The Family Way by Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online Page B

no uncertain terms that you need a marriage license in order to be content. I’ll see that you get one.“
    She was right about some elements of the situation. There were a lot of things she should know about him, McCord decided, but tonight wasn’t the time to tell her. She was still feeling tense and uncertain in spite of the more relaxed atmosphere between them. He didn’t want to try and explain his family situation at the moment. That could come later. Sight now he had to concentrate on gentling her back into his life.
    „Honey, you know me as well as anyone else in the world does. Better, if you want the truth. You know I’

    ve never lied to you. You have to believe me when I tell you that I want you with me.“
    „But marriage?“
    He saw the undisguised longing and hope that lighted her eyes. She really did love him, he thought. She was just afraid to admit it aloud. He was touched by the fact that she hadn’t tried to use the baby to force his hand. It made him realize how deep her pride ran.
    During the past week he’d begun to acknowledge to himself that marriage might not be such a bad idea after all. The notion had been growing on him, he realized. Like a fungus, as J.P. Arlington would have said.
    McCord discovered he rather liked the idea of having Pru tied to him legally as well as emotionally.
    Something about the concept suited the possessive side of his nature. He wondered why the realization hadn’t occurred to him earlier. Probably, he admitted silently, because there had been no need to think about it. J.P. was right. McCord had been as happy as a bull in clover. There had been no reason to think about altering a situation that had suited him perfectly.
    „Yes, Pru. Marriage. It’s what you want, and I’m willing to go along.“
    She didn’t seem thrilled with the way he had phrased it, but she didn’t bounce out of her chair and run out the door, either. She was silent for a long moment. When she spoke, her voice was very soft and tentative.
    „Have you ever…“ Pru stopped, cleared her throat and tried again. „Have you ever thought about having children?“
    McCord smiled with all the reassurance at his command. „I figure if we’re going to get married, we might as well go the whole route. And the sooner the better. We’re not getting any younger, are we? I think we’d make good parents, don’t you?“
    „Yes,“ she said happily, „I think we would.“
    There was a trace of relief in her eyes, but she said nothing. McCord didn’t push.
    He concentrated on letting the evening flow gently after that. Deliberately he turned the conversation toward more general topics, filling her in on news of the foundation and giving her Steve Graham’s report on the garden.
    „One of these days I’m going to find a way to teach him to put away his tools,“ McCord said with a grimace as he finished describing the progress of the tomatoes.
    „He loves gardening and he’s learning so much from you. You know you enjoy teaching him,“ Pru pointed out. „Why make such a fuss about a minor bad habit?“
    „If s hard on the tools and someone could get hurt, that’s why,“ McCord growled.
    Pru grinned. „It’s such a small thing. Don’t worry about it.“
    „See if you’re still saying that after you step on a rake,“ McCord said.
    Because it was his nature to settle matters in a clean, straightforward fashion instead of letting them stay muddled, McCord would have preferred to keep up the pressure on Pru. Now that his own decision had been made, he was impatient with Pru’s uncertainty. But he was increasingly aware that she was teetering on the brink, and he was equally sure he knew which way she would fall when the time came.
    As the meal drew to a close, McCord forced himself to consider his immediate options. He had a simple choice to make. He could either try to coax her back to his hotel room or he could take her to her sister’s house and leave her with a chaste,