certain I could get her to have my baby.

  By the time the first course was over, Aspen had already drank half the glass of wine. “This stuff is so good, Ransom. Thank you for suggesting it.” She took another sip then put the glass down.

  Ricardo came and took the empty appetizer bowl away before returning with a creamy soup. “Crab bisque,” he informed us. “Enjoy.”

  I had to shift away a little, so our elbows wouldn’t hit when we ate the soup. But I had to admit that I liked the vibe between us; she was easy to be around. Then that scared me a bit.

  Maybe she’s not the right one to do this with.

  “Have you ever thought before about having children, Aspen?” I thought that question might help me understand her better.

  “No.” She took the first bite of soup and moaned so damn sexily my cock jerked in my jeans. “Oh, Jesus, this is so smooth and delicious.” She took another spoonful and made an extraordinary moan that sent my cock into overdrive. It pushed against my jeans to the max, making me a little uncomfortable.

  All I could do was watch her eat; I hadn’t even taken a bite of mine yet. With a smile, she picked up my spoon and dipped it into my bowl. Holding out the spoon to me, I understood that she wanted to feed me. So, I opened my mouth, and she gently tucked in the spoon and I closed my lips over it. “It is good,” I said.

  She shook her head. “It’s better than good. It’s exquisite. The bits of crab are so tender, and the seasoning is intricate, delicate yet somehow sturdy.”

  “Ah, have I found myself a foodie?” I joked.

  “I don’t know what you’ve found to be honest.” She leaned back in her chair thoughtfully. “Ransom, don’t take this the wrong way.”

  “I’ll try not to,” I told her.

  “I don’t think having your baby is a good idea. I don’t think you’re going to be the kind of father I would want for my kid.” She held up her hand to forestall me as I started to say something in my defense. “Not that I don’t think men can raise children. My father raised me from a baby too. But I think you’re still too much of a…for lack of a better word…playboy.”

  Even though I shouldn’t have been, seeing as how she was right, but I was thoroughly incensed.

  “You do, do you?” was about all I could say.

  Who does she think she is?

  Chapter Eight

  Aspen

  Lubbock, Texas – May 18th

  Ransom went chilly on me after I told him he was a playboy and not the kind of man I’d leave a baby with. But his cool demeanor gave me food for thought.

  Margo and Cher were busy cleaning up the mess we’d made from breakfast as I did the dishes. I’d filled Cher in on everything, so she was up to speed. “So, it’s been two days now. I’ve kept Ransom on hold, and I think it’s time to make a decision. One way or the other, I need to let him know what I want to do pretty soon.”

  Cher offered, “You should make a list of pros and cons. That’s what I do when I’ve got a big decision to make.” She swept the floor, and then picked up the dirt with a dustpan.

  I had to hand it to her, Cher was an excellent housekeeper. “Great job on cleaning the house, Cher. You’ve made it sparkle. I didn’t even know it could, but you made it happen.”

  “
By the way,” Cher said. “I’ve got this friend from my art classes. She’s living at home with her parents too. Her name’s Anne. She works at Long John Silver’s, and she asked about sharing the room I’m in. What do you guys think?”

  Margo put the butter and jelly back in the fridge. Along with cleaning, Cher bought a ton of groceries for the household as she had a good amount of money she’d been stockpiling for three years. “If she’s anything like you, tell her to come on over, and we can talk a bit.”

  Cher looked happy and excited. “She’s a lot like me. And we’ve been talking about how much we could spruce this place up. We both paint, and we would love to hang some of our art on the walls. Also, Anne loves to sew and makes curtains and shower curtains too. She thought she could add to our little group by making us all matching bedspreads and curtains and things like that.”

  “Okay,” Margo interrupted her with a grin. “You better get her over here ASAP. She sounds wonderful.”

  Cher was on cloud nine as she left the kitchen to go make the call. It was nice to see someone flourishing on their own. It made me wish that I’d done more of that when I got out on my own.

  But being forced out into the world is a little different than going out into it voluntarily. I needed to cut myself some slack for my slow progress into adulthood.

  Margo pulled up a chair and sat at the table with a pad of paper and a pencil. “Okay, take a seat, Aspen, and let’s make this list. Pros on one side, cons on the other.”

  I sat down and got to thinking. “The first pro would be that I would have enough money to pay for the next semester of classes. And the next pro would be that it would help me finish my degree. That’s a pretty big pro.”

  “Agreed.” She wrote those things down then gave me a severe stare. “Now be real here. Giving that baby up won’t be easy. How are you going to do that?”

  She was right about that. “I’ve got to talk to Ransom more about that. He’s agreed to let me be in the kid’s life, but I don’t know how much. I don’t know if I’ll get to bring the baby home with me some or what all it entails.”

  “So, I’ll put that as a con then,” she said as she wrote it down. “May not get to have as much to do with the child as might want to.”

  The thought of having a baby then handing it over to Ransom or worse, some nanny, made me feel sick inside. “Put a star by that one. I really don’t think I can walk away.”

  Tapping the eraser end of the pencil to her chin, she asked, “What if he allowed you to live with him? Well, not with him, but in the house. Or mansion or sprawling estate. Whatever he lives in.”

  My heart sped up. “Yeah! What if he did do that?” I thought that might just work for me. “Still no strings. He could do what he wanted to. But I would get to be there all the time for our kid. I think that would be great.”

  Her optimism took a left turn as she said, “He probably won’t agree to that though.”

  My heart fell just as quickly as it had sped up. “You’re probably right.”

  Margo looked at the pad of paper with so little written on it. “I suppose you should talk to him more about this. Get the details hammered out.”

  I thought about how the rest of the evening went after I’d pissed him off. He’d moved his chair back to the other side of the table and become a bit distant. And he’d made sure to let me know once more that I wasn’t his type, and he didn’t see a problem with me having his baby. He felt sure he could keep the deal of no strings attached where I was concerned.

  I couldn’t deny that my ego had been bruised. I also didn’t share his opinion on th14at matter.

  He had seemed attracted to me at first, and I bet the coldness was nothing more than a defense mechanism when I’d told him what I thought of him. I was pretty sure no one had ever done that before.

  Then again, why would anyone say a thing like that?

  “Margo, the thing is that I don’t think I can go through with this without falling for the man,” I admitted to her.

  “I couldn’t either, Aspen. He’s so hot.” She fanned herself as an afterthought. “And living day in and day out with him would just make things that much harder.”

  “But he’s so sure he wants the baby and nothing more.” I leaned my elbow on the table then rested my chin in my palm. “And I know I’ll want more with him. He makes me all tingly inside.”

  She laughed. “Oh, does he now?”

  I nodded as I thought about how he made me feel. “He and I were getting along so well—before I called him a playboy.”

  With a sigh, she said, “You can’t go around calling guys things like that. What if you were called a cock-tease? How would you feel about that?”

  “Well, since I’m not one, I would tell any errant man who said such a thing that he was wrong.” Shoving my hair back off my face, I added, “Ransom didn’t deny it. He just grew distant.”

  Margo wiggled her brows at me. “Well, he’s a gorgeous man, built like a brick shit house, and he drives a Porsche. Chances are that he is an actual bad boy. Stop using playboy, Aspen. No one uses that term anymore.”

  “I’m so out of it.” My face fell into my hands as I thought about what a freak I really was. “He got me to eat oysters and drink wine. He made my insides melt.” I recalled what else he’d made happen, but I wasn’t going to tell her that he’d made my panties wet too.

  “Yeah, bad boys do that to girls. Lots of girls. Tons of them even,” she went on.

  “And he would’ve done that to me, too, if I’d been less of a bitch to him.” I’d messed up and knew it.

  Or had I?

  Sitting up straight, I thought about the reality of it all. I would’ve rolled over and given myself to that man. I would’ve just given my virginity to Ransom Whitaker if he’d made so much as one more move on me.

  I couldn’t do the deal he wanted me to. I couldn’t raise a kid with him and never have anything more than that. And I couldn’t become just another notch on the man’s bedpost.

  I was better than that. I had waited for years for the right time. I couldn’t just up and give it to the first bad boy who paid attention to me.

  Had I always been easy and just never had a boy who was bad enough come on to me?

  Ransom was bad too. Really bad.

  That man wanted to have a baby just to keep his inheritance. That’s not a reason to have a baby.

  And what’s worse, he didn’t want to have this baby with any woman he might have to form a bond with. ‘No strings’ was his motto for everything, I would venture to bet.

  But then I remembered him saying that he wanted a baby, so he would be related to someone in this world, and if I had his baby, then I would have that too.

  And I wanted that. I’d never known that I wanted it until he brought it up, but I did. And I didn’t know if I would ever find a man I wanted to marry and start a family with.

  I hadn’t found one so far. But I wasn’t some spinster, too old to ever have a husband and family. I was only twenty-three. There would be plenty of time to find Mr. Right.

  And when I did, then what?

  If I had a kid with Ransom, and he and I were raising said kid together, then what would I do if I did find Mr. Right?

  Add him to our family?

  Even worse. What if Ransom found a Miss Right and brought her into our kid’s life? Where would that leave me?

  There were just too many variables. “I can’t do this. I just can’t.”

  Margo nodded then got up to put the pad of paper and pencil away. “No, you can’t. It’s just not the right thing to do. You don’t have that hard streak in you that a woman would need to go through with this. Or maybe it’s not a hard streak at all. Maybe it’s a soft streak. Maybe you would have to have loads and loads of compassion for the man to do something that selfless for him.”

  “Maybe so.” I got up and went to the front door to start my day of job searching. “I’ll call him in a couple of days and tell him that I can’t do it.
If I call him right now, he’ll say nice things and try to talk me into it. At this point, I think I’m too susceptible to his charms if he turns them on. He might not. I may have really struck a nerve when I called him a playboy.”

  It had never occurred to me that I could hurt a guy by saying such a thing.

  Am I really as nice as I think I am?

  Chapter Nine

  Ransom

  Lubbock, Texas – May 18th

  Grandad was able to step outside to sit with me on his favorite patio to watch the sunset. “I’m gonna miss these, boy.”

  I hated when he said things like that—like it was a certainty that he was going to die. “Grandad, you’ll see plenty more of these. I don’t want you to worry about that. Or think about it.”

  His wrinkled forehead creased even further as he frowned. “It’s hard not to think about it, Ransom. You’ve got no idea.”

  And I don’t want any idea.

  “So, the nurse told me today that your numbers are getting better. That’s some good news.” I picked up my beer and took a drink of it. He’d been so pessimistic; I wondered how he would spin this good news.

  “Yeah, well, that’s happened before.” His eyes closed for a moment, then he opened them back up. “The sad part is that the numbers always seem to get better just before they get worse. It’s God’s cruel joke, I suppose.”

  I couldn’t let him think that way. “Well, maybe this time the numbers will just keep getting better. Maybe you’ll be the one playing the jokes.”

  “Sure. Maybe.” I was happy to get that much out of him.

  His color was better, his eyes not quite as sunken as they had been, and he was able to get out of bed, which was great.

  “I’m sure the medications are working and that you’ll be done with this damn thing in no time.” At least I prayed I was right.

  Even on his best days, he still wasn’t the man I’d left a little over a month ago. I don’t know how I didn’t notice the change in him before I left. There had to have been signs that he was sick. But I never saw them.