Slade's Secret Son. Elizabeth August

she replied, furious that her body wasn’t healing as quickly as she wanted it to. Even more disconcerting was the soothing heat his touch was spreading through her. She didn’t want him affecting her that way. She wanted to feel neutral toward him. Giving her shoulders a small twist to indicate she wanted him to release her, she sucked in a groan of discomfort.

      “I was just trying to help,” Slade said impatiently, releasing her and taking a step back.

      Lisa berated herself for overreacting, but then she’d never been able to keep herself entirely under control where Slade was concerned. The nausea now subsiding, her original panic returned. “Has something happened to Andy?”

      “Andy’s fine,” Slade assured her. Tenderness again softened his feature. “He and I have been getting acquainted. Smart little guy and full of energy.”

      Lisa saw the love in Slade’s eyes. Clearly, he’d allowed Andy into his heart and, for her son’s sake, she was glad.

      “It’s getting late and I want to go get our marriage license today.”

      Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, Lisa saw that it was after two. “I slept half the day?”

      “You needed the rest. You’re still recovering from your wound.”

      “Where’s Andy?”

      “He’s taking his nap.” Slade backed up further so that he could lean against the wall. “He’s very devoted to you. A couple of times every hour he insisted on coming in and checking on you.”

      Her son’s concern caused a motherly warmth to spread through her and she was forced to admit that deep inside she’d been worried that Slade had such a powerful presence, Andy might become so enamored of him, he would forget about her when Slade was present. “He is a very caring child,” she said with pride.

      “You’ve done well by him.” Slade straightened with purpose. “And now it’s my turn to do right by him. While he’s napping, we’re going to go get our marriage license. Your mother is making you a sandwich you can eat on the way.”

      Lisa’s jaw firmed. “I am not going to marry you. That is not why I brought you into this.”

      “We are going to get married. It’s the right thing to do for Andy’s sake. And I’m not taking no for an answer. I want the boy to have my name and to know that I wanted to be his father in every sense of the word, including the legal one.”

      Lisa scowled. “You don’t want me for your wife. You made that very clear.”

      “It’s not personal. I don’t want any woman for a wife.”

      “That’s supposed to appease me?”

      “If you don’t let me marry you, Andy might always think that I didn’t really want him. I don’t want him to have any doubts about the bond I feel toward him.”

      “I’ll explain that it was my choice.”

      “And then there’s the legal system,” Slade persisted. “If anything happens to you, the courts might look at it differently. You and I both know that you can’t count on a judge to always do the right thing. If we never marry, a court could rule against my getting custody. And, if the court feels that your mother and aunt can’t care for him properly, Andy could even end up in the foster care system.”

      Lisa had to concede that there was a small chance things could turn out as he predicted, a very small chance but a possibility nonetheless, and that thought sent a chill of fear through her.

      “We were good together,” Slade continued. “We have the same tastes, a lot of the same interests, and we both know how to please each other physically. I’d say we probably have more going for us than a lot of couples who marry.”

      Lisa reluctantly admitted to herself that his arguments were valid. Still, she was uneasy. He was asking her to go back to the way they had been before. Well, not exactly. This time she was forewarned. She would know better than to give her heart to him. “All right, I’ll marry you for Andy’s sake. But if the marriage doesn’t work out, I want your word that you’ll give me a divorce and not fight me for custody.”

      “I’ll want joint custody.”

      “I don’t want him bounced back and forth between us. I want primary custody and I get to set the conditions.”

      Slade recognized the determined look on her face. If he wanted her to marry him, he was going to have to make concessions. “I want your word that you’ll be fair.”

      It hurt that he didn’t trust her, but then, she hadn’t exactly demonstrated an unquestionable trust in him, either. “You have my word.”

      “And you have my word.”

      “Then give me a few minutes to pull myself together.” She looked down at the outfit she’d been wearing for two days now and wrinkled her nose. “I need to shower and put on fresh clothes.”

      Following Slade’s exit, Lisa stood for a long moment frowning at the closed door. She told herself that she should be pleased he was being so “civilized” about this matter. But then that’s what she should have expected. Slade Logan was a man in total control of himself…A practical man who had a firm conviction of what was right and what was wrong, of what his duty was, and he had the ability to act on those principles without allowing his emotions to interfere with reason.

      Lisa had finished showering and just returned to her room to dress when a knock sounded on her door, immediately followed by the entry of her aunt and her mother.

      “Ester and I have been discussing your situation and we’re not sure marrying Slade Logan is the right thing to do,” Helen blurted, the moment the door was closed.

      “We’ve done fine on our own,” Ester added.

      “I’m doing this to assure Andy’s future in case something happens to me,” Lisa explained. She looked to her mother. “You’re fifty-three. You’ll be seventy-three before Andy is even twenty-one.” She didn’t even point out that Ester would be into her eighties.

      “We just aren’t certain you should be tying yourself to a man for the sake of a child,” Helen said worriedly.

      “I’m not tying myself to him. I have his word that if the marriage doesn’t suit me, we’ll get a divorce and I’ll have primary custody of Andy without a fight.”

      “Do you have that in writing?” Ester demanded.

      “I have Slade’s word.”

      “I think you should get it in writing,” Helen encouraged.

      Lisa understood their concern and if she’d been dealing with any man other than Slade Logan she would have insisted on having the agreement in writing, as well, but in that moment she realized how fully she trusted him. “Like I said before, Slade is a man of honor. If I doubted that, I would never have gone to him. His word is his bond.”

      Ester pursed her lips into a displeased pout and Lisa braced herself. That look meant her aunt was preparing an all-out assault to get what she wanted. Glancing at her mother, she saw the same expression on Helen’s face.

      Then, abruptly, Ester shrugged, the pout disappeared and was replaced by her “I have the solution” look. Heading out the door, she said over her shoulder, “If that’s true, he won’t mind putting it in writing.”

      Nodding her head in agreement, Helen followed her sister.

      “Leave Slade alone,” Lisa called after them, but even as she issued the order, she knew it was falling on deaf ears. Quickly dressing, she raced downstairs. She found Slade in the kitchen with her mother and aunt. He was sitting at the table writing out something on a piece of paper. “This isn’t necessary,” Lisa said, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

      “If it puts your mother’s and your aunt’s minds at ease then it is,” Slade returned,