Expecting his child(3)

Jonathan, the brother to whom Noah felt closest, had the most even  temperament and was by far the most intuitive. "You're not drinking?"

"Not yet," Noah said, and poured the whiskey.

"Congratulations," Gideon said with a sly grin and swallowed his shot. "Does this baby come with a woman?"

"Yeah," Noah said. "Martina Logan."

Jonathan dropped his shot glass. Adam and Gideon stared at Noah in disbelief.

"You better be joking," Adam said.

"I'm not. She's carrying my baby. We met in Chicago. She's not like her  brothers," Noah said, then remembered her scorching refusal to his  proposal this morning. "In some ways, she's worse," he said with a wry  laugh. "But I'm going to marry her, bring her here to live, and we're  going to raise the baby here."

Adam and Gideon stood. "You've gone way too far this time," Adam said.  "The Coltranes have nothing to do with the Logans. We don't date 'em. We  don't marry 'em. We don't get 'em pregnant. Hell, we don't speak to  'em."

"Too late," Noah said.

Swearing, Gideon grabbed Noah by the shirt collar. "It's not too late. Tell her to get rid-"

Instinct raged through him, and Noah pushed his brother away. "I don't want to ever hear that from you or any of you again."

Adam shook his head. "You've gone too far," he said. "I'm cutting you out of the ranch. Just leave and don't come back."

Noah glanced at Jonathan and read the distress and disappointment on his  face. His gut wrenched at the thought of leaving. "Okay. I guess that  means you don't need the money I make for the ranch by trading cattle  futures and leasing the hunting rights."

Adam cursed under his breath. "You know that money has bailed us out  during a bad year." He shook his head again. "Now how could you make  such a huge mistake?"

"I dislike the Logans as much as you do, but I've been dealt a new hand  of cards, and I have to do what's right. We've all spent most of our  lives living down the bad decisions our father, or his father, or his  father made. I'm not gonna keep making bad decisions. This baby's no  mistake."                       
       
           



       

Adam and Gideon glared at him in hostile silence. Jonathan sighed and  broke the angry, tense silence. "I wonder what Zachary would say right  now," he mused in a calm voice that was like cool water on flames.

Noah immediately saw the change in his brothers' faces. Adam exhaled and viewed him with grudging acceptance.

Gideon looked away, clearly ashamed. "Sorry I said that about getting  rid … " He broke off. "Sorry," he said. True to form, he was quick to  anger, but usually quick to apologize. "I'm going for a walk."

"I'm going to bed," Adam said.

Noah stood in the dining room with only Jonathan. Jonathan reached for  the bottle of whisky, poured a shot into his glass and held it out for  Noah to take. "I like a lot of your ideas and innovations," he said.  "When Adam balked, I could see you were going to do good things. I  always envied how you could think outside the box. But I gotta tell you  –   this isn't outside the box. It's not outside the county or the state.  It's outside the universe. So what was it? Temporary insanity?"

Noah swallowed the liquor, feeling the fire all the way down his throat  and chest into his stomach. "Maybe," he said, and met Jonathan's gaze.  "It felt right."

Jonathan shook his head in disbelief. "How could it possibly?"

"I'm not sure I can explain it. The same way it feels right for you to  train horses. Why aren't you hollering or taking a swing at me?"

Jonathan covered a faint grin with his hand. "Based on my limited  experience with the Logans, I'm just guessing that Martina Logan is  gonna torture you more than I ever could."

Noah gave a wry chuckle. "Maybe."

"How does she feel about getting married?"

"She's getting used to the idea," Noah said, thinking that wasn't anywhere near the truth. It must have shown.

"She flat out turned you down," Jonathan concluded.

Noah nodded. "She did. But I've had a lot of practice turning no into yes."





* * *





Chapter 2

«^»

"Thanks for helping with the groceries, Rodney," Martina said as she pushed the key into her front door.

"No problem," her neighbor said. "I- Excuse me, who?"

"I'm the father of her baby," a familiar voice said from behind her, heating her to the core with the simple statement.

Martina's stomach dipped. She had thought he wouldn't be back for at  least a week or two. Wishful thinking. She turned quickly and met Noah's  gaze, noting the fact that he, instead of Rodney, was carrying her  grocery bags.

"What a surprise," she finally managed.

Rodney eyed Noah with suspicion.

"Rodney, this is Noah." She took a deep breath. She rebelled at using  Noah's words. They were primal, possessive, and emphasized the  connection between them, a connection Martina preferred to diminish.  "He, uh, contributed genetic material," she said, and forced a smile.  "Thanks again for helping."

"Any time," Rodney said with a nod and curious glance at Noah.

"What brings you here?" she asked Noah after Rodney left.

"You." Noah caught the door for her and followed her into the kitchen.  "You missed me," he said, his voice holding a mix of sexy humor.

Martina's lips twitched and she put her bag on the counter. "Like I miss morning sickness."

"Did you have much of it?" he asked more seriously.

"About three weeks when I lived on saltines, soda and vitamins."

"And now?"

She turned to face him. "Now I'm just really big."

His gaze fell over her, lingering on her breasts, tummy and legs. "Just  in a few places," he said. "Pregnancy looks good on you."

The way he looked at her reminded her of the passion they'd shared and  the way he had taken her body. The way he looked at her reminded her of  how much she had wanted him. Martina pushed the thought from her mind  and turned back around to put away the groceries. "You didn't really say  what you wanted."

"Yes, I did," he said. "You."

Her heart jumped and she nearly dropped a carton of eggs. "You wanted to  talk to me about something," she quickly corrected for his benefit and  hers.

"Have you thought any more about my proposal?"

She mentally put on her armor as she put away the groceries. "I don't recall any proposals."

"For you to marry me," he told her calmly.

"You didn't ever really ask," she said. "You ordered."

"Will you marry me?"

"No," she said as quickly as he'd asked.

He sighed and she reluctantly met his gaze. "Do you think you are doing  the best thing for the baby to not have me involved at all?"                       
       
           



       

She opened her mouth to say yes, but a strong inner integrity defeated her. She closed her mouth.

"Do you think the best thing for this baby is to have two parents married to each other living in the same home?"

Martina had admired his insight before. Now it got under her skin. "In  general, yes, but we have a special circumstance. Our families have held  a grudge against each other for over a hundred years."

"What's more important? A grudge or the welfare of our child?"

Martina shook her head. "There's more involved and you know it. You and I  wanted each other temporarily. We knew we weren't looking for anything  permanent. There's a big difference between what is good on a temporary  basis and what is good forever."

Noah walked toward her, his eyes glinting. "Are you saying I'm not good husband material?"

Each step he took closer packed a wallop on her nerve endings. His  intensity, his confidence, his personality, his aura had been and still  were entirely too sexy for her own good. She lifted her chin. "Yes, I  am. There's a big difference between a lover and a husband. As a  husband, I can already tell you'll pull the same kind of caveman  routines my brothers do. You'll order me around and tell me what to do  and expect me to be a good, submissive wife. I'm too independent for  that. While you may have been an-" she took a breath and wished for a  fan "-incredible lover, you wouldn't work for me as a husband," she  said, "at all."

She needed to make that clear to him, to her, to the entire free world,  all Third World countries and any planets inhabited by intelligent life.

He put his hands on the counter on either side of her, crowding her.  "You're assuming I'll act that way. You don't know that I will. You  really only have your experience to judge me. So tell me, what did I do  wrong?"