The Durango Affair - Brenda Jackson [31]
“The sooner the better, don’t you think? You’re a couple of months already. Jayla began really sticking out there by the fourth month. I remember when I went home for my father’s birthday during Easter and she was huge, almost as big as a house.”
Savannah raised her eyes to the ceiling, hoping he had the good sense not to mention such a thing to Jayla. Even pregnant, women were sensitive when it came to their weight. “She was carrying twins, Durango, for heaven’s sake.”
“And how do you know you aren’t? Multiple births run in my family. My father is the twin to Chase’s father and both of them had twins. Then Uncle Corey had triplets, so anything is possible.”
That wasn’t what Savannah wanted to hear. She much preferred having one healthy baby, but of course she would gladly accept whatever she got. “I couldn’t possibly get ready for Lake Tahoe by Friday. I didn’t bring any clothes here with me and I would need to purchase some things.”
“There’re several stores in Bozeman that will have everything you need. Tomorrow can be a shopping day.”
Savannah felt rushed and decided to let him know it. “I feel like you’re rushing me,” she said briskly.
A smile touched his lips. “In a way I am. Now that we’ve decided to do it, why wait? I want us to marry as soon as possible.”
She couldn’t help wondering why. Did he think she would change her mind or something? She was carrying his baby, and until she’d shown up and announced that fact, he hadn’t been interested in marriage. She had thought she would have at least a couple of weeks, maybe even a month before they actually did anything. She’d assumed she would leave tomorrow to return to Philadelphia and they would make plans for the wedding over the phone. This was definitely not what she had expected.
“Savannah, why are you hesitating? We should move forward and get things over with.”
Get things over with? Well, he certainly didn’t have to make it sound like marrying her was something being forced upon him. No one had asked him to do it. Getting married was his idea and not hers. She was about to tell him just that when he did something she hadn’t expected. He tugged her hand and pulled her out of her chair, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against him.
Startled, her head came up the moment her body pressed against his. Very little space separated them. A smile touched the corners of his mouth for a few seconds before he said softly, “You’re trying to be difficult, aren’t you?”
She swallowed. It wasn’t easy to gaze into the dark eyes holding hers captive. “Not intentionally.”
“Then why the cold feet? I’ve already checked the airlines and there are plenty of flights available, and I’ve talked to my brother Ian.”
At her frown he said, “And yes, I told him we decided to get married, but I didn’t tell him why. He said that he would love to have us as his guests for the weekend. He’s making all the necessary arrangements.”
He studied her features for a moment then asked, “Are you having second thoughts about eloping, Savannah? Do you prefer having a small wedding here so that we could invite our families?”
“No,” she said quickly. “I still prefer keeping things simple. I guess I’m hesitating because it never dawned on me that I might be returning to Philadelphia a married woman.”
“Then I guess you aren’t prepared to return to Philadelphia with a husband in tow, either.”
His words were a shocker. “You’re going back with me?”
“Yes. You’ll have to introduce me to your family sometime.”
Her head was reeling from the thought of him returning to Philadelphia with her. “You’ve already met my family at Chase and Jessica’s wedding.”
“Yes, but I met them as Chase’s cousin, not as your husband. Besides, we’ll be newlyweds and it will seem strange for us not to be together.”
“Yes, but—”
“And I want to take you home to Atlanta, as well, to meet my family. Not as Jessica’s sister but as my wife. Although everyone will probably reach their own conclusions as to why we eloped and got married, it’s really none