The Durango Affair - Brenda Jackson [9]
He raised an eyebrow. “Your child? You do mean our child, don’t you?”
Savannah bit her lip. No, she meant her child. She had begun thinking of this baby as hers ever since she’d taken the at-home pregnancy test. She’d begun thinking of herself as a single mom even before her doctor had confirmed her condition. She had accepted Durango’s role in the creation of her child, but that was as far as it went.
“Understand this, Savannah. I want to be a part in our child’s life.”
She felt a thickness in her throat and felt slightly alarmed. “What kind of a part?”
“Whatever part that belongs to me as its father.”
“But you live here in Montana and I live in Philadelphia. We’re miles apart.”
He nodded and studied her for a moment then said, “Then I guess it will be up to us to close the distance.”
Savannah sighed. “I don’t see how that is possible.”
Durango leaned back in his chair. “I do. There’s only one thing that we can do in this situation.”
Savannah raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Durango met her gaze, smiled confidently and said, “Get married.”
Three
S avannah blinked, thinking she had heard Durango wrong. After she was certain she hadn’t, she couldn’t help but chuckle. When she glanced over at him she saw that his expression wasn’t one of amusement. “You are joking, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Well, that’s too bad, because marriage is definitely not an option.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “And why not? Don’t you think I’m good enough for you?”
Savannah glared at him, wondering where that had come from. “It’s not a matter of whether or not you’re good enough for me, and I have no idea why you would believe I’d think otherwise. The main reason I won’t marry you is that we don’t know each other.”
He leaned in closer, clearly agitated. “Maybe not. But that didn’t stop us from sleeping together that night, did it?”
Savannah’s eyes narrowed. “Only because we’d had too much to drink. I don’t make a habit out of indulging in one-night stands.”
“But you did.”
“Yes, everyone is entitled to at least one mistake. Besides, we just can’t get married. People don’t get married these days because of a baby.”
His lips twitched in annoyance. “If you’re a Westmoreland you do. I don’t relish the idea of getting married any more than you, but the men in my family take our responsibilities seriously.” In Durango’s mind, it didn’t matter that he wasn’t the marrying kind; the situation dictated such action. Westmorelands didn’t have children out of wedlock and he was a Westmoreland.
He thought about his cousin Dare, who’d found out about his son A.J. only after Shelly had returned to their hometown when the boy was ten years old. Dare had married Shelly. His uncle Corey, who hadn’t known he’d fathered triplets over thirty years ago, was an exception to the rule. Corey Westmoreland could not have married the mother of his children because he hadn’t known they existed. Durango’s situation was different. He knew about Savannah’s pregnancy. Knowing about it and not doing something about it was completely unacceptable.
He had knocked her up and had to do what he knew was the right thing. Given the implications of their situation, getting married—even for only a short period of time—was the best course of action. He and Savannah were adults. Surely they could handle the intimacies of a brief marriage without wanting more. It wouldn’t be as if he was giving up being a bachelor forever.
“Well, consider yourself off the hook,” Savannah said, reclaiming his attention. “The only person who knows you’re my baby’s father is Jessica, although I’m sure she’s shared the news with Chase by now. If we ask them not to say anything to anyone I’m sure they won’t.”
“But I’ll know, Savannah, and there’s no way I’m going to walk away and not claim my child.”
For a quick second she felt a softening around her heart and couldn’t help appreciating him for declaring her child as his. But she would not marry him just because she was pregnant.
She gave him a brittle smile as she rose to her feet,