The Bride Says Maybe Read Online Free PDF Page B

another child.
    “Want a male bairn,” he said.
    “And I want to go to London.” She wanted to be reasonable. “May I have the second child there?”
    “Without me?”
    “You want to see your children born?” She appraised the big man with new eyes. She hadn’t really considered that any man had a care for babies. Her father hadn’t.
    “Aye. And they need to be born at Wolfstone. That is their home.”
    Wolfstone. She’d heard of it but had never seen it. The house was centuries old, and people said it had never been improved upon. She imagined a stone fortress, an inhospitable place for birthing babies . . . but then, her freedom was at stake.
    “One child, then we shall discuss the second,” she countered. She wanted to be reasonable. They were making a bargain between them, one that had many advantages for her. A married woman received a great deal of respect, and in light of all the trickery and mischief she’d instigated over the past few months, it was doubtful any other man would have her. Even though she was untouched, she had made some grave errors of judgment that could cost her dearly.
    Laird Breccan’s charge that she was not honorable echoed in her mind. Others might feel that way as well. But if she was married . . . then there could be a future for her.
    “There will be no discussion,” he informed her coolly. “I’ll have my children in hand before you go to London.”
    “What if I return after three years?” she suggested. “We could have another child, then I’d return to London. That seems fair.”
    “Not if you expect me to pay your expenses.”
    He hadn’t hesitated in his response. “That is a foul threat,” she said. “And it is ungentlemanly of you to not agree with my wishes since it will be my body doing the birthing.”
    “You have already told me, my lady, that I am no gentleman, and I don’t claim to be one.” He ran a hand along his horse’s neck before saying to her, “Besides, you’ve already cost me a pretty penny.”
    “ My father cost you a pretty penny,” she corrected. “Those are not my debts.”
    “I stand corrected, my lady.”
    “But will you agree to my terms?”
    He shot her an assessing look from the corner of his eye. Beyond them, his two men craned their necks as if they had been trying to listen, but Tara doubted if they had overheard anything. Both she and Laird Breccan had been cautious.
    “Two bairns born at Wolfstone,” he said, “then you can have whatever I have. It will be yours to go wherever you wish.
    He glanced back at the two men waiting for him. “This will be between us? Not even my uncles will know?”
    Ah, so those men were relatives. “Of course I will be quiet. I don’t want any word of this to be spread about.” There were already too many who would gleefully shred what little she had left of her reputation.
    But with marriage, even to the Black Campbell, there would be freedom. She would have a place in the world, and her father’s capricious vices could no longer threaten to destroy her security—
    Struck by this new thought, she asked, “Do you gamble excessively?”
    He made an impatient sound. “I am not foolish with my money.”
    Spoken like a Scotsman. “Do you not fear you are being foolish now?”
    He turned the full force of his gaze upon her. There was intelligence in his eyes and a touch of compassion as well. Perhaps he understood what it meant to be constantly judged?
    “Not if I have my bairns,” he answered. He held out his gloved hand. “Do we have a meeting of the minds, my lady?”
    She realized he wanted to shake her hand, much like she’d seen men do between themselves at the few horse sales she had attended.
    Tara searched his face. He seemed sincere. “Do you trust my honor now, Laird?”
    “I’ll take a risk.”
    She placed her ungloved hand in his. For the briefest moment, she felt a surge of a new confidence, of the sense she was making the right decision.
    This was a