Wrapped In Pleasure - Brenda Jackson [16]
They drove back to the cabin in silence. Delaney kept her eyes on the road but felt Jamal’s eyes on her all the while.
“What kind of doctor are you?” he asked after they had ridden a few miles.
His question got him a smile. She enjoyed talking about her profession and was proud of the fact that she was the only doctor in the Westmoreland family. “I will be a pediatrician, but first I have to complete my residency, which will take another two years.”
“You like working with children?”
Delaney’s response was immediate. “Not only do I enjoy working with kids, I love kids, period.”
“So do I.”
Delaney was surprised by his comment. “You do?” Most men, especially a single man, wouldn’t admit that fact.
“Yes. I’m looking forward to getting married one day and having a family.”
She nodded. “Me, too. I want a houseful.”
Jamal chuckled and gave her a curious look. “Define a houseful.”
The words leaped from Delaney’s mouth without thinking about it. “At least six.”
He smiled, finding it amazing that she wanted pretty close to the same number of children that he did. “You are asking for a lot, aren’t you?”
She grinned. That was what her brothers always told her. They were convinced it would be hard to find a man who’d want that many kids. “Not a whole lot, just a good even number to make me happy and content.”
When the car stopped at a traffic light, Jamal glanced over at Delaney. He thought she was too beautiful for words. Even with a face scrubbed clean of makeup and a fashionable scarf around her head to keep her hair in place, she was definitely one nice feminine package, a right sassy one at that.
His thoughts drifted to Najeen. She would remain his mistress even after he took a wife. That was understood and it would also be accepted. He knew that Western women tended to be possessive after marriage. They would never tolerate a husband having a mistress. But then, most American women fancied themselves marrying for love. In his country you married for benefits—usually heirs. His marriage would be no different. Since he didn’t believe in love he didn’t plan on marrying for it. His would be an arranged marriage. Nothing more. Nothing less.
He could not see Delaney ever settling for that type of arrangement with any man. She would want it all: a man’s love, his devotion, and his soul if there was a way she could get it.
Jamal cringed inwardly. The thought of any woman having that much control over a man was oddly disconcerting. The possibility that a woman would demand such a relationship would be unheard of in his country.
“Think you can juggle a career and motherhood?” he asked moments later. He wondered how she would respond. Western women also tended to be less domesticated. They enjoyed working just as hard as a man. He smiled. The woman he married would have only one job—to give him children. She could walk around naked all day if she chose to do so. She would be naked and pregnant the majority of the time.
“Sure,” Delaney said smiling. “Just like you’ll be able to handle being a prince and a father, I’ll be able to handle being a doctor and a mom. I’m sure it will be a little hectic at times but you’ll be successful at it and so will I.”
Jamal frowned. “Don’t you think your child would need your absolute attention, especially in the early years?”
Delaney heard the subtle tone of disapproval in his voice. “No more than your child would need yours as his father.”
“But you are a woman.”
She smiled in triumph, pleased with that fact. “Yes, and you are a man. So what’s your point? There’s nothing written that says a mother’s role in a child’s life is more important than a father’s. I tend to think both parents are needed to give the child love and structure. The man I marry will spend just as much time with our children as I do. We will divide our time equally in the raising of our child.”
Jamal thought about the