Sandra Chastain Read Online Free PDF Page A

the man standing too close to her. It wasn’t too late to back out. She could simply give him a bonus check and say she’d changed her mind. Every sane thought in her mind urged her to do so. Every emotion that she’d kept long submerged surged forward to block out her reservations.
    “Children, McCall. After a reasonable period of time, I want you to give me children.”
    The sip of coffee Cade had just swallowed lodged in his throat somewhere below his vocal cords andaround his windpipe. Children? He’d considered that she might want a man, or the “services” of a man, but thoughts like those had vanished the moment he laid eyes on her. This woman could draw men like a honeycomb attracts a hungry bear.
    She turned, forcing herself to face him. “Do you understand, McCall? I want children, several children, as quickly as I can produce them.”
    “Why?” This time there was no disguising the hoarseness in his voice.
    “The answer is simple. Silverwild is my life as it was my father’s. I will not let it end with my death. I was an only child, and my late husband was incapable of giving me children. I want heirs—legal, legitimate heirs. For that I need a husband.”
    “Why me?”
    “That is a bit more complicated. For reasons that I won’t go into, there are no suitable men in the area. I have neither the time nor the inclination to go looking out-of-state. Singles bars and dating services are a waste of time.”
    “What about artificial insemination? I’d think that a cattle breeder would be more than willing to adopt such a procedure.”
    “You’re right. Normally I would. But artificial insemination is time-consuming, expensive, and not always reliable. Aside from the fact that it would be difficult to keep such a procedure secret. Advertising for a man I could secretly interview as a potential husband seemed the most expedient means of solving the problem.”
    “Less emotional, less personal than offering yourself to someone you know, I can understand that,” he admitted. “By choosing an outsider who’signorant of the ranching business you can get what you want without losing control. But how can you be sure that I can produce?”
    “I’m not. My investigation simply stated that you have already fathered a child, that you’re a healthy specimen. You have no bad habits and no ties to any place or anybody. However, because of the variables, I’ve come up with contingent plans. We sign a preliminary agreement to—work together for six months. If at the end of six months I am not pregnant, you will be given a bonus and a release from the agreement.”
    “Six months. Not much time to prove myself, is it?”
    “I’m thirty-two years old, McCall. I’m the one who doesn’t have a lot of time.”
    “And if you are pregnant in six months, what then?”
    “We will marry. On the birth of my child I will give you twenty-five percent of Silverwild. Of course, I will continue to operate the ranch just as I do now. After several children are born, we’ll get a quiet divorce, and I’ll buy back your stock. You’ll be a wealthy man.”
    “What happens if you’re not pregnant?”
    “I’ll pay you a flat fee of ten thousand dollars for your service and offer you quarters until you can make other arrangements.”
    “I see.” And in some crazy logical way he did. He didn’t believe for one minute that she was as unemotional about this undertaking as she was pretending. An unemotional woman would seek out and adopt a healthy child who could be groomed from birth to be the heir. But this woman wanted to bear her own, not one child but several.And that was how she gave herself away. Her child had to be just that, her flesh and blood. He understood her plan. He didn’t understand her need.
    Janie had never wanted a child. Perhaps she hadn’t known she was pregnant at the time she left him, but all the time Pixie was growing up, she’d never told him about their daughter. He’d always believed that