The Marriage He Demands--A Passionate Western Romance by Brenda Jackson

Author:Brenda Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-01-07T19:31:45+00:00

* * *

Brianna took a sip of lemonade before she said, “I’ve always wanted a family, Cash. I was an only child, so I dreamed of one day getting married, becoming a mom with lots of kids. At least four. Alan had wanted a large family, too. That was one of the things we agreed on.”

She paused. “I had everything planned. We would marry like he promised, the year I graduated from high school, and I would travel with him and support his military career and have his babies. It was my dream to have all four before my thirtieth birthday.”

She couldn’t help but smile at the lifting of his brow. “I know that sounds crazy because it means my being pregnant most of the time, but I was okay with that. Alan was, too. The kids would each be two years apart. Like I said, I had it all planned out.”

The smile on Brianna’s face faded when she continued. “But none of those plans happened. My dreams were destroyed.”

He nodded. “Yes, you told me.”

She took another sip of her lemonade. “Nobody knew how much I wanted a family more than my parents. Especially Dad. I think at one time that’s all I ever talked about. Marrying Alan, being a good wife to him and a good mother to our babies. Dad knew the pain Alan’s betrayal caused me and I told him I would never marry. He believed me.”

Brianna paused again. “Dad knew he was dying and wanted to prepare me for a life without him. He didn’t want me to be alone. He knew it was likely I would never fall in love and marry, which meant I would never have a child and be the mother I’d always wanted to be.”

She fought back tears. “The night before he died, Dad sat me down on the sofa beside him and made me promise him that I wouldn’t be alone on my thirtieth birthday. And that I would have the one thing I’d always wanted.”

“A baby?”

“Yes.”

He looked at her. “A child and not a husband?”

“Yes. Dad figured I would get pregnant without a man’s involvement like Miesha did.”

He lifted a brow. “Who’s Miesha?”

“Miesha James is my best friend from college. She still lives in Atlanta and owns a communications firm there. For reasons I’d rather not go into, Miesha wanted a baby, so she went to a sperm bank. She had the procedure done, got pregnant, and now Darrett is six and in first grade.” Brianna paused. “Dad figured right. I had planned to do the same thing when it came time to have my baby.”

She took another sip of her lemonade. “However, I recently discovered the sperm bank might not be the best approach to motherhood after all.”

“Why not?”

She poured more lemonade before answering. “It was a hard decision to make, but there were no donors there who felt right to me.”

“Why me, Brianna? Why would you want me to father your child?”

Brianna gave him the reasons that had convinced her she would be doing the right thing.

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