The Texas Rancher's Marriage. Cathy Gillen Thacker

his voice. “I respect and appreciate all you have done for them thus far. I just want to be part of the process, part of the family unit. And if marriage is the only way that Judge Roy will allow me to become their co-guardian—” he paused again, and she looked straight into his mesmerizing eyes “—then I don’t see any other way for me to start making up for lost time.”

      “We could do it unofficially.”

      He flashed a crooked smile. “The kids deserve better than that. They deserve a real family. And if there’s even a chance that we can give them that…”

      He was right. Merri released a shaky breath. “Okay. I’ll do it. On one condition....”

      Lines of concern bracketed his sensual lips. “And that is…?”

      Merri forged ahead. “That I get something I really want out of all this, too.”

      “And what would that be?” He lifted a brow.

      Overwhelmed by the restlessness stirring inside her, Merri angled a thumb at her chest. “What I’ve never had and always wanted. To carry a child inside me.”

      “You want to have my baby?”

      Her daring surprising her, too, Merri gestured weakly. “We’ve already had two via medical procedure…”

      Chase went still. His gaze roamed her, head to toe, then lingered on her lips. “You’re asking me to impregnate you?”

      He didn’t have to sound so dumbfounded! “Donate sperm,” Merri clarified.

      Slowly, she saw her idea sink in. A corner of his mouth quirked. “I think if we decide to do this, I’d want to do it the old-fashioned way.”

      Me, too, if I was being completely honest. Merri suppressed a sigh. As their gazes continued to mesh, she wondered if she could really do that. Did she have it in her to love strictly as a means to an end? Amazingly enough, if the oh-so-sexy Chase Armstrong was the baby’s daddy, and her lifelong dream was at stake, she imagined she could. Especially if it meant a more romantic conception for the only baby she was ever likely to have.

      “All right,” she allowed. “We’ll…” She gulped and forced herself to go on courageously. “We’ll try it the old-fashioned way.” She lifted a cautioning hand. “But only when the time is right.”

      Chase nodded, suddenly acting more like a duty-bound medical professional than a sexually accommodating husband-to-be. “I trust you’ll let me know when you’re ovulating.”

      Merri nodded, pretending she was as relaxed about the idea of them making love as he seemed. “Sure,” she said, in the most casual tone she could manage.

      Another silence fell, this one more companionable. Suddenly the air was charged with hope. “In the meantime,” Chase said in his typical take-charge way, “if we’re really going to get hitched…how about we start taking care of the legalities?”

      * * *

      “YOU AND THAT MAN—” Jessalyn pointed to Chase, still trying to comprehend what she and her twin brother had been told “—are getting married?”

      Merri was still amazed at how quickly Chase had set everything up. But clearly he was a man on a mission—and the whole town seemed to have rallied around the returning local hero. “Yes.” She slipped the blue velvet dress over the little girl’s head, and buttoned up the back. “Chase and I are getting married.”

      Jessalyn sat down to shove her leotard-clad feet into her Mary Janes. “Well, then how come you’re not wearing a white dress—like my Wedding Barbie doll?”

      Merri turned to help Jeffrey button his shirt and slip on his tie. Quelling her own nerves, she explained gently, “Because it’s not that kind of wedding. It’s a small, private ceremony in the hospital chapel.”

      Jessalyn rose and flounced closer. “But weddings are s’posed to be in a church, not a hospital.”

      Merri smiled indulgently as her husband-to-be joined them. “Not always.”

      Looking resplendent in a dark suit, pale blue shirt and tie, Chase said, “Weddings can be anywhere you want.”

      Merri rose and checked her own appearance in the mirror. She had covered her navy tea-length dress with a delicate white cardigan. After much deliberation, she’d left her hair down and added pearl earrings and a necklace. The overall affect was one of understated elegance.

      Aware that Chase was checking her out, too, Merri turned away from the mirror. “And the hospital chapel is kind of a church, honey—it’s just a small, cozy one.” And, she added silently, the most logical place for the ceremony to occur on such short notice.

      Merri bent to help Jeffrey put on his jacket.

      “Can we go milk the cows?” he asked, obediently sliding his hands into the navy sport coat.

      “Yeah, I want to see Bessie and Blackie and Benjamen,” Jessalyn declared, twirling around, her arms outstretched.

      Chase sent Merri a baffled look. Knowing now was not the time to get into that, she focused on the twins. “We’ll do that another time,” she promised vaguely. Turning to Chase, she asked, “Ready?”

      He nodded. Together, the four of them left the ranch house and headed for town. The hospital chaplain was waiting for them, as promised. As were their witnesses—

      pediatric surgeon Paige Chamberlain-McCabe and her husband, Kurt.

      Paige, who’d gone to medical school with Chase, hugged him hard. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you, soldier?” she murmured.

      He grinned. And keeping to the arrangement Merri and he had decided upon, which was to keep their reasons private to protect the twins from scandal, he gestured expansively. “What can I say? The heart wants what the heart wants.”

      Wasn’t that the truth, Merri thought, as she and Chase stood before the chaplain.

      The ceremony began, the words familiar, but the man beside her little more than a distant, casual friend. More than once Merri wondered if they were making a mistake. But all she had to do was look at the children, standing trustingly beside them, and know that she and Chase were doing what was best for Jeffrey and Jessalyn. And in the end, wasn’t that all that really mattered? Seeing that the kids didn’t suffer for mistakes made by others years ago?

      Finally, with vows exchanged and rings on their fingers, the ceremony was complete. “Chase, you may kiss your bride,” the chaplain said.

      And he did.

      * * *

      CHASE HADN’T MEANT TO GIVE Merri more than a peck on the lips, but with everyone standing there, watching, the adults with more than a little skepticism, he decided to take the plunge and give it his all.

      Wrapping one arm around her shoulders, his other her waist, he drew her against him. She lifted her face and he lowered his. As contact was made, potent desire roared through him. She caught her breath and gave a little sound that was half murmur, half moan. Her unbidden response compelled him to draw her closer still, allowing the passion zinging through him to dictate the pressure and the pace. Only the fact that they had an audience made him put on the brakes.

      Slowly, he released her. Merri stared up at him, dazed. He felt the same shock and amazement.

      Kurt cleared his throat. “Wow,” Chase’s old pal murmured. “This is for real.”

      It certainly felt that way, Chase realized. He just wasn’t sure if the chemistry between Merri and him was going to make things easier or harder in the days and months ahead.

      A hospital volunteer appeared in the doorway of the chapel. “There you are, Dr. Armstrong! I heard you were here. These came for you!” The pink-coated woman rushed forward, a big autumn floral arrangement clasped in her arms. In the center was a large envelope with Chase’s name written on it.