Seduction, Westmoreland Style - Brenda Jackson [59]
There…she had deliberately made him remember how their nights had been for the past three weeks. He would rush home every day and they would get dinner, take a shower together, go to bed and make love.
“Yeah, well, like I said, I’ve been busy. Besides, I’ve been thinking.”
She suddenly felt a little queasiness settle in her stomach. “About what?”
“About us. You’ll be through training Prince Charming in a few more weeks and will be moving on. I even understand you’re looking to buy a place in town and—”
“Is that’s what this is about, McKinnon? Are you upset that I resumed looking for a place in town? Because if you are then—”
“Upset? Why should I be upset about anything? You and I both knew things between us wouldn’t last and it’s no problem, no big deal. You’re doing the right thing by moving on.”
She flinched. It sounded like he hadn’t cared and she refused to believe that. She didn’t want to believe it. Yes, she had known the score but at some point she’d actually believe the rules had changed not only for her, but for him as well. Although she couldn’t claim that she thought he had fallen in love with her the same way she had fallen in love with him, she refused to believe she had been nothing more than a willing body to him.
“Is that what you really want, McKinnon?”
He hesitated a moment before answering. “Yes. It will be for the best.”
Casey sighed deeply, intent on giving him what he wanted. She had her pride and refused to carry a torch for a man who didn’t love her—like her mother had with her father. She’d thought just the memories of what the two of them shared would suffice, but now she knew that they wouldn’t. And she had a feeling that at some point her mother discovered that fact as well.
At that moment she fully understood how her mother must have felt in knowing that although she had loved Corey Westmoreland, he did not love her. But he had given her babies, which to Carolyn Roberts were all the memories she needed. Casey was certain that each time her mother gazed into her children’s faces, which so closely resembled the man she had loved, she was content. And that contentment had lasted until the day she had died. In realizing that, Casey’s love and admiration for her mother increased.
Now Casey was faced with a similar decision. During all those times she and McKinnon had made love, they’d never once used protection. The first couple of times had been during the wrong time of the month, but the recent times had not. That meant she could possibly find herself in the same situation her mother had. Single and pregnant by a man who didn’t love her. But unlike her mother who’d kept silent, she intended to let McKinnon know it.
“Fine, I’ll leave and find someplace else when my business here is finished, and if I’m pregnant you’ll know it. There were a number of times that we engaged in unprotected sex.”
For a moment he looked as if she’d slapped him. After a few seconds of silence he finally said, “You aren’t pregnant.”
She laughed softly to hide her pain. “Oh, so you’re a doctor now, McKinnon?”
He leaned back against the closed door and placed his arms across his chest. His face was rigid and stern. “No, but I know you aren’t pregnant. There’s no way you can be.”
Casey frowned as she stared at him. “And what makes you so certain of that?”
Here we go again, McKinnon thought. Tell her so she can do the same thing Lynette did. Lynette didn’t waste any time packing up her stuff and hauling ass because you could never give her the children she wanted. So go ahead and tell Casey the truth and see how fast she leaves.
He would never forget how he had arrived back at the ranch or his meeting in town with Durango and Mike Farmer. He’d been determined to follow Durango’s advice and confront Casey, tell her the truth and let the decision be hers. But when he’d walked in on her in the barn, she’d been talking to Dawn Harvey, the wife of one of his ranch hands who’d had a baby a few months earlier. She had brought