Michelle Celmer - Demanding His Brother's Heirs

“How is Miranda?” he asked his friend.

Lewis sighed and rolled his eyes. “All whacked out on hormones again.”

Lewis and his wife had been trying unsuccessfully to conceive a baby over the course of their three-year marriage. They had tried every method, be it Western medicine or holistic, with no success. They were now on their third IVF attempt in nine months, and it had been emotionally taxing on them both. Though more so on Miranda, Jason imagined. Lewis had a teenage son from a former relationship, someone to carry on his legacy.

Jason found it ironic that Jeremy, who’d lacked the integrity to care for his own sons, had had no problem at all conceiving a child, while good people such as Lewis and Miranda, who had everything to offer a son or daughter, were helpless to make it happen.

“When is the next procedure?” Jason asked.

“Next Friday,” Lewis said, eyes on the thirty-year-old scotch that he swirled in his glass. “And regardless of the outcome, it will be our last.”

“What?” Jason set down his bottle a little harder than he’d meant to. “You’re just going to give up?”

“After three years the perpetual disappointment is taking a toll on us both. We’ve begun to look into foreign adoption instead.”

“Another time-consuming process,” Jason said and Lewis nodded.

“But when we’re approved, at least there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.”

“Have you considered a surrogate?”

“Only to have her change her mind after the baby is born? It would destroy Miranda.”

Yes, it probably would. “I’m sorry, Lewis. I wish there was something I could do.”

“We’ll get through this.”

Jason didn’t envy their situation. Though it had taken years of introspection and soul searching, he’d come to terms with the fact that he would never have a family of his own. Now it would seem he’d earned one by default.

* * *

Longest. Trip. Ever.

Despite Holly’s hope that the twins would sleep most of the five-hour train ride, they had fussed and complained, sleeping in fits and bursts, and generally making a nuisance of themselves. By the time Holly got them in the stroller and ready to depart the train, she’d expended the last of her energy and was running on pure adrenaline, wishing she had taken Jason up on his offer to give them a ride. But now as she sat in Jason’s black luxury SUV, the boys buckled safely in the back, that adrenaline was wearing thin.

After today it was abundantly clear that if Holly was going to make it as a single mom of twins, she was going to have to sock away her pride and learn to accept help a little more often. For the twins’ sake. They were a handful now, but what about when they began to crawl and walk and get into things? Just the idea made her weary. She knew she should be in New York looking for a job and a place to live, and taking this vacation was irresponsible and selfish, but her sanity depended on it.

While Jason loaded their bags in the back, she looked over her shoulder into the backseat, peering into the boy’s car seats. They were both out cold. She would have wept with relief, but she didn’t have the energy.

“Rough trip?” Jason asked as he opened the driver’s side door and climbed in, flashing her a smile. One she felt from the ends of her hair to the tips of her toes and everywhere in between.

Whoa. Where the heck had that come from? She turned away, pretending to look out the window at the station, hoping he wouldn’t notice her conspicuously rosy cheeks. It wasn’t helping matters that he smelled absolutely delicious, like some manly musk drifting on a warm spring breeze.

She tried to fight it, but it was hopeless. Ribbons of heat twisted through her veins, making her skin flush. Making her feel restless and aroused.

In all the time she had been with Jeremy, Holly had never experienced this intense physical reaction from a simple smile. To be fair, she hadn’t had sex in over six months, though it felt more like a year. Or five.

Her cheeks burned hotter. She really shouldn’t be thinking about sex right now. But the harder she tried not to think about it, the further her mind strayed.

“Everyone buckled and ready to go?” Jason asked her as the engine roared to life. She could feel his eyes on her; she had no choice but to face him. The alternative was to act rudely.

Willing away the heat rushing to her face, she turned to him, her gaze instantly locking on his stormy eyes. Though it was wildly bizarre, she didn’t look at Jason and see Jeremy anymore. They may have been identical in looks, but his personality and disposition set Jason apart from his brother.

His brow wrinkled. “Are you feeling okay? You’re flushed.”

Aw, hell. “I’m fine. Really. Just tired.”

Concern etching the corners of his eyes, Jason reached up to touch her burning hot cheek with his cool, surprisingly rough fingers, then frowned and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, the way her mom had when Holly was a little girl. “You’re warm.”

No kidding. She was surprised her face hadn’t melted off. And the fact that he kept touching her wasn’t helping matters.

He was dressed much more casually today, in dark slacks and a white polo shirt that contrasted sharply with his deeply tanned face. Considering it was only the first week of June, she was guessing he spent a considerable amount of time outdoors. If she lived near a lake, she probably would, too. As a young teen one of her favorite pastimes had been going fishing with her foster dad and siblings. She had always hoped someday she would be able to share those experiences with her own children.

“We have to go through town to get to my place,” Jason told her as he pulled out of the lot. “Do you need to stop for anything or would you prefer to go straight to the house?”

“House, please. How far is it from town?”

“Ten minutes, give or take. I’m on the far side of the lake.”

Trapper Cove, which was indeed tucked back into a cove off Trapper Lake, was just as she always pictured a small upstate New York town to look. Quaint and clean and undeniably upscale. She rolled her window down and took a deep breath of fresh lake air. So different from the city.

As they headed down Main Street into the heart of the town, Jason gave her a brief history lesson on the various shops and businesses. They passed a marina and boat launch, and a members’ only yacht club. On the water she counted at least a dozen of what her foster brother, Tyler, would have called “big ass” boats. He also would have commented on the luxury import cars lining the pristine streets. She wondered if the area had been this posh when Jason and Jeremy were kids. When Jeremy supposedly had been living on the streets and begging for food.

Just thinking his name made her heart hurt. It still astounded her how many lies he’d told, and how she had been married to a man she didn’t even know. Looking back, which she had been doing an awful lot since she’d met Jason, she realized that life with Jeremy had never been a fantastic love story. They’d met and started to date, and three months later she’d found herself pregnant. When Jeremy had insisted on marrying her she’d thought the true love part would come later, when they got to know one another better. Clearly she had been wrong. She hadn’t known him at all. The man she thought she’d fallen in love with didn’t even exist.

Never in her life had she felt so betrayed.

As they drove slowly through the center of town, people stopped to wave and shout hello to Jason, and she received more than a few curious glances.

“It’s a beautiful town,” she told him. “You seem to know a lot about it. And a lot of people.”