* * *
Adam was stunned. He couldn’t believe she was saying any of this. First off, that sheknew about Sal’s offer was bad enough. The fact that she’d guessed Adam had reconsidered the deal was disquieting. Did she really know him as well as she seemed to? And why in the hell would a woman like Gina be willing to consider such an insulting bargain?
In the candlelight, Gina’s eyes seemed to shine with the deep, rich glow of antique gold. Her skin was soft and smooth and lightly tanned. He’d hardly been able to look away from her all night. His gaze caught in the tumble of thick, dark curls that hung down her back in waves so silky they invited a man’s hands to delve into them. Her black dress hugged every curve—and she had good ones—and her long, tanned legs looked amazing in high-heeled sandals that should have been impossible to walk in.
All night, she’d tormented him, simply by being Gina. How had he not noticed years ago just how beguiling she was? Had he really been blind enough to dismiss his little neighbor because he’d once known her as a pigtailed child? Well, she was all grown-up now and surprisingly enough, was damn calm and accepting about the bargain her father had offered.
And somehow, that worried him more than anything else.
“Why would you want to do that?” he asked and watched as something not quite identifiable flashed in her eyes.
“I have my reasons,” she said, then smiled at him again.
Adam hissed in a breath. She really was beautiful—but it was more than that. It was something indefinable. Something that tugged at him. Prodded him. Why else would he have considered Sal’s proposition for more than an instant?
“What are these reasons?” he asked.
“Mine,” she said and didn’t offer any more.
This wasn’t going at all the way Adam had expected. What was it about the Torinos that could keep him off balance? First her father, now her.He was the one in charge of situations. On top of everything. He knew what the other guy was thinking, what his next move would be and exactly the right countermove to ensure that Adam King got exactly what he set out to get.
Having the tables turned on him wasn’t something he appreciated. And it was damned uncomfortable to have someone know him as well as Gina seemed to. At the moment, she was watching him with patient understanding glimmering in her eyes and it irritated him that she was so damned complacent while he felt off balance.
Clearly then, it was time to take charge again. Time to let her know that he wouldn’t be twisted around and made to feel as if he’d taken a wrong step. Time to let her know that this date was over.
“Gina…” He flipped open the check folder, tucked a credit card into the pocket, then closed the whole thing and set it on the edge of the table. Their waiter rushed by a moment later and took it away. “I don’t know what you’re getting at, but I won’t be maneuvered. By you…or your father.”
She laughed, damn it, and he was both annoyed and charmed. “I don’t see what’s so funny.”
“Of course you don’t,” she said and reached across the table to pat his hand as she would have an excitable kid. “But come on, Adam. We’ve known each other way too long for you to put on the big crabby attitude and expect me to either salute or slink away!”
He ground his back teeth together and hissed in a breath. “Fine. Say what you want to say, then I’ll take you home.”
She shook her head and smiled again. “Charming to the last.” Before he could say anything to that, she spoke up again, quickly. “Okay. To the point. I’ll marry you, Adam, so you can get the land. But I have a condition.”
“I can’t wait to hear it.”
“I want a child.”
Adam felt the slam of those words crush into his chest and he could have sworn he felt his heart actually stop. Her eyes were clear and steady. Her features calm. Her manner at ease. All the while, his insides were churning and it felt as though the air was on fire. Otherwise, why would his lungs be burning with every breath?
“You can’t be serious.”
“Completely,” she assured him and her face softened, her mouth curving gently. “I know what you went through with the loss of your son and—”
While he was reeling, the waiter brought their check back to be signed. Adam took it, glanced at it, added a hefty tip and signed his name. Taking his credit card and the receipt, he tucked them into his wallet and only when he was finished did he look up at Gina again.
“I don’t discuss my son. Ever.” His loss was just that.His loss. He’d survived. Put the past behind him and that was where he intended to keep it. Those memories, that pain had nothing to do with his life or his world today.
“Fine.”
“And I’m not interested in being a father again.”
“I don’t need your help in parenting my child, Adam,” she said and her voice went suddenly as chill as his own. “All I need from you is your sperm.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I want to be a mother.” She leaned back in her chair, fiddled with the handle of her coffee cup and lowered her gaze to the tabletop. “My brothers’ kids are beautiful and I love them with all my heart. But I don’t want to spend the rest of my life being the favorite auntie. I want a child of my own. I don’t want to be married any more than you do—don’t worry about that. But I do want a baby. The way I see it—” she lifted her gaze to his “—this bargain satisfies both parties. You get your land. I get the baby I want.”
He was already shaking his head. Instinct, he supposed, when she spoke again.
“Think about this before you turn me down. I’ll marry you. Be your wife in every way. As soon as I’m pregnant, you get the land and we get a divorce. And I’ll sign whatever you want me to sign, exempting you from any responsibility toward me or my child.” Her gaze was steady on his as she added, “It’s a good deal, Adam. For both of us.”
She had him in a corner. He hadn’t expected her to know about her father’s proposition—let alone come up with one of her own. The tantalizing idea that he could, in a few short months, have the King family ranch whole and secure again was a tempting one.
He had to give Gina credit. She’d thought this out and had come up with a bargain sure to be tempting to him. And the fact that she, too, was getting something out of the deal made him feel less like some robber baron.