They didn’t say anything for a long moment and then he asked, “Do you like children?”
She wondered why he was asking such a thing. Surely he had seen her interactions with Susan and Denver enough to know that she did. “Yes, I like children.”
“Do you think you’d want any of your own one day?”
Was he asking because he was worried that she would use that as a trap to stay with him beyond the one year? But he’d asked and she needed to be honest. “Yes, I’d love children, although I haven’t had the best of childhoods. Don’t get me wrong, my parents weren’t monsters or anything like that but they just weren’t affectionate…at least not like your family.”
She paused for a moment. “I love my parents, Jason, although I doubt my relationship with them will ever be what I’ve always wished for. They aren’t those kind of people. Displaying affection isn’t one of their strong points. If I become a mother I want to do just the opposite. There will never be a day my child will not know he or she is loved.” She hadn’t meant to say all of that and now she couldn’t help wondering if doing so would ruin things between them.
“I think you would make a wonderful mother.”
His words touched her. “Thank you for saying that.”
“You’re welcome, and I meant it.”
She drew in a deep breath, wondering how he could be certain of such a thing. She continued to stare at him for a long moment. He would be a gift to any woman and he had sacrificed himself to marry her—just because he’d wanted her land and Hercules. When she thought about it she found it pitiful that it had taken that to make him want to join his life to hers.
He lifted her hand and looked at the ring he’d placed there. She looked at it, too. It was beautiful. More than she’d expected and everyone had oohed and aahed over it.
“You’re wearing my ring,” he said softly.
The sound of his deep, husky voice made her tummy tingle and a heated sensation spread all through her. “Yes, I’m wearing your ring. It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
Then she lifted his hand. Saw the gold band brilliantly shining in the sunlight. “And you’re wearing mine.”
And then she found herself being kissed by him and she knew that no matter how their marriage might end up, right now it was off to a great beginning.
FOR THE SECOND TIME IN two days Jason carried the woman he loved over the threshold. This time he walked into his house. “Welcome to Jason’s Place, sweetheart,” he said, placing her on her feet.
Bella glanced around. This was the first time she’d been inside Jason’s home. She’d seen it a few times from a distance and thought the two-story dwelling flanked by a number of flowering trees was simply beautiful. On the drive from town he’d given her a little history of his home. It had taken an entire year to build and he had built it himself, with help from all the other Westmorelands. And with all the pride she’d heard when he spoke of it, she knew he loved his home. She could see why. The design was magnificent. The decorating—which had been done by his cousin Gemma—was breathtaking and perfect for the single man he’d been.
Jason’s eyes never left Bella’s as he studied her reaction to being in his home. As far as he was concerned, she would be a permanent fixture. His heart would beat when hers did. His breath was released the same time hers was. He had shared something with her he had never done with any woman—the essence of himself. For the first time in his life he had made love to a woman without wearing a condom. It had felt wonderful being skin to skin, flesh to flesh with her—but only with her. The wife he adored and intended to keep forever.