Quade's Babies - Brenda Jackson [22]
Cheyenne looked at him, tried to weigh the sincerity in his words. It took more than potent seeds hitting a fertile egg to make a man a father. Maybe she was far too aware of what made a good father because she’d had one. Her dad had been a hardworking man who had cherished his wife and adored his daughters. The only thing she wished was that he’d laid off the cigarettes, which had resulted in him getting lung cancer and dying way too soon.
“Okay,” she said. “You want to be a part of their life, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a part of mine.”
He smiled and the way the corners of his lips curved made a wave of desire run through her stomach. She fought hard to downplay the effect. “I think it would be hard separating the four of you,” he said. “It’s a package deal. I want them and I want you. I claim them and I claim you, as well.”
Her gaze narrowed. “No. I won’t let you. We are Steeles.”
“Not for long.”
She frowned. “Are you threatening me?”
He chuckled and gave her that look she had found endearing the first time she’d seen it. “No, I thought I was asking you to marry me.”
“You didn’t ask. You all but demanded.”
“Then I apologize and will start over. Will you marry me?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Can I ask why?”
“I’ve told you why. I don’t know you.” And when he opened his mouth to speak, she quickly added. “Out of bed.”
He didn’t say anything for a minute and then. “All right, then I have a proposition for you.”
Something warned her to be cautious. “What kind of proposition?”
“I want to give you the time to get to know me, just like I want to get to know you.”
She stared at him. “Why?”
“Because according to you, that’s the reason why you won’t marry me. My job will be to try to impress you, sweep you off your feet and make you feel comfortable enough to consider the fact that you, me and the babies together as a family is the only way things can be.”
Cheyenne didn’t like the sound of that. She was an international model who traveled all over the country. What if he had a problem with her chosen career? And then there was that part of her job that no one, not even her family knew about. Her agent wasn’t even privy to information about it, although on occasion Cheyenne used her professional model status to get in and out of places where she needed to be.
“And if I don’t see things your way and agree to your proposition?” she asked, needing to know her options.
“Then I will seek legal counsel to see what rights I have as a father. If the five of us being together as a family is not an option, I need to make sure I have a legal right to be a part of my children’s life. I’d rather not involve an attorney, of course, and prefer that for the sake of the babies that we can reach some kind of a reasonable and acceptable resolution. But if not, I won’t hesitate to take you to court for shared custody rights.”
Shared custody rights. Her heart jumped at the very thought of her babies being separated from her at any time, especially while they were so young. She just couldn’t imagine it happening. But then all she had to do was to stare into Quade’s face to know that he couldn’t imagine it being any other way…other than the option he had given her. The one where the five of them would live together, married, as a family.
She needed to think. She needed to be alone. Basically, what she really needed was him gone. Around him she couldn’t completely think straight. “I need time to think about this, Quade.”
“That’s fine,” he said. “I’m not proposing that we marry right away. All I’m asking for is time for you to get to know me. However, I want my children to have my name as soon as it can be arranged. I want them entitled to everything I own if something were to ever happen to me.”
Cheyenne lifted a brow. If something were to ever happen to him. She didn’t even know what he did for a living for crying out loud. “What do you do for a living?” she asked.
“I recently retired from working for the Federal Government.”
“In what capacity.”
“Secret Service.”
Her frown deepened.