Sara Orwig - The Ransomes - Matt, Nick and Katherine

“This is beautiful,” she said, unable to keep a breathless tone of awe out of her voice. “It doesn’t look like what I imagined.”

“Jeff and I must have created the wrong impression.”

Her gaze flew to him and heat flooded her cheeks. Embarrassed by her reaction, she bit her lip.

“You probably thought we lived in a cabin with mounted heads and gun racks and the sort.”

“No,” she denied halfheartedly and then shrugged. “Maybe something like that,” she admitted.

“C’mon. Let me show you this wing of the house.” He took her arm lightly, yet the contact sizzled, and as they crossed the kitchen, her surroundings paled in comparison to the man beside her.

From the hall he led her into a family room and her awe returned at the sight of a twenty-foot-high cathedral ceiling, a massive stone fireplace, luxurious tan leather furniture and pictures of landscapes.

“This is a dream!” she gasped and her face flushed. “You can tell I’ve never lived in a house like this,” she said.

“Well, now you do,” he said. “It’s comfortable. Across the hall are the living and dining rooms,” he said, taking her arm again as they returned to the hall. “On the other side of the kitchen is a utility room, exercise room and my office. The bedrooms are in the opposite wing. Other than my bedroom, in the southeast end of the house, you can have whichever bedroom you want.”

As he led her through a workout room, a media room and his office, the elegant furnishings overwhelmed Olivia. It was a dream-come-true moment to think she would live in this palace. She realized Jeff and Matt weren’t the ordinary cowboys she had imagined they were. The house reeked of money and power and she wondered whether she could hold her own and govern her baby’s future against the Ransomes’ wishes.

“We’ll have a decorator help you with the nursery.” Matt’s words jolted her back into awareness of the moment.

“I won’t be here forever.” Olivia gave him a startled, wide-eyed look.

“That’s all right. You’ll return to visit and bring the baby.”

“You’re so certain!” she exclaimed, yet now she realized part of the source of his arrogance and assurance. Growing up in a home like this, how could he be anything except confident?

“Shouldn’t I be?” he asked, looking blandly at her.

Olivia stopped to face him, a frown creasing her brow. “Our lives are so different.”

“It doesn’t matter, Olivia,” he replied easily. “We’ll be related to the baby and we’ll want to see him or her through the years. It’ll save you money to live here until you finish your education.”

She merely nodded and returned to thinking about her future while she looked at more rooms in a house that dazzled her.

“How’s this for you?” he asked later, leading the way into a bedroom that took her breath and she could not imagine living in it.

She stood in the room large enough to contain the house she rented. The room was plush beyond her wildest dreams. It was ample for a king-size bed with a bronze headboard, a massive mahogany chest, bookshelves, a wide-screen television, a maroon sofa, a rocking chair and assorted tables. The decor was maroon with accents of white and beige and an oriental rug partially covering the gleaming plank floor.

She knew she wasn’t hiding her amazement. She reminded herself that it was premature to celebrate her newfound fortune, her future prospects or this house that could possibly become her home. In the next few minutes, she knew, it could all disappear from her life as swiftly as it had entered.

The time had come to present her conditions.

“This is beyond anything I had imagined,” she said softly, turning to face him. Her pulse drummed. She wanted to learn how earnest he really was about this whole proposition. “Shall we discuss our future and terms of a contract?” she asked, the words our future causing her insides to clench.

“Sure,” he replied, giving her a long, speculative look that made her feel he knew her every thought. “Let’s get a drink and sit in the family room.”

They walked in silence back to the kitchen and she watched, barely aware of what he was doing while her pulse beat faster and her nervousness increased. At the last minute she vacillated between an overwhelming desire to accept his offer unconditionally and reap the fortune, or risk her demands that would either cause him to send her packing or solidify her prospects and fortune.

Finally, they were seated in the family room at a polished oak game table with tall, frosted glasses of ice and lemonade and a plate of cookies in front of them. She couldn’t eat or drink anything. Aware that her entire prospects hung in the balance, she inhaled deeply to calm down.

“You’ve had time to think it over. You’re here on the ranch. Does this mean you’ll accept my offer?” he asked.

His blue eyes cut into her like shards of a glacier. He was formidable and determined, but she clung to her course. It was time to see how much he would commit to what he wanted. She took a deep breath and raised her chin while she locked her hands together.

“You’re being very generous,” she said, still awed by his offer and filled with trepidation over what she was about to demand from him for her part. “I have a counteroffer to make to you.”

Fire flashed in the depths of his eyes and a muscle worked in his jaw. She suspected he was bracing for her to ask for more money.

“All right. Name your conditions and price,” he said, grinding out the words. “How much Ransome money do you want?”

“You’ve made an overwhelmingly generous offer, but if you’re truly committed to protecting this baby and raising it as a Ransome, then I want you to give my baby the Ransome name. I want a paper marriage, an in-name-only marriage that we can later dissolve.” Her heart thundered so loudly that she could barely hear herself speak. “In other words, will you marry me?”

Stunned, Matt stared at her. “You want me to marry you?” he repeated in amazement.

“Yes, if you’re so determined to make my baby a part of your family. It’ll be the same conditions you’ve already given me, plus marriage. This way, you’re more committed. My child will legitimately be a Ransome as it should have been all along. You’ll do the honorable thing that your brother would not do.”

Matt stared at her. Anger and shock rocked him that she would put one more demand on him when he had given her an offer that was magnanimous beyond anything she had ever known in her life. Then he noticed her white knuckles and her hands doubled into fists. Perspiration dotted her brow and worry glazed her green eyes.

Suddenly he could see her viewpoint and why she wanted legitimacy. In the future marriage would truly tie Jeff’s child into the family.

Yet it would bind Matt to Olivia in a manner he never intended. For an instant heat flashed in him at the thought of marriage to her. On a purely physical level he speculated about her shapely, naked body in his arms. With lightning speed the image aroused him.

He forced his thoughts back to business and a contract with her and a paper marriage. A marriage in name only.

“We can dissolve it as soon as I get my law degree,” she added.

Could he stay under the same roof with her and keep his hands to himself? He had planned to do just that before she had come up with the proposal.

“You want it all,” he said quietly, and she flushed, her cheeks turning a bright pink.

“No. I don’t want sex with you,” she answered bluntly. “You know it wouldn’t be a true marriage. Not in any manner. But you can see that if you really want what you’ve been telling me, it would give my baby more protection and give me a better deal.”