The Bride Says Maybe Read Online Free PDF

Highlands from her voice and from her person. And she wanted to return to that life. She understood it, found it safe. A woman had more opportunity in London.
    “A man’s wife should be by his side,” Laird Breccan said.
    “That is not true. There are many couples, well-respected ones, who live separate lives. They are honest with themselves.” Yes, she could see that now. What had once seemed puzzling to her young mind, the idea that a man and woman could be married and rarely speak to each other, now appeared honest. “We are not a love match. We don’t know each other, and, truly, we are from two different worlds. You don’t even want me. You want my body.”
    There it was, the basic negotiation between a man and a woman.
    He released his breath with one long sound as if he didn’t know how to respond to her declaration.
    The air between them seemed to crackle with unspoken words. She sensed he wanted to deny her logic . . . but couldn’t. He did want her.
    And he didn’t just dismiss her outright. He appeared to consider her words.
    Few people did that. Most treated her lightly, as if she were a bauble without a thought in her head. As time had passed, she’d found it easier to be what they assumed—except for now. She wanted Laird Breccan to understand she had a will of her own.
    “I want bairns,” he said at last.
    Bairns . Children. “How many?”
    He pulled his hat off his head and raked gloved fingers through black hair that was overlong although clean. A haircut and a shave would do him a world of good. He was not as old as people supposed. Perhaps ten years or so older than her own one-and-twenty.
    “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation,” he muttered.
    “Why? You talked to my father about money. Can you not do the same with me? After all, this arrangement involves my life. We should speak plainly between ourselves.” Aileen would be impressed. Aileen prided herself on her forthrightness and had criticized Tara for the lack of it. “So, how many children must I give you?”
    “As many as I can have.”
    “That is an unacceptable answer. I’ll never have the opportunity to return to London if that was the case.” She thought a moment. “One.”
    “One? Are you daft?”
    “No, sensible,” she replied a bit offended. “And watch your tongue. No one has ever accused me of loose brains before.”
    “They must not have known you.”
    His murmured comment almost startled a laugh out of her. “You are right. Few know me.” But they would in the future. She promised herself that. She pressed on. “One child. That is fair.”
    He did not like the offer. For a moment, he stared off into the distance but then turned to her, a canny Scotsman ready to strike a deal. She braced herself.
    “Aye, one child,” he surprised her by saying. “But he stays here with me. You’ll not be taking my bairn to London.”
    Tara considered his counter. Leave the child here. The thought did not disturb her. She’d grown up without a mother, and most women she admired left their children in the care of nannies.
    “What of funds for my London house?” she asked. “And I’ll expect a handsome allowance.”
    “You are not concerned about leaving your child?” There was disapproval in his voice.
    “Do you intend to be a good father?”
    “Aye, the best.”
    “Then our child shall have more than what I had.”
    His brows came together. He had shapely brows. They were not shaggy and bold like her father’s and other men’s. Indeed, if he shaved and cut his hair, he might be rather handsome instead appearing so forbidding.
    She’d heard that children were afraid of him and many adults as well. There were dark stories told about the Black Campbells.
    But she didn’t have any fear.
    “Very well,” he said, again surprising her with his easy agreement. “A house, an allowance, a son.”
    “Or daughter,” Tara was quick to add. She didn’t want to be forced to tarry wanting to bear