The Durango Affair. Brenda Jackson

      Savannah raised her eyes to the ceiling. An hour ago he had been humming a different tune. “If I had planned to do that, I wouldn’t be here.” After a deep, calming breath, she added, “I came because I felt you should know and to give you a choice. I didn’t come to ask you for anything.”

      She suddenly felt her face flush from the way he was looking at her. Was her hair standing on end? Were her clothes wrinkled? The flight hadn’t been kind to her and she’d almost gotten sick from all the turbulence they had encountered while flying over the mountains. Her hair was a tangled mess and her makeup had worn off hours ago. By the time the plane had landed and she had gotten a rental car to drive out to his ranch, she had been so shaken up she hadn’t cared enough about her appearance to even put on lipstick.

      “Whether you ask for anything or not, I have certain responsibilities toward my child and I want to talk about them,” Durango said. “You’ve done what you came here to do and now that my head is back on straight, we need to sit down and discuss things like two mature adults.”

      Savannah lifted an eyebrow and gave him a speculative look. What did they have to talk about? She’d already told him she wouldn’t be making any demands on him. She swallowed thickly when a thought suddenly popped into her head. What if he planned to make demands on her regarding their child? Just last week there was an article in the Philadelphia newspaper about a man who had sued his girlfriend for joint custody of their newborn child.

      Maybe talking wasn’t such a bad idea. It would be better if they got a few things straight in the beginning so there wouldn’t be any misunderstanding later. “Okay, let’s talk.”

      When they reached an empty table in the airport coffee shop, Durango pulled out a chair for Savannah to sit down on and she did so, on shaky legs. Her gaze drifted over his handsome face and latched on to his full lips. She couldn’t help remembering those lips and some of the wicked—as well as satisfying—things they had once done to her.

      She glanced away when his eyes met hers, finding it strange that the two of them were sitting down to talk. This was the first time they had shared a table. They had once shared a bed, yes, but never a table. Even the night of the rehearsal dinner he had sat at a different table with his brothers and cousins. But that hadn’t stopped her from scrutinizing and appreciating every inch of him.

      “Would you like something to drink, Savannah?”

      “No, I don’t want anything.”

      “So how have you been?” Durango asked after he had finished ordering.

      She raised her eyebrows, wondering why he hadn’t asked her that when he’d first seen her earlier that day. He had picked a hell of a time to try to be nice, but she would go along with him to see what he had to say.

      She managed to be polite and responded, “I’ve been fine, and what about you?”

      “Things are going okay, but this is usually the hardest time of year for rangers.”

      “And why is that?”

      “Besides the icy cold weather conditions, we have to supervise hunters who won’t abide by the rules and who want to hunt during the off season. And even worse are those who can’t accept the restrictions that no hunting is allowed in Yellowstone’s backcountry.”

      Savannah nodded. She could imagine that would certainly make his job difficult. Jessica had said he was a backcountry ranger. They were the ones who patrolled and maintained trails in the park, monitored wildlife and enforced rules and safety regulations within the areas of Yellowstone. She shuddered at the thought of him coming face-to-face with a real live bear, or some other wild animal.

      “You okay, Savannah?”

      He had leaned in after seeing her tremble. Surprise held her still at just how close he was to her. “Yes, I’m fine. I just had a thought of you coming into contact with a bear.”

      He pulled back, smiled and chuckled. “Hey, that has happened plenty of times. But I’ve been fortunate to never tangle with one.”

      She nodded and glanced around, wondering when he would forgo the small talk and get down to what was really on his mind.

      “What do you need, Savannah?” he finally asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

      She met his gaze as emotions swirled within her. “I told you, Durango, that I don’t want or need anything from you. The only reason I’m here is because I felt you should know. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories of kids growing up not knowing who fathered them or men not knowing they fathered a child. I felt it would not have been fair to you or my child for that to happen.”

      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

      Savannah 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